Several years ago, Matt Aaron had a near-miss car accident that stopped him in his tracks but set the wheels of his mind in motion: "If I had crashed, I would have needed to call my agent. Who is he? Why isn't he in my phone?" Matt, who was already a mobile app developer, and Kiki Johnson, co-founded an insurance technology company, GoInsuranceAgent.com, and built the Insurance Agent Mobile Application. They also recently joined ACT and are sharing their knowledge of the digital world with agents and everyone else who will listen. We talked to them about some of the realities of mobile apps for the insurance sector, including skepticism over their value.
ACT News: You've developed a mobile app specifically for the insurance agency channel, but you weren't in insurance before?
Matt Aaron: We come from the consumer side of the insurance equation. We could see the insurance agency channel was behind in terms of customer interface. My near-miss car accident drove that home, so to speak.
Kiki Johnson: We could see people wanted efficiency in their insurance dealings. The customer experience wasn't what it should be. We were already entrepreneurial and already were in app development. The insurance door was open, so we went in.
Matt: There is a real need to help agents move forward meaningfully in insurtech. We identify with our clients as small businesses, and we identify with the customer as a consumer of insurance.
ACT: And ACT seems like a place you can do that—help agents move forward.
Kiki: We have talked to enough agencies to know that most don't understand how mobile is impacting their industry. We saw that ACT consolidates resources, does groundwork, gives solid advice, and explains what the world is doing and how technology works and can work for them. Agencies have a lot of information at their fingertips, and ACT can help clarify how to use technology for the best return on their time and money. Agents are busy already, so they need a resource like ACT to clarify things, set priorities that address the pain points they have. That's mostly customer touch points and the customer experience. Mobile technology can help.
Matt: Tech trends shift, and somebody needs to help agents keep up with those while the agents focus on the business of selling insurance. People are using mobile apps to do banking—Bank of America found that 43% of small commercial clients are using a banking mobile app for balance inquiries, deposits, tax forms, etc. Agency customers are increasingly comfortable with mobile. Agencies need to be also.
Kiki: The agency mobile app won't be used every day. It's there when your client needs it for help or information. By sending push notifications of relevant content, you remind them the app exists and get them to open it, touch it here or there—maybe seven to 10 times a year. Your clients don't want to fumble through a mobile phone browser to find your contact information, to access their forms or get simple insurance questions answered. If they can just hit a button to open your app and find solutions right there, they are going to do that and be glad they have that ease of access.
ACT: So you're not worried about "hits?"
Kiki: Agencies need to understand that the number of hits or opens of the app are not that important; rather, it's the fact that the app is there at their fingertips and is easy to use at the exact moment they need it. It not only improves the customer experience; it increases the agent's relevance, especially when the customer receives high-value push notifications. That's important in a world where direct writers and others are trying to pull away their business.
ACT: What do you mean by "relevance"?
Matt: Most people outside the industry don't think about insurance much at all. Maybe at renewal time. And certainly when there's a claim or they have to pay a bill. So agents have to work a little harder to keep their name, their agency's name, in front of the client. When there is a need for new coverage or some kind of other interface, you want them to think of you, not do an Internet search. By the way, if a client does an Internet search, they will be targeted by competitors. Paid placements and search engine optimization can get other local agencies to appear above yours on the search response list. If your name isn't familiar to your client, they might just click on the nearest agency that appears in the top hits. You don't want that. Fifty-two percent of people searching the web buy from a provider other than the one they originally looked for. The mobile app keeps clients contained within your agency realm, and it's much easier to deal with than an Internet search.
Kiki: Our Insurance Agent Mobile Application is branded to the agency and is built to be personalized by the client, who can input their own information as they desire—things like property inventories for home or business, documents and auto info. If they have an accident, they just go to the agency mobile app on their phone at the scene, and it walks them through what to do.
Matt: We designed our app to allow policy data to be automatically integrated from the agency management systems into the mobile app. But clients can also snap a photo of their declarations page and ID card and store it on the app.
Kiki: Remember, the mobile app is part of the agency's overall customer experience strategy—phones, website, in-person service, desktop computers, social media. The mobile app has its own functionality for the client that works when they are on the go. It can hold links to your website, your blogs, your videos or whatever important tool you want to direct them to. But it doesn't require going to a browser and searching or inputting anything. It's a one-touch app that allows access wherever your client is with a smart phone.
ACT: Is a mobile app affordable?
Matt: Can you afford not to be present to your clients and prospects in the way they want? Clients are "app-conditioned," and this is an inexpensive way to reach a growing demographic. Without mobile, agencies run the risk of becoming irrelevant or non-existent.
Kiki: It's just one of the costs of customer retention, and it's more proactive in terms of retaining clients.
ACT: What about agency principals who say clients won't download the app and we can't get enough traction?
Matt: How do they know that? Did they offer it and explain its benefits? People download all sorts of apps they are going to use infrequently. Once they understand this one isn't invasive and does provide a critical service at a crucial time, they appreciate it. We have agents who have thanked us profusely for the Insurance Agent Mobile Application because of the response they get from clients. This thing is really helpful when you need it most, and that's a big selling point. Like we said, it's not about "hits"; it's about being there exactly at the point we are needed. That's the kind of value insurance agents want to be known for.
Kiki: Clients will and do download apps that have high value and low use rates when they know it's an app that will save them time and expense when they need it. Clients need to know that the app isn't just a digital form of the policy they've never looked at. They need to know it's help when things do happen, it's easy access to paying a bill, it's the ability to take action right at the moment they think of it. It's the receipt of high-value push notifications the user can act on quickly. No one wants to be in an accident or a flood or whatever, but everyone wants to be prepared if it does happen. This all helps reinforce the advisor relationship that independent agencies offer.
Note: ACT is offering a free 30-minute webinar on August 16 giving more in-depth information on mobile best practices, hosted by Matt Aaron & Kiki Johnson. CLICK HERE to register.