Are your customers only concerned about the price?

I had an interesting conversation with a broker recently, about our solution at Small Print Compare. I asked if their system allowed them to easily compare the difference between the differences in cover. The conversation went a little like this….

Me: “So when you have a customer on the phone, how do your call centre staff view the differences in cover between the products that you are selling? Is it possible on your system?”

Broker: “Well, not really. We have a section on the screen which provides limited notes against a given product, but its not easy to compare across products all on the one screen.”

Me: “Would you be interested in a solution that worked alongside your existing system, to allow your staff to do just that? It would give you the ability to select up to three different products, to then view a list of features and how each product compares?”

Broker: “Not really, our customers don’t really care about the minor differences in cover, they only care about buying the cheapest insurance.”

Me: “How do you know that? Have you asked them?”

Broker: “No we haven’t, because that would then make our calls longer, and we are more focussed on making a sale without over complicating the issue.”

Me: “Oh.. what about ensuring that the product meets their needs?”

Broker: “Well we don’t get many complaints, so it’s not really an issue for us.”

In a regulated industry such as the insurance sector, brokers are supposed to ensure that the products they are selling meet the demands and needs of the customer. Unless, all the products they are selling are identical, they have an obligation to highlight the differences, without making it overly confusing. The regulator is already starting to address the issue with the publication of the Consumer Duty back in 2023, but I would encourage brokers to change their perspective and rather than viewing it as a regulatory issue, instead see it as an opportunity to do the following:

1. Improve the level of service offered to your customer, improving brand loyalty and renewal retention rates.
2. An opportunity to upsell, moving the focus away from just price and instead focusing on quality products. Not all customers are focused on price alone, otherwise we’d all be driving around in a Citroen Ami (one of the cheapest cars to buy in the UK). This can extend to both the core insurance products, but also if they sell a range of add-ons.
3. Reducing the number of complaints, which in turn reduces all costs associated with handling complaints.
4. Improve lead to sale conversation rates, by providing the customer with the level of confidence they need to make the purchase.

Whether you are selling a range of insurance products, televisions, holidays, mobile phone contracts or even funeral plans, either over the phone or via your website, embrace the functionality for customers to compare products. If your customers aren’t bothered, then they won’t use the feature. However, don’t loose out on those that are, and are willing to spend more money in order to choose the right product for them.