How Are Insurance Companies Addressing Emerging Customer Expectations?

Customers of tomorrow are nothing like the customers of 20 years ago.

In the rising age of "cheaper, faster, quality..." Customers have an expectation that everything can be done, amazingly quick... At the best rate... While delivering the best quality.

A mentor once told me... That you can have two, of the three... And almost never will all three exist at the same time.

It can be quick, and it can be cheap... But it won't be great quality....

It can be great quality, and it can be cheap... But it won't come quickly...

It can be great quality... And it can be quick... But it won't be cheap.

Being able to accurately articulate the framework for proper insurance related consultations, and outcomes is a skill that many practitioners in this industry choose not to master...

That makes all the difference.

We choose to master that skill.

One thing we're seeing more and more is clients putting our insurance presentations/recommendations straight into ChatGPT to get a second opinion. They'll ask it what questions they should be asking or whether any risks look like they've been missed.

We've taken it as a good thing. It's pushed us to explain our advice more clearly and be upfront about what's covered, what isn't, and why. When clients come back with AI-generated questions, we welcome the conversation and talk it through using real examples from past claims and experience. It's made discussions more open and, more useful for everyone as the client then understands what they are covered for and what they aren't.

In a few words, customers can't quite articulate it, but they're expecting creative benefit solutions.

The cost of health insurance in all markets -- individual/family, Medicare, and employer group, continues to rise at rates that challenge consumers' ability to afford it.

Rather than saying "here's what the carrier offers, take it or leave it," the most successful brokers are taking time to build a benefit solution that addresses the core health plan, but also its gaping holes.

Medicare Advantage -- and some Medicare Supplement -- plans can pair well with hospital indemnity plans, which often pay for their yearly premiums after one day in the hospital.

In the ACA Marketplace (Obamacare) market, the deductibles on a bronze plan can be offset by accident and/or critical illness policies, as fits the consumer's risk.

And in the employee benefits market, products like gap insurance, group accident or hospital indemnity, and more can really make a difference.

In short, customers want to spend less on premiums. It's up to brokers to show consumers how to do that, while still getting the financial protection they deserve.

Customers have increasingly been expecting premium / price decreases.

After years of price hikes for insureds upwards of 10% per year even in years when a customer doesn't have a claim, insureds are increasingly looking for any way to save money.

My approach in managing expectation has been to explain to them how the industry operates as a whole. After years of major losses for insureds, California fires, hurricanes, tornados along with rising inflation costs, carriers have needed to raise prices not only on risky clients, but on those that have had no issues or claims.

After explaining how the industry operates along with seeing if there are ways we can save 2-5% on the premium, whether it's raising the deductible or taking out a coverage part, clients usually understand and are happy with the outcome.

Policyholders now expect instant availability, not business hours availability. When someone has a fender bender at 9 PM or realizes they need a certificate of insurance for a contractor arriving at 7 AM, they expect to reach their agency immediately. Amazon, Uber, and their banking apps have conditioned them to get answers in seconds. They bring those same expectations to insurance, whether we're ready for it or not.

This creates a structural problem for independent agencies. Most are 5-15 person operations. They cannot staff phones around the clock, so calls go to voicemail after hours. The caller, already stressed about a claim or deadline, hangs up and tries somewhere else. No message, no second chance.

What makes this painful is that insurance is a relationship business built on trust. But trust erodes quickly when clients feel they cannot reach you in moments that matter to them. The irony is that agencies pride themselves on personal service, yet the phone experience often feels less responsive than a faceless app.

At Sonant, we use voice AI to help agencies answer every call instantly. But regardless of the solution, the agencies adapting fastest share one realization: availability has shifted from competitive advantage to baseline expectation. The question is no longer whether to solve for it, but how quickly.