Empathy can drive life insurance sales

Successful agents know how to step into the shoes of their clients during an appointment. 

Life insurance agents should know their products and be transparent about the terms of a policy, but these are not enough to connect with a prospective client. The power of empathy can change that. 

Integrating empathy at the enterprise level not only solidifies the agent-client relationship but could also drive growth, Simon Goh, head of design in the digital experience studio at Great Eastern Life Assurance Co. Ltd., told the Insurance Asia Summit in Singapore. 

“Empathy can be a bit unpredictable, but we’ve developed it into a structured framework that helps guide its use,” he said. 

The insurance expert from the biggest and oldest life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia said insurers should assess the client’s situation so they can offer an appropriate product. 

“What are customers trying to get done when they hire your service? What is the underlying job?” he asked the forum participants. 

He said an insurer should also know whether the most appropriate plan is the only solution to a customer’s problem. “I’ve introduced something called a criterion. You can’t extract criteria from understanding customers without empathy. You need that.” 

Insurers often rely on a set of quantitative data to assess risks and set premiums. Without empathy, an agent might overlook the nuances of customer experiences, such as the fear of loss, the stress that comes with the claim process, or the desire for personalised service. 

Goh cited critical illness as an example. “For you to have the funds to tide you through a period of critical illness, you need 3.9 times your annual salary,” he pointed out. 

But because this is straightforward and statistical, customers often have a hard time understanding the figures. “If I contract a critical illness, what do I consider first?" he asked, noting that customers should have this in mind when presented with a critical illness plan. 

Goh said insurers should walk the client through the policy, answering questions such as whether the plan covers hospitalisation or after-care. Insurers help their clients decide by asking and answering questions, he added. 

“We don’t jump from step zero to step four straight away — [this is] empathy at work,” he said. 

Another example is when a customer tries to buy a personal accident plan through a portal peppered with technical information. 

“After all the marketing, advertising, and sales efforts on this page, customers are saying that they don’t want it, simply because they can’t understand the 50 pages of insurance jargon,” he said. “It’s very hard for internal stakeholders to accept this.” 

“So what we then do, from a more empathy-driven and brand-driven approach, is shift all these fine prints to the first page,” Goh said. “It is more important to build trust in the buying process to establish a longer relationship.”