Life Insurance Product Features that Matter Most to Clients

Life insurance plans come in a variety of options, and can include a wide array of product features and benefits. The upside of having more optionality as a client is the ability to find a plan that can be tailored to your individual situation. However, sorting through pages of information and reviewing complex insurance plans can be overwhelming, especially if clients are unsure of what to look for!

Insurance advisors play an essential role in simplifying product information and highlighting core features to help their clients compare plans and make informed decisions.

So, which features should advisors be highlighting in their conversations with clients? To answer this question, we surveyed advisors on Finaeo to find out which features their clients find most appealing. We’ll provide a summary of their responses below:

Which features do you highlight when presenting a selection of products to your clients?

“When I have my clients fill out a needs analysis, it highlights that they mostly want financial protection in case of loss of life or disability of the breadwinner(s). However, I find most clients only concentrate on life coverage and overlook critical illness (CI) and disability. In order to provide holistic advice, in certain family situations, I do highlight CI and disability as additional considerations”. — Anup Ruparelia, Affinity Capital Management Inc.

“Clients care most about speed, convenience and knowing the products I recommend are tailored to their needs. Therefore, I focus on underwriting requirements, medical, suitability (so they understand which scenarios or financial goals the product is most suitable for), as well as digital policy delivery. Especially in today’s remote-first world, clients want to be able to sign and submit their policy applications virtually”. — Donald Chu, Finaeo

“I try to focus on what affects the client emotionally. I’m a mortgage agent and deal with home buyers, so I present the difference between purchasing personal life insurance and mortgage insurance. I focus on letting them know that their family will be taken care of regardless of which plan (life insurance or mortgage insurance) they purchase, but the features I focus on are ownership, freedom and guarantees. Clients want to know they are in power; they own the policy, not the bank. They also want to know that their family receives the benefit, not the bank. Lastly, they want the freedom to choose the coverage amount, which product they want to purchase and have the option to convert the policy”. — Amit Mistry, AMistry Mortgage (Capital Lending Centre)

Which product features are most valuable and/or appealing to a client seeking life insurance, and why?

“People want assurances — Education, Value (Additional Built-In Benefits) and Customer Care. Most families understand that term life products give them maximum coverage at an affordable rate, and can easily buy life insurance online without an advisor. However, most people like to be reassured they are investing in the right products. By having a conversation and getting to understand the client’s needs, it allows me to provide options while helping clients feel they are part of the decision-making process. Advisors are there to help clients understand that coverage (whether it be life, disability, critical illness, child riders, etc) can be customized to cater to their needs and budget”. — Gabrielle McKenna, Exceptional Financial Group Inc.

“It really depends on the client’s specific needs. Cash values and insurer dividends may appeal to affluent clients that are looking to leverage insurance as part of their overall financial planning strategy while maximum coverage relative to cost may appeal to a new family that had just bought a home with a mortgage”. — Alex Miljkovic, BenefitDeck Consulting Ltd.

“Most Canadians don’t need anything more than term life. Generally, term, with or without riders, and price are most appealing to clients” — Anup Ruparelia, Affinity Capital Management Inc.

Do certain product features matter to some client segments more than others?

“Goals and priorities are different for both single clients and families. Advisors should start by getting to know the client’s needs. Asking a series of questions can help create the foundation and direction for the conversation that will address the products and features that are most important to the client”. — Gabrielle McKenna, Exceptional Financial Group Inc.

“Yes, clients will require different features at different stages of their lives. A newly married couple that just bought a home may be looking to cover their mortgage with a term policy, while an older couple with a paid off mortgage may be looking towards a more permanent policy as part of their estate planning”. — Alex Miljkovic, BenefitDeck Consulting Ltd.

Which features should carriers prioritize in order to win business from clients?

“Underwriting and price. In order to remain competitive and give clients the experience they are looking for, carriers should be working to streamline the underwriting process and ensure their insurance plans are affordable for the client”. — Donald Chu, Finaeo

“Carriers should prioritize riders/benefits for children to win business from clients but with a financial incentive for the client. For instance, offer some sort of premium discount to the main product if they add a critical illness for children rider, or have the first 6 months of your child CI rider taken care of by the insurance premium”. — Amit Mistry, AMistry Mortgage (Capital Lending Centre)

After speaking with our advisors, it became clear that there is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to knowing which features are the most relevant to clients. Although there are popular items such as term, flexible riders, underwriting process and price, advisors need to invest the time in understanding the client’s needs in order to determine which features add the most value and how to effectively position them. Fortunately, there are tools available to make this process easier and support advisors in their conversations with clients.

Finaeo’s digital product comparison reports can help advisors shortlist products that are most relevant to clients, and easily highlight the right features at the right time. Advisors use this sales enablement tool to identify the product features that are most appealing to their clients, based on their needs analysis, and present their recommendations in a beautifully branded product comparison report.

The switch to remote work over the past few months has increased the need for advisors to use digital tools to streamline communications. Clients value efficiency and accessibility. Digital tools like Finaeo’s product comparison report not only reduce the amount of paperwork for clients to sort through, they also help advisors underscore their professionalism and ability to adapt to our new environment.

To learn more about Finaeo’s product comparison reports and other free tools available for advisors, contact us here. We’d love to help you grow your business and transform the client experience!