Mick Hunt argues agencies need digital-first, personalized selling to compete. His daughter switched to Geico because traditional agents didn't follow up or explain coverage clearly. Buyers understand at an 8th-grade level, so video and social selling should simplify how you explain what you offer.
Chapters
In 2024, people want to buy, they do not want to be sold to. So much so that everyone in your agency, especially if you have producers or if you are a producer, your role is simply to be the concierge in the buying experience. And if you can embrace that mindset and embrace that mentality, I promise you're going to connect more and be more relevant with today's buyer. That's more modern, that researches you, that all of us are in this room, right? So that's what we're going to talk today is how to sell, how to connect with the modern buyer and why social selling is no longer an option. It has to be a major strategy in your business, in your agency. I don't care if you're selling thousand dollars personal lines, $5,000 box 200,000, $300,000 large or middle market, commercial, 87% of customers expect there to be a digital component in today's buying process. Scary, right? But that's the truth. All of us in this room, there's three things and three things only that we expect in this buying experience. We expect there to be a digital first journey. We want personalization. And most importantly, they value authenticity and transparency. So I'm gonna share a story with you, a very personal story. The day before Father's Day, I get a call from my oldest child, my daughter, Daddy's baby. She calls, says, dad, do you have a moment? I'm like, kyla, sure. And my daugh said, dad, I was trying to surprise you. For Father's Day I need to know what coverage is. I'm like, kyla, what are you talking about? I look at the bourbon that I'm drinking and I'm like, um, coverage. So I'm like, kyla, tell Les to stop playing. There's no such thing as arm coverage. And she goes, no, dad, I was trying to surprise you and I was gonna get my own car insurance. And that was the proudest moment that I've had in the last two years. I don't know how many of you have 20 plus year olds that are still on your insurance, but I don't know if you know how much I was about to come up that day. I said, baby, so tell me what you're doing. And she said, dad, I'm on geico.com and it is asking me what limits I want for coverage. And just like you all, I laughed really hard. So I said okay. So Kyla, tell me why you chose Geico. She said, yesterday I called an agency and I wanted a quote and the lady that I was on the phone with just started asking me a bunch of questions. Said, hey, after 10 minutes of these questions, if you don't mind just sending me a form, I would like to fill that out and I'll get it back to you very quickly so that I can make sure that I'm prepared with all the questions that you have and all the answers. She waited. She waited, and she waited some more. And the form never came. So then she called another agency. Very similar experience. How many of you? Is that what the buying experience would feel like? We're family. I appreciate the honesty. She never got a form from the other agents, so she went to geico. Much better experience. They let her know, you're on question one of 15. But where Geico failed was they didn't explain, um, coverage. All of us in this room understand what um coverage is and the split limits and why you need it. But here's something else that I want you to write down. 88% of the world of the United States operates on an 8th grade comprehension level. I don't care how much education you have. It's not saying that we're not educated. It just means that we comprehend and think and react on an 8th grade comprehension level. But what I'm getting at, for all of you in your agency, you see the three things that the modern buyer cares about. How smart you are is not on that list. How long you've been in business is not on that list. The great service that we all show of hand. Who provides bad service in here? If I see another website that talks about great service, like I'm going to, some things should just be understood, right? So back to my daughter explaining, um, coverage. I had to explain it to her in an 8th grade comprehension level. And she said to me, how come GEICO just didn't say that? So again, think about the experience that you're providing, your prospects. How many of you use video to explain coverages online in that same form? So less than 5% of the room raised their hand. But I'm here to tell you that's okay. Because most of the world, most of us in this space, that's the same percentage. But we can get better, right? So remember, these are the three things that customers want.
