I was recently in a franchise coffee chain (think Battlestar Galactica) when it dawned on me how complex and diverse the product spectrum is for buying a humble cup of coffee. Its not unlike insurance in the sheer choice and initial helplessness of the uninitiated consumer. There are literally umpteen different combinations and I can at any time choose to bolt on foodstuffs to my purchase that may or may not compliment the drink, the price of which is affected whether I drink in or out.
We the consumers can decide the size, concentration, milk type, topping, syrup, temperature, sweetness and serving vessel. Mine’s usually; “a skinny medium vanilla latte with sugar free syrup to take away”. But where on earth did I learn to order that little concoction? Well, I persevered with the confusing product menu, listened to other customers as I ordered a basic cappuccino and asked people I knew. Once certain of my ability to branch out and delve deeper into the menu, I strolled confidently upon the barista and fired off my best jargon to source my very own custom made product. I had taken control of my coffee consumption.
Could this be true for buying insurance as well?
Insurance customers also follow the crowd, surf the comparison sites and go for what they know. Like the coffee chain, a customer has a brilliantly diverse choice of what to spend their hard earned sterling on. I expended a lot of effort just to spend a couple of quid and once I have drunk it, its not much use to me. Insurance is a different ball game entirely, you have it for a year and its there as a reserve in case some mini disaster or unexpected event strikes. I am confused as to why a customer wouldn’t want to understand its complexities more. Lets be honest, coffee is coffee, just because someone calls it “skinny” or “grande” its still coffee…perhaps i am just an insurance geek in this regard.
My understanding of the coffee process is still limited, for example; a friend recommended I try the latest Caramel Macchiato. I have no idea what that is or how it differs from my staple consumption of Latte (how do you pronounce it anyway?), but I soldiered on and found that when made “skinny” and sugar free, this beverage was a new Insurance4everyone favourite.
It was only when I was at the head of a line serviced by a new shop trainee that I realised this world of complexity had a lot to teach my business of retail insurance. A coffee shop, after all, must outline the options available to a customer and sell them their product quickly and succinctly. Standing there, witnessing the panic on the new sales assistants eyes as I rattled out buzzwords like “skinny”, “light” and “medium” (yes I do not use another language to indicate the size of the drinking vessel, medium will do fine) it became all to clear that we as an industry take for granted the lingo and sheer volume of choice we provide for clients. His black felt tip frantically trying to tick the right boxes and his pricing stacked up to include the syrup and discount the fact i wouldn't require a seat. Are you seeing the parallels to insurance yet?
All this effort, just for a good old cup of Joe (as our cousins call it); so I was once again reminded about the customer we serve at our insurance shop. It has now sparked a frappucino of ideas about how we talk to you, present our product selection and help you understand the differences between them. If my experience in the coffee franchise is anything to go by, not only do customers not like to ask when they don’t understand, brands often have no problem fitting their own jargon into the customers order. In the case of insurance, the culture imposed is not user friendly in the slightest and our product, lets face it, is not as well regarded as a mocha.
For coffee this might fit the style and become the brand, for insurance, things are clearly different. This has been our attitude in shaping our brand strategy for 2010, by applying 0% gimmicks to what we do and focusing on the service, product and customer understanding, we're confident our shop will be a great place to buy your insurance.
If you, as customers, have any peeves or ideas about how you buy insurance. Let us know, we love a good debate on operations…
James*
Branding & Marketing
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