WASHINGTON—In a time when communication happens more often through a mobile device than face-to-face, agents must move beyond their old word-of-mouth marketing strategies and embrace social-media outlets to connect with a new generation of insurance customers, a business professor contends.
Speaking today at the annual Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of American Legislative Conference and Convention here, Richard Honack, professor of business at Northwestern University, says recent changes in technology are breathtaking: computers are becoming dinosaurs, replaced by smartphones and other devices; a television can display 16 different channels on one screen; and in the future, while driving in a car, information will appear on the windshield simply by speaking.
“Change is happening so fast that you can't keep track,” says Honack, However, customers are adapting more quickly than the insurance industry, which means agents need to adjust in order to remain relevant.
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