Keeping customers' interest

It is true that the current mantra from all sides appears to be the burning necessity for brokers and all businesses to engage more effectively with their customers. The reasoning for this rests within a recognition that the traditional broker model may be at odds with a significant change in customer psyche. I use 'customer' here to stand for all of us: we are all changing in how we relate to purchasing decisions and the assistance we expect and want in the process.

The traditional broker interaction model is often heavily transactional and based around intermittent contacts almost exclusively focused on some form of renewal or new cover. These contacts are often person-to-person - many brokers insist that this human contact cements relationships and reassures the customer that his or her needs are being looked after personally by an expert.

All of the above has been true and, for many older customers, may still hold water. Yet, if we examine the changes in customer psyche that have been well documented and proven by other sectors, this traditional model may not prove sustainable. The new consumer environment we all operate and are immersed in is characterised by such elements as: 24-7 availability regardless of location; consumers' high opinion of themselves (we do not like to be told things blindly when, in the media, we are asked for our views, votes and opinions and listened to as such); we trust the opinions of strangers before we will trust adverts (78% of consumers trust a stranger's review while only 14% trust adverts*); we expect to be self-educating (the web is one giant resource and facilities such as Wikipedia encourage us all that we are only moments away from becoming well informed on any subject); we expect to share information on an open, free and rolling basis; we expect fulfilment to be easy and to fit into how we like to live our lives.

None of the above means that today's consumers totally reject old methods of interaction - they are more likely to do business with organisations that recognise the above and engage with them accordingly. A salutary test is to ask yourself which you prefer to respond to: a text or a letter?

It is this new world of freedom and multi-channel communications that is driving the need for more effective customer engagement. When examined in this light, the traditional broker model faces clear challenges. Consumers no longer want or need personal contact because they are happy to deal electronically: they will self-educate on products and providers, receive advice from other consumers and act on it and build trusting relationships through constant interaction. This is all in stark contrast to an annual transaction.

It is this last point that is most important: consumers want a relationship based upon honesty, openness and trust and will seek out businesses that provide these. Consumers interact, receive information, communicate and make judgements in a different way today. This is the age of open, constant dialogue led by the generation that knows only a digital world, a market sector now 30 years old that is reshaping commerce.

The route to this generation's hearts is through more effective engagement using their preferred channels, for example by delivering updates to their BlackBerry or iPod, or by enabling online forums or blogs on an interactive website and by using social networking sites.