Brandon Garbutt | Managing Director | Capital Legacy | mail me |
I am calling on the insurance and fiduciary services industry to stop the practice of generating inaccurate product comparisons. Unfortunately, negative and inaccurate product comparison has entrenched itself in our industry, causing damage to companies and leading to mistrust by consumers.
We are trying to make sure that the industry provides solutions to real problems, providing an important service to the consumer. Through inaccurate competitor marketing, we are not providing solutions or benefits to the advisor and consumer, we are just telling the market what we think another company does wrong.
Encouraging innovation
All Insurance and Fiduciary companies have their place to provide solutions to the real problems consumers experience. We should allow the consumer to decide which suits them best.
Instead of encouraging innovation and providing useful product information and material for advisors and consumers, competitor comparisons stifle innovation and competition.
Companies are often more concerned with the actions of another company and how it impacts the business, rather than focusing on innovation and solution-driven products and services for the consumer.
Our products, for example, exist solely for solving problems that traditional insurance and fiduciary services companies were battling to solve – drafting Wills at no cost and taking care of the exorbitant fees clients’ estates have to pay for their beneficiaries to inherit.
Inaccurate product comparisons present false information as fact and make it difficult for advisors to choose the best products for their clients.
Other industries – including the most innovative, such as Android and Apple – market their unique features and benefits to the consumer and allow the consumer to investigate and decide which product suits their needs the best.
Features and benefits of both are marketed to retailers and consumers allowing them to decide for themselves which suits their needs the best.
Tendencies in presenting inaccurate information
Instead, in the insurance and fiduciary services industry, companies find it easier to present inaccurate information on a competitor in the hope that advisors and consumers will switch allegiances, instead of showing the benefits and features of their products to allow advisors and consumers to make up their own minds.
I call on insurance and fiduciary services companies to lead the way with solution-driven marketing instead of discrediting one another. Let’s give advisors and clients the power to make informed financial decisions.
