FD Beck Insurance Brokers, which dates back to the 1800s, has a long history of providing various types of insurance which help its clients manage risks and make well-informed decisions. Today, the Melbourne-based company is attuned to the technological demands of its speciality markets and uses state-of-the-art media to build a strong relationship with its customer base.
Simon Pascoe, director of FD Beck Insurance Brokers, recently spoke about the company’s Best Digital Strategy prize at the Insurance Business Awards 2021. The company launched a twofold digital strategy that focuses first on customer education and second on ease of use through automation, he said. For customer education, 22 videos were designed to answer frequently asked questions about professional indemnity and public liability. Blog posts were also shared on the company website and on digital platforms such as LinkedIn. Pascoe said that the videos provide instant online quotes to customers and drive traffic to the FD Beck website.
“Gone are the days when you send a long-winded proposal form to a client and expect them to fill it out and come back to you. So, part of our strategy was to focus on some customer frustrations around proposal forms and transition that to an online form where people can get the instant quotes. I think customers are also trending towards jumping online and getting quotes at a time that suits them, not just in the traditional nine-to-five business hours,” he said.
He added that using technology enables his team to spend less time on administration and more time providing service to clients. Using YouTube videos is inspired by the idea that videos rather than static text are the future of the communication because they are simpler, easier to understand, and preferred by the younger generation.
“I have read that 95% of the message is retained through video as opposed to reading, so that’s why we went down that path. And the key when we were producing the video is to keep each one under a minute – any longer than that and you run the risk of losing [the viewer’s attention],” said Pascoe.
FD Beck Insurance’s emphasis on customer education is meant to build trust with the broker and give customers an opportunity to do their research across different websites so they can understand the product before buying it. This is particularly important for products related to professional indemnity or public liability for sole traders or freelancers, who may not have sufficient understanding of the insurance coverage. Pascoe said that educating the customers can ensure they’re purchasing a product that is most suitable for their needs.
He added that the company had received good feedback measured by the number of video views and website traffic, which were growing consistently. For brokerages who may want to formulate a similar digital strategy, Pascoe’s advice was to dedicate enough time to the project.
“[There are] no shortcuts. We were about 12 months into it before we started to get traction and see the results. It’s certainly not something that you can do for six months and expect to have huge results ... You must consistently create content on an ongoing basis, and it’s something that you just need to keep building on,” he said.
At present, his team is rolling out more videos on social media networks, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and plans to produce more in the coming months.
