When Greg Raymond created Insurance Hero three years ago, he was targeting a specific demographic – but buying online is resonating with more than just the millennial market.
“We built out business with the millennials in mind,” says Raymond, the director of Insurance Hero. “That is definitely the way of the future. When the client realizes they don’t have to drive 20 minutes to find our office and pay for parking – that they can apply for insurance from the comfort of their home, or from their smart phone while dining in a restaurant – they are ready to buy into it.”
Even the bricks-and-mortar brokerage Raymond Insurance is seeing a dynamic shift in how they do business.
“Given the choice to come to the office to sign documents or to sign it online, nine times out of 10 they will say they want to sign it electronically,” he told Insurance Business. “Just because it is so much easier.”
Although the business was built for millennials, Raymond is seeing an entirely new – and very large – market opening up to buying insurance online.
“We’re also seeing an influx of the older generation, the baby boomers, who are gravitating to this online experience,” says Raymond. “We do have some seniors who are part of our client base, and the feedback we get from them is just as good as from an 18-year-old who just purchased his first car.”
Insurance Hero uses electronic signatures and has online chat support, says Raymond, and does a lot of its communication via social media. The company is a finalist for an Innovation Award at the upcoming Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario banquet in October.
“We’re a virtual brokerage,” he says. “We leverage technology to simplify the insurance buying experience.”
Although the core focus for Insurance Hero is auto insurance, the Raymond has just launched a commercial insurance division, and is making inroads with the online approach. (continued.)
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“A lot of business owners are gravitating to the online search engines to get insurance advice and quotes,” he says, “and we’re happy to be among the top of the search engine results for those types of key words.”
Optimizing search engines, ensuring that Insurance Hero is among the key words, is a crucial part of the business, says Raymond.
“We do spend a lot of time and effort – and money – at making sure we rank near the top,” he says.
Look for the September issue of Insurance Business magazine to see how millennials perceive the insurance industry.
