Insurers looking to win more custom could make significant in-roads with one simple change, if a new report is to be believed.
Insurance marketing specialist QuickPages has discovered that only 28% of insurers are currently providing a contact phone number that is free of charge – yet an eye-catching 62% of customers said they would be more likely to purchase a policy from an insurer if they were able to speak without paying for the call.
For anyone thinking that chatting on a phone is an outdated premise, the results of the report would suggest differently. It found that the volume of people who would purchase from an insurer with a freephone number actually rose to 70% in the 24- to 34-year-old bracket, as well as appealing to 63% of over 55s.
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“Sometimes the simplest things can deliver significant returns. In this case something as low-tech as providing customers with a freephone number can assist customers in their purchasing decision and bolster insurers’ sales conversion rate,” said Sharon Mawson, commercial director at QuickPages.
In addition, a cross-industry study by the IDM found that on average freephone numbers increase the number of customer enquiries by 185% and improve brand perception by over 50%. Furthermore, research by The Henley Centre found that 68% of people feel that companies who offer 0800 numbers care more about their customers.
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