Author: Anu Heda

Insurance Providers – Simplify!

I received my term-life insurance statement earlier this month.  It’s a horrible piece of paper with codes, disclosures, and a “premium” on it.  It reminded me of our life insurance buying process.  That went something like this.

Wife:     Shouldn’t we have life insurance now that we have kids?

Me:        I guess.

Wife:     Can you look into it?

[Six months later]

Wife:     Did you look into life insurance?

Me:        Not yet.

Wife:     Don’t you love your children and want them to be secure if tragedy strikes?

Me:        Um, yeah.

Guilty, I embarked on a process to look up rates.  I called agents. I tried creating a spreadsheet with different providers and prices.  And the process was difficult; much harder than buying a new TV or car; similar to buying a home.  There were online questionnaires that ended with “Call this number now!” or worse (We’ll call you every day until you succumb and buy through us.).

A week later, I said exasperatedly, “It looks like we can just get a simple 30-year, $1MM policy through this company. I don’t really know if they’ll be around for 30 years or if the rate is the best.  Let’s just do it.”

Last week, I surveyed 10 friends and family members about their term life buying process.  Not surprisingly, nobody found the buying process easy.  I asked “What was hard about buying?”  Eight people answered with something similar to this, “Figuring out what kind to get and deciding whether or not it is really necessary.”

Now – I understand enough to know that the underwriting and risk management processes are complex.

But difficult back-office processes do not stop other industries from simplifying front-office experiences (do any of us understand how a Google search result works?).  In my research, I found numerous media outlets answering the “what” and “why” questions – like this CNN Money article.  Insurers have important, valuable products; and can ensure prospective customers understand what’s good and the product and what’s good about their product.  Take the first step and simplify.

Testing out Foursquare

(Inspired by the WSJ Mossberg solution)

Over the last four months, I used foursquare on my Blackberry.  I thought to share my thoughts for anyone considering foursquare – personally or for business.

How it works?

foursquare enables people to “check-in” at different locations (mostly businesses), using the GPS in their smart phones.  In the “check-in” process, people can comment on the location with a “shout out.”  foursquare doles out points for visiting locations and as users accumulate points, foursquare gives out badges (e.g. explorer).  The person who visits a location most is dubbed its “mayor.”

Is it useful?

Yes, in two ways.

First, foursquare replaces Yelp or other Web sites that list user-generated reviews.  For example, I can come out of the subway in New York City, open foursquare and search for coffee.  The Blackberry application will list coffee locations and their respective distances from me.  That’s helpful.  It’s much faster than calling up the browser, navigating to Yelp, searching, sorting and reading.  The reviews seem of less quality than the major Web sites, but the access is fast.  It’s also faster than launching Google Maps and accessing reviews Google relates to specific locations.

Second, foursquare is a consumer-oriented marketer’s dream come true.  There’s a “specials nearby” button that provides micro-coupons to the smart phone.  That’s great.  I bought two-for-one strawberries at Whole Foods with a foursquare special.

I don’t really care about foursquare points, badges, or mayoral appointment (but a very socially competitive person may).

Can foursquare help my business?

I don’t envision foursquare selling mutual funds, annuities, or other investments, but insurance comes to mind.   For instance, Allstate could run foursquare specials that tie closely to the “Mayhem ” ad campaign.  Allstate could place a foursquare “special nearby” when users are near select agent offices, discounting for any qualified driver switching car insurance to Allstate.

Improve Your Pitch Book

Here are five easy improvements every startup or small hedge fund can consider to improve the pitch book. They require no investment beyond time and concentration.

Bring the investment team front and center

+ Hedge Funds are trading on the portfolio managers’ ability to make money.  Great pitch books make the managers look credible, innovative, and trustworthy.  Pitch books should begin that process by page 2.

Have a one-sentence objective that (a) engages the reader & (b) differentiates from other hedge funds

+ We see “provide a non-correlated investment that strives to maximize medium-term returns” by the dozen.  Many prospective investors will ask “who doesn’t do that?”  And with 10,000+ hedge fund options, we can’t blame them for asking that question.

Be consistent throughout your pitch book

+ Too many times, the fund’s objective changes throughout the pitch books. The objective written on page 2 differs from the fund’s objective on page 10.  Write one interesting objective and stick with it.  The same goes for mission and team.

Avoid stock photo

+ Compass, lighthouse, chess board, executives shaking hands.  We see these images repeatedly.  At best, they’re ignored.  At worst, they break the continuity and flow within a document.  They are always corny.

Avoid anything smaller than 12-point font

+ Many hedge funds try a “blind them with science” approach.  By that, I mean each page is dense with data, statistics, and bullet points.  Readers appreciate pitch books where each slide introduces a single important idea with supporting points.

We like to help firms go beyond the basics; if you’re interested, please contact us and we’ll set up time for discuss.