Specialization is driving every facet of our lives. In fact, 63% of customers say they’ll stop buying from brands that use poor personalization tactics, according to Smart Insights. And this desire for customization extends to the coverage we choose to help protect our most treasured travel investments – from a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives to a once-in-a-lifetime safari in Tanzania.
“No two travel suppliers are alike, so travel protection shouldn’t be either,” says Beth Godlin, president of the Aon Affinity Travel Practice. “As the travel experience continues to rapidly evolve, it’s important to understand that so too has the role of the traditional travel insurance broker. Today brokers serve as an extension of a travel supplier’s team and act as trusted advisors focused on their changing needs and priorities.”
Here’s a quick breakdown of the three biggest advantages of working with a travel insurance broker to help create a travel insurance program that’s both relevant and adequate.
- We offer insight: The past two years illustrate this point so well. Throughout the pandemic travel insurance brokers have been called upon time and again to help clients understand how the global health crisis is impacting their customers and ensure programs are responding to their needs. And we have been well-positioned to offer that insight because we foster holistic relationships, leverage sophisticated data and analytics, and tap into deep knowledge of the markets and industries served to deliver solutions that help clients meet these challenges
- We make travel insurance easier to sell: Travel suppliers turn to travel insurance brokers for a win-win; they want a product that benefits their customers and drives their bottom line. And we can go beyond what a single product can offer to help clients do just that. We leverage our negotiating power and match travel suppliers with carriers that truly understand their customers’ travel protection needs. And we can even plug and play products from multiple carriers to not only leverage the best offering but to create a program that has the right pricing and benefit customization. That leads to a more personalized program that considers such factors as:
- Travel supplier: Cruise line, online travel agency, tour operator, hotel, or vacation rental
- Customer segment: Air, vacation package, cruise, or car rental
- Customer demographics
- Primary method of sale: Booking path, online, in-store, or post-purchases
- Single or multi-trip
- Destination: Domestic or international, urban, or remote
- Customer needs: Medical and travel delay benefits, concierge services, etc.
When you provide consumers with a complementary, personalized offering at the point of sale for their travel, it makes it easier for the customer to say yes to travel insurance. And that benefits everyone.
- We provide transparency: Collaboration is at the heart of any successful travel protection program. Brokers understand that. We’re able to leverage data-based marketing, analytics, and merchandising expertise to provide transparent reporting to travel suppliers, arming them with clarity and confidence to make better decisions to protect and grow their business. For a travel supplier, this ongoing honest, collaborative approach can be vital in helping to improve customer experience and optimizing program performance.
The Aon Travel Takeaway? “Travel insurance brokers work closely with travel suppliers to gain a deep understanding of their business goals,” says Godlin. “And we also bring a broad perspective to the table. We proactively seek solutions to new challenges that add value. In turn, broker s can help travel suppliers respond to shifting market demands and keep pace with customers’ everchanging needs.”