We’ve all heard the saying, “You get what you pay for." It’s like the tagline from the Fram oil filter commercials I remember from ten years ago with an auto mechanic saying, “Pay me now, or pay me later."
It's easy to be reminded of both of these sayings when viewing the new Allstate auto insurance marketing campaign focusing on the effect of “mayhem” on drivers and their resulting auto insurance claims.
Here’s a selection of the Allstate Mayhem commercials:
These commercials may provide an opportunity for discussion with clients, probably moreso though for Allstate agents.
In the ads Allstate successfully points out that “cut-rate” auto insurance may not reimburse for “mayhem” claims like when a driver is inattentive, veers off the road, and runs into a light pole, for example.
Or in another ad, a rain and wind storm causes a tree branch to fall on top of a parked car. This actually happened to me about 15 years ago, my insurance at the time did not cover “natural weather events” that caused damage to my vehicle. Luckily the damage was minimal and I was able to fix the car. The mayhem was minimal, and I was lucky.
I was in college, it was my first car, and I bought cheap insurance because I couldn’t afford anything else. That was an important lesson to learn. “Pay me now or pay me later”, and “You get what you pay for”, both applied in this circumstance.
Value is in the eye of the beholder
The point that Allstate makes is that if clients want comprehensive and quality insurance, they need to avoid “cut-rate” insurance plans that don’t cover every circumstance. But, what if that’s all clients can afford? Then “cut-rate” or cheaper insurance that doesn’t cover everything will be best for them. The key is that the client understands exactly what they’re purchasing, and what the policy will and will not cover.
For instance, Progressive Insurance in their TV ads say they allow the consumer to “name their own price”. GEICO says they’ll save a consumer 15% if given 15 minutes of time on the phone. These are both reputable insurers that fill a specific niche of customers looking for value and perhaps, not comprehensive coverage.
Meeting the client’s needs
It is important that clients when making an insurance purchase, understand completely what they’ve bought and why they are paying the premium that’s been set. That’s true if it’s comprehensive coverage with Allstate or if it’s lower cost, non-comprehensive coverage with Progressive Insurance. But of course, clients can get non-comprehensive coverage from Allstate, State Farm, or nearly any auto insurer. Conversely, clients can also get all the bells and whistles with a Progressive policy. It depends on the client’s budget, aversion to/ acceptance of risk, and a myriad of other factors.
Closing the sale
In closing sales, ensuring the client is comfortable with the purchase and their knowledge of what they’ve purchased, will lead to a positive experience and quite possibly policy renewals down the road.
As a result of this ad campaign are you getting questions concerning mayhem coverage?
