AgentSmart

Sales & Marketing Tips

It’s Hurricane Season! Are Your Clients’ Trips Protected?

You helped your client book the perfect couple’s getaway to an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. But two weeks before their departure, a category four hurricane threatens to level their plans entirely. They’re asking you if they can postpone their trip, but they passed on your recommendation to buy travel insurance. What now?

This puts you in a tough position. But it’s also preventable if you know the facts and can guide your client to the right insurance plan when booking their trip. Here’s what you can do next time:

Explain What Travel Insurance May Cover

Anytime a client is planning to book a trip to a coastal destination with a history of hurricane activity during hurricane season (June 1 – November 30), ask if they’ve considered travel insurance and educate them on how the right plan can protect their trip.

For any covered reasons, Allianz Travel Insurance plans can provide a cancellation refund of all pre-paid non-refundable travel expenses or reimburse your client for the cost of a hotel room, meals and transportation if their trip is delayed or their vacation is interrupted. Also, trip interruption coverage can reimburse them for expenses incurred to get home or to another destination. The following scenarios may be covered:

  • Storm Damage: If a hurricane causes severe damage to make your client’s travel accommodations at their destination—or their primary residence—reasonably unfit for living.
  • Cancellation/Delay: If an airline, cruise line, or travel operator ceases all services for 24 consecutive hours due to a severe storm, or a travel delay will cause a client to miss half or more of their trip (they must make efforts to continue their travel).
  • New Benefits: Under new benefits added in our 2018 product enhancements, all our plans include Mandatory Evacuation as a covered reason, and the highest level coverage (Premier) plan now includes Hurricane Warning.

Read more about hurricane-related trip cancellation and interruption benefits.

Be Aware of Restrictions

As in the couples’ getaway to Punta Cana, it’s too late to buy travel insurance to protect a trip after the storm has been named. So encourage your client to purchase travel insurance when they book their trip, rather than delaying the decision. This ensures that their trip is protected and you earn the commission on the sale.

Secondly, when a severe storm is announced, remind your client that they shouldn’t prematurely cancel their plans. To be eligible for coverage, their destination accommodations must have been affected already, or their travel carrier must have already cancelled or delayed their travel itinerary.

Vacations are an Investment Worth Protecting

Vacations can be a large expense, and some travelers may save all year to afford their annual trip. A client shouldn’t be buying insurance out of fear; rather, you could mention cases of past clients who were fortunate to have trip insurance when their plans were affected. You might point out possible things that could go wrong, especially if they’re visiting an area known for hurricane activity, and how relieved they’ll be if their trip expenses are insured.

For clients who may be anxious about planning a trip when hurricane activity is typically at its peak, travel insurance can give them more confidence in booking their trip, knowing they’ll have a financial safety net. Once they’re protected, it makes you look better and more knowledgeable, and they’ll thank you if any natural disasters do occur. Now you can sleep at night knowing you’ve done everything to help protect your client’s vacation.

No matter what unexpected events happen between now and your client’s trip, you want to be able to reassure them that their vacation is in good hands. If a hurricane does impact their plans, at least the worst case scenario could be they’ll have to postpone their trip, but they haven’t lost their vacation funds.

Related topics: 31 Covered Reasons for Client Peace of Mind

Creating a Successful Follow up Strategy for Travel Insurance

A newlywed couple comes to you to plan an amazing trip to Ireland; right in the heart of Dublin, they’re ready to take on their exciting adventure. But when it comes to securing travel insurance to protect it all…not quite yet.

“No worries. We’ll take the information and read it over...just in case.”

As a travel advisor, you’re all too familiar that travel can be unpredictable. While going on vacation is a great opportunity to recharge, an unexpected setback in plans without travel insurance can be the difference between a calm & collected experience and a stressful one.

But for the clients who have never used travel insurance or experienced an issue while traveling, the importance of including insurance to their vacation can be easily overlooked.

To help increase your chances of making the sale for travel insurance and protect your clients and their investment, here are our tips on how to create a successful follow-up strategy:

Do your homework

We know that travel insurance can be a complicated subject. With varying benefits and levels of protection, it’s no surprise that many travelers have a lot of questions when it comes to travel insurance.

To help provide clarity and context, we recommend brushing up on your travel insurance knowledge regularly to increase your credibility. After all, travelers who are familiar with the benefits of travel insurance are twice as likely to purchase it.

At Allianz Global Assistance, we strive to equip travel advisors with the most helpful sales and marketing tools so that they can feel confident talking about travel insurance to their clients. Here are a couple of tools to help you get started:

Agent Marketing Guide:

Learn how to optimize your travel insurance sales with this interactive, online flipbook. It contains our most useful, up-to-date marketing tools for both agents and their clients.

Travel Agent Academy:

Boost your selling potential to better serve your customer. Go to TravelAgentAcademy.com to complete coursework and earn certificates. We have six custom-branded chapters available anytime so you can put your travel insurance knowledge to the test.

Overcoming the Objections

After hours of planning, going back and forth, and finally making a decision, your clients have the perfect vacation lined up with everything they were looking for.

Despite all the preparation, why is it that some travelers choose to opt out of including travel insurance on their vacation?

Reasons to skip on travel insurance can vary from traveler to traveler, but it’s always a good idea to come prepared with a strategy to tackle their doubts on travel insurance. Here are our tips on how you can respond to some of the most common objections:

“My credit card will cover it”

Many travelers opt out of purchasing travel insurance because they believe their credit card can help reimburse them for any emergencies— however, that’s not always the case. How much coverage your client can expect to receive from their credit card largely depends on their credit card provider.

“I already have health insurance”

If your travelers are going abroad, having an insurance plan that can provide sufficient medical coverage can be (literally) a lifesaver. If your clients experience a medical emergency in a foreign country, they may or may not be able to receive benefits from their domestic health insurance provider.

For more information about travel insurance vs. domestic health insurance, click here.

It’s Okay If They Decline

You’ve given it your best shot and your client still doesn’t want to include travel insurance…don’t worry, it happens.

If your clients have said no, we recommend getting them to sign a waiver that they were offered travel insurance and made the decision to decline.

And, as always, if you or your clients have questions about how travel insurance can give them peace-of-mind while they travel, contact our award-winning customer service team today at (800) 284-8300.

Want to know more?

How to Suggest the Right Policy

10 Tips for Creating an Experience Around Travel Insurance

 

Making the Case for Travel Insurance on Any Budget

Travel is a great way to take some much-need time to relax and recharge, but it can also get pretty costly for your clients. According to research conducted by the AARP, cost is the top reason Americans of all ages say they don’t travel more.

For some travelers, when it comes to evaluating the budget for a vacation, travel insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense. After purchasing the plane ticket, booking the hotel, and activities for the trip, how does travel insurance fit into the equation?

Travel insurance exists to protect your clients and their investment.

Like most things in life, it’s hard to predict if something will unexpectedly disrupt your client’s travel plans. Travel can introduce some unexpected risks that even the most seasoned travelers can’t prepare for. While flights, hotels, and activities can be expensive on their own, if your client finds themselves in a sudden situation that causes them to cut their vacation short, they may end up paying expensive out-of-pocket fees if they aren’t insured.

Whether your clients are dealing with missed layover flight, a car accident, or sudden illness, the right travel insurance can help cushion the financial blow of travel mishaps and help your client travel safely until they return home.

Among the most common covered reasons travel insurance can help your clients save money include:

  • Trip Cancellation Protection
  • Trip Interruption Protection
  • Existing medical condition coverage

Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance provides coverage for up to 31 covered reasons for client peace of mind. To learn more, check out our article here.

Travel insurance comes in all shapes and sizes to fit any budget.

Whether your clients are luxury travelers or vacationing on a tight budget, travel insurance can fit into any budget and may actually save them money along the way if things don’t go as planned. Depending on the level of coverage your clients are looking for, travelers can choose from a number of plans that vary in level of cost.

For instance, if your clients are traveling abroad, they may want to consider a more comprehensive plan compared to clients that are only flying a couple of hours away. Ask your clients to consider their investment and level of risk for travel mishaps when they are deciding between plans for travel insurance.

The Price for Peace of Mind

Vacations are supposed to be a relaxing getaway, but it’s not easy to unwind when there’s a possibility of your client’s time and money being upended by an unexpected setback. With travel insurance, your clients don’t have to break the bank while they’re dealing with travel interruptions. At Allianz Global Assistance, our dedicated customer service team is available 24/7 365 days a year to help ensure that your clients can conquer the unexpected, and truly enjoy their vacation free from worry.

As always, if you or your clients have questions about how travel insurance can give them peace-of-mind while they travel, contact our award-winning customer service team today at (800) 284-8300.

Using Storytelling to Strengthen Your Brand

Transcending generations, storytelling has been used throughout history in different cultures all over the world. While the methods have evolved over time, the foundation still remains the same—hearing and telling stories is a fundamental way to process and share information.

In fact, research by Stanford University revealed that stories are remembered up to “22 times more than facts alone.” Because of this, storytelling has become a key element in successful marketing strategy. Many brands today stay away from the traditional approach of commercials and online banners that interrupt consumers from the information they’re looking for and use content marketing, like storytelling, to build a connection with consumers.

In a world where consumers are seeing upwards of 40,000 advertisements per day, incorporating a strong narrative that supports your brand’s message and unique selling points can help your brand rise above the noise and set you apart from your competitors. As travel agents, each trip you help your clients plan lends itself to amazing customer stories that can be shared with other prospective clients. Sharing the stories of your clients can help your brand stand out, build credibility, and drive action from your audience.

What Makes An Impactful Story:

When selecting the stories you want to include in your marketing strategy, first consider your target audience and what they value. Ask yourself: What questions/interests do they have about your business and how can the stories you share answer their needs? Storytelling marketing is all about creating alignment between your brand and what your audience is looking to get out of working with you. By providing content your audience finds valuable, you’ll increase the likelihood they’ll come back for more.

In addition to educating your audience, your stories should drive action. Beyond entertainment, the end goal of storytelling should be to interest your audience enough to want to learn more. Not only can storytelling excite your audience about the possibility of escaping to a relaxing getaway, the stories you tell can also be used to help consumers get inspiration to make the stories you tell a reality for themselves.

Lastly, successful storytelling is also authentic. Consumers believe people, not brands. This is why research sites like TripAdvisor and social media have become go-to resources for travelers who want to consult their peers before making a travel decision. The stories you share should provide credible information that your audience can relate to. Be realistic in your approach, and you’ll find that travelers will not only trust your expertise but come back to you time and time again.

Protecting Their Happy Ending:

Like any great story, travel can bring a number of unexpected plot twists that cause roadblocks for your client’s fairytale ending. Help your travelers be the hero of their travel story by offering them travel insurance so they can travel with confidence and return with an amazing story to tell.

Looking for more content to help you build your sales and marketing strategy? Check out some of our other resources on the blog here and here!

10 Tips for Creating an Experience Around Travel Insurance

Providing above and beyond service for your customers, whether traveling to another state or another country, is important to your brand as a travel agent. When offering travel insurance, here are 10 tips to ensure they have the best experience when considering protection for their vacations.

Be Confident

As a licensed travel agent, having confidence is the key to recommending destinations and services to your customers – especially travel insurance.

Exuding confidence in your presentation of potential benefits included in the plans and preparing yourself to answer common questions about exclusions, or the claims process, gives customers the opportunity to trust the options available to them for protecting their trip.

Educate Yourself on the Product Benefits

Your customers will have questions; arm them with the proper information to solve their problems by brushing up on your product knowledge with resources available to you and your clients to help answer common concerns.

If you need a quick refresher on travel insurance knowledge, try taking a course, read travel articles from the provider, or request information to acclimate yourself with their products and associated benefits.

Position Travel Insurance Positively

Warning clients of the dangers that come with not planning against the unexpected can put a dark cloud over a sunny Jamaica honeymoon.

Talking about the importance of travel insurance doesn’t have to be scary. When discussing the need for travel insurance, having an optimistic outlook and highlighting the benefits it could provide can be the difference between enlightening a new customer and scaring them away.

Step Into Your Customers Shoes

When positioning travel insurance to your customers it’s important to consider the product through their eyes. Are they traveling with young children? Do they have a pre-existing condition? Does their itinerary include exclusions they should be aware of?

Being able to assess each vacation need from your customers’ perspective is an extremely valuable skill that can help bring forward the benefits that would be most useful to them – providing them the highest degree of service.

Offer Protection at Multiple Touchpoints

Waiting until checkout to introduce customers to the potential for travel insurance can seem like an upsell, or just another added cost.

Instead, introduce the importance and benefits of travel insurance at several different touchpoints of the customer journey. For example, educating them on the potential value of the baggage loss feature is a great benefit to highlight after they’ve secured their airfare.

Build a Dialogue

Help your customers understand the benefits of travel insurance by listening to their needs and concerns with a “feel, felt, found” statement.

You may notice, for example, a customer has declined travel insurance because they are in good health. Using a “feel, felt, found” statement:

  • Reassure your customer that you understand how they feel about not wanting travel insurance because they are in sound health.
  • Remind them that a lot of other customers have felt the same way about travel insurance medical benefits and their concern is common and valid.
  • Educate them that many have also found it to be beneficial in situations where health insurance could not provide benefits – like being able to return home should an immediate family member like a parent or child, become ill.

Be Flexible in your Approach

With global and local incidents arising more frequently, customers have an increased concern with the general safety of travel.

As a travel agent consider different ways to approach destinations and attractions affected by tragedy.  Educating yourself on the restrictions, exclusions, and potential benefits available in case of a tragic event, and thinking outside the box when approaching the conversation of travel insurance can help customers prepare for the unexpected.

Stay Patience with Customers

Every customer and vacation is different. Some clients purchase a plan with every trip, while others are unfamiliar with what travel insurance includes and want more information to help consider their options.

Understand that your customer may need some time to think things over before making a decision. Provide them with information such as brochures, supplier websites, and the contact number for the insurance provider and encourage them to reach out with any questions.

Use Tools That Help You Follow-Up

As the season heats up, so does the amount of back-end work required to keep all of your itineraries on track. Managing your clients’ travel information is a balancing act in itself, let alone remembering to follow up with them about purchasing travel insurance before their trip.

Using a tool such as Allianz Global Assistances’ Agentmax Online can not only help manage your customers travel insurance information in one location, but the 2nd Chance by Maxmail feature can send automated follow-up emails to reluctant customers –creating one less task on your to-do list.

It’s Okay If They Decline

The challenges and opportunities involved with offering travel insurance can’t be overstated. Having solid sales and follow-up strategies will reinforce your credibility as an agent while helping you close a tough, but important, conversation.

If you’ve made a good faith attempt to protect their vacation, but the answer is still no, as a best practice, we recommend getting customers to sign a waiver stating they were offered and declined to purchase travel insurance.

These customer experience tips are a great way to begin the conversation about travel protection with your customers. If you or your clients have further questions, please contact our customer service representatives at 800-284-8300 for more information.

Influence Your Approach Through Feedback


Did you know that the average business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers? 1

Dedicating yourself to gathering, organizing, and sharing customer feedback can play an important role in helping you reach your goals as an agent – and better understand the needs of your clients.  Here’s how:

#1 Feedback influences your approach

Listening to your customers shows that you care about them and the interactions they have with you beyond the bottom line.

Using customers’ feedback assesses where you need to improve as an agent and provides insight into what experiences your customers’ desire when reaching out to you and your agency.

Customers aren’t always inclined to make it plain as to what they expect from you, so focus on their attitudes towards certain questions, and identify patterns in the responses you receive. When discussing travel insurance look for things like:

  • Common problems or questions such as how to file a claims forms, or when to expect payment.
  • Misunderstandings in benefits like the difference between travel delays and travel interruptions, or what is considered a covered reason.
  • The need for technology that can improve the communication process pre and post trip.

#2 It can refine an understanding of your primary customers

Using customer feedback when offering travel insurance can help you as an agent understand your customers and their specific needs.

If you often plan vacations for families; gathering feedback from parents such as testimonials, primary reasons for using travel insurance, or even negative experiences can help you understand what encourages them to purchase travel insurance.

For example, you may find that when discussing benefits with families it’s important to highlight the baggage protection and potential free coverage of children under 17 given the number of bags and small children traveling with them.

#3 Expand upon your training and development

Asking your customers for feedback helps you to continuously evolve as an agent. By understanding where you can further develop and what you can do enhance your customers’ experience, you can take your agencies reputation above and beyond.

When assessing feedback look for areas where you are excelling and plan how you can continue to do more. If you notice areas that need improvement, for example in using social media to promote travel insurance, take courses or request resources that can help you develop as an agent.

Developing a feedback loop that uses real data to improve your daily interactions with your clients can give you the added advantage you need as an agent to provide your customers with the experiences they desire time after time.

1 – Help Scout Blog

What Makes a Great Customer Experience


Exceptional experiences are something we all strive for with our customers. That’s because we know that providing a positive experience not only creates lasting memories our travelers’ desire, but it keeps them coming back time after time.

So what exactly makes a great customer experience? It goes beyond single touchpoints like answering a call, responding to an email, or face-to-face interactions. Great customer experiences rely on the way your customers feel and engage with you as an agent throughout their entire customer journey.

Implementing a customer experience driven mind-set can not only help increase your travel insurance goals, but it can also improve your performance as an agent.

It develops intention in your interactions

Having a focus on supplying each customer with a great experience creates a framework for your day-to-day interactions. Each touchpoint, from the initial inquiry or booking travel, to the post conversation after they’ve arrived home is intentional and deliberate.

Here at Allianz Global Assistance, we dedicate ourselves to providing great service at every touchpoint –including purchase, policy service interactions, travel assistance and claims management. These touchpoints help us define how the customer feels about Allianz Global Assistance as the Travel Insurance provider and allows us to constantly refine our process.

Using the daily interactions you make with your customers, improve your process over time, develop a system that helps you perform more efficiently and effectively with your clients, and continue to adjust over time to improve their engagement.

It gives you customer perspective through feedback

Another great way to enhance your customers’ experience is to measure and improve your approach through feedback.

Our survey process, for example, includes using surveys to gain insight from thousands of customers every week and speech analytics tools to monitor customer service interactions that are handled over the phone. From this feedback we have infused our short term and long term goals as an organization to continuously improve ho we engage our customers.

By collecting feedback from your customers on your individual performance, you can identify pain points and, more importantly, prioritize actions to improve their experience. When collecting feedback from customers, identify patterns and areas of opportunity that can lead to both personal improvement and can influence improvement in your agency at large.

It can create action across the board

After developing an experience for each touchpoint of your customers’ journey, and actively engaging them for feedback throughout the process, it’s time to create an action plan that will continue or improve upon what delights your customers.

Some changes can be small– such as reaching out more frequently as their trip departure date arrives to remind them of their itinerary and the additional services they may have purchased, such as travel insurance.  Other changes may involve management adjusting a process that has proven to be frustrating to customers across the board.

Recently, we’ve updated a small, but impactful touchpoint in our customers experience based on overwhelming requests from our end-customers. “There was overwhelming feedback suggesting we include a bullet point list of benefits on insurance policies and simpler, shorter descriptions.” Says Mike Nelson, CEO of Global Travel and Americas at Allianz Worldwide Partners.  “This is a simple fix but something we didn’t consider until seeing the frequency and consistency of the feedback.”

A larger more profound change in our organization was the way we spoke about insurance all together.

“Another outcome was to address concerns over “insurance-speak.” We completely rewrote our policy documents to make the policy language more intuitive and easier to understand, as well as create a “declarations page,” which is a brief list-style summary of our coverage and benefits.”

By carefully paying attention to the customer experience provided either in your daily interactions or through your agency as a whole, listening to your clients can provide you with the information you need to make their travel experiences even better.

 

 http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/customer-experience-the-allianz-way.html

(Source)

How to Suggest the Right Policy In 3 Steps


Suggesting the right travel policy for your customers can be an experience that’s both empowering and overwhelming at the same time.

The process can be empowering because finding the right travel insurance policy for your customer and their family – whether it’s through Allianz Global Assistance or another provider – gives them a strong sense of security and confidence, with some built-in personalization. They can pay for the benefits they want and need and cater their coverage to your itinerary and recommendations.

But on the other hand, this rampant diversification of policies has created some confusion in both the consumer marketplace and their agents. No two policies are the same, even if they appear the same on the surface. Benefits, coverage levels, and even the fine print can differ greatly or subtly among policies, leaving agents who don’t  do their homework with the potential of believing that a policy offers coverage that it simply doesn’t, or worse—neglecting to mention something that it does. It can all be a bit overwhelming.

That said there are some simple steps that savvy travel planners can take to ensure that your travelers and their travel insurance company are on the same page, so to speak. Here are three steps for helping you to suggest the right travel insurance policy:

Ask Questions

Yes, you can absolutely ask Allianz Global Assistance questions to help you hone in on the right travel insurance policy to recommend based on your planned excursions. But first, ask yourself some questions about your travelers and their itinerary. These include:

  • What are the possible risks? This may impact whether you choose, for example, Allianz Global Assistance’s lower-priced Essential Plan vs. its more robust Classic Plan.
  • What do they have to lose—a flight or much more? If your traveler is flying out for a week of leisure and has a completely open itinerary, they likely have less to lose than someone who saved over the past year for their family’s first Caribbean cruise.
  • How are they getting there? A New Hampshire road trip may warrant different protection than two layovers.
  • Are they a frequent traveler? If you find yourself planning multiple trips a year for certain customers, you may create some additional savings for them by opting to suggest an annual plan instead of insuring each individual trip.

Know that when your travelers purchase a plan from Allianz Global Assistance, they have some time to review their travel insurance policy, a window of time that’s determined by their home state. If you find that they need more or less coverage, and haven’t yet departed or filed a claim, we can help make sure they embark with the best plan for them.

Compare Plans

The best way to learn what each travel insurance plan offers is to dig into the benefits and levels of coverage. By showing an understanding of these details, and overlaying them with an itinerary and the level of risk they’re taking, you’ll be able to find the right match for travel plans.

For example, you may be looking at recommending the Essential Plan, but decide that they really do need baggage coverage for the number of layovers in their itinerary. Or you may initially be attracted to the Basic Plan, but see that the missed connection coverage offered by the Classic Plan is best for their anniversary cruise. Using a plan comparison tool, such as ours, will help make the review process easier for you and your travelers.

Read the Fine Print

Part of our job is to make sure your travelers have no surprises with their travel insurance policy. And while we work hard to clearly state our benefits and coverage levels, it’s also very important for travelers to review policies in full. This includes understanding existing medical condition exclusions, knowing what happens when a travel provider on their itinerary defaults, and learning covered reasons for trip cancellation and interruption. By setting aside even a small amount of time with your travelers to become familiar with a specific plan’s details, they’ll be able to pack their bags knowing that they may encounter some surprises on their travels – but not from us.

Selecting and understanding a travel insurance policy is easy. Encourage your travelers to ask questions, fully explore all of our travel insurance policies, and to read up on all the policy details. Then you can relax knowing we’ve got their back.

Keeping Vacations Afloat

Traveling has its ups and downs, and while the unexpected is just that, unexpected – there are a few things that your clients can do to lessen the blows from travel mishaps.

We spoke to our assistance team, and they gave us five common mistakes customers make while traveling and tips to help them understand how to protect their vacations.

Mistake #1: Not leaving a back-up person while they’re away

When going on vacation, even if only for a weekend, encourage clients to tell a trusted friend or family member about their travel itinerary, and remind them to leave copies of important travel documents or personal information while they’re away.

In case of an emergency, having someone to contact with necessary information on hand can help an assistance team member provide service or help replace lost or stolen documents. If they’re traveling for an extended period of time, having a person take care of their belongings also helps prevent theft, robbery, or damage to their property at home.

Mistake #2: Packing valuables in their checked luggage instead of keeping them on-hand

Baggage can get lost, stolen, or damaged. To avoid losing expensive items while en route – remind travelers to place valuable items like electronics, cash or credit cards, jewelry, and travel documents in their carry-on.

Bonus Tip: Packing a light outfit in their carry on can also come in handy if they unexpectedly find themselves having to spend the night in LaGuardia, or their bags have decided they would rather visit Milan than Rome.

Mistake #3: Failing to notify credit card companies of their travel plans

Most financial institutions have implemented fraud detection to keep their customers’ accounts and information safe. While it’s in their customers best interest, getting a notification that their account has been frozen for suspicious activity while away on vacation is a terrible feeling. Alerting the bank of their travel plans beforehand can make accessing cash while away a walk in the park.

As an extra precaution carrying a safe amount of cash or traveler checks is also a great idea in the event there is an emergency and unable to access their account for whatever reason.

Mistake #4: Misunderstanding local culture and customs

A new location means a new law of the land. Becoming familiar with the customs and norms of a new country, or even a new city, can help travelers make the most of their vacations without confusion. However, if they should find themselves in any danger, advise them to first call emergency responders, contact local authorities, and report any incident that occurs.

Mistake #5: Not continuing to travel through the pitfalls

Travel hiccups happen to the best of us – a fender bender on the way to the airport, getting bumped from a flight, or an event getting canceled. When travel pitfalls occur, encourage your clients to continue their vacation.

While it can be difficult to proceed on a vacation through the downfalls, if they have purchased travel insurance certain claims for benefits such as trip interruption or delay may require them to have made a good faith attempt to keep their trip going, which typically means taking at least half of the trip.

These common mistakes are useful talking points to begin the conversation about the importance of travel insurance with your customers. If your clients have questions about how travel insurance benefits can assist travel plans, please have them contact our customer service representatives at 800-284-8300 for more information.

Overcoming Domestic Traveler Objections

“We’re only going a few hours away…” and Other Domestic Traveler Objections

When planning extended trips around the world or even across the country, offering travel insurance is easy. Why? Well, destinations are further away, costs are significantly higher, and the risk of cancellation or delay is something to protect against. Toss in that many health insurance providers may not offer coverage overseas, and travel insurance is a sound decision.

When vacationing closer to home however, seeing the value of travel insurance is a bit difficult. If an accident takes place, personal health or auto insurance could provide needed coverage. Or if they’ve traveled domestically in the past without incident, it seems like more of an added cost than an added benefit.

Finding the value in travel insurance for domestic travelers is a challenge, but there are practical ways to help overcome these objections.

Mention the Need for Travel Insurance Early and Often

“We’re only going a few hours away; I doubt we’ll need it.”

Travel Insurance helps to protect the entire trip investment, even if they’re only going 100 miles from home. Highlighting its importance in the beginning and throughout the planning process as costs add up brings an understanding to the total investment that could be covered while on vacation.

Remember, even if destinations aren’t far from home, planned activities, tickets, or accommodation costs may be non-refundable.

Encourage Protecting the Unexpected

“This is our 5th time going and everything has been great in the past.”

You’ve planned the family reunion in Myrtle Beach for the last 5 years with zero hiccups. You know the resort owners and staff by name, and the family adores that it’s tucked away with hardly any people, even during the busy season. This year however, you get a call that the company has gone out of business only days before the trip.

Supplier default happens, sometimes without warning or room for preparation. Travel insurance can be a huge benefit and sigh of relief when having to cancel or rearrange trip plans. 

Reference Past Customer Experiences

“Everyone I know has said it was a waste, plus it’s not like we’re leaving the country.”

Many travelers have the notion that travel insurance is designed for larger scale trips abroad. They may have several friends who have vacationed to a nearby beach, and even with some hiccups in their trip, it was nothing their health insurance couldn’t cover, or a financial issue their credit card provider couldn’t solve.

Yes, it may be easy to handle travel dilemmas alone, but that doesn’t mean they should have to. Referencing past experiences of how travel insurance has helped other customers may shock them. It’s surprising how common these concerns are, and how easy they could be resolved with travel insurance.

Emphasize the Importance of ALL the Benefits

“Emergency medical coverage? I have insurance. I don’t want to pay for benefits I won’t need.”

Medical coverage is one great benefit to have, but travel insurance spans beyond medevacs and emergency dental coverage.

For example, if they’re called into Jury Duty the day their flight takes off, or find themselves swimming in Kleenex when they should be floating in a lazy river, the right policy could provide useful benefits that help move their trip. Travel insurance, unlike health insurance, also provides protection for everyone listed on the trip policy. So if their best friend rolls an ankle while hiking in Colorado, their entire trip investment may not be wasted if they have to miss the second half of their excursion.

The reasons against using travel insurance for domestic trips are limitless. When thinking about how to overcome the objections of travelers staying close to home remember, whether 100 or 1,000 miles, having some form of trip protection will always provide peace of mind.