John Hancock’s Commitment to Life

John Hancock is a business built on trust, expertise and longevity. Today, they are marrying the best of a 161-year-old company with leading-edge innovation to not only make life insurance easier and faster to buy, but to fundamentally help people live longer, healthier, better lives.

As you know, technology is reshaping many aspects of the insurance business; digital touchpoints and real-time access are accelerating the buying process, but also driving preferences when it comes to sales support and relationship management. 

In this interview, we talk with Fred DeMinico, Head of Sales, and Michelle Dauphinais, Head of Distribution, about how John Hancock is modernizing while staying true to the foundation on which it was built.

Fred, as the life insurance industry continues to evolve, how is John Hancock adapting to meet customers’ changing needs?

Customers are at the center of everything we do; we don’t have a job without them. I want to emphasize that in our business ‘customer’ refers to both our distribution partners and our end customers. We know they both expect John Hancock to provide innovative thinking and deep expertise and are constantly evolving to meet them where and how they want to be met. We’ve always viewed distribution support as a core competency and are continually investing in ways to better engage our customers. We have focused considerable effort on both customer-facing and virtual support, at the same time, adding layers of subject matter experts to accentuate the model. We are also committed to enhancing our capabilities when it comes to advanced markets, competitive intelligence, inforce management, and specialty markets like foreign nationals and multi-life. 

We can’t talk about modernization without addressing artificial intelligence (AI). Michelle, AI has the power to transform the life insurance industry — what are some practical applications you see adding value to your business in the next few years?

Customers today expect the brands they to choose to know them, and they demand tailored experiences like they get from Netflix or Amazon. They want their insurance providers to offer the same level of customization and engagement, and AI can help us enhance our efficiency, better serve our customers, and meet this demand with the relevant information they need in a personalized way. 

This customization should also extend to our distribution partners in how we reach them in the market and deliver our unique offerings.  At John Hancock, we’ve already begun using AI to empower our sales team to better understand our distributors and modernize our interactions by tailoring products or planning techniques that match their individual markets and customers.

Fred, how has the innovation in the industry impacted the way John Hancock designs their products and structure of your distribution model?

From a pure product standpoint, we are proud of our strong general account capabilities that deliver leading policy value, stable designs that work well for customers in all economic conditions, and meaningful choice where the cost and benefit can be readily understood. But, our mission at John Hancock is really to make sure every product or concept stems from a customer need. When we introduced John Hancock Vitality in 2015, we made a commitment to sell insurance products that add value to the customer’s life from the day they buy the policy. The program aims to reward healthy behavior and helps customers improve their health and longevity. It has fundamentally changed the way we engage with our customers and run our business. Knowing that illustrative performance can be fleeting, we design our offerings — and build our team — to deliver a uniquely unparalleled value that goes beyond sheer policy value. 

John Hancock’s brand is anchored in trust. Michelle, how can we as an industry build transparency and trust around AI in the insurance buying process?

AI is a powerful tool that can help enhance the insurance buying process, making it faster and easier.  As an industry, we have a responsibility to collaborate around regulations and standards that place the end customer front and center, including education and transparency around how artificial intelligence is being applied.  Like any modern purchase process, our industry will evolve to facilitate customer preference, allowing opt-in or opt-out routes and creating ways for customers to share feedback. We can maintain trust by putting a customer-first focus on protecting data and privacy while using innovation to make our product and services easier to purchase and own. 

As you mentioned, Fred, so much of this business relies on relationships. How do you balance the need to digitize with the importance of the human element? 

Yes, we pride ourselves on having fantastic relationships with our distributors — a core competency of our business which has allowed us to stand the test of time. But, even the best relationships will deteriorate if you deliver poor experiences. A well prescribed digital strategy coupled with those deeply rooted relationships becomes a differentiator and key competitive advantage if executed properly. Personalization is a game-changer in our industry. The data and advanced analytics we have allow us to further understand customer needs and recommend tailored solutions to fit evolving demands, which in turn makes our distributors job much easier. 

Michelle, looking forward, what do you think are the most significant factors that will shape the future of the life insurance industry?

The rise of digital and omnichannel distribution, which offer more convenience, choice, and customization to customers. Customers will expect to access life insurance products and services anytime, anywhere, and through any device. Not only do new policy sales benefit from personalization, as Fred talked about, but there are also plenty of cross-selling opportunities to deliver proactive and personalized offers at the right price point.  

Innovation should align with customer demand and behavioral insurance platforms are where our end customers are telling us they want to engage. If we combine AI, behavioral insurance (like John Hancock’s Vitality Program) and modern digital experiences, we can help more consumers access the important protection, and added value, our products offer through a simple purchase process. 

These are exciting times to be in the industry and shape a new era of innovation.  We can build deeper relationships throughout the entire customer journey, engaging differently and more personally, every step of the way.

To learn more about the value John Hancock can bring to your business, visit johnhancock.com.

For Financial Professional Use Only. Not intended for use with the General Public.

Vitality is the provider of the John Hancock Vitality Program in connection with the life insurance policy and Healthy Engagement rider.

Insurance products issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA 02116 (not licensed in New York) and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY 10595.

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