Has the Internet Killed Your Industry Yet?
If not, it probably will. Or at the very least, it will change it dramatically.
Just take a stroll down memory lane for the last 15 years......Look
at where the recording industry was 15 years ago. Rolling along,
getting over 80's rock and not a competitor on the horizon as far as
the eye could see.
Then, the internet killed their industry.
Music
went digital, people listened on computers and downloading a song took
roughly a day. Despite that, devices changed, downloading became
minutes and the number one seller of music in the world is a computer
manufacturer named after a fruit.
~~~
What about
the quest for knowledge business? Britannica had huge market share and
was bracing themselves for a formidable battle against a much better
funded competitor in Encarta. Britannica turned down a partnership with
Microsoft stating, "management did not believe that a CD-ROM could
adequately compete or supplement their business." Encarta had better
funding, text/pictures were replaced by videos/audio, some of the best
researchers money could buy and an already established distribution
channel (MS Windows). Britannica had a though battle ahead of it.
Then, the Internet Killed their Industry.
Britannica
has lost the battle, but not to Encarta. Instead, the winner was a free
encyclopedia with a funny name created by "amateurs." If someone knew
something, they wrote it down, if anything was wrong, readers corrected
it. No money exchanged hands, people did it for free and Wikipedia
covered over twenty times as many topics in a few short years than
Encarta and Britannica combined created in centuries. Britannica is on
the brink of going under and Encarta closed down in 2006.
~~~
How
about insurance, or more particular, insurance agents? Insurance agents
used to be considered one of those valued business advisors that you
needed in your network. Through them, business owners/professionals
could connect to customers, partners, distributors and vendors.
Insurance agents were about connecting, not selling insurance.
Has the Internet Killed this Industry?
Not
yet, but after years of neglect, the value-add of many agents is
questionable and customers hear from their agent once
a year to renew their policy. Buying insurance over the web has become
a closer relationship, at least the website emails regularly. Plus,
all the information the customer needs to know is available if they are
willing to do a little digging. Many insurance agents take a week to
get back to customers and when they do, they tell them what is needed rather
than educating.
Fortunately for agents and agencies
that still add value, market-share is there to grab as the order takers
call it quits. Blogging and a LinkedIn account with 500+ connections
should become a licensing requirement. Plus, the companies and
associations that employ these agents have a tremendous opportunity to
provide their agents with insurance content distributed to agents
websites. This would allow the agent to send specific links to customers seeking insurance info, freeing them up to focus on connections and not just selling insurance. If management
doesn't stop worrying about control and start taking the Internet
seriously, insurance agents will become a thing of the past, and their
products along with them.
~~~
Has the Internet Killed your Industry...
Consider
how the economy will rebound. Nevermind what happens in Washington or
to the U.S. Dollar, children of baby-boomers are coming of age and
about to enter their peak "spending years". This generation is 33%
larger than the boomer generation. And they know technology, they grew
up IMing, Texting, using Social Media and are online. They have a
computer with them at all time (mainly the one that used to be called a
phone) and reaching them isn't going to work if you try through
traditional media (they already Tivo through your ads).
In
order to be relevant 15 years from now, companies need to leverage
every resource they have to figure out their industry faster then
internet-only companies. That means getting "amateurs" (a.k.a.- every
employee, local manager, fanchisee, agent or other) involved and doing
business online (not just advertising it). In order to prevent your industry from becoming the next internet casualty, companies need to
invest human and financial capital into understanding how people connect and relate online.
How
much are you investing?
