KIA&B 2015 Volume 20, Issue 2 | Page 4

| PRESIDENT’S PAGE | The big, bad wolves Find opportunity instead of fear in facing the industry’s newest big, bad wolves SUEANN SCHULTZ KAIA President B y now every agent has seen the Big Bad Wolves (aka Google, Walmart, Amazon, Zenefits, etc.) enter into the retail insurance industry. The question is – are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolves … or do you see it as an opportunity to differentiate yourself to your clients and prospects? In order to not just compete, but to beat the BBW, you have to understand what they do and, more importantly, why have they decided to get into our industry. first, what are they? • Huge, mass consumer touchpoint vendors (vendors of products, services and/or information); • All of them have tremendous capital for investment growth; • All of them are constantly innovating and changing in anticipation of consumer demands (they don’t wait until the consumer forces change); • Massive online presence (yet Walmart continues to evolve their physical presence – how many Walmart Fresh Market locations have you seen lately); • Businesses not afraid of the insurance regulatory environment (Zenefits challenged the Utah insurance regulation regarding “rebating” by challenging the Utah legislature as being “hostile to innovation” – which promptly caused the state legislature to promote legislation authorizing changing the rebating laws to allow the Zenefits services); • Consumer data compilation is a key strategy. They know more about each online user, their purchasing habits