Uppsala universitet

Comprehension
HIGH
LOW
Complexity
HIGH
LOW
Insurance
Bank loan
Marketing Strategy
Figure 4.
The importance of a marketing strategy that increases service comprehensibility.
Another particular feature of insurance services is the frequency of contact between the
insurance agent and the customer. Although there are similarities between financial services

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companies in general regarding this matter, insurance companies are at the low-end extreme.
Consider, for example, banking services. A private customer is, for various reasons, in frequent
contact with his or her bank and the banks have consequently, over the last couple of years,
understood the importance of, and been influenced by, relationship marketing. At an increasing
rate they have offered the services of a personal banker, provided the opportunity of electronic
banking and so forth. Even the banks’ business clients have experienced the effects of
relationship marketing in a situation where the key account manager of a bank often plays a
vital role in a firm’s future ability to survive (e.g. Danielsen & Gidhagen, 1995).
However, considering insurance services, both in terms of commercial and private
insurance, the personal interaction between the parties is limited, and in some relationships
there may not even have been a single opportunity to meet personally with the insurance agent.
This requires well-educated and highly trained agents in order to maintain profitable
relationships. Consequently, there is a difference between relationships in banking and
insurance, although stressing the importance of the relationship manager in both cases,
considering the fact that insurance services are more complex and difficult for the customer to
fully comprehend.