Developed in 1962 by Everett Rogers, The Diffusion of Innovations Theory is one of the oldest social science theories explaining how, over time, an idea, behavior or product gains momentum and spreads through a specific population. More specifically, this theory applies to benefits advisers in terms of how you approach your clients and how your agency delivers innovation in service, processes, and technology.
According to Rogers, adoption of any new innovation does not happen all at once, it is a process whereby certain cohorts of people are more likely to adopt an innovation earlier than others. There are five cohorts:
- Innovators: These are the first people to try any new innovation. They’re open to taking risks, excited for “the next new thing” and the first to develop new ideas. These are the folks that wait in line for days for new iPhone releases, and the BORs most vulnerable to competitive threats from the likes of Gusto, Namely, or Zenefits, even in their earliest days.
- Early Adopters: These employers are aware of a need to change, and are very comfortable adopting new ideas. They’re often the influencers in a given population and don’t need much information in order convince them to change.
- Early Majority: These employers are rarely the leaders, but they adopt new ideas before the Late Majority and the Laggards, provided they can see evidence proving an innovation is more effective than their current approach. This population will want to see case studies and success stories in order to make a transition.
- Late Majority: This group is more skeptical of change, only adopting an innovation after the majority has adopted it, and will likely need convincing in the form of referrals from their personal network.
- Laggards: This population is conservative and very skeptical of change. They are the hardest group to address with innovation. Appealing to this population is often driven by fear: that in avoiding innovation, they’re missing an opportunity, or become vulnerable to a risk.
I see a lot of brokers looking to address exceptions to the rule in their book of business, rather than looking for a solution that will work for most of their client base. Often, objections -- like “What about the law firm of people over 60 that don't want to move away from paper? Or what about the prison guards that aren't allowed to have computers or smartphones at work?” -- while well-intentioned, tend to paralyze or delay decisions and can even result in bad investments that solve limited use cases rather than forward-thinking solutions that automate or eliminate old-school practices across the majority of a broker’s book of business.
The reality is not every group is ready for technology and automation, especially in outdated industries. However, as a benefits advisor, building your technology strategy around the late majority or laggards in your book of business does your entire agency a disservice. Most of your clients want a forward-thinking advisor to guide them into the future, not a pushover catering mainly to the “squeaky wheels” in your client base.
A technology investment is an investment in the future, and as you’re looking to partner with a technology company, you need to look for technologies that innovate for the early adopters and fast followers, not the laggards and late majority in any given group. For your innovative clients, they’ll appreciate your proactive approach, long-term investment in the future of their business, and the efficiencies a technology provides their team and their employees. For the groups in the latter categories, more hand-holding might be required at first, and the key is to find solutions and workarounds that work for all parties.
Maxwell Health has benefit advisor partners that manage administration on behalf of HR because it's more efficient for them, as well as partners that engage call centers or go onsite with iPads to help people enroll if they don't have computers. That's not the case for most of their business, but for those groups, they can find a way to make it work that still saves time and energy throughout the year.
As you look for a technology partner going forward, start by looking within your current book of business, and identify your early adopter and early majority groups. Identify a common set of needs among that population, and focus on making decisions around innovation for those clients. These are the folks in your book that are most open to change, so implement technology with them first, learn from the process, and tease out success stories that will convince your late majority and laggard clients to adapt.
As an advisor, it is your job to think ahead and reach out to your clients proactively to lead them into the future. Make sure you approach your clients and your partnerships through that lens, don’t let the laggards in your book of business drag you down!