"Voice of the customer" is a phrase you hear a lot in research and marketing circles. Put simply, it means actively listening to your customers to understand their needs and how they speak about them. This is a tried and true concept for most industries. When it comes to innovation in life insurance, I believe the company that aggressively embraces voice of the customer wins the game.

Quick quiz: What is the difference between a Whole Life and a Universal Life policy? How about the difference between Adjustable Life and Term insurance? A Premium and a Flat Extra? Face Amount and Fixed Benefit? A Living Benefit and a Lifetime Benefit? My bet is that you have heard most of these terms before. I also bet you failed this quiz.

This great ad by agency TAXI (Canada) nails a HUGE opportunity for life insurance companies: speak to us in our language. 

Years ago we were asked to recreate the billing experience for Ameritech. The bill was confusing and thus causing too many calls from confused customers and an unreasonable level of anger and frustration — even for a bill. The patented solution we created, which is now used by AT&T, revolved around one simple principle: We will speak to our customers using their language, not ours.

Many insurers feel they can’t innovate because the laws governing their products are too strict. They think they are stuck with the legacy products and services in their portfolio. This misconception is holding insurers back and creating frustrated customers (and agents) everywhere. Innovation in life insurance does not have to mean completely recreating a product. Instead, think about relaunching your products using language your customer will understand and targeting needs your customer has right now.

The first insurer to completely embrace this idea wins.

Read More In: News, Rumors, Gossip, & Trends Innovation Discussion Financial Services Healthcare Disintermediation