The Future of the Long Term Care Industry
Research Project Overview

The First Annual multi-sponsor study designed to explore leading companies’ strategies and expectations of the long term care market

While there has been some recent positive news, the long term care industry continues to face many challenges. The primary focus of the study will be to identify the measures that are being taken to overcome these challenges and to hear what industry experts envision as the future of the industry as it pertains to the competitive landscape, product innovation and delivery, and the regulatory environment.

This study will have two modules. The first module will consist of 12 to 15 in-depth interviews with senior executives responsible for their company’s long term care business. The interviews will explore the executives’ strategic insights into this marketplace, their priorities for the coming year and the challenges they face — particularly on the marketing and sales front.

The second module will consist of approximately 15 to 20 in-depth interviews with the most successful long term care distributors across all major channels, including worksite. These interviews will also focus on the reasons for the historical shortfall in sales and will be used to identify any strategic or philosophical gaps between the industry executives and their intermediaries with regard to the marketing and sales process.

The specific information areas to be explored are as follows:

Module I: Executive Interviews

• The key challenges each executive is addressing
• The major actions being taken to enhance the business
• A prioritization of the major issues limiting sales
• The sales, underwriting and claims process for the new combination life and annuity products
• The segmentation schemes being used to target consumers
• The most effective way to position the product for both stand alone and combo products
• The strategies or tactics that are working; and those that are not working
• The new product features that are on the drawing board for the stand alone and combo products
• The major changes that are expected to take place in the market over the next 5 years
• Company strategies that are evolving to address these changes

Module II: Distributor Interviews

• The major actions being taken by the distributing firms to improve their sales
• The reaction of each distribution channel to the new combo products
• LTC as a single product offering vs. one component in an overall retirement plan
• The segmentation schemes being used to target consumers
• The recruiting strategies being used to attract new sales representatives
• The sales support tools being used with prospects and clients to facilitate the education and sales process
• The strategies or tactics that are working; and those not working in the sales and marketing process
• The long term care companies that are best in class and why

By examining both traditional long term care business and emerging combo product business lines from both the manufacturer and distributor point of view, the findings of this study will help sponsors gain a better perspective on what the future holds in this challenging market and new alternatives for providing long term care protection. The results will also provide insight and improved understanding of the distributor’s perspective on the pros and cons of traditional approaches and newer combination product approaches, thereby allowing for a more cohesive and effective working arrangement with distribution partners.

Please contact Borden Ayers at 610-989-1710 ext. 21 or bordena@dsg-network.com to learn more about this project and its special pricing options.

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