5 Simple Ways Your Insurance Agency Can Improve Customer Retention

When it comes to your agency, the customers you bring in play a vital role in your success. Of course, bringing in new customers is always the goal, but retaining current customers should be just as important to your business. Returning customers are the ones who’ll leave you glowing reviews, bring in referrals, and on average it costs 5x less to keep an existing customer rather than find a new one to replace that business.

 
 
 

What it really comes down to is your customer’s experience with you. Here’re a few simple ways to ensure that experience is the best it can be and that your customers will keep coming back year after year.

 
 
 

1. Get Your Onboarding Process Rock Solid

 
 
 

When you take on a new customer the onboarding process is the first real experience they’ll have with you. The interaction they have with you and your agency during this time can set the initial and lasting impression that your customer has of you overall.

 
 
 

If you haven’t systematized your onboarding process, It’s imperative that you work on getting it rock solid.

 
 
 

Your customer should feel like it was a smooth and easy process. When everything is easy for them and clearly taken care of they can feel confident that they made the right decision in choosing your agency.

 
 
 

2. Keep in Regular Contact

 
 
 

The more you keep in contact with your clients the more often they’ll see your name and think of your business. This doesn’t mean monthly calls, boring weekly newsletters, or harassing your customer, but there are a lot of creative ways to keep your face in your client’s mind and continue to build the customer connection.

 
 
 

Some things you can do include:

 

  • Sending quarterly emails with something that will educate or provide value to your customers. This can be a blog post, an article, information about your services, etc.

  • Sending out birthday and/or holiday cards to build a personal relationship without selling.

  • Sending out a customer survey

  • Hosting a customer appreciation day and giving out a small gift, or giving a small “anniversary” gift for every year they’ve been with you

  • Clear communication like pre-renewal phone calls or calling before a premium goes up

  • Or, Calling for an annual coverage review

 
 
 

3. Provide Quality Annual Coverage Reviews

 
 
 

Each year check in for an annual coverage review. Ask questions and make sure your client still has adequate coverage. Has anything changed that would require an update in coverage? Is there a new way to cross sell them on additional coverage?

 
 
 

Checking in to make sure your client is properly covered will ensure that you haven’t missed anything and that they can feel confident in their coverage. If the time does come for a claim, they’ll know that they’re taken care of.

 
 
 

4. Make Sure Automatic Payments Are Available

 
 
 

This seems simple – but a number of businesses still don’t have automatic payments available or easily accessible to clients.

 
 
 

Statistically customers set up with automatic payments are much more likely to renew. Not only do people prefer something that’s made easier for them, but when the payment process is already set up it becomes more of an effort for them to make the switch to someone new.

 
 
 

5. Be Diligent About Following Up On Claims

 
 
 

Customers with recent claims are amongst the most likely to not renew. Primarily because claims can be frustrating, but, it often has to do with the way they felt the claim was handled.

 
 
 

As an agent, you can play a huge role in your clients experience with claims. To do this it’s important to make sure you have a process in place to contact customers with claims and more importantly follow up consistently until everything is complete.

 
 
 

Make sure that your client isn’t frustrated or isn’t having a bad experience that they aren’t telling you about which could lead to them cancelling their policy with you.

 
 
 
 
 

Ultimately customer retention comes down to your clients overall feeling towards you. Make customer service your top priority and find creative ways to connect and you’ll see an automatic increase in customer longevity.

 
 

3 Ways to Upsell Insurance Policies

Finding a new prospect through cold calling is hard work. If that’s the only way you’re planning on growing your agency, you’re shortchanging yourself. Great customers are already waiting and easily available. You can glean a lot of extra revenue from your current customer list. But, out of the box, don’t limit yourself by looking at your book of business, trying to decide who you can upsell. You can upsell every one of them.

 
 
 

There are many ways to upsell your current insureds so that you can help them find a more financially secure position in life, while at the same time increase your revenue. We’ll discuss 3 techniques for upselling an insurance policy.

 
 
 

1) Ask Probing Questions

 
 
 

This one may be a no-brainer, but it’s incredible how often it’s missed. You go out of your way to question a new prospect. You recommend higher limits, and you discuss additional coverages. But what about your current customers? How often are you asking them the same probing questions? It’s hard to upsell them on higher GL limits or an umbrella if you don’t know what new liabilities they’ve taken on.

 
 
 

Did your insured build a pool? That’s potentially a major liability they have taken on without your knowledge. Don’t count on the customer calling you to tell you they built a pool and ask what they need for insurance. The likelihood of that happening is slim to none. But if you ask direct questions yearly, like have they made any home improvements, you’ll not only discover gaps in your client’s coverages but uncover needs they didn’t know they had. This will give you an excellent opportunity to upsell.

 
 
 

The most efficient and thorough way to collect these important answers is to create a standardized checklist of questions. Require it to be used by all your producers and account managers. This should be a “living list” that changes with the input and suggestions from your account managers and producers. Go through and add every possible and impossible question.

 
 
 

It came in handy for one insurance agent whose agency used a checklist system. The producer was on the phone with her insured going through the checklist, when she came upon the question “Do you own a plane?” She almost skipped it, assuming it wasn’t applicable. But it was part of the procedure to ask everything on the list. To her surprise, the insured answered, “I’m just about to buy one. Sign the papers tomorrow.”

 
 
 

This situation actually happened and occurs more than you think. Use that checklist not only to upsell but for your cross-selling opportunities as well. You’ll help the customer and increase your value to them.

 
 
 

2) Go in With a Quote When Possible

 
 
 

Remember the last time you bought a car? You walked into the dealership, the salesperson told you about the features, and then went onto explain the benefits. A good car salesperson takes you for a test drive and answers questions about the vehicle. But have you ever had one tell you to come back later for the price?

 
 
 

How would the likelihood of you purchasing that car diminish if you were told they would get back to you later with the price. Your excitement level would undoubtedly wane. And you wouldn’t end up buying.

 
 
 

Trying to upsell an insurance policy without the price is like not telling the car customer the price.

 
 
 

You’ve explained why they need an umbrella; you’ve told them the dangers of not having one. They’re shaking their head yes, but then you tell them you need to get a quote for them. Later, when you call them with the quote, they tell you they’re not interested. There goes your sale. They had too much time to think about it and changed their mind.

 
 
 

Do your homework ahead of time. It’s not hard since they’re already a customer. You know what GL limits they have. So, make sure to have quotes. Go into the different limits and the costs. You’ll have a yes and a sale before you leave or hang up the phone.

 
 
 

In other words, don’t give them the time to change their mind. If they ask for time, that’s another matter, but at least you gave them all the information and the option of buying immediately.

 
 
 

3) Give Good Reasons Besides Money to Bundle

 
 
 

When it comes to bundling, of course, the insured will save money. Most customers have seen the advertisements to save on bundling home and auto. But what other reasons can you give your insured to move their auto over to you? Or if you have their vehicles, you’ll want to convince the insured to move their home.

 
 
 

The three main reasons for bundling that you should use are:

 

  • Savings

  • Policy management

  • Security

 

Like it or Not Additional Savings is Always a Hot Button

 

This is a common one. “You’ll save if I handle it all.” That’s everyone’s mantra. But you still need to use it because it’s probably the biggest reason people bundle. Just know that they’ve heard it before and need a compelling reason on top of saving money why they should bundle with you.

 
 
 

Working with Only one Agent is Good Policy Management

 

People are busy. And let’s face it, they don’t really want to deal with insurance. Let them know that by bundling with you they only have to work with one agent.

 
 
 

Go beyond that. Try to sync their renewals. One agent with one renewal date? That’s pretty much one call or meeting a year. Most people would love that situation. They still get to save their money, but they’ll be saving it with you.

 
 
 

When bundling, don’t forget to mention life. We’re stepping on cross-selling with this. But the point is to let the customer understand fully that bundling all their insurance with you makes sense. Once more, you’re helping the insured and increasing your value to them. This is a win win for both of you.

 
 
 

The Security of Keeping Insurance

 

This is a big one for many people. “What if I get into an accident. Will I lose my insurance?” People make mistakes, and accidents happen. But if a policy is bundled, the “likelihood” of cancellation is lowered. Someone who owns a house with the property, GL, umbrella and car under a bundled policy is a lot more secure if they have an accident.

 
 
 

The individual who is hanging out there on their own, using different companies and agents, is at greater risk. There’s an inherent loyalty that they won’t have from the carrier. If they’ve just switched their auto to that lone policy without a home policy, they take on a greater risk of cancellation.

 
 
 

Don’t’ scare the insured to death, but it is worth pointing out. There’s safety in numbers, and that goes for insurance.

 
 
 

Your Entire Book is Open to Upselling

 
 
 

If your insureds have a GL policy then they should have an umbrella. Did you explain that to them? For example, it doesn’t take anything to go down your client list and invest time recommending umbrellas. This is one of the easiest ways to upsell your current book.

 

Ask the questions ahead of time. Look at their current policies. When you know the answers be fully prepared for your meeting or call. Always have a quote available for them to look at immediately.

 
 
 

We can’t stress this enough, point out all the reasons to bundle, not just the price. Policy management and security will endear them to you in the long run.

 
 
 

Take advantage of your in-house opportunities. Your current clients are the best prospects you could have.

 
 
 

Learn More: Want to join a group of agents working together to build a bigger business? Check out Axis Associated Insurance Brokers.

How Insurance Agencies Can Use Social Media To Get More Customers.

Did you know that an estimated 67% of customers look to social media to seek customer service? In Fact, 1 in 3 social media users said they’d prefer to deal with a company via social media than via phone or email.

 

Now, more than ever, insurance agents have a ton of opportunity to get in front of potential customers and build lasting relationships with their existing client base. Yet, there are so few agencies and insurance professionals taking advantage.

 

In a time when more than 75% of consumers are doing online research before ever making a purchase decision, social media is a pertinent marketing asset for your insurance business. Your customers are already on social media, it doesn’t make sense not to leverage it for your business.


How to sell more insurance with social media:

Stand out as an industry expert

Most people don’t know much about insurance and often don’t know where to look to find the answers. Use social media as an opportunity to show your insurance expertise and educate your customers. Be the agency that alleviates their pain points while shopping for insurance.

This can be done with blogs from your website, short videos, articles, and simple “quick tips” or “how tos” that customers will find helpful.

If your customers can trust you to find the answers they’re looking for without hassle, you’re already building trust with them and they’ll be more likely to come to you when they’re ready to buy.

Show your personality

Many businesses forget to show the personality behind their business, but social media is just that – social. Show your customers a little bit of who you are as an agency. Talk about what makes you and your employees tick. Show what goes on at the office. Let your customers know you’re just like them.

People buy from people they connect with and social media creates an excellent way to bring a humanizing presence to an industry that is otherwise a bit cut and dry.

Demonstrate better customer service

Remember when I said 67% of customers look to social media to seek customer service? Did you know that a majority of those people are also likely to recommend that business to a friend if they’ve had a positive social interaction?

If you’re present on social media, this gives you a chance to demonstrate better customer service. You have the direct ability to respond to questions, interact with prospective clients, and foster a real sense of customer loyalty with your already existing client base.

Bonus? It costs you nothing!

To sum up…

If you’re agency isn’t already utilizing social as a key part of your marketing strategy, it’s time to get on it! Going into it with a customer focused approach using the tips above, you’re guaranteed to resonate with your target clientele and build lasting relationships with current and prospective customers alike.