A critical component to the success of an insurance agency is retention. While an agency needs to bring in new business to continue growing, it is far more cost-effective to retain customers than it is to acquire new ones. In fact, agencies cannot grow if customers are leaving as quickly as they are coming in.
Here are three quick tips agencies should utilize to create an experience that makes customers want to stay.
Educate Clients –
Your customers know they need insurance, but they may not necessarily understand why they need it or what they need to have. A great way to bridge this gap is by providing educational resources to clients that explain insurance in their language. When it comes to creating this content, here are a few options you’ll want to consider.
- Video is now the most common way content is consumed and therefore, the best way to reach your clients. Creating a video series of the “most common insurance questions” is a fun and engaging way to make information available to your clients that they can access whenever and wherever it is convenient for them. Videos can be housed on your agency website and linked out to a company YouTube channel. This can all be put together relatively easily thanks to technology that is already at your fingertips. A decent smartphone or webcam and microphone will give you the video and sound quality needed to start creating. Video editing can be done quickly and easily through platforms like Vimeo or Wistia.
- Facebook Live – As your customers are doing more and more from their mobile devices, live streaming can be a great way to interact with clients in real-time and can be done from any mobile device or computer.
Starting with something as simple as a 5 minute Q&A session is a great way to reach clients and provide them with easy to understand insurance facts. The livestream video also remains on your Facebook page for ongoing client engagement. Check out this link for more tips on going live with
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/blog/tips-for-using-live.
- A company newsletter is another option you can utilize to get information in front of clients. It’s extremely cost-effective and the emailing process can be automated making the process easy and efficient.
A multi-channel approach is the best way to ensure that you are providing options that fit your client’s needs. Regardless of which one you choose, get creative and have fun with the process.
Ask for Feedback –
Whether clients are having a great experience working with your agency or the service has been less than stellar, the best way to find out is by asking for feedback.
One of the most effective ways to gather this feedback from clients is through a customer satisfaction survey. Online surveys can be created easily through a service like Rocket Referrals and will provide valuable insight including:
- Your current Net Promotor Score (NPS)
- Where your agency stacks up against other agencies
- Common topics mentioned in client comments
Utilizing direct customer feedback is the best way to evaluate current processes and make changes that are meaningful to your clients.
Provide Convenience –
When clients have a question or concern about their policy, they must have a way to get answers. Agencies can provide convenience through technology by offering services like:
- Online chat service on your company website through a service like Intercom or Zendesk to answer questions.
- Electronic policy access through a customer portal and/or mobile app. Both of these can typically be set up through your agency management system vendor.
Retention is a reflection of the satisfaction of your clients. The three steps above will give your teams a great start to building client relationships and increasing retention for the agency!
About the Author
Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
