What are the best ways to improve your client retention scheme as an insurance agent?
Total Comments: 16
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 09:02 pm Post Subject:
Everybody seems to do this in an automated way but this can be a turn off. Just make sure you call everyone on your book of business every once and awhile to make sure they are satisfied with what they got. You want to continue to build trust and let them know that you are easily accessible if they have any problems or their needs suddenly change. Just be friendly, personable and caring an you will be surprised at not only how well this works with keeping current customers but also getting referrals.
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 02:38 am Post Subject:
smartyknickers...great post. Welcome to the forum and keep it up.
:D
I can't agree with the few of you who don't think that irate clients are worth the time and energy to retain. When I owned my agency, some of our best referrals came from formerly irate customers. Normally, with the proper approach, an irate client can be turned into a walking billboard for your agency. The GOOD kind of billboard, btw. :P
Commonly, clients are upset for the same basic few reasons. Producer, carrier, claims or premiums. Always seems to be one of those four. The typical insurance client is at times confused, commonly misunderstands policy terms and coverage, and really just (this is gonna sound lame) wants to "be taken care of." (told ya). I would venture to say that is was truly rare that we lost a client due to other than premium concerns, and that was rare as well.
You cannot afford, in this day and age, to lose clients. They're too hard to come by in the first place and require a lot of hand holding at times. On the other hand- that's what you signed on for when you got your license and decided to get into this game.
As far as "touching your client," that's tremendous advice. I used to require my producers to spend at least 1-2 days a month in the office to do NOTHING but call their clients just to see how they were. They weren't allowed to try and sell anything to the customer; they were only allowed to see how things were at the house/business, etc., see how "little Jimmie's birthday went," how the "baby is" or "the new addition to the house worked out" or "how did that last build turn out" or something along those lines.
There are so many sales technique books out there that a person could get a migraine just looking at the google hits. But really, it just comes down to taking care of your client. Oh, and good companies to work with, and good management, and a good work ethic, and industry knowledge, and good support, and.....
InsTeacher 8)
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 05:04 am Post Subject: Insurance Customer Contacting Option
securecorp.net
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 05:42 am Post Subject:
They weren't allowed to try and sell anything to the customer; they were only allowed to see how things were at the house/business, etc., see how "little Jimmie's birthday went," how the "baby is" or "the new addition to the house worked out" or "how did that last build turn out" or something along those lines.
Under the global downturn that's often not a possibility with organizations who don't have a sound financial base. With plans to cut down the volume of outsourcing projects, it's just not possible for many of us to pay for courtesy calls anymore. :)
Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 09:08 am Post Subject:
You will pretty much never have to deal with a non-pay cancellation or ugly lapse.
That's pretty much understandable..but at the same time you'd need to be very careful while dealing with the auto-bill customers. Since the billing amount gets debited directly from their accounts, you could meet with a lot of hassles if you commit mistakes like- debiting an account for more than what's expected or debiting it an extra time.
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 05:08 pm Post Subject:
My opinion...if you can't afford to make contact with current clients throughout the year...you have a poor business model. Maybe you could explain where the revenue comes from that you use to pay "your" personal expenses? If it's from the commissions on these same clients you can't afford to contact ...then who's money is it? Be thankful you're not one of my competitors
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 09:02 pm Post Subject:
Everybody seems to do this in an automated way but this can be a turn off. Just make sure you call everyone on your book of business every once and awhile to make sure they are satisfied with what they got. You want to continue to build trust and let them know that you are easily accessible if they have any problems or their needs suddenly change. Just be friendly, personable and caring an you will be surprised at not only how well this works with keeping current customers but also getting referrals.
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 02:38 am Post Subject:
smartyknickers...great post. Welcome to the forum and keep it up.
:D
I can't agree with the few of you who don't think that irate clients are worth the time and energy to retain. When I owned my agency, some of our best referrals came from formerly irate customers. Normally, with the proper approach, an irate client can be turned into a walking billboard for your agency. The GOOD kind of billboard, btw. :P
Commonly, clients are upset for the same basic few reasons. Producer, carrier, claims or premiums. Always seems to be one of those four. The typical insurance client is at times confused, commonly misunderstands policy terms and coverage, and really just (this is gonna sound lame) wants to "be taken care of." (told ya). I would venture to say that is was truly rare that we lost a client due to other than premium concerns, and that was rare as well.
You cannot afford, in this day and age, to lose clients. They're too hard to come by in the first place and require a lot of hand holding at times. On the other hand- that's what you signed on for when you got your license and decided to get into this game.
As far as "touching your client," that's tremendous advice. I used to require my producers to spend at least 1-2 days a month in the office to do NOTHING but call their clients just to see how they were. They weren't allowed to try and sell anything to the customer; they were only allowed to see how things were at the house/business, etc., see how "little Jimmie's birthday went," how the "baby is" or "the new addition to the house worked out" or "how did that last build turn out" or something along those lines.
There are so many sales technique books out there that a person could get a migraine just looking at the google hits. But really, it just comes down to taking care of your client. Oh, and good companies to work with, and good management, and a good work ethic, and industry knowledge, and good support, and.....
InsTeacher 8)
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 05:04 am Post Subject: Insurance Customer Contacting Option
securecorp.net
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 05:42 am Post Subject:
They weren't allowed to try and sell anything to the customer; they were only allowed to see how things were at the house/business, etc., see how "little Jimmie's birthday went," how the "baby is" or "the new addition to the house worked out" or "how did that last build turn out" or something along those lines.
Under the global downturn that's often not a possibility with organizations who don't have a sound financial base. With plans to cut down the volume of outsourcing projects, it's just not possible for many of us to pay for courtesy calls anymore. :)
Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 09:08 am Post Subject:
You will pretty much never have to deal with a non-pay cancellation or ugly lapse.
That's pretty much understandable..but at the same time you'd need to be very careful while dealing with the auto-bill customers. Since the billing amount gets debited directly from their accounts, you could meet with a lot of hassles if you commit mistakes like- debiting an account for more than what's expected or debiting it an extra time.
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 05:08 pm Post Subject:
My opinion...if you can't afford to make contact with current clients throughout the year...you have a poor business model. Maybe you could explain where the revenue comes from that you use to pay "your" personal expenses? If it's from the commissions on these same clients you can't afford to contact ...then who's money is it? Be thankful you're not one of my competitors
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