Are you curious on how to improve customer experience in insurance? People love insurance, right? Wrong, most clients aren’t in love with their insurance. It’s something we all buy and hope we don’t use this year – sounds loveable right? Insurance agents too often become apathetic to what it’s like being a client and we are quick to forget how complex and confusing insurance really is to an average person.
When I first got into insurance consulting, I heard everywhere “We give great service.” Truth be told, I was inspired, what a great starting point, the service is on point. However, I started asking a key follow-up question – “What do you do to serve your clients?”
The responses varied from:
- We answer the phone – ok, that’s a baseline expectations
- We call people back – again, kind of expected
- We answer questions – nice, since you’re licensed to do that
What I learned quickly was many agents deliver a basic level of service, however, fail to WOW their clients and customers. In exploring this, I found many agencies have inconsistent processes, varied training of the team, and a failure to have or hold agency standards. Basically, everyone is allowed to provide their own values, knowledge and process to the customer.
While in many agencies this is good enough this also invites:
- Varied efficiency by team member
- Inconsistent outcomes
- Significant team backlog
- Missed opportunities due to lack of process or skills
I think it’s important agencies stop saying they are a service or a sales agency. Instead, they need to be a growth agency and focus on how to identify every opportunity and seal up every profit gap in their agency.
Let’s explore what a great customer experience in insurance is!
What Defines a Great Customer Experience in Insurance?
While this can vary by agency, there are some systems and benchmarks that need to be clear to everyone in the organization as well as the client:
- Clear job descriptions so everyone knows who handles what
- Agency Values to outline how the team can be empowered to make decisions
- Agency Standards to show what are the policies and coverage standards that we do not bend on
- Clear tracking – do we know who is backlogged, who is losing customers, which clients left, and where we spend our time?
- Service Level Expectations – this includes clear turnaround times for responses, submissions, and quotes
- Outlined Processes – this allows for clarity on how to perform each function so every person is working uniformly
A great place to initially implement a great customer experience strategy is to start by identifying your ideal customer. So many agencies dilute their power by trying to serve everyone the same. I’m here to tell you it’s impossible. In many instances we actually over service our least desired clients and under serve our best clients.
Here is why:
- Many agents are intimidated by larger complex accounts, so they avoid proactivity on them
- Your worst customers generate the most work (payments, claims, questions, reinstatements, etc.)
- We operate like a deli (taking the next client in line) vs. an ER Nurse who reviews the next best use of your time
- The team struggles to professionally and politely say no so we spin our wheels on work and clients
The bottom line is agency leadership needs to set the standard of what a great customer experience in insurance really looks like.
Customer Experience in Insurance Starts With Processes & Training
I think in insurance we believe if someone is nice they must be delivering a great insurance customer experience. Or, if we don’t hear complaints things must be ok. The reality is agency management needs to start by outlining expectations (aka your processes), training the team, and then auditing and holding the team accountable.
In this section, we will review 10 Insurance Agency Processes, some common areas we can WOW our customers, common failure points, and how to train your team.
Answering the Phone
This is where it all begins, the greeting to the agency. Imagine going to someone’s home and you get treated rudely. Are you excited to spend time there? Absolutely not! Yet, too many agencies have not detailed out how to answer and transfer the phone, and this could be the most vital part of the customer experience in insurance.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Have a positive, upbeat, and unique phone greeting (It’s a great day at AGENCY NAME, how can I help? Or, Thank you for calling, AGENCY NAME, how can I make this the best call of your day?)
- Be clear on what calls go to whom and defend this!
- Be clear on who picks up the phone and when
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- Phone rings too long
- The greeting is flat with no positivity
- The call is transferred inaccurately
How To Train Your Team
- Practice the phone greeting
- Identify where it’s unclear on what call goes to who
- Practice how the person answering can gather the best information to streamline helping the client
You would be amazed about how role playing and a clear script can immediately boost your client’s initial impression of your agency.
Endorsements
Endorsements represent a change. A change is an opportunity. All too often, we treat an endorsement as a transaction, when it really needs to be an experience.
Think of this when someone calls in to switch a vehicle – they are buying a new car, do we show excitement or do we process the transaction. That car dealership kisses some major behind during the process, and when we go to change the vehicle, we can be flat and cold, and we are asking them for more money!
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Practice first-call resolution to handle the entire issue from start to finish during the phone call
- Educate the client on any premium differences so it’s not a surprise
- Conduct a mini account review and provide options for increased coverages
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- We go back and forth with the client since we didn’t practice first-call resolution
- We failure to share premium changes proactively (either on the call or when you receive it) so the client isn’t expecting it
- We don’t educate the client in the process
How To Train Your Team
- Listen and learn on your current processes – is everyone consistent?
- Set the process
- Role play, practice, and review recorded calls
Billing & Payment Interactions
We all need to collect payment with clients. This could be a new business, a rewrite, or a client who is not set up on automated payments – payment questions and collections follow us.
Some agencies do call on late payments (we do recommend this and we also recommend firing the wrong clients), either way you need a way to convert call in/walk in payments to an absolute minimum to focus on how to improve customer experience in insurance .
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Automatically quote pay-in-full or EFT options
- Every time a client contacts you to pay, let them know they are paying too much and can save by getting on automated payments
- Educate the client on total late fees for the year
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- We take the payment and miss the opportunity to convert the client’s payment options
- We miss updating contact information
- We don’t build any rapport and treat the person like a transaction
How To Train Your Team
- Be able to track how many payments your team is taking
- Identify a target to convert the client’s payment strategy
- Role play this out with your team
Proof of Insurance (Certificates, EOIs, Auto ID Cards)
Proof of insurance is both simple and complex. Each and every opportunity to share proof of insurance is an opportunity to improve your customer experience. With the right process and training, your team can use proof of insurance as an opportunity to grow.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Educate them on online apps and portals
- Send the proof via the applications
- Inquire why they need it and when they need it by
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- We set no expectations on when the client needs the proof
- We don’t know why they need it
- We simply send it to them and miss the opportunity to invite them to our agency portal
How To Train Your Team
- Your team must become comfortable with online portals
- We set clear service level expectations on turnaround times
- You set clear standards that all documents are uploaded and sent via the portal to demand usage
Claims Experience
There is only one time our clients use our product – when they have a claim! So we need to be our absolute best during this time. You should be proactive, kind, and share the process with the client. You may handle claims every day, however, your client may only interact with claims once a decade. Be there for your client to succeed.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Be proactive and reach out to clients even if they report it directly to the company
- Follow up to ensure the claim is meeting expectations
- Set clear expectations – the client is emotional, knowing what to expect helps
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- We provide the carrier claims number and leave it there
- We miss setting clear expectations
- We fail to identify and empathize with the client
How To Train Your Team
- Clearly map out your process
- Role play empathy and kindness
- Identify common claims pain points and smooth out challenges
Renewal
My personal opinion is that too many agencies are taking advantage of the automatic renewal. Early in my career, it was drilled into me that you have to earn the renewal, and we have gotten far, far away from that. The reactive renewal model is failing in many agencies driving down retention, causing more work on the team, and certainly not wowing our clients.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Annual proactive renewal review
- Update the clients policy to match who they are now
- Make coverage recommendations and educate your client
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- Reactive renewal model
- Automatically remarketing accounts before you connect
- Only contacting clients when rates increase (as if other life changes are not important)
How To Train Your Team
- Have a clear written strategy
- Set up your management system
- Hire APP to train your team 🙂
Remarketing
We believe remarketing should only be done when the agent believes it’s in the client’s best interest and it’s the absolute last tool in our chest to use after every other option has been exhausted. When we do remarketing we always want to get something from this time consuming endeavor – increased coverage, cross sale, referral or moving the client to a core carrier.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Conduct a full account review to identify accuracy on the account
- Educate the client on dangers of remarketing (inspections, coverage differences, loyalty)
- Set an appointment to review the options with your client
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- Emailing the quote and failing to present the quote
- Quoting exactly what they have in the current policy
- Not setting an expectation on when the quote will be delivered
How To Train Your Team
- Script and role play how to decline a remake
- Identify remarketing guidelines
- Train how to upsell coverages
New Business
Many agencies focus on producers but don’t analyze what the customer experience in insurance is for new business. The new business experience should be mapped out, practiced, and rehearsed. The new business process is the wedding, if everyone is prepared when they get married, it’s a long-term loving relationship. If they are unprepared, divorce may be imminent.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Provide clients 2 options so they see you have choices
- At all costs, quote over the phone for the highest closing ratio
- Never email the quote before you present it
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- Emailing the quote and calling the client so they see the price before speaking with you
- Not recognizing how important speed is to new business
- Making it a quote experience rather than a sales experience
How To Train Your Team
- Identify your teams closing ratios and reasons for not closing
- Create a written sales process
- Practice the process with role playing and coaching
File Documentation
Sounds simple right? Everyone knows how to document a file. WRONG. I can’t tell you how many agencies we go into that fail to document adequately. Have you ever looked at an account in your system and become confused or pulled up an account and see nothing documented? Your team needs a consistent process to WOW your customers.
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Have clear guidelines on how to document a file (no customer should have to wait)
- Identify what should be an open activity to follow up on
- Clearly outline how many follow ups you should be doing (we recommend max 3)
Common Failures In WOWing Customers
- No documentation
- Feelings in the documentation that can lead to unprofessional issues
- Not using your management system to follow up
How To Train Your Team
- Set a clear process
- Audit the process
- Lead by example in creating high-quality documentation
Cancellations
Cancellations can be saved! But we need to train and educate the team on the right process. Many accept the fact the client may have gotten a better rate and let the client cancel. Not on my watch people! We need to fight for the clients we want to stay!
How You Can WOW Your Customer
- Train the team on BORs
- Ensure your doing proactive renewal reviews
- Make part of your process to get a copy of the new policy
Common Failures in WOWing Customers
- No process so it’s very easy for the client to leave
- Documentation of the reason
- It’s easier to leave than it is to become a client
How To Train Your Team
- Clearly outline and document your cancellation process
- Ensure your team knows who you want to keep and who can leave
- Role play how to handle these clients
Conclusion on Customer Experience in Insurance
A great customer experience is one that is practiced, rehearsed, and consistent. You get there through two main practices, building clear agency processes and then training your team on service principles and strategies (even role playing!). The good news is, APP has both of these to make it easy for your team to WOW your customers. We have video training, virtual, and in-person options. Make sure you contact us today!
