Are you clear on what should be included in insurance client notes?
Introduction
Have you ever said to your team? …….Document, Document, Document!……. If it’s not in the system it didn’t happen!
We have drilled it into our team that documentation and notes in the insurance file not only assists us to be able to efficiently and effectively manage our customers’ accounts but it is critical to protect agencies from errors and omissions.
How agencies document files and the consistency in which they document with will allow your agency the ability to:
- Create Ridiculously Amazing Customer Experiences
- Allow your agency to make better informed decisions about next steps on investments
- Be able to retell the story when it’s mission critical
Creating Ridiculously Amazing Customer Experiences
You may be asking “How is creating notes in my clients insurance file help with customer experience?” Think about a time where you called for customer support and a you get a kind voice on the other end of the line.
They take all your information and then determine they can’t help you, you have been connected with the wrong department, UGH!
They offer to transfer you to the correct department, GREAT!
The new person picks up the phone and asks you all the same information again that you just provided, frustrating isn’t it?
Imagine a world where our customers didn’t have to repeat themselves and we could take our service up a notch simply by creating clear and consistent communication amongst our team.
I want you to think about it from both sides, not only how it makes our customer feel when they can trust us to relay accurate information and we honor their time as well as our own.
How does it make our teams feel when they can go into any account and pull up the latest and greatest information and speak confidently about what is happening on an account without having to sift through meaningless activities, misnamed attachments, someone’s steno pad, sticky notes, wonder if it’s in their email or worse their head and it’s not written down anywhere?
That’s a lot of places to store information and disorganized teams with no real strategy or plan for how they document their systems lack trust in one another and it leaves our customers feeling uncared for. We have to have a strong process on how we document, when we document and what we document!
See our 10 Ridiculously Amazing Processes in our agency school….we just happen to have one already built for documentation!
Make Better Informed Decisions
When our teams are consistent in their documentation and insurance notes, agencies can make more intelligent decisions on what is needed to move the needle and help your agency grow.
Wouldn’t it be nice if when you heard your team say they are busy you knew exactly what they were busy doing? How cool would it be if you could rely on your agency management system to manage your agency and give you the information you need to know when you need to plan for a new hire, when it’s time to adopt a new piece of technology or even when there may be potential to enhance a process and power your team efficiency.
Teams that are effectively using their management systems and documenting properly are reaping the benefits of amazing notes!
The great thing about shifting this mindset is that most of our agencies already have some form of documentation happening. It’s now a matter of where, when and what we document to get the results you need.
With a well thought out process, a plan to train your team and a good strategy to track adoption you can join the ranks of those already taking advantage of this powerful tool!
Dear Diary…
Now for the scary part of this story, let’s leave the lights on for this part. The part that no agent ever wants to think about but all need to accept is that insurance notes are critical to your business.
You must take the time to create a clear process for your teams around documentation. If you have ever been involved in an E&O claim then you will understand how scary it is sifting through a file and hoping that an employee that is no longer there has left clear and adequate notes on the clients file.
Many times agencies find them but many times it takes time when our file notes are disjointed, not labeled accurately or worse vague.
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:
- Insd called to add vehicle Date and Time Stamped
- Insured Joe called to add 2024 Honda Acord $500 Deductibles No Rental Reimbursement as they have an extra vehicle in the household. Date and Time Stamped
Which is more clear? With a few extra keystrokes we have made it clear to anyone who accesses the file can understand what was done and why the agent made the decision they did.
We don’t have to get into the weeds as we will have an endorsement to show us a lot of the information but key offers and declinations of coverages will only support your agency in the event of a claim and always back it up in writing to your client.
Conclusion:
I could go on for days about file documentation and notes, my team will tell you. The most important things to remember is that creating strong documentation affects your agency at every level from our customer interactions, the way we interact with one another, agency metrics and protecting our agency from future issues.
Agencies need to make sure that they are creating consistency in their documentation and providing their teams with proper training and expectations on notes and documentation so that some can retell your story even if you are sitting on a beach, watching a beautiful sunset with your favorite drink in hand!
Don’t compromise the success of your agency to laziness.
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💼 Check out the blog associated with this video: Insurance Processes: The 10 Processes Your Agency Needs
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