Are you looking for help with the insurance rate rebuttal?
The reality is that insurance rates will continue to change. For many frontline service team members (as well as insurance producers), there is not a clear process or script for handling insurance rate increases. We know that customers can be frustrated by changing rates when their car is older and they didn’t have any claims, or in commercial lines when rates go up as the business succeeds. In our experience, frontline team members often lack confidence in discussing rate increases and lean specifically on remarketing strategies that are time-consuming and create a perpetual focus on price rather than value.
Tackling the Myth of Remarketing with Confidence
There is one myth we must tackle before we go into specific scripts that can help empower your team. As we travel the country with our AppX Retention, AppX Sales and AppX Time Management programs, we often face one concern that team members have. This is the feeling (not fact) that they need to shop accounts to swear on a stack of bibles that they are providing the customer the best rate. Now, we encourage agents to counterbalance the belief that their goal should be to get the best rate for their client with the reality that providing them the best plan is really what we are here to accomplish. If we firmed up quotes with every company, that would not only be incredibly time consuming, but it would also have a diminishing return. Say you firm up quotes with the top 4 carriers and the final two companies are within $15 per year of each other. Was that 10 minutes you spent in research per company or 20 minutes in total worth it?
People lean on price to make decisions when they do not clearly understand the value. It’s safe to say that many insurance consumers are not clear on the value that an independent agent provides. Sure, we are nice enough when we have to change a vehicle or handle a payment, but those are transactions rather than clear value statements. I think for many clients, they have very low expectations of their agent, and we unfortunately often meet those expectations. Rather than defending our value with price, we need to instead spend time with the client to clearly identify their goals and priorities and then make a plan that fits those needs.
How to Handle Insurance Rate Increases
To handle an insurance rate increase, we must first start by taking back control of the call. When someone is frustrated and they take their hard-earned time to contact you about it, remember that they have built up a great deal of frustration. Oftentimes, they have told themselves a story for a while about how unfair their insurance rate is. We need to start by taking control of the call.
Gaining Control of the Call
- When someone calls in upset, do your best to not interrupt them and listen to their concerns, frustrations and tone of their voice. As they are talking, alert them that you are going to take notes while they speak, so if they hear a keyboard or silences, it does not further frustrate them.
- Once they have completed their statements, offer to repeat what you took out of the conversation so you can best assist them.
- Upon agreement of the challenge, work to confirm their contact information. This is a great neutral way to gain back control of the call.
Review the Account
- Identify the following on the account:
- Monthly $ amount of the rate increase
- Cause (if any, for the rate increase)
- For the rate increases that are for just cause (accident, ticket, etc.) share with them what you are seeing. This can be, “I see on your policy you had an at-fault accident this year that paid out X. This could be one of the reasons that your insurance premium increased.”
- Be prepared for them to respond with the comment, “Isn’t that why I have insurance?”
- You can respond with, “Yes, with claims your risk profile with the carrier changes, and this can often impact your rates. I’m glad you called so we can review some options.”
Provide Options
Whenever anyone in your life is upset about something, it is generally because they don’t feel like they have options. When people feel trapped, they often become the most frustrated. In this situation make sure you provide people options to get their premium down with the current carrier first:
- Deductible
- Payment Strategy
- Confirm Discounts
- Look at the RCE
Remarketing
If you do opt to remarket a client, please make sure that you always provide the entire range of pricing. For example, if you rate the risk and one carrier comes out at double, share this with the client. They can then clearly see they weren’t getting completely taken advantage of, and that there are carriers out there with even more robust rates!
But First, Confidence
Remember, when clients have rate frustrations, it’s not personal. In fact, they most likely don’t even really know you well enough to make it personal! Take the stance that you are their insurance hero and there is a challenge that you have to bring options to. Instead of being fearful about rates, lean into that conversation. Remember, they are coming to you because you have the tools to help them.
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