You work hard to bring in that perfect new client. You study their needs, you provide solutions and you write the policy that provides them the perfect protection. You send them a Welcome Letter gushing about your agency’s amazing customer service. Everything is textbook, right?
Wrong! You started out strong but like most agents, you set it and you forgot it.
Every client has specific needs in the beginning of the sales cycle but like all things in life…they change. The product and the associated coverage that you sold them today will not meet their needs of tomorrow.
You cannot sit back and wait for the client to think that the events that impact their everyday life will have an effect on their insurance coverage. This is the job of their insurance professional. The person that have entrusted and depend upon to make sure that they have the coverage when they need it for the exposures that they face today.
The first thought of the client that renovates and adds square footage to their home is not to call their insurance agent but to throw a party, inviting all of their friends, to show off the new home.
The family that has their first child does not think to call their insurance agent with an announcement of this new bundle of joy. However, their life insurance needs just drastically changed.
Ensuring your clients have adequate coverage is not the only reason to offer insurance policy reviews. For example, your client may have just put on a new roof or installed an alarm system which would qualify for a possible discount. They might have graduated college or landed their dream job which qualifies them for a new professional discount. The next agent that they talk to will surely discover the additional discounts for which they qualify. This will not only make the new agent’s premium more attractive but it will emphasize that you did not expertly do your job.
I know…you are thinking that we don’t have time! Did you know that it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than retain your existing customer? Whether you have 100 clients or 10,000 clients, every client must have an annual review.
As already highlighted, the annual review provides the much-needed review of the clients ever changing needs. It also, just as importantly, proves your agency’s value. It is crucial for building and strengthening the Agent/Client relationship and puts your agency’s ‘face with a name’ so to speak. It also increases loyalty from your clients and provides you with the perfect opportunity to offer needed advice for higher limits of coverage or additional policies.
As an agent, have you ever had a client upset with you because they had too much coverage at the time of a disastrous claim? On the flip side, I bet that you have had a client blame you for not enough or inappropriate coverage.
Systematic insurance reviews must be a part of your agency’s business model. The occurrence of these reviews and looking out for your clients’ best interest is the differentiator of your agency versus your competition. It’s up to your agency to determine if the reviews are done annually on renewal, by a systematic breakdown of the clients by alphabet or working your way through your client base by individual client premium volume. Whatever works for your agency, just remember to set it and don’t forget it.
Written on August 8, 2018 by Peggy Corbett
