As we adjust to the restrictions in place to slow the spread of the global COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic, we offer solutions for insurance agencies to mitigate loss and keep their community safe.
Many independent agencies grew out of sheer grit and determination and continue to be successful by the sweat, spunk, and personality of their owner. And while those things are still important, much has changed over the past 10, 15, 20, or more years these thriving agencies have been in operation. To face the challenges of today, independent agencies need to embrace more systematic and disciplined approaches to agency sales.
The insurance CRM is the core tool that supports this approach (and the corresponding growth) of bringing in more formal sales management. There are many benefits to utilizing a CRM for insurance sales, business development, and prospecting.
When implemented and managed correctly, the insurance CRM can:
- Save producer’s time
- Increase producer productivity
- Facilitate upselling, cross-selling, and account rounding
- Help identify and understand the ideal client
- Improve marketplace management
- Increase efficiency and eliminate duplication of efforts
Discover more insurance sales tools to boost customer retention, referral, and expansion
1. Save Time
Imagine if from when you started high school to now you lost your memory and none of your prior knowledge and education came with you. Every time an agency brings in a new producer or replaces a departed one, all the knowledge and experience from that previous producer is lost. Agencies are forced to start from scratch in the middle of critical lead nurturing, putting them at a considerable disadvantage.
With a CRM, agencies can preserve and transfer that knowledge to the next producer, saving countless hours. It creates more of a pause than a hard restart, saving agencies from potentially losing critical connections and ground gained.
2. Increase Productivity
Closely connected to saving time, proper CRM use and habits make sales efforts more productive. Instead of working off paper or excel sheets, all agency sales activity and revenue opportunities are tracked in the system. Managers can record why their agency wins or loses any piece of business, giving them better insight (and data) into key metrics and differentiators for success.
Are you collecting and leveraging the right data for your agency? Find out here
3. Facilitate Upselling
An integrated CRM and agency management system can also facilitate upselling, cross-selling, and account rounding within an agency’s current client base. This integrated system can be used to:
- Pull a list of clients that have Auto but no Home, or any other combination, for outreach to cross-sell
- Create opportunities for additional lines of business to upsell
- Record calls and activities with current clients to ensure connection for potential referral sales
4. Identify and Understand the Ideal Client
CRMs allow agencies to track lead sources and to determine best channels for acquiring leads. Over time, this data gives a picture of where best clients come from and what percentage of them are referrals, web leads, or from a particular group or association.
5. Improve Marketplace Management
As agencies build data quantity and quality with a CRM, a clear picture emerges of how many prospects exist within a given territory. This refined outlook will better inform decisions about how to allocate time and resources and where to focus to achieve the best profitability and growth.
Get to know your prospects better by facilitating the buyer’s journey
6. Eliminate Redundancies
When integrated with an agency management system and comparative raters, CRMs allow agencies to use a single workflow to reduce double-entry and redundancies through the sales process. Producers can spend less time inputting the same data in different systems that don’t speak to each other, saving time and expense and increasing productivity.
Access an All-in-One Insurance Sales System with Partner Platform
A CRM alone is powerful, but it’s super-charged when paired with your agency management system. The Partner Platform agency management system suite brings together all the powerful sales tools you need in one place. With our Producer Results Manager CRM, Marketing Automation Manager, integrated comparative raters, and more, Partner Platform is ahead of the curve so you can get ahead in the industry.
Find out more about our sales and marketing capabilities and request a demo at sispartnerplatform.com.
Adam Rapp is SIS’ Director of Marketing providing sales and marketing leadership, consultation, and strategy. Adam’s experience includes sales, marketing, new business development, software, and much more. He has a history of consistent top-level performance and has lead several NuGrowth Solutions client engagements. Adam received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from The Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University along with a second bachelor’s degree in Russian. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, volunteering, and many outdoor activities.