Gaining and retaining customers is a big deal in insurance. When you have a diverse, loyal book of business, you are set to grow and try new things in this evolving digital insurance landscape. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, retaining just 5% more customers can boost profits by 100%.

How can you bring that kind of growth to your independent insurance agency?

Know What Your Customers Want

A surefire way to retain customers is by giving them what they want. The same goes for gaining quality leads – give the people what they want! 

“What do they want?” you ask. That’s up to you to figure out. Use the data you gain from marketing automation campaigns and what’s stored in your insurance CRM to identify patterns. Do you gain more leads when you talk about your one-on-one video calls? Do you see leads drop off if it takes more than 12 hours to get a policy proposal together? Identify what your customers are drawn to and what turns them away with this digital data.

Actively solicit information, too. Have your agents ask long-term customers what they love about your business, send an email survey to customers, and provide the option to leave feedback after every interaction with your agency. The more you know, the better you can be at giving customers what they want.

Make It Easy to Connect

Over the past year, one study found that more than 70% of insurance customers “found it difficult” to connect with their agency about their policy or ask questions. The same survey found that 69% expected companies to communicate with them using automated and digitized services.

Customers and prospective customers alike want to connect with you. Some may prefer email, others might like texts, and others may want a phone call. The point is, you need to expand access to you and your agency. One great way to up your connection is to use an online customer portal and a mobile app to give customers access to their policies and claims anytime, anywhere. Within these tools, you can provide direct ways to connect with your team via phone or chat.

Identify New Target Markets

The COVID-19 pandemic shook up the world in many ways, including making it more acceptable to work with an individual or business outside your geographic sphere. Digital communication tools expanded reach, and the whole world is your potential target. Determine your strengths and look into areas outside your city or state that are looking for what your agency provides.

Make Things Quick, Easy, and Seamless

These three words are the hallmark of the digital age. Customers and prospects are used to getting the information they want quickly, easily, and with minimal disruption. Are your customers receiving that smooth experience? Tools like esignature, integrated email, and secure document sending can bring your ease of business to a whole new level. Evaluate ways you can serve your customers and prospects with speed and precision.

Integrate Your Systems

When everything in your agency syncs together, you save time and get better customer data. Your management system, marketing automation, CRM, email, texting, accounting, and any other systems you frequently use to interface with customers should all come together in one hub. The data you gain and the time you save can be used to target and follow up with quality leads and improve relationships with existing customers.

Grow Your Partners

Businesses like Ikea, Airbnb, Ford, and others partner with national insurance agencies, providing exclusive deals to their customers. While you may not be a first-choice partner for Ford nationally, you can connect with your local Ford dealership. Grow your customer base by partnering with realtors, colleges, animal shelters, and other relevant organizations in your area, offering special policy pricing for their constituents.

Make a Tech Team

You can do a lot, but you can’t do it all. Work with tech partners to integrate systems and provide the best customer service and agency operation technology for your business. That’s what we do here at SIS, working closely with our Partner Allies to provide best-in-the-business tools and training for our Partner Platform agencies.

Get to know more about our tech partnerships, Partner Platform User Community, and our top-of-the-line, integrated agency management system experience: visit us at sispartnerplatform.com/contact-us to find out more.