Insurance retention or renewals are likely the top goal for most agencies. Client retention and referrals are the dream. You can have both. With the right tools and a solid marketing plan, your agency can retain and gain a client base at a predictable, comfortable pace.

Maintain and Retain

Customer retention is the gold standard because it’s the most profitable. According to  The Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas (IIAD), the insurance industry has one of the highest customer acquisition costs at nine to one for dollars spent vs. dollars gained in acquiring a new customer. That means keeping the customers you have not only brings in money, it also saves you from having to spend it to gain customers.

To save money and keep your customers:

1. Stay in touch with your customers via integrated texting and email systems linked to marketing automation. Schedule messages to go out at pertinent times like to acknowledge a birthday or other milestone or to check-in right before renewal.
2. Remind of upcoming events such as renewals or other occasions happening in your locality. Leverage texting and email integrations here as well.

See how independent agencies can gain prospects here

• Reach out to customers you haven’t contacted in a while. Maybe you don’t have their birthdays in your system, or you somehow lapsed on their renewal date. Use your CRM to track how often you get in touch with customers and have a running list of those for whom it’s been a while.
• Make things easy for customers to get what they need. Client portals allow the insured to update their information, download ID cards, and renew policies instantly. Integrated proposal creators speed up the process as well.

Get to know the buyer’s journey and how to move prospects through it here

Tell and Sell

Beyond maintaining customers, earning referrals is a key contributor to growth. It’s also one of the most underutilized. Marketers rate referrals as the second-best source for leads. And 82% of Americans say they ask for suggestions from friends or family before making a purchase. Take advantage by making it easy for your customers to spread the word about your excellent service.

Make referrals easy:

1. Set up a referral program to incentivize sharing. Give benefits to both your customer and the referred to make the highest impact.
2. Help customers spread the word by including referral links at the bottom of all your communications. Add links to your emails and texts using your integrated systems.
3. Send requests at the right time. Set up your marketing automation to email referral requests after a customer leaves a positive review or has a helpful interaction with your agency (i.e., adding new policy lines or solving an issue).
4. Make it easy to make the sale with a proposal creator that quickly floods information to a branded proposal for the referred to instantly sign online. The more barriers you can remove to purchase, the better.

Dive deep into referral marketing in our post “The Art of Asking for Referrals”

Get the Retain and Refer Tools You Need with Partner Platform

The Partner Platform insurance agency management system suite from the experts at SIS has all the tools you need to retain customers and grow your business. Built-in capabilities like a client portal, proposal creator, marketing automation, CRM, and integrated texting, make it easier to retain and gain business. And, each capability comes straight from our Partner Platform agencies and their conversations with our dedicated team.

See what our agencies have to say about their experience with Partner Platform and our stellar service team on our client page. And get in touch to view a demo to see how Partner Platform can help your agency grow.