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Digital Insurance Stats You Need to Know
Insurance is now digital insurance. The same goes for almost every consumer sector – from banking to healthcare and beyond, most consumers are finding what they need online.
But just because people are searching for what they need online doesn’t mean they only make purchases via digital means. Customers still want that personal connection, they just want to get business done faster.
This is the conundrum of the independent insurance agency – responding quickly, yet personally, to prospects and customers. These statistics tell that story.
What Customers Want and the Insurance Sales Software to Get It
When it comes to your insurance prospects and customers, there are three main areas to focus on:
1. Improving ease and speed of service
2. Personalizing prospect and customer experience
3. Gaining data for expert advice
Each of these areas answers the question, “what do insurance customers want?”. Are you leveraging the right insurance sales software and processes to respond to these needs?
What Insurance Tech do Agency Customers Want?
It may not be what it’s always been – and it may surprise you how preferences have changed. Advancements in insurance tech and changes in purchasing patterns mean your current and prospective customers may be looking for something more. Though you’ll have variation among different generations, there are commonalities within what your customers are looking for to get excellent service.
The Story Behind Our Insurance Agency Software: Eisenhart Consulting Group
Next in our series on what’s behind our Partner Platform insurance agency software community is the management and operations consulting group, Eisenhart Consulting Group. For over ten years, we’ve been lucky to work with owner Mary Belka and her team.
Mary Belka, CEO and founder of Eisenhart Consulting Group, has been part of the Partner Allies team for more than a decade. When she was first introduced to the Partner Platform system, she was impressed by the hands-on, personalized service the Partner Platform team provided to one of her clients. Since then, a mutual dedication to personalized service has made Partner Platform and Eisenhart Consulting the perfect team for our independent agency clients.
I spoke with Mary to talk about how she came to meet the Partner team, the unique and transformational service she brings to Partner agencies, and how she prepares agencies for the future.
The Story Behind Our Insurance Agency Software: Lightspeed Voice
We strive to provide the best insurance agency software to our Partner Platform agencies, but we don’t have all the answers on our own. That’s where our trusted technology partners, our Partner Allies, come in. In this series, we get to know more about our industry partners and how they bring innovation and expertise to the Partner Platform system.
Based in Nokomis, FL, Lightspeed Voice® is a VoIP, cloud-based IP telephone provider founded in 2009 to provide the insurance industry with reliable VoIP and client relationship management (CRM) solutions.
Lightspeed differentiates through high-touch and high-service, which aligns nicely with Partner Platform’s approach – and is also true for the way our independent agency clients sell. Both Partner Platform and Lightspeed strive to be hands-on, building relationships with clients just as our independent agents do with their customers.
I talked with Lightspeed’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Steve Mohr, about the partnership.
Expert Tips for Building Your Insurance Website for Sales
Have you properly equipped your insurance website for sales? Almost three-quarters of insurance shoppers go online to do research and obtain quotes, so you need a quality website to attract those sales.
This shift to online prompted our Partner Platform team to think more about agency websites and how to optimize them for sales and service. We now work with agencies to help them create a custom site to grow their business after seeing several common mistakes. Here are some of the ways we saw agency websites missing the mark – and how we helped them correct their missteps.
Partner Platform announces seamless integration with Rocket Referrals
Partner Platform announces seamless integration with Rocket Referrals – expanding marketing automation capabilities to send timely communications, cross-sell policies, and measure client satisfaction while building long-term relationships with their insureds.
Thinking Long-Term: Insurance Agency Management for the Future
How did the COVID-19 pandemic change your insurance agency management?
Most agencies are emerging from pandemic lockdown with their business still healthy – perhaps even healthier for those that benefitted from restrictions that reduced claims. An agency that emerges from such an immediate and drastic change with economic strength speaks to their resilience and preparation.
Intentional Insurance Agency Marketing in Four Steps
Are you intentional about your insurance agency marketing? If you’re sailing by on your current client base and waiting for the phone to ring, you’ll soon be left behind. As one of our clients recently said, the “order-taker” agencies are quickly becoming a thing of the past. With most potential customers searching for insurance online, you need to be thoughtful about your agency brand and how to get it found.
Digital Insurance Customer Service: Keeping it Personal
As we recently heard from one of our Partner Allies, one of the most significant challenges facing independent insurance in the next ten years is how to keep up with the progress of digital insurance technology while maintaining a personal connection with customers.
Studies show customers want agencies to use more tech and increase service personalization. A recent PWC survey found 41% of insurance customers said they’d switch to a new provider if that provider were more digitized than their current one. And the recent COVID-19 pandemic shutdown exposed more people to digital service speed, causing a lasting shift in expectations.
How can your agency harness digital insurance tech’s speed and efficiency without losing your signature personal touch?