Connecting with customers is an essential part of the insurance business, and, these days, texting is a universal way of connecting with anyone. If you’re in the business of connecting, shouldn’t texting be part of your insurance software?

The answer, of course, is yes. You text to stay in touch with family, friends, and even your colleagues, so why not leverage it to connect with your customers? The benefits of texting are clear:

• Texts have a 98% conversion rate
• Texts are more personal than email
• Texting is less expensive than radio, TV, or online ads
• Texts get a 70% response rate compared to only 10% for voicemails and emails

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What to Text

In the insurance setting, texting can be used for several purposes. The most prominent is to remind and inform customers and prospects of things like appointments, policy renewals, holiday hours, bad weather warnings, and other targeted yet nonintrusive messaging to drive conversations around cross-selling or account rounding. Texting transmits information quickly and, with its high response rate, virtually guarantees action on these critical items.

Agencies can also use texting alongside their Mobile App to facilitate claims management. With an integrated text system, agencies can quickly send, receive, and capture claims information and automatically attach it to a customer’s profile.

And, texting is useful when it comes to getting ahead of claims management. Agents can send a text to clients after a bad storm or another incident to see if they’re having issues. A simple message like, “That wind yesterday caused some issues around town – were you affected? Text ‘YES’ to file a claim,” can mean a lot to those facing unexpected damage.

See more on how to set up texting for your agency

How to Text

As with all digital communication, there are some dos and don’ts with your agency’s texting.

DO

• Make it easy to sign up for texting. Add QR codes and text sign up numbers to all your communications, including a checkbox to opt-in when signing up for things like Client Portal access or renewing a policy.
• Let clients know what you plan to text. Be clear that you’re using the system to keep them updated and that they can opt-out at any time.
• Texting is less expensive than radio, TV, or online ads
• Personalize messages. Add simple elements like using the client’s first name in messaging or reference their locality.
• Make it easy to opt-out. Get a system that allows for a simple “STOP” text to get clients off your list.
• Connect texting with all your other systems. Your management system, CRM, marketing automation, Client Portal, Mobile App, and other systems should all be one. This connection helps you get a full picture of each client’s communication history and supplies you with better data on how to reach them more effectively.

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DON’T

• Text too often. You want to stay in touch and connected with your clients, but you don’t want to annoy them. Stick to one to two texts per month at most.
• Put client data at risk. Keep your data safe by running your text messaging through your other systems, like your agency management system, that are bolstered with proper secure infrastructure.
• Let everyone text. Designate specific individuals to manage your texting system and others to monitor as needed. Train those using the system in proper protocols as well.
• Text sensitive information. Addresses, phone numbers, and other secure data should not be shared via text. If you have a document for someone to sign, use a secure link.
• Make policy promises. Avoid texting policy quotes or any guarantees. You can’t be sure of the specifics of each individual’s needs till there is a formal policy quote, and that quote should be shared in its entirety in official documentation.

Making Texting Easy for Your Agency

Too often, agencies discount texting due to cumbersome systems or associated data risks. Partner Platform’s integrated texting eases these fears with a secure system that makes it easy to send and receive text and images with one click.

With Partner Platform, users can text right from the system, saving each conversation automatically. Texts can be sent manually, or marketing texts can be scheduled to send to a pre-determined list. And it’s easy for clients to opt-in or out.

Want to add texting to your agency communications? Get in touch with us at 800.747.7005, option 6, or [email protected] to find out more. And, see the Partner Platform system in action: request a demo today.