The coronavirus pandemic accelerated trends in several areas, including digital insurance customer service. A recent survey showed that almost 90% of American consumers think customer service is more important now than before the pandemic took hold of the world.

Consumers not only expect more from service providers, they also have more options, meaning they’ll choose an agency that offers quicker and smoother interactions over one that’s, say, unable to process esignatures. As your team transitions back to the office, now is the time to reevaluate your customer service tools and processes to keep up with expectations.

1. Get more customer data

The more you know about each potential customer or group of prospects, the better. Set your agency up to gather customer data through marketing automation and record that data in an insurance CRM integrated with your agency management system.

With all your customer data in one place – your insurance CRM – producers and CSRs alike can look up a customer profile and get to know everything they can about a customer before speaking with them. The more you know, the better you can serve their needs and streamline interactions.

2. Focus on the customer

With so many choices and access to reviews, consumers can easily tell when they’re being “sold to” rather than actually helped. Use your customer data to focus on each individuals’s goals rather than your own. Train your producers to ask questions to understand what would best benefit the customer. Selling lower-priced coverage may seem like a loss in the short run, but if that’s what the customer needed to be happy, you’ve got a net positive in a life-long customer.

3. Stay in touch

You have a great deal of customer interaction leading up to signing a policy, but what about after? Take time to follow up with customers to see how things are going and if they have any new needs. If every contact isn’t about a sale, your customers are more inclined to trust you when it comes time to talk about an upsell or cross-sell opportunity. Use your insurance CRM and marketing automation to put in reminders to get in touch and automated messages to reach out regularly.

4. Be accessible in many ways

You know each customer is unique, so why don’t you offer them unique ways to get in touch? Some customers may prefer a phone call, while others want a text. Some may only look at email, while others want to talk over online chat. Whatever the way, make sure you have it as an option.

Marketing automation can let you know those preferences, tracking individual engagement with certain types of outreach, and options like integrated text and email make it easier for you to respond and capture customer data at the same time. 

5. Offer self-service

A self-service client portal is a must for the modern insurance agency. A self-service portal allows customers to access their policy, claims, and other information 24/7. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, consumers got used to self-service, and now many prefer it to get information almost instantly. With a self-service portal, customers can make payments, print ID cards, and update information without needing to call your office. That ease of use is essential.

6. Make feedback available and public

As we mentioned, online reviews play a big part in consumer choice. With so many seemingly similar insurance options, people often go to reviews to make their final decision. Make it easy for your customers to leave reviews about their experience. Ask for a review after a service call and add a link on your website and in your team’s email signatures. Check out your review pages to respond to less than stellar experiences, too. Your honestly and attempts to “make it right” go a long way.

7. Make more time for people

After lockdowns and social distancing for more than a year, people are craving more personal interactions. Structure your agency so you can give more time when needed. With a system like the Partner Platform agency management system and insurance CRM, you can automate and speed up processes thanks to real-time integrations and esignature capabilities, among other time-saving tools.

With less time spent on small tasks, you can give your time to the most important job: being there for your customers. Find out how you can give your customers back more time with a system that gives you that competitive advantage: get in touch with the Partner Platform team today.