While many of the “old school” ways of insurance are still valued, the idea of passive prospecting no longer holds. To stay competitive, independence agencies need insurance prospecting software and a clear outreach plan. Here are some of the ways agencies can up their sales and marketing game with a few essential pieces of software.

Referrals

According to a Nielsen study, eight out of ten consumers trust referrals from people they know. And, people are four times more likely to buy a product when referred by a friend. With returns like that, referrals must be part of an agency’s outreach strategy.

Leverage CRM capabilities to track long-term customers with high engagement. These customers are perfect candidates to ask for referrals. CRM data can also show who is connected to whom, so you can get a sense of which customers know which prospects. Make the connection between those who are highly engaged and the leads on the line to spark an effective referral.

Marketing automation is perfect for tracking when you receive a positive customer review and sending a referral request shortly after. Take advantage of those positive sentiments in the moment! You can also add “share with a friend” links to all your outgoing content, but especially during critical moments like when a customer is up for renewal or when they first sign up.

Proposal creators help you get a professional-looking proposal, with the right coverage, in the hands of the referral quickly. This speed can make the difference between writing the business or not. Make the process simpler and easier by using a tool to create customized proposals with flood policy information, coverages, and limits in an editable template.

Practice the art of asking for referrals; check out our how-to post here

Retention

The best way to keep customers is to keep them happy. A PWC survey found 32% of customers would abandon a brand after one bad experience. Nationally, over $136 billion is lost due to “avoidable customer switching.” That’s a significant loss, one that hits insurance especially hard. According to Hubspot, insurance is tied for the third-highest customer acquisition cost at $303. It pays to keep your customers.

Integrated texting is a new way to keep that customer connection with a non-intrusive, personalized interaction. Use texting to answer questions, receive claim information, and other service points, getting your customers the information they need quickly and effectively. Ask for feedback via text, too. Studies show people are eight times more likely to respond to texts than email, so you can bet you’ll actually get the feedback you need to improve.

Use a CRM to create audience segments based on factors like policy needs, location, and life stages so you can focus on providing personalized content to each group. Track how your outreach performs and adjust as needed for each segment or individual. You should also leverage CRM data to help you understand where you’re losing customers and why.

Marketing automation is essential for customer retention. With marketing automation, you can set up outreach campaigns to go out to each customer segment, keeping them engaged. And, you can test multiple outreach campaigns to optimize your contact for higher customer satisfaction.

Discover the essential prospecting tools for your agency here

Expansion

To grow your agency, you need to keep your current customers and bring in new ones. Work to identify, and cultivate, leads. Cultivation is key: nurtured leads make almost 50% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads.

CRM adoption can increase sales by up to 29%. As with current customers, segment your leads into specific groups. Use these segments to do targeted outreach and gain data on what works and what needs to improve. Pay attention to where you’re gaining a higher number of leads as well. These concentrated segments signal niche markets you can capitalize on.

Integrated texting streamlines purchases to your advantage. With texting, you can quickly gain relevant info on leads through simple text response surveys. And, you can text leads to remind them of appointments, open policy inquiries, or other interest forms left unfinished.

Proposal creators aren’t only helpful for prospects – they’re also a great tool for an account review, helping you share additional coverages. The quicker you can put together a quality proposal, the more clients you can share them with.  With a proposal creator, you can cut policy processing time from hours to minutes, letting you promote and write more lines of business.

Do you know what data you need to expand your agency? Find out here

Grow Your Agency with Partner Platform

When it comes to insurance prospecting software, we have you covered with Partner Platform. Our intuitive, cloud-based agency management system offers an integrated marketing automation system, CRM suite, texting, and proposal creator, among other invaluable agency tools.

Discover how you can get the tools, and the dedicated support, you need to grow your agency. Get in touch at 800.747.7005, Option 6 or [email protected].