Agents and CSRs Must Remind People of the Value We Offer Them
Agents and CSRs Must Remind People of the Value We Offer Them
The relationship between the independent agent and the insured is one of, if not the most, important things we offer our clients. We work or live right down the road; we have a familiar face; and we work with our clients always on a firstname basis. You can’t get that kind of personal service from an 800-number.
I was at the grocery store earlier this week and when I paid for my purchase, the cashier presented my receipt and said to me: “You saved $15 on your purchase today.” I know you’ve heard this too—sometimes, depending on the store where you shop, the cashier will add something to the effect of “You saved 30 cents off gas,” depending on the store’s incentive program.
It occurred to me: Agencies can learn from retailers that do this. Clients call us all the time. We and our employees constantly find savings on their behalf. It’s what we do and we are good at it. So, why shouldn’t we remind our insureds of one of the benefits we give them? Our CSRs are good at saying, “Let me see what I can do to save you some money.” And when we do, we should tell clients what they saved. We can train our CSRs to go further and remind insureds at the end of their conversation: “Mrs. Jones, you paid a premium of $1,000 for your home and auto coverage and we just saved you $200.”
Of course, savings isn’t the only benefit we offer our clients. We also could tell them: “I’m sure you will have peace of mind knowing your new policy now protects you in the case of a flood.” And, with the little amount of $20 more a month, you now have replacement value for your home.”
We could even take a lesson from the fast food establishments: You know the ones that ask, “Do you want fries with that?” Agents package deals all the time. I’ve just saved you $300 on your homeowners policy—do you want to see if we can save you more with our auto?” Or, how about “Do you want an umbrella policy with that?” And, “If you purchase a guaranteed replacement-cost endorsement, you would receive the full amount you need to rebuild, regardless of inflation.” Even to our commercial-lines clients: “How about business interruption with that?”
We know we should ask these questions, but sometimes we need the reminder. Even though our CSRs know they’ve done something positive for the insured, somehow they often neglect to remind them. I would walk through my office and hear my best CSRs say with the most pleasant voices and best of intentions: “OK—Don’t worry, I took care of everything.” Our CSRs are efficient and friendly and they don’t get enough credit for all the work they do, but we need to train them to change how they communicate with the insured. Rather than saying, “You’re all set,” imagine: “Thank you for letting us work with you—I just saved you $200 because of today’s phone call.” Same friendly tone, same efficiency and service; but an added reminder of the value they’ve brought to the transaction.
CSRs take what they do for granted— It’s just their job. Many CSRs don’t look at themselves as sales people, yet they are themost important sales tool in the office. They just need to be trained to “toot their horn” and to share the value that a client gets with their personal phone call to a local, professional independent agent.
We are constantly seeing ads about how seven or 15 minutes can save you money, but we need to show that we can save more and we bring a personal touch. We have to constantly remind our clients of the value of their relationship with their local, professional independent agency. The CSR is the front-line sales person for our agencies, and he or she usually has more contact with insureds than the average agent. They naturally are relationship-oriented and our clients love them. There’s no underestimating their importance and agency owners need to make sure they know their value to the success of the agency.
