Staying #1 in Your Client’s Mind

The world of the independent agent and broker is changing rapidly and in many areas. Sometimes it seems things are changing so quickly it’s impossible to keep up. Competition is fierce. Clients are demanding more service, completed faster and taken care of when it’s convenient for them.

Running an agency isn’t getting easier and finding, training and retaining quality staff can be a nightmare. Add to that the ever increasing demands for volume by carriers and it’s no wonder agents and brokers are pulling their hair out.

On top of all that, agencies are being advised that they need to get more involved in social media and digital marketing; an area that only a few years ago wasn’t really a factor. Effectively using social media is foreign to many agencies. Their confusion is only magnified by all the “experts” and consultants out there overwhelming them with a mountain of completely foreign techno babble.

Many have come to the realization that there isn’t anybody on their current staff with the necessary knowledge to handle this important area. Others are trying the best they can. Still others have decided to take a wait and see attitude convinced this may just be a passing fad. Where do you stand?

Social media is all about relationship building and there couldn’t be a more important time for agents and brokers to maximize their relationship with their clients and potential clients. Because of increased competition there are an increasing number of insurance providers vying for the attention of your clients and prospective clients.

Many of them are more highly automated and have people on staff that are very effective in using social media. If you’re not able to keep your clients attention and nurture a positive relationship with your client’s they will move in and try to replace you. Remember some of them have enormous budgets earmarked for advertising.

They are not the only folks you have to be worried about. Part of my role here at IIABNY is staying on top of what is occurring with independent agent carriers. It means reading tons of articles, blogs and white papers. One very significant trend I have noted over and over is carriers coming to the realization that they have to replace their existing legacy system with one that is more effective and consumer friendly.

These articles encourage carriers to adopt new customer engagement models. Apparently the message is getting across as over 75% of carriers ranked this as a first or second priority. Carriers realize that consumers are demanding easily accessible information that allows them to research and educate themselves on insurance. They also want easy access when necessary via mobile apps on smartphones and tablets like the iPAD. This even extends over to claims with mobile apps available to report a claim and get the claims process started.

Development and retention of current data on clients/consumers is called Big Data and offers carriers the ability to do predictive modeling and analytics. They want to leverage this new customer engagement by obtaining as much pertinent information about the client as possible. This data then allows them to better analyze and predict profitability.

The use of telematics is a great example of this. Customers and prospects are encouraged to plug a device into their car that provides the carrier with a wealth of information relative to their driving habits for the possibility of saving premium. This just further ties the customer to the carrier who owns that information and allows the carrier to better choose clients to insure long-term based on an analysis of the information provided.

For quite some time agents have been proud of the fact that when you asked their clients who they were insured with they would say the agent or agency. That was reflective of the deep seated relationship the client felt with that agent or agency. The changes I outlined previously in this article will very likely affect that relationship possibly taking the agent out of this role in the future. Clients may start to recognize and value the relationship with their carrier over the one they currently have with their agent. That is definitely something I don’t believe any agent wants.

In order to combat this it’s important that agents nurture and solidify their relationship with their client. Social media is an important part of doing exactly that. Coupled with a customer centric, highly effective agency service model you are almost assured of retaining the primary and most important relationship role with your client.

Failure to provide exceptional customer service and to nurture your client relationship via your agency’s website, blog and social media leaves the door open for your carriers or your competition to take over. In a highly competitive marketplace like we have today an agency can’t afford to allow that to happen or it could spell disaster for its future.

 

Social media is not a passing fad. It’s the current model for nurturing a relationship with clients and prospects. It may evolve in the future but for now it’s the way to go. Sift through the techno babble, learn how to use it effectively and then make it a part of your overall operation. It may involve an investment initially however you won’t regret it in the future.