What About The Yearly Account Review?

Unfortunately, the agents I speak with every day don't perform full yearly account reviews, at least not on all accounts. Agencies have so much paper to push every day that they're lucky even to renew the account as is. If you're one of these agencies, consider the consequences of this inaction:

• Lost revenues. If you aren't reviewing the entire account and recommending other essential coverages, you're losing premium that could be yours for the taking.
• Customer dissatisfaction. By failing to inform clients that their coverage is inadequate, you're failing to protect them. If they don't feel secure in your expertise, why should they stay with you?
• Errors and omissions. By failing to recommend appropriate coverages, your agency leaves itself open to possible lawsuits.

By taking action now, you'll not only protect the insured and the agency, but increase your revenues. If you feel that your agency isn't making the money it could, you needn't look far for the solution: Account rounding. Your files are just waiting to be mined. It's easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new prospect - after all, you've already sold them on your expertise once. Why look elsewhere? Work on the easy stuff first!

But cross-selling requires an account review, which leads us back to our original quandary: How can you find the time to review all your accounts?

The best way, of course, is to make an appointment to go through a checklist of needs - either in person or on the phone. This is certainly desirable for your top accounts.

Before performing this yearly account review, make sure your checklist is complete; you want to review all areas when renewing an account. You might want to contact your state association to obtain copies of the Commercial and Personal lines checklists they distribute to students in their Continuing Education classes.

For the accounts you don't have time to review in this thorough manner, I recommend two less time-consuming review procedures:

Get your CSRs selling. They're closest to your clients. Have them come up with a list of five questions to ask the insured. For a Personal Lines client (the five questions for a business owner would, of course, be different), your CSRs might choose their five questions from these:

• Have you recently purchased particularly valuable items, such as jewelry?
• Are there any new drivers in the family?
• Have you remodeled or made any new additions to your house?
• Do you own any watercraft?
• Do you rent out any property?
• Do you operate a home computer?
• Do you operate a business out of your home?
• Have you built any detached structures, such as a garage or tool shed?

If you're keen to cross-sell, you might want to ask:

• Do you have Life insurance?
• Are you protected by Umbrella insurance?

When your CSRs come up with their five questions, be sure to ask them how many times per day they feel they can ask them. Remember, start with small goals - you don't want to scare your CSRs off with this new practice. They might be reluctant to add it to their other duties in the first place! But the effort can only increase revenues.

It's always better to review your accounts more thoroughly than five questions will allow - and, short of a formal interview, mailed review surveys are the best way to accomplish that. Mail each client a letter 60 days before renewal. The letter can be the same for everyone, or maybe one for Commerical Lines and one for Personal Lines.

Although the body of the letter can be the same, the checklist of exposures it contains should not be. Target the addressee's type of business by listing the coverages most important to it. Although you want to be thorough, be sure to keep the list short. (It's too easy to throw these things away!) Perhaps 15 or 20 questions will do.

Make a note saying that if the insured answers 'yes' to any questions, he or she should contact the agency as soon as possible to update the coverage.

One of my accounts recently went through a bit of a scare: An attorney called, trying to get information on the agency's failure to recommend Liquor Liability insurance to his client, a restaurant owner. It turns out that the agent had offered the coverage to the insured, but the insured declined to buy it for reasons of price.

Fortunately, the agency had documentation of the conversation with the insured, but the incident really opened the principal's eyes. The agency now has full checklists and letters discussing and recommending coverages, which it sends to insureds 60 days before renewal. This protects the agency and the insured.

By the way, if you ever get a call of this nature from a lawyer, refer it to the company. Give no information to the attorney. Document the call in a note on the account, and notify management.

Safeguard against lost business, customer dissatisfaction, and errors and omissions. You'll find your agency getting stronger on all fronts: Greater revenues, greater customer retention, and a lessened threat of litigation. You'll also enjoy the great satisfaction of knowing that your agency is operating in a fully professional manner.