What Is Customer Service? Customer service in an insurance agency consists of four specific functions: Processing, professional advice, production, and positive communication.
Processing: For most CSRs in an agency, processing has become customer service. When I ask CSRs, “What’s the biggest interruption to your work?” They respond, “The telephone.” I try to explain to them that the phone is not an interruption; it’s one of the only forms of perceptible customer service that they provide. One of the greatest challenges that an agency faces is the need to reduce the time spent on processing and to devote this time to quality time spent with the customer and the production of additional lines of insurance per customer.
You can reduce the time spent processing refining the agency’s workflow procedures and introducing such concepts as imaging. I’ve found that introduced imaging into agencies reduced processing time by 20% to 40%. CSRs should spend this time can interacting with customers, who don’t see processing time as customer service. Review the current processing activities and eliminate those that are no longer necessary and don’t lead to the retention and acquisition of customers. Reduce these procedures to writing, explain them to the CSRs and then implement them. The next step is the most difficult, and yet the most important. Once you’ve distributed written procedures to the CSRs, be sure to enforce them. Many employees don’t do what’s expected; they do what’s inspected.
Professional Advice: The next step is to start differentiating the agency form other “me too” agencies by providing the professional service that most agencies say they do. You can do this in several ways. The first is to implement the use of exposure checklists Your E&O carrier will usually provide them and even consultants, like myself, will provide them to agency clients. These products have multiple functions and provide great checklists and specific industry questionnaires.
Although many agencies use some type of questionnaire on new business, very few use them for Personal Lines and Small Commercial accounts. In nearly 30 years since I left the agency business, my agency has never called me to do a full review of my needs, personal or business. If you’re a professional agency, your customers deserve a full review of their loss exposures at least every three years, no matter the size of the account. The review will often produce additional revenues for the agency and will increase retention.
Production: Most agency employees, when asked, “What type of business is an insurance agency?” will answer, “A service business.” Not so! An agency is in the business of sales. An agent doesn’t get paid for service, only for sales. A great mission statement for an agency should be, “We’re a highly motivated sales organization that provides excellent service.”
Many CSRs also have the responsibility for production, especially selling new business. Most agencies have a “hit ratio” of 10% to 20% on new business in Personal and Small Commercial Lines due to ineffective prequalifying the prospect and allowing activity to take precedence over results. Because these ratios are far higher on referred business, all producers and CSRs should focus on securing referrals. In addition, the highest hit ratios result from cross-selling existing customers. Your agency’s primary focus should be on cross sales to existing customers, through systematic use of the regular account review. After completing the review, the CSR can solicit referrals that will lead to even more sales.
Using “piggy-back” mailers will also help generate additional sales. In other words, when mailing anything to a customer, the CSR should insert flyers or brochures describing additional products
Positive Communication: What is communicated to a customer or prospect when they call your agency? ----- “We’re so glad you called” or “You’re a real interruption to my customer service” Because most agency employees can’t relate sales to salary the telephone is an annoyance, not an opportunity. In fact, most CSRs can’t wait to get off the phone in order to get back to customer service. If clients don’t regularly compliment the staff for their help and attitude, you have the wrong people doing the job. Most customers leave an agency because they perceive indifference on the part of the agency employee. Remember the opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference not caring enough to care.
You should also train your staff to actively listen to the client. A client will often say something that will indicate a need for additional coverage. The need for Life insurance is the most obvious example. If the client communicates birth or death in the family, a new job, a new spouse, a new home, an auto collision, burglary or fire, the agency has an opportunity to suggest the need for additional Life insurance. Although I’m not suggesting that the CSRs actually sell Life, they should direct these leads to the life salesperson.
How well do you communicate through the written word. How do customers perceive your proposals and letters? Are they full of typos? Do your proposals contain color? Do you just provide an “apples for apples” proposal, or does the proposal contain other recommendations? If you can answer these questions affirmatively, prospects and customers will view you and your agency in a positive way.
Conclusion: The way that your agency views, trains and measures customer service will determine its ultimate success. In closing, I’d like to provide a quote that I came across several years ago. Let’s hope it applies to you and your agency staff!
“And then some“
These three little words are the secret to success. They’re the difference between average people and top people in most organizations. The top people always do what is expected and then some. They are thoughtful of others they are considerate and kind and then some. They meet their obligations and responsibilities fairly and squarely and then some. They are good friends and neighbors and then some. They can be counted on in an emergency and then some. I’m thankful for people like this, for they make the world more livable. Their spirit of service is summed up in these little words and then some.”
- Author, Unknown