April 2017 Wisconsin Professional Agent

Page 18

Be Your Client's Hero—

Indifferent Service is Worse Than Bad Service

by Chip R Bell

I fired my insurance agent and hired a new one. The old insurance agent did absolutely nothing bad and if I called the office, his clerk was friendly. He just never did anything other than write my insurance policies and send me annual premiums. He never called to thank me for my business. Instead, he opted to send a form letter at renewal time. And, this is a small independent insurance office in a small town, not some mega-business with a gazillion customers.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I called one Wednesday afternoon just minutes past noon to inquire about getting a new umbrella policy. A recorded message informed me that the agency office always closed on Wednesdays at noon, but it would reopen Thursday at 9 a.m. There was no answering service to channel my call, in case this had been an insurance emergency. I considered sending an email, but when I Googled the agency name I found it did not have a website; and an email address was not included on any of the agency’s correspondence. If this was 1950, such practices might have made more sense.

with you? “You know,” he told me, “We have many chan-

My new insurance agent (from the same insurance carrier) is always available—24/7. During our first phone call, he took a quick look at my four policies—home, two cars and a boat— and he informed me that the homeowners policy I had was an old one and he could provide me a newer policy with better features and a 40 percent reduction in my premium. Then, he backed up his words with a detailed email. I wondered why my terminated agent never bothered to shift me to a better offering. Maybe he was busy getting new customers while he let his old ones sneak away to a competitor.

contact. It means knowing more than the usual boilerplate

What today's customers want.

nels today, and I want to make sure I use the one you prefer.” In our first year together, we mostly communicated via email. However, last year at our annual sit-down review, we changed my preferred channel to “text me.” It was symbolic and a recognition that when it comes to customer service, today’s fad can become tomorrow’s antique. Customers want a demonstration that you know and understand them. Contact centers win when the screen is populated instantly with all the center knows about the customer, including personal information picked up from the last customer information; it includes remembering the customer has a 17-year-old heading for college or the customer’s spouse enjoys fly-fishing. Sure you send a birthday card, but what about anniversary or a congratulations note to that graduating senior in your customer’s family? No. 2: Include me My agent knows I write and speak about customer service. Periodically, he asks my opinion on how to handle a unique customer service challenge. It makes me feel valued. Customers’ loyalty soars when they discover they can be active participants

The landscape of customer loyalty has been recontoured! Customers get terrific service in pockets of their life and use those experiences to judge everyone else. Customers have more choices and are forced to use their service experience as a gauge of product and service excellence. Today’s customers are much smarter buyers. Social media has made every person everyone else’s Consumers Report. Figuring out how to retain customers today is no simple task. However, below are five key loyalty drivers that fit most insurance customers most of the time.

in the service experience. It involves giving customers choices.

No. 1: Understand me When my new agent and I met for the first time, he asked a key question: How would you like me to communicate

they see and feel, and ask for their ideas on improvements?

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Why can’t customers select what they want to hear if they are placed on hold? What if you used a lot more, “What do you think?” and a lot less “Here’s what I think.” I always feel like a valued partner when I am asked for feedback on how an enterprise could improve. As service providers, we are all blind to the details of our own service, much like the wallpaper in our kitchens. Customers see the details we take for granted. Why not pick their brains on what Customers will care when they are given a chance to share. Give your customers an opportunity to put “skin in the game.”


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April 2017 Wisconsin Professional Agent by Professional Insurance Agents of Wisconsin - Issuu