This article was produced in partnership with Intact.
David Saric of Insurance Business sat down with Kelly Thompson, president of SurNet Insurance Group and Suchinder Singh, VP of personal lines, Ontario at Intact Insurance to discuss how getting ahead of big life changes in a customer’s life can present new insurance opportunities.
Focusing on building authentic personal connections with customers can lead to opportunities for updating and selling additional policies to keep customers well-covered, something that Kelly Thompson, president of SurNet Insurance Group, knows well.
Having simple conversations to learn more about a customer’s life, whether that includes “plans for home renovations or a forthcoming child, can reveal a wealth of useful information about changing insurance needs,” she said.
Additionally, customers may not be aware of how these transformations may need new forms of coverage, allowing a broker’s advisory expertise to shine.
“If they're expanding their home, changing a roof or furnace, or adding a hot tub or pool, people don't always think about insurance,” added Suchinder Singh, VP of personal lines, Ontario at Intact Insurance.
One of the easiest wins in the present day is learning if a customer has made the switch to work from home, which has grown in popularity in the wake of the pandemic.
“People just think that because they have a homeowner’s policy, that everything will be covered,” Thompson said.
A proactive broker can use these talking points to ensure work contents such as laptops, printers or servers are given thorough protection through a more precise coverage.
With an uptick in severe weather events like flooding, brokers can also offer peace of mind to customers by offering separate flood coverage, which can often go overlooked.
“Personal lines customers are especially receptive to these recommendations because they can see the damages firsthand,” Thompson added.
Additionally, a broker can also look to offer consolidated policies, which comes with potential savings benefits for a customer.
“We should aim to make the lives of customers as easy as possible, especially since insurance can be confusing for some,” Singh said.
Rather than having different policies with different carriers, a broker can work with a single insurer to get bundled coverage, which can provide savings for the customer while showcasing attentiveness.
To keep a constant presence in their customers’ lives, Thompson and her team at SurNet use technology and social media to keep their lines of communication diversified and open.
The company sends out weekly blogs to its email list, which is then collated into a monthly newsletter.
The release of each blog is timed with certain events, whether it’s winter tire season approaching, getting the boat ready for summer cottage adventures or the start of the new school year.
“We use these articles as prompts to get our customers into thinking, ‘oh, yeah, I'm driving my kid to university next week, I never thought about them needing contents cover while they’re away,’” Thompson said.
In addition to these emails, SurNet also uses social media to stay top of mind while customers browse their smartphones, allowing these prompts to circulate in another digital dimension.
This doesn’t negate the need to keep interpersonal relationships strong, but is seen as a way to complement these conversations and stay connected and top of mind.
“Technology should be seen as a tool that can help free up time for a broker,” Singh said.
The broker who is most successful in building a meaningful connection will use all these tools to create a sense of visibility and reliability when a customer’s life changes course.
“When it comes to renewal, the customer is not really thinking about it, because the broker has been taking care of them along the way,” Singh added.
For Thompson, partnering with an insurer like Intact allows her to tap into the company’s statistical insight to share preparedness tips to customers in the event of a potential loss situation, such as extreme weather.
“It helps to make our message sound stronger when it is coming from both a broker and a carrier,” she said.
From the carrier side, Intact is always looking to inform its broker partners and strengthen their ability to find individualized solutions for a customer.
Intact’s broker education program, Pathways, supports a broker with increasing their technical and sales skillsets to better serve their customers.
“We do our part to cater to what customers need overall, but the uniqueness of any particular customer is driven by the broker’s insight,” Singh said.
Intact Insurance is Canada's largest home, auto and business insurance company, the choice of more than four million consumers. Its coast-to-coast presence and its strong relationship with insurance brokers mean the company can provide the outstanding service, comfort and continuity customers deserve. Intact Insurance is a member company of Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC), the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada and a leading provider of specialty insurance in North America.
