This article was provided by Zywave
As an insurance provider, having strong relationships with your policyholders is crucial for your ongoing success. Your policyholders need to know that they’re important to you, and that their satisfaction is of the utmost importance. Otherwise, that relationship can become strained.
And that’s exactly where many broker and carrier relationships are headed. According to a recent study by J.D Power, many of the relationships that are so essential to your success are broken. But how can you address those strained or broken relationships when time and resources are limited?
It comes down to staying in touch with your policyholders for more than just renewals and claims. The more effort you put into these off-cycle touches, the stronger your policyholder relationships will become. But that takes time and resources – which are in short supply.
Fear not! Zywave can help. Want to find out how? Let’s dig into it.
When it comes to small businesses with 50 or fewer employees who are buying workers compensation and commercial auto policies, relationships are strained. According to the study done by J.D. Power, small insureds “spend three times more effort interacting with their carrier on websites, on the phone, or with agents.” That means your customers are the ones investing time into reaching out – not the other way around.
In the study’s nine-year history, there had never been a decline in customer satisfaction – until 2020. Much of this is circumstantial – with the economy shut down due to a pandemic and traditional homeownership and travel patterns disrupted – brokers and carriers suddenly needed to invest more into serving their personal lines customers. These efforts included policy refreshes, rate reductions and even bill credits due to changing risk factors.
But commercial insurance policyholders did not get the same treatment. In many cases, insurance providers didn’t invest into those relationships at all.
Now thanks to two years of feeling neglected, corporate policyholder satisfaction is down 15 points within the last two years. Within the past year alone, policyholders are 20% less satisfied with the communications they are getting than they were a year prior.
Your policyholders know that they’re going to hear from you when it comes to binding, renewals and claims. But what about the rest of the year? The rest of the year you should be focusing on off-cycle touches, providing information and content that is relevant to their business and industry.
These off-cycle touches shouldn’t just be quick, one-off check-in emails sent every few months. They should be strategic, targeted emails that show policyholders that you’re invested in your partnership and that you understand their business and industry.
The focus of these communications should be targeted messages with custom content that is relevant to your individual policyholders, sent on a consistent basis. You can answer your client’s questions before they’re even ready to ask, on such topics as human resources, COVID-19, compliance, and risk management.
And when policyholders do come to you with more questions, it’s essential to not only be responsive, but to also anticipate their needs. You can do this by ensuring you have content on hand to provide the comprehensive answers they are looking for.
It is! That’s why it helps to work with a technology partner. The right partner can make the process seamless – and effortless!
Zywave’s Sales and Content Clouds were designed specifically to address issues like off-cycle touches, and to make the process easier for you and your team. With the Sales and Content Clouds, you will have access to thousands of pieces of P&C specific content that can easily be sent to your policyholders throughout the year. This includes such topics as state and federal compliance, human resources, employee communications, risk management, and loss control solutions.
Not only do you get the content, but you will also get access to Zywave’s marketing automation solutions, which will make the distribution of your selected content even easier. The end results? Satisfied policyholders who know you’re available whenever they need you, and even when they don’t.
Andrew Metz has been working with insurance professionals for over 12 years. He is passionate about helping independent agencies create unique value propositions and streamline internal efficiencies. As a Vice President of Sales for Zywave, Andrew develops new leaders within the sales organization, and his personal mantra is “Your either growing or dying.” As an active content creator on LinkedIn, Andrew has an audience of over 10,000 followers and engages in conversations around sales, leadership, and work-life balance. Outside of work, Andrew enjoys spending time with his wife and three young children and running marathons!
