Insurance companies – no matter how large or small – go into business to do precisely that—business. However, the paths insurance companies take in their pursuits toward growth aren’t always the same, and the differences not lost on customers.
Let’s take a look at how insurance companies can bolster their offering to better please and retain their customers.
A People-First Approach
Yes, much of insurance is based on numbers and probabilities, but the insurance company that puts people first wins in the long run. It all starts with proper leadership. If aggressive selling and a new-business-first mindset is held at the top, it’ll undoubtedly trickle down to every department of the agency, but namely, the agents. And the agents are the front lines of your company’s reputation.
To the contrary, no agency, however altruistic its culture or core values, can succeed if the individual agents don’t embody those values on a day-to-day basis. Agents need to be proactive about acquiring new business, but they first and foremost need to be honest, industry-wise, and able to understand the policy that best fits the customer’s needs.
Business isn’t sustained by a succession of one-off customers, but rather, ones kept for life. It’s unreasonable to say an insurance company shouldn’t have a plan to grow, but the ones that prioritize new business over existing clients are doomed to fail.
Timely Claim Payouts
People purchase auto insurance so that in a worst-case scenario, they know their health and financial assets will be protected. When that worst-case scenario becomes reality, and an insurance company takes a long time to pay out, that makes people want to shop a new company that’ll prioritize their financial hardship more urgently.
Abundant Discounts
Multi-vehicle, safe driver, annual mileage, advance renewal, one-time premium payments, customer loyalty, car ownership – whatever the discount, you should be willing to offer it, and not only when a customer asks. With so many insurance companies and independent agencies out there these days, loyalty should never go unrewarded.
Affordable Rates
You could do all of the above spectacularly, but if your premium rates aren’t affordable, you’ll have a hard time growing a successful company. In these times of options and accompanying financial hardship, people are hyper-active toward saving any amount they can. If you can’t work with a customer to give them a policy at a price they can afford, then you’ll have a hard time drumming up business.
And for carriers and their exclusive agency operations in particular, when someone starts their search to compare auto insurance quotes online, it’s wise to be among the carriers listed. Especially when you factor the Millennial generation and their dependency, efficacy in using the internet as a means for, well, nearly anything.
If you’re not an insurance company looking to bolster its offering, you’d do well to use CoverHound to compare auto insurance quotes online today.
Insurance shopping simplified
Insurance shopping simplified