According to Insurance Business Magazine, when J.D. Power looked at whether small businesses or large ones had better relationships with their insurance carriers, it turned out that businesses with 50 or fewer employees interacted three times as often with their insurance companies. That translated to enhanced customer satisfaction, even though the small businesses contacted the insurer, not the other way around.

Off-Cycle Contact Helps Build Better Relationships

Whether you insure homeowners or businesses, your insurance company will thrive by building better policyholder relationships. According to Insurance Business Magazine, all too often, insurance companies only contact their clients for binding policy renewals and regarding filed claims. Making off-cycle contact with your clients can help forge better relationships with them. Instead of a one-off email, consider a telephone call and set aside a few minutes to talk with them about any questions they have or concerns that may have arisen.

Personalize Each Policyholder's Experience

Engaging in these conversations lets you learn what each policyholder needs. This information leads to better product personalization. According to GoSure, delivering targeted recommendations and creating custom solutions for insurance needs results in better policyholder relationships.

Technologies like email responders can help you develop personalized information for your clients. Many programs let you plan trickle campaigns that provide a client with newsletters or emails on a specific topic, such as home improvements or offering properties for rent. Establishing your insurance company as a source of valid, actionable information in their area of interest helps you build customer trust and loyalty.

Practicing Empathy

Nowhere does empathy matter more than in the insurance industry. Most of the time, when a policyholder contacts an insurance agent, it's because they need to file a claim. That means that something awful happened in their life or home. Offering empathy can make the difference between keeping a customer or them moving to another company. Many people sympathize with a person's situation, meaning they feel bad for the person.

Empathy goes beyond that because when a person empathizes with someone, they understand their situation and have felt the same way before. You don't have to have your home repaired after a flood to empathize with someone who needs to make those repairs, though.

Draw from your life experiences to marshal your empathy for a policyholder needing to make home repairs after a damaging event. For instance, someone keyed your car years ago, or you had a flat tire in a thunderstorm. You can draw from those situations that damaged an important personal asset and placed you in a frustrating, dangerous situation. Showing true empathy can help you build client loyalty and respect.

Start Building Better Client Relationships Today

Insurance professionals can enhance policyholder satisfaction and loyalty through personalized services and empathetic engagement. We hope that this blog explaining off-cycle contacts, policyholder personalization, and showing empathy helps you develop better relations with your clients.

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