Are you looking to increase your retention and drive more referrals? A good place to start is by evaluating your communication strategy. We just got results back from our annual survey of employers and found that receiving regular communication from their broker was top-of-mind.
- 75% of employers ranked “receiving regular communication” as important when selecting a broker
- 42% would change brokers due to lack of consistent communication
- 20% would like to hear from brokers weekly – the rest want to hear from brokers at least monthly
These results are not unique to the Zywave survey. J.D. Power recently released its Small Business Commercial Insurance Study which showed that the most important factor in determining client satisfaction was the amount of interaction the client had with their broker.
Simply put: up the interaction, up the satisfaction.
Satisfied customers have a positive impact on your bottom line. J.D. Power’s survey showed that customers who are “delighted” with your brokerage will purchase about 1.5 more products from you than their “dissatisfied” counterparts. On top of that, 81% of your “delighted” customers will recommend you to a friend and 79% say they will “definitely renew” their policy with you. The numbers are really exciting, but the message is nothing new: happy customers equal a successful business.
What do I talk about?
The topics clients want you to engage them on may surprise you. Our survey showed that clients are expecting services from their brokers beyond just the placement of insurance. Most of us will agree that this is positive, as it moves the broker to more of an advisor role, supporting business issues such as compliance, HR, risk management, wellness, etc. Brokerages that excel at positioning themselves this way have enjoyed significant growth in recent years in the United States, and those who have adopted this philosophy in Canada are currently establishing themselves as market leaders. The broker as a complete business advisor is the future of the industry.
What’s your strategy?
Take a look at how often you’re communicating with clients and the range of assistance you are providing. Do your clients come to you for business assistance outside the world of insurance? Are you touching base at least monthly? As perceptions of the role of a broker shift, it’s dangerous to still be answering “no” to either of these questions. And with today’s technology, it’s easy to stay in front of your entire book on a regular basis; it just starts with making consistent touches a priority.
Zywave wants to help you do just that. We’re excited to bring our beautiful, effective and simple client communication tool to Canada this fall: MyWave Connect. This client portal allows you to add a whole new layer to the service you provide to clients. It’s branded to your brokerage and driven by an enormous library of content resources that are written to help your clients run their businesses successfully. Learn more here.
The great part about these survey findings is the insight they give us into the minds of our clients. We know what they want, now we just need to execute. If I were a broker looking at these numbers, I’d walk away pretty excited about reevaluating my strategy based on knowing exactly what my clients and prospects are looking for, and knowing that I could deliver it.