Why Insurance Agencies Need A CRM
First of all, what does CRM mean?
That seems like a fair place to start.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.
CRM is a software that businesses use to organize contacts and their relationship with current and prospective customers.
Essentially, it’s a big, fancy, digital address book with a bit more to it.
An updated Rolodex if you will.
CRM software is more than just an address book though.
That’s where the R comes in.
Relationship.
It can be difficult to keep track of all the emails and conversations you or any of your co-workers have with customers.
This software is designed to help with that.
Which contacts of a company are you in contact with, who in your team has been contacting them, and what have the topics of discussion been?
This will come in handy when it’s time to get back in touch with a customer as you’ll know who to talk to and what to talk about or not talk about.
Why Insurance Agnecies Need A CRM
Why Is This Important for Insurance?
By now, you should know how competitive the insurance industry is.
To succeed in the industry, you need to stand out.
What better way to do that then to let your customers speak for you?
By building strong relationships with your customers, you are ahead of the average insurance agency.
Driving customer’s satisfaction eventually leads to increased sales.
Since insurance isn’t a tangible product that’s sold, after an agent sells a policy to a customer, they rarely hear back from them.
Because interactions between customers and agents are very limited, each interaction needs to count.
A CRM works toward making all of those interactions count.
Perhaps you, an agent, sold a policy to a customer months ago, now they contact you with a request to make a switch to a policy with different or better coverage.
This customer is a priority and you’ll want to have access to the previous conversation.
Dig into the CRM to locate that customer, and trace back to the last interaction.
From here, you should be able to recall some of the information they initially gave you and reassess their new requirements to find a policy that matches their needs more closely.
Of course, that is just one example of the convenience a CRM software offers an insurance agency, but agencies across the country have encountered various ways the software enhances their customer experience.
Let’s take a look at them below.
Increase Efficiency
Automation is the hot new trend happening well, everywhere.
CRM software integrates with other software and programs you already use, such as your email program.
Not only does it integrate with the other things you already use, but it offers the opportunity to expand use onto mobile devices through text messaging and social media.
Staying connected both in and out of the office, means customers have more flexibility to get a hold of you when they need you, allowing you to interact more often.
By sending and receiving more messages, you start to implement a more efficient communication technique.
Better Data Management
You know better than anyone how much information Insurance agents have to organize and manage every day.
Even for the smallest of agencies around, keeping track of all that customer information can be a hassle.
Instead of the address book, the email program, the Post It notes with scribbles of past conversations, and miscellaneous papers scattered about, you can find all of that data and information in one centralized location; the CRM software.
You have the capability to create individual profiles for each customer where you can find their information, instead of looking for each piece of paper or personal information you need.
Sales Predictions
Your CRM is a future teller in many ways.
From a customer’s past history, information, and their behaviors, you can better predict what they may be looking for in the future and tailor your sales specifically to them and their needs.
This will also add a more personal touch, strengthening the relationship between you and the customer.
Don’t underestimate the customer, they know what they want.
And they want the most for the money they are spending, which means you often have your work cut out for you.
Using a CRM gives you the right tools to get to know your customers a bit better and give them the best service and sale available.
Soon, you'll be far ahead of the competition.
Conclusion
CRM software is an essential piece of the puzzle for the insurance industry.
It simplifies and improves many aspects of an agents day to day tasks.
Aside from the above, there are other uses for customer relationship management software as well.
Such as policy management, automatic reporting, calculating underwriter commission, and web conferencing.
Now it’s time to find the right one for your agency!
