time management for employees

[dev1nsan]

I have a small independent P&C agency with two employees, I'm having a hard time thinking of things for them to do. They're day consist of calling Lapse or Pending cancel policys and prospects in between writing business and servicing them. What are some of things you guys have them do.

thanks for any suggestions.

[Almost40]

The list of things to do is unending. Check on status of old work comp claims. If you are automated, review the "canned" letters in your system and update the closing paragraphs for a fresh look. Send cross-sell letters on various lines. Have the two CSRs review their procedures so they are on the same "page" as to how you want things handled. You and the CSRs should meet to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your markets. What works for one person or be a favorite market for one person, may not be for anyone else in the office. Network and find out what is working and how it is working. Some company contacts prefer email, others telephone. Stategize as a team to improve what your agency is about and how you want that presented to your customers. Take advantage of any slack time to clean up your files. It is easy to run out of steam in this slowing economy and you need to keep the energy fresh so your customers are served with enthusiasm. You, as the leader need to stay upbeat, have office meetings and keep that positive energy flowing. I know it can be tough (this is my 4th soft market) but all of this will pay off when the market finally turns and it will.

[darnovak]

I sure hope you are calling every policyholder for every notice received on every policy and documenting every conversation.
Talk about an E&O nightmare situation. Regards,

[dev1nsan]

Thats some good advice almost40, a lot of it pertains to commercial insurance but some are sill useful to use even though we mainly right personal lines.

darnovak, i don't get what your trying to say, can you elaborate.

[pita3333]

What darnovak is saying is that calling on every notice is dangerous from an E&O perspective. If you are going to do this..you had best call and each and every notice and call each and every client. To do otherwise is leaving yourself open to E&O.

If you do not call every time...or stop calling without advising your client... you could find yourself defending your actions as some clients will use this courtesy call as a reminder and when you do not make the reminder...they may not make the payment!

[steve32]

So, do you recommend not calling the lapsed clients or clients with pending cancellations?

What do you do in your agency to help with these types of clients?

[scott]

-Clients who repeatedly pay slow are not good clients.
-Reminding bad clients to pay bills is a waste of resources that could be spent getting good clients.
-Employees who need constant direction are not good employees.
-Good employees constantly look for ways to provide value to clients and their employer.
-Bad employees should be made ex-employees quickly.

[yoyowordup]

All E&O seminars will tell you that you are asking for trouble if you babysit your clients billings.

They get a bill from the carrier. They get a late notice from the carrier. They get a cancel notice from the carrier.

The E&O exposure is that when your client cancels because you didn't call them, they will say that you always called them in the past, why didn't you call them this time.

You should stop this practice. A few years ago we actually sent a letter to our clients stating that we would no longer be calling to remind them to make their payments.

[gregcw]

So, do you recommend not calling the lapsed clients or clients with pending cancellations?

What do you do in your agency to help with these types of clients?

yoyowordup's response to steve32 is very appropriate with the exception of working for client retention. I think that what dev1nsan is looking for is CSR activity that will generate revenue while not creating an E&O exposure. We send out one final reminder after the policy has cancelled. While not necessary because of the company notices, it does improve retention while not giving the customer the feeling that they have more time to pay the premium. scott You still have the option of selecting which clients to try to retain without increasing your E&O exposure by calling them before the policy cancels.

In reviewing all of the replies darnovak made a terrible suggestiion and I agree with pitta3333. You SHOULD NEVER baby sit your clients. Calling the client would be babysitting. Sending a memo is not, because you are emphasizing to the customer that payment is their responsibility because you mailed rather than called and the content of the memo. Sending the final agency memo is telling the customer that you care. Almost40 did give the best overall response. The cross-selling improves customer retention even when you do not capture the other policy(ies) although it can backfire and lose the customer to the agent that has the other policy.

[darnovak]

gregcw is correct dev1nsan. My advice was terrible. So go ahead and pick and choose who you will call for non-pay - especially do not call any insureds you act as a broker for because as the broker you represent the insured (and not the carrier) and have the obligation to contact them for any reason their coverage is in jeopardy. When one of these insureds who didn't get a call from your agency has their coverage cancelled and has a claim after the cancellation, I am sure gregcw will help you out by financially backing your defense because your E&O carrier (which you don't really need anyway) won't defend you because of an intentional idiotic E&O violation (like calling only certain insureds...).
How about it gregcw? Got your checkbook handy or did your mouth write a check your limited intelligence can't pay?
dev1nsan - my suggestion stands. Check with your E&O carrier, PIA, or The Big I, etc.
Here's a tip: Find a valid reason to call an insured (coverage point, piece of information, someone's age, etc - anything but non-pay). Document this in your agency management system as usual. During the call say "Oh, by the way, I noticed a late pay notice was sent out by XYZ Company on your homeowners payment of $165.00 due last week. You did pay it didn't you?"
The purpose of your call was selective, but you included a reference to the non-pay as an 'aside' . Real agents come up with real ways to get the job done and serve their insureds. But hey, after 36 years in P&C I obviously give terrible advice so gregcw can ignore anything I post. regards, Darnovak

[wlunday]

I agree with darnovak. any reason to contact the client will aide in retention, thus income. We all know it's easier to keep a customer then to find a new one! I personally think the E & O exposure is preceived, not real. For all the cases you could find on this I don't think you'd find even 1% that went against an agent because they didn't call.

Scott's comments about good and bad employees makes some sense, but in reality is very subjective. And, give me a slow paying client any day over one that is endorsement intensive!

I really like darnovak's idea about having a different (better) reason to call the client... nobody likes to be a bill collector, and by approaching it differently the client shouldn't feel pressured to pay. Good advice, Dar.

Swymmer

[gregcw]

darnovak, what you really said was. that you should babysit clients

I sure hope you are calling every policyholder for every notice received on every policy and documenting every conversation.
Talk about an E&O nightmare situation. Regards,

what I really said was that you shouldn't babysit clients.

...We send out one final reminder after the policy has cancelled. While not necessary because of the company notices, it does improve retention while not giving the customer the feeling that they have more time to pay the premium....
In reviewing all of the replies darnovak made a terrible suggestiion and I agree with pitta3333. You SHOULD NEVER baby sit your clients. Calling the client would be babysitting. Sending a memo is not, because you are emphasizing to the customer that payment is their responsibility because you mailed rather than called and the content of the memo. Sending the final agency memo is telling the customer that you care. Almost40 did give the best overall response. The cross-selling improves customer retention even when you do not capture the other policy(ies) although it can backfire and lose the customer to the agent that has the other policy.

Sending out the reminder after the cancellation is not babysitting. Calling on every notice, as you suggest, is.

gregcw is correct dev1nsan. My advice was terrible. So go ahead and pick and choose who you will call for non-pay - .....
How about it gregcw? Got your checkbook handy or did your mouth write a check your limited intelligence can't pay?
dev1nsan - my suggestion stands. Check with your E&O carrier, PIA, or The Big I, etc.
..... But hey, after 36 years in P&C I obviously give terrible advice so gregcw can ignore anything I post. regards, Darnovak

I will admit that I had one phrase in there that was confusing, and probably should have been edited out or had one word changed from before to after. so please accept my apology for that one phrase.

[mhutch69]

Well guys, I have been calling late payment policies in non-standard auto insurance for 30 years. We may not have called every client everytime and have never had a client suggest our lack of a phone call "caused him NOT to pay". Secondly, the legal notice of cancellation sent by the company ENDS the coverage regardless of whether we call or not. Claiming the three written notices send prior to and after the cancellation was insufficient and the client "relied" upon our phone call is ridiculous. I will gladly defend that along with my E & O carrier.

Scott's comments about getting rid of slow pay clients is nice in a preferred environment, but us folks writing the non-preferred clients MUST remind our clients each month to improve our retention.

I will keep calling and assisting my retention ratios even if some other insurance agent suggests it is an E & O exposure. I am comfortable a court might decide that the phone call was not the deciding factor in the customer making the payment. IF he had the MONEY, he might have made the payment. It could easily be proven he did not have the funds anyway.

E & O exposures are plentiful from other areas of customer service, but I do not worry about amateur lawyers like us insurance agents opinions....

[independent guy]

darnovak, what you really said was. that you should babysit clients

I sure hope you are calling every policyholder for every notice received on every policy and documenting every conversation.
Talk about an E&O nightmare situation. Regards,

Gregcw, darnovak was being sarcastic about calling each and every policyholder, because its either an all-or-nothing sort of thing.

[independent guy]

Well guys, I have been calling late payment policies in non-standard auto insurance for 30 years. We may not have called every client everytime and have never had a client suggest our lack of a phone call "caused him NOT to pay". Secondly, the legal notice of cancellation sent by the company ENDS the coverage regardless of whether we call or not. Claiming the three written notices send prior to and after the cancellation was insufficient and the client "relied" upon our phone call is ridiculous. I will gladly defend that along with my E & O carrier.

Scott's comments about getting rid of slow pay clients is nice in a preferred environment, but us folks writing the non-preferred clients MUST remind our clients each month to improve our retention.

I will keep calling and assisting my retention ratios even if some other insurance agent suggests it is an E & O exposure. I am comfortable a court might decide that the phone call was not the deciding factor in the customer making the payment. IF he had the MONEY, he might have made the payment. It could easily be proven he did not have the funds anyway.

E & O exposures are plentiful from other areas of customer service, but I do not worry about amateur lawyers like us insurance agents opinions....

There was an article in "American Agent & Broker" magazine a few years ago where an agent was sued in a situation like this, and it didn't end up as cut and dry as you would think. I know you're very confident that you're in the clear, but as you say, we're "amateur lawyers" so why trust your own judgment or our judgment about this? Call your E&O carrier, and ask your attorney. Then you can be confident that you have the right answer.