Client Experience Management in a Chaotic Market: Do you feed the frenzy’

Which clients do you want to keep for life? Is strategy in place to manage each experience those “keeper” clients have with your agency?

You only have so many resources. You and your staff can only do so much. More than ever, you must be judicious with your time and with your money.

And there’s pressure with non-renewals, rewrites and client’s head-shaking over monstrous rate increases. Despite all that, it’s urgent to design a program to focus on your clients you want to keep for life.

So, here are a few “client keeper” steps.

Determine your lifetime keeper clients
Ask each producer and account manager to list the best 10-20 clients they service. You do the same.

After you receive the client list, you and each staff member itemize, in priority order, what criteria was used to enter the name on the list. Don’t give them the criteria first. You want to see if your people are thinking the same… if you really have an agency philosophy of client selection and client care.

Once your client keeper list is completed, meet to review the names and the criteria used.

Napoleon is the scorekeeper
Add to the list or delete a name if the advocate or opponent of that name sells their thinking to the rest of the group. You might want to use the Napoleon decision-making process.

There is one person, a different one for each meeting, who doesn’t attend that meeting. For
the last 15 minutes of the meeting, those attending the meeting must then sell the missing person on the conclusions reached. The “out of meeting” person has veto power unless swayed by those attending.

Don’t dismiss this Herculean strategy without trying it three times. Then, if you don’t see the value, go back to your old way.

So, now that you have your list. What next?

Do you know enough about each keeper client?
Your “keeper” clients must be treated as separate individuals and they must know that is the case. (I know that’s a blinding glimpse of the obvious, but you’d be surprised by what you think happens compared to what really happens). You can’t treat those keeper clients as individuals if you and your staff don’t know them as people. And, know all about them. Wants, dislikes, how they like to communicate, birthdays, hobbies, education, spouses and kids names and birthdates, business problems including people problems, etc. Build the inventory of what you want and should know about your key customers.

When you have that info, you and the account manager can zero in on specifics when talking to a client so they know you really care.

Quantify client experiences with your agency
Next, it’s time to quantify all the experiences your “keeper” clients have with your agency. Again, call upon your staff to make their client experience list. The more the entire staff authors your process, the more likely your process will be an active process.

Let’s review a few client management experiences.

Your telephone – 60 percent of agency client experiences
All agency jobs are pressure jobs today. But the client experience starts with the receptionist. Phones are ringing, ringing, ringing. Have you introduced your “keeper” clients to your Director of First Impressions? Your receptionist should personally be able to make each client feel welcome…especially your “keepers.” Each “keeper” client should receive a note from agency management introducing the First Impression Director with his/her background, hobbies, etc., including picture.

Voice mail and your direct phone line have changed incoming call rules. How do your “keepers” feel about your voice mail and your specific message? Here is what I’ve heard calling agencies… could this be your agency?

“Please listen carefully as our menu has changed. If you are calling for personal lines, press 1, for commercial lines, press 2, for life and benefits, press 3, if you want to report a claim, press 4, if you know your party’s extension, press it now. If anything else, please stay on the line…. I’m sorry our operator is temporarily busy helping other clients. Your call is very important to us; please remain on the line for just a moment more, we’ll be with you shortly.” Oh, throw up.

And to prove how customers feel about automated attendants is this from the Winter 2002-2003 Context Magazine…

“When we fired up the phone response system, we found out that 99 percent of our customers-literally were hitting zeros so they could talk to an operator.”- General Motors Acceptance Corporation.

Hey, would it make sense to invest in a video phone for you and you’re A+ “keeper” clients so your conversations are one to one?

Invoices that communicate understandably
Even though direct bill may predominate, is each invoice you generate understandable or is it replete with insurance words? Why should your “keeper” pay timely if your “keeper” can’t understand what they are paying for? Does the Account manager who generates the invoice personalize it and “autograph” it?

Handwrite on the invoice so your “keeper” knows that a human checks the invoice. Something like, “I checked this over for accuracy, Bill. If you have any questions, please call me at (555) 555-5555, Beverly.”

When your invoice is personalized and understood, you can include a sales message like, “This invoice doesn’t cover you if you have an incomplete heart attack.” Doesn’t this paint an emotional picture your reader can see and understand while urging calling you about disability income insurance?

Throw out insider language and substitute common language your buyers can “see” as well as hear
Speaking of “keeper” clients understanding, purge your agency of insider language. Don’t use “lines” when you talk about personal or commercial insurance. Don’t use the word “exclusions.” Use “You, not the insurance company, Ms. Client, must write the check when you suffer this type of disaster.” The buyer can see the comparison of who writes the check when a disaster occurs. It’s hard to see exclusions… writing the check is emotional, talking exclusions is not, and we all know emotions are remembered… emotions with logic make sales with emotions ruling much more of what we as humans do.

How visible are you?
How many handwritten notes does your “keeper” client receive from folks in your agency? Don’t overdue it certainly, but several times a year when the occasion calls for it, send a note…a handwritten thank you note after you service a claim, take an endorsement change, see the client’s name in the newspaper, etc.

Handwriting touches the heart. Typing touches, well, er, too often the wallet.

Out of sight, out of mind, out of business. How in sight of your “keepers” are you? Do your “keepers” know what to expect throughout the year? Do you insure no negative surprises, like premium increases without prior notification, including direct bill personal polices? Do you have a schedule of client touches… your Performance Guarantee for all business and personal “keeper” clients?

What’s your penalty if you violate your Performance Guarantee? Do you agree that you will voluntary cancel your “keeper’s” policies if they wish and help them obtain new insurance?

So, commit to an agency lunch every two weeks and review your “keeper” experience management process. Fine-tune it. Expand it. Sleep tight knowing that clients you consider “lifetime keepers” will truly remain lifetime keepers.

Preston Diamond started his insurance career selling life insurance while at UC Berkeley. He later ran his own shop from 1963 until 1986 when he sold all but one niche book of business that he still operates with a partner. Diamond is an invited speaker and seminar leader for many state and national meetings.