America's Benefit Specialist July 2023

WHY DO CLIENTS LEAVE?

4 They stopped interacting with your agency’s marketing or social media. If they were previously a client who liked or commented on your social postings and no longer are, this could be a sign they’re no longer as enthused about you. 4 They’ve expressed dissatisfaction. This is a clear warning sign that they may be considering other options. We’ll discuss the ways to respond when a client is unhappy with your service. 4 You’ve gotten notification they’d like to cancel their policy. At this point, it’s important to have a plan in place to re spond and retain them or, at the very least, leave a positive impression of your agency if they do end up leaving. Now that you know a few of the warning signs, let’s discuss the reasons behind clients leaving and how you can be pro active and combat churn. SEVEN REASONS FOR CLIENT CHURN IN INSURANCE AGENCIES There are many reasons a client may leave, but most fall into one or more of these areas: 1. Your agency lacks a valuable client-onboarding process. 2. You don’t maintain communication with your clients throughout the year. 3. Your client distrusts you or your agency. 4. Your competitors are appealing to your clients. 5. Negative word of mouth about you or your agency has affected them. 6. Your agency lacks a client-churn-response strategy. 7. Your agency lacks effective client marketing. Let’s dive into each of these reasons for client churn to better understand why they happen and how to change the narrative for your agency. CLIENT-ONBOARDING PROCESS What does your agency’s client-onboarding process look like? Without an effective one in place, you may run into buy er’s remorse—when a consumer second-guesses or regrets a purchase decision after a sale. Unless you reinforce that they made the right decision, your clients may feel unsure about their decision or, worse, harbor feelings of regret. Buyer’s remorse can often happen due to a lack of client onboarding, which is the process you follow each time you bring on a client. To create a successful client-onboarding process, start with some simple steps: 1. Ensure their data is up to date. Thorough and correct data helps you provide the best service to your clients moving forward and helps you quickly identify cross-selling oppor tunities in the future. Make it a habit to update your AMS

with the latest information each time you speak with or meet your client, even if nothing is changing for them and it’s just to make note of their son’s wedding or the fact that they got a new puppy. The small things matter! 2. Use automation to communicate important information in the beginning. By setting up workflows that keep your client updated while requiring little effort from you, you’re ensuring you don’t miss an important touchpoint. Com mon onboarding workflows include policy submitted, policy pending, policy is active, and a welcome message. 3. Send a thank you—bonus points if the thank you is handwritten! A small gesture like sending a thank you or welcome to the agency via mail can go a long way in com bating buyer’s remorse. 4. Reconnect throughout the year. Create a communication plan to make important touchpoints with your clients throughout the year, which is what we’ll discuss next. LACK OF COMMUNICATION The number-one reason clients leave an agency is due to a lack of meaningful communication. Not hearing from their agent or advisor can leave clients with a negative feeling, and after one negative experience, 61% of people will switch to a competitor. 1 Make it two, and that number jumps to 76%. Good customer service is characterized by clear, effective and timely communication. Some opportunities to commu nicate throughout the year include: 4 client onboarding 2 4 birthdays, anniversaries, other important dates 4 age-related products or services 4 policy-renewal communication 4 NPS (Net Promoter Score) or CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) 3 4 cross-selling 4 Distrust If clients are on their way to feeling distrust, you need to act immediately. You won’t always be able to salvage the relationship depending on the situation, but these tips from Thomson Reuters can help: Prefer to listen instead of read? Check out the NABIP webinar “Why Do Clients Leave? Exploring the Main Reasons for Client Churn & How to Avoid Them” at https://nabip.org/membership-resources/ publications/webinars/why-do-clients-leave.

benefitspecialistmagazine.com | ABS 39