Meeting Clients Where They Are: A Guide to Communication Preferences

You might be doing all the right things in emailing your clients updates about their policies and celebrating key milestones with them, but what if they’re not reading your emails?

Let me put it this way, I have a preference for a phone call or letter in the mail from my agency, but I also know that not everyone is like me.

Your insurance agency likely has clients that prefer getting a text message about their claim, using live chat to ask questions about life event changes, or even having a video to watch back when getting a quote.

Every preference is completely valid, and the key thing to remember is that, while you might not have a personal preference for a certain form of communication, your clients will. On top of that, they’re expecting to be able to get in touch and hear from you in the ways that best suit their lifestyle and schedule.

And at the end of the day, as an agency, you’ll need to adapt over time to these changes.

You can be great at sending all the right emails to your clients at the right moment, but if there are those who would also like to get a text message, you have to be at least open to accommodating your clients’ preferences.

I’m using emails purely as an example here. Swap it for whatever communication method you already rely on, and think about the gaps you haven’t tapped into yet.

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Why it’s time to modernize how you communicate with your clients.

I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that change is slow to happen. However, I have seen amazing things happen when agencies go outside their comfort zone and expand how and where they communicate with their clients.

Many agencies I’ve met or worked with have the basics in place: a phone number, an office location (for in-person visits), and an email address. Sometimes the phone number is textable, oftentimes it’s not.

While there’s likely nothing wrong with what you currently have, I will say that if you can add to your communication methods to better align with what your clients are looking for and expecting from you, it can make all the difference in how satisfied they are with your business.

I’d suggest looking at your agency from their perspective. Ask yourself these questions to establish a baseline of what you’re doing well, and what could be some areas to improve on:

• What happens when someone calls your office after hours?
• What happens if someone texts your office phone number?
• Is there any way to submit a form on your website to request a quote or policy changes?
• How and where does a new client hear from your agency when they sign up for their first policy?
• How are live chats handled on your website (if you have that set up)?
• How long does it take to find your agency’s name and contact information on your website?

By going through this exercise, I think you’ll see what I’m getting at: your clients are expecting an experience with your agency that increasingly matches what other businesses already give them.

Think of how your pharmacy sends a text message when your prescription is ready, or how you can ask a question in live chat when your online order is delayed.

Those same expectations carry over to your agency, whether that’s fair to insurance or not.

The point isn’t to add more work to your team’s plate, it’s to meet your clients where they are, and ensure you can stay in touch and be there when they need you the most.

What your clients gain when you give them more options.

Everything I’ve talked about so far has been about what your agency should do, but the real reason you would want to pursue any of this is for the clients and prospects you work with every single day.

Think about an amazing customer experience that you yourself had with a business. Chances are, it wasn’t because that business did just one thing perfectly, but rather, they met and exceeded your expectations.

Here’s what your clients care about most, and how you can make their lives easier and more convenient.

1. Clients want faster answers when it matters most.

Getting an immediate response, even if it’s as simple as “We’re working on it,” goes a long way. Especially if it’s a request made after hours, when your agency is closed.

Imagine a client sends a text message to your agency, or starts a live chat. They get an automatic response letting them know your office is closed, along with clear next steps for submitting a request through your website, and when to expect to hear from their agent.

Compare that to a client visiting your website with no way to submit a request, left to leave a voicemail and hope for a callback.

Having this technology in place goes a long way to getting back to your clients faster. Here is the experience your clients can have:

• 24/7 self-service forms. When a client submits a form for a quote or service request, they’ll land on a confirmation page letting them know your agency will be in touch. Plus, your agency gets notified so you can reach out to them ASAP.
• Text and live chat auto-responses. Even after hours, an automatic reply confirms their message went through, sets expectations for when they’ll hear back, and points them to the right next step.
• Instant notifications to your team. The moment a form, text, or chat comes in, the right person at your agency knows about it right away and can act on it.
• A video reply for more involved questions. For something too detailed for a quick text back, a short video response lets your team explain clearly without needing to schedule a full call or in-person meeting.

2. Clients want less friction, more control.

Not every request needs a conversation, sometimes a client just wants to get something done on their schedule.

Let’s say you have a client who needs to update their mailing address or add a new driver to their auto policy. If the only way to do that is calling during business hours, they either have to take time out of their day or wait until they remember to call back.

By giving them a way to handle it themselves, on their own time, and that friction disappears. Here are some ways that I’ve seen agencies do this well:

• Self-service policy change forms. A client can submit an address update or request a new auto ID card or COI in the evening instead of waiting for your office to open.
• Online payment options. Letting clients pay a bill online without a phone call or in-person visit removes one more reason for them to feel like they’re waiting on you.
• Client portal access. Being able to log in and see policy documents or coverage details directly answers the simple questions before they ever need to ask you.
• Text-based updates. A quick text confirming a request went through means a client doesn’t have to wonder if it worked or call back to check.

3. Clients want to feel like a person, not a policy number.

This one’s harder to measure than speed or convenience, but it matters just as much.

When you reach a client the way they actually prefer, it lets them know you paid attention to them specifically. That’s a very different feeling than being run through a generic process.

• Personalized video messages. A short video explaining a policy change or answering a specific question feels like it came from a person, not a template.
• Communication that matches how they reached out. If a client texts you, replying by text (rather than defaulting back to email) shows you’re meeting them on their terms, not just your own.
• Milestone touches beyond renewals. A birthday message or a message celebrating their anniversary with your agency tells a client they’re more than a policy that’s up for renewal.
• A consistent point of contact. Knowing who to reach, and having that person recognize their history, makes a client feel known rather than routed through a system.

Keeping these three benefits in mind, you can see how having the right communication tools in place, backed by a team that’s there to support clients, goes a long way to setting your agency apart.

On top of that, staying in touch through channels that fit your clients’ lifestyle is one of the most direct ways to strengthen retention.

The lines of communication every insurance agency should have in place.

In order to truly meet your clients where they are and how they prefer to communicate with you, it comes down to having the right technology in place to facilitate those conversations when and where they expect it.

Let’s break down the different preferences your clients have, and how you can accommodate them.

• Phone calls. Every agency has a phone number. It needs to be easy to find online, and you should have pre-recorded voicemail messages that set the right expectations if a call is missed.
• In-person visits. Some clients still want to walk into your office, especially for bigger conversations like a full policy review or reporting a serious claim. Having a location (and clear hours) matters even in a digital-first world.
• Text messages. Sending text messages back and forth with your clients, as well as reminders, keeps them up-to-date with important updates on their policy. Our Business Texting Add-On lets you do all of this, including automated after-hours responses.
• Live chat. A client browsing your website with a quick question shouldn’t have to pick up the phone to get an answer. Live chat meets them right where they already are.
• 24/7 self-service forms. Submitting forms through your website allows your clients to make a request on their time, with a confirmation page that lets them know what’s next.
• Direct mail. Receiving a personalized postcard in the mail from your agency shows your clients you care. Our Fuse marketing automation platform includes the capability to send one-off and automated direct mail to your clients.
• Video recordings. Getting a video recording of a quote proposal or walkthrough of the claims process allows clients to watch when it’s most convenient for them and provides all the information they need. Our Forge website platform lets you create videos that link directly to your website.
• Social media. Staying in touch with clients by posting content relevant to who you do business with builds up your reputation and credibility online. Our Social Media Add-On helps by automating social posts to supplement the more personalized content you’re sharing.

No agency needs to be perfect. Just by becoming a little more accessible and meeting clients where their preferences already are, you solve the one problem facing so many agencies today: not staying in touch enough.

If you’re looking to get started expanding your client communication, I would encourage you to ask your new clients during the onboarding process this one simple question: “How do you prefer to be contacted?”

Give them these options I listed above, and over time, see what the trends are based on your client base. This will give you a good idea of what you should look to add next so you don’t feel like you need to add everything all at once.

Personalized communication doesn’t have to be manual.

The whole point of client communications is making sure your clients can reach you and get a response, and that you can send messages where and when they’ll make the most impact.

But getting a message from your agency doesn’t just have to be relevant, it needs to feel like it’s coming from their agent, even when it’s automated.

The barrier I see most often isn’t willingness, it’s time. Agencies don’t always have the capacity to train their team and actually use these tools to their fullest potential.

What I will say is this: by taking the approach of considering what the majority of your clients expect, and having a reasonable plan to serve those preferences, you can make it happen without adding extra work to your plate.

In fact, I’d imagine that having tools that let you reach out to (and hear from) your clients faster than ever would go a long way toward building their trust in your agency.

The good news is that many of these touchpoints can not only be automated, but are designed to work as that first response that actually saves your team time every single day.

Here are a few examples of how client communications tied with smart automation on a platform like Agency Revolution play a role in your client communications:

• Text message auto-replies. When someone texts your number after business hours, an automated reply lets them know when you’ll be back in touch.
• Renewal reminders and post-renewal thank-yous. Emails can be automated to remind clients ahead of renewal time, so there’s no lapse in coverage. Plus, you can send a note of appreciation when they do renew with you.
• Form submission confirmations. As soon as a form is filled out, clients get a text or email confirming their request, along with a timeline for when your team will follow up.
• Timely, relevant postcards. Send direct mail to the clients who appreciate it, for everything from birthday well wishes to a personalized welcome message when they first sign up.
• Claims status updates. Automated texts or emails at each stage of a claim (received, under review, resolved) so a client isn’t left wondering if anything is happening.

Take the next step to expand your client communication.

Like I said, you don’t need to go out and completely change the way you currently do business with your clients. But I would encourage you to think about the current experience your clients have, and identify what their preferences are so you can adapt and adjust accordingly.

Then, pick at least one channel you aren’t currently using, and add it this month. That’s it.

When you do expand how you communicate with your clients, it becomes a way to stand out from other agencies. It gives people one more reason to choose you, and to stick around, because you’ve made it easy for them to do business with you.

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Want to learn more?

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From marketing automation that keeps you connected with clients and boosts retention, to insurance websites designed to drive growth, and a suite of marketing tools to meet your needs, Agency Revolution is everything you need after your AMS.

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