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How Insurance Agencies Can Improve Digital Client Communication

By January 29, 2025Industry Insights
Blog - Embrace Client Communication

Insurance is and always has been an industry that has people at the center of itβ€”especially when it comes to independent insurance agencies.Β 

That’s why client communication is as important as ever. Gone are the days of just walking to your insurance agent’s office. Now, people expect to handle the process of buying, managing, and renewing insurance coverage digitally.

As an industry, independent insurance agencies need to adapt to these changes in communication preferences.

According to a study run by Smart Communications, 39% of people prefer online and mobile-friendly experiences to make account or policy changes to their insurance policies. (Source: Smart Communications)

This number is only going to rise as technology continues to evolve and the landscape of the industry adapts. Insurance agencies have the ability to take control of this trend and benefit from it.

Meeting and exceeding client communication expectations.

First, it’s important to understand exactly what client preferences are trending toward, as well as the existing technology and tools out there to make transitions realistic for any agency.Β 

Let’s break this down into two categories: inbound and outbound client communications.

Inbound client communications cover the variety of methods clients have available to them in order to contact their agency.Β 

Outbound client communications include the ways agents, CSRs, and insurance professionals have at their disposal to contact clients and leads.Β 

Both are equally important, and communication in general is a make-or-break situation for many clients.Β 

In fact, 66% of insureds say they would switch insurance providers if their communications did not meet their expectations (Source: Smart Communications).

That’s a staggering number, and this is precisely why prioritizing communications is more important than ever for insurance agencies to grow and retain a book of business.Β 

How can insurance agencies improve inbound client communications?

Inbound client communications cover all the bases of how insureds can reach their agency.Β 

Most insurance agencies have an office, and even those that don’t a vast majority will have both a dedicated phone number and email address.Β Now, let’s pinpoint some potential weak points based on what clients expect their insurance agency to have in place for them.Β 

Self-service forms are more and more a required aspect of running an insurance agency.Β 

Clients want to be able to find the website or a client portal login and submit a simple form to get a quote, report a claim, adjust their policy, or simply get in contact with their agent.Β 

To meet client expectations, and to combat the rise of Insurtech businesses, insurance agencies need to have this basic, but crucial form of communication to allow clients to feel more in control of their coverage and the convenience to make requests on their schedule, not just during office hours.Β 

Handling these form submissions and requests can be done at any size agency through a variety of website form or client portal solutions, and is an essential part of their tech stack.Β 

Live chat to reach out to insurance agencies with ultimate convenience.

Some clients prefer phone calls. Many more prefer having the option to start a live chat conversation with an insurance agency.Β  It’s all about convenience at the end of the day.Β 

Live chat encourages engagement from the clients and shows the credibility of an agency that is able to reply back in real time to help out a client or prospect.Β 

Live chat features come in many flavors, but the primary application is the ability to have team members at an agency be responsible for checking and responding to live chat sessions with clients, which are typically less time-intensive or involved than an office visit or lengthy phone call in many instancesβ€”especially in handling those quick requests.Β 

An insurance agency with live chat as an option shows that they are willing to meet clients where they are, and provides the opportunity to have more engagement and therefore positive experiences, which lead directly to loyalty, positive reviews, and retention.Β 

Text messaging for reminders and quick conversations can be a game changer for insurance agencies.

Most people have cell phones, and as they have become more prevalent in society, their integration into businesses has been par for the course over the last few years.Β 

Insurance agencies have an opportunity to leverage text messaging with their clients in more ways than one. But when it comes to inbound client communications, having a number someone can text means they feel taken care of at all times.Β 

The technology for business texting has evolved over time, with options for auto-responders during off hours, smart notifications to not miss a text from a client, and not to mention automation to reach back out to clients or remind them of renewals and changes.Β 

How can insurance agencies improve outbound client communications?Β 

When reaching out to clients with outbound communications, whether it’s for the purpose of updating someone on a policy or for marketing purposes, the applications go hand in hand.Β 

Let’s say an insurance agency has the core foundation in place for inbound communications: a website, self-service forms, live chat, and business text messaging.Β 

They can leverage each of those areas of communication to connect with clients directly and therefore increase engagement, loyalty, and retention.

Leverage automation to communicate with clients more efficiently.Β 

Automation platforms have the potential to streamline your client communications across the board. From email to texting and live chat, each of these can be automated in some way to relieve agents, CSRs, and insurance professionals.Β 

  • Email automation can be put into action to send out marketing materials with specific timing and trigger points to spread out client outreach.Β 
  • Auto-responders for text messaging can be put into place in order to have a client feel heard and expect a real person to review and be in touch when they are available.Β 
  • Live chat options may include auto-responders or even AI assistants to give guidance at a general level until a human needs to get involved for more complex questions or requests.Β 

Here are some key takeaways for agencies of every type when it comes to handling communications with their clients.

  • Be open to change and adapting to new technologies, especially when it’s based on client demand. It’s a retention-based industry, after all.
  • Adopt automation into everyday operations to cut down on time spent responding or reaching out to clients, where it makes sense to do so.
  • Utilize self-service website forms, and take advantage of client portal integrations to streamline client policy requests.
  • Leverage live chat features on websites to engage with clients online and transition conversations to more traditional forms of communication if things get complicated.Β 
  • Provide business text messaging options for clients to reach their agency on demand, and to receive important updates or reminders about their policies.Β 

Hopefully, this gives insight into the many ways client communications touch your insurance agency and the incentives to make changes to embrace new technologies and tools to elevate your business to the next level, enhance credibility and loyalty, and establish retention and trust.Β 

How Agency Revolution Can HelpΒ 

By using Agency Revolution’s suite of digital marketing solutions, you can empower your agency to enhance the way you communicate with your clients.Β 

With our client communication solutions, insurance agencies can:Β 

  • Boost leads and allow clients to submit policy requests with built-in self-service Client Center forms on our Forge website platform.
  • Engage clients with automated emails that send forms requesting information for renewals, claims, and more on our Fuse marketing automation platform.
  • Integrate our Web Chat feature on a Forge website, which allows real-time conversations, auto-responder messages, and office hours settings to automate messages after hours.
  • Utilize our Business Texting add-on, which enables you to have one-on-one conversations, comes with smart notifications, and can be used to automate text messages to clients.Β 
  • Enhance client engagement by sending automated emails with advanced audience targeting and triggers through the Fuse marketing automation platform.Β 
  • Record Video Proposals to walk clients through coverage education, review policy details, and more on the Forge website platform.Β 

If these client communication features sound interesting to you, read more about our platforms and add-ons that can enhance the way your agency connects with your client base.Β 

 

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Thanks for flipping over one last beach ball! We’ve loved sharing with you this month. Have a great 4th of July!