This blog post was originally published on the Engagex blog on January 18th, 2021.
Updated and republished on February 10th, 2022.
Conducting a customer insurance review meeting may seem easy until you’re face to face with a client and unsure what to talk about.
It can be trickier than you might imagine.
What’s the right process? What do you say?
How do you make sure to review every aspect of every policy?
To simplify the process, strive to meet these 4 main actionable goals.
Make a list of action items that need your attention.
These will be things like checking up on an open claim or changing contact information.
Identify any areas of additional revenue opportunity.
Think about adjustment limits to current coverage, additional policies, or similar items.
Review for potential discounts
Ask for referrals by presenting your referral program.
Now, let’s talk about 12 specific steps you can follow when you conduct review meetings with your clients to make sure you meet those 4 goals.
Step 1: Begin your customer review meeting with a few minutes of pleasantries.
Discuss your customer’s interests and desires.
How old are their kids, and what activities are they involved in?
What are their hobbies? What are their future plans (career, family, education, etc.)
Be natural and build a genuine relationship.
Step 2: Verify contact information.
The information you will want to review:
Phone number
Email address
Physical address
Emergency contact information
You’ll also want to make sure you know their preferred contact method - would they rather get an email from you or a phone call?
Step 3: Review the customer needs assessment form.
If they haven’t done it, spend a minute or two completing it together.
When you review the needs assessment, vocally note their concerns and let them know that you will make sure to talk about it as you dive into the review.
Be sure to refer to the needs assessment and the notes you previously made as you go through these items - this will keep you on track and communicate to your client that the meeting is for them, not you.
For example, if the customer mentioned that they just installed a pool on the needs assessment, be sure to bring that up when you get to the home insurance portion of your meeting.
Take notes as you go.
As you make your way through the review, you will discuss each type of insurance you offer and cover 3 main points of discussion: educate, review, and confirm.
To Educate, teach the customer the purpose of each coverage and why they would need it. Using first-hand experiences and stories has been an effective way to make these points.
To review, go over their current coverage and explain whether or not it is sufficient in your expert opinion.
Then confirm by asking your customer whether or not they are satisfied with the coverage they currently have.
These 3 steps will quickly uncover vulnerable areas of your client’s portfolio.
Once you have discussed each category, discuss any discounts currently available to your customer.
This is probably the most exciting part of a policy review for some of your clients.
Step 4: Discuss auto insurance policies.
Begin with liability insurance and follow the 3 steps described before.
Explain the purpose of liability insurance
Review the current liability coverage your customer has
Confirm your customer is satisfied with their liability coverage
Then, discuss uninsured motorist coverage. Follow the same 3 steps for this topic.
Explain the purpose of uninsured motorist insurance
Review the current uninsured motorist coverage your customer has
Confirm your customer is satisfied with their uninsured motorist coverage
You see the pattern here.
Follow the same steps for all topics under the auto insurance category, including liability, uninsured motorist, medical, comprehensive, and roadside/towing.
Don’t forget to make notes about any adjustments or additional policies that would fit your client’s needs.
Once you’ve worked through every topic, remember to discuss discounts that might be available.
Step 5: Discuss home insurance policies.
Follow the same process for home as you did for auto.
Educate, review, and confirm on each topic.
This time your topics include home/rental, separate structures, contents, additional living expense, liability, guest medical coverage.
Don’t forget: take notes and review for potential discounts.
Step 6: Discuss personal liability and other insurance coverage.
Follow the same process again.
This time discuss umbrella policies, trailers, ATVs, watercraft, and rental properties.
Step 7: Discuss life insurance policies—term and permanent.
Step 8: Ask about commercial/business insurance.
This step is slightly different because you won’t follow the same 3-part process.
Because of the complexity of coverage and information you’ll need to gather about a commercial or business policy, you will probably need to set up a separate appointment to get all the details necessary.
The topics to discuss here include professional liability, property, workers comp, vehicle, key man life, and business interruption.
Step 9: Let your client know about any new products you have available in the value-added area.
Things like auto loans, home warranties, or education loans should be mentioned.
Even if the client you’re meeting with doesn’t need additional policies, it’s important that they know what you offer.
If they know you offer a specific product, you’ll be the first person they think of when a friend needs that type of coverage. Helloooo referrals!
Step 10: Review action items.
You probably identified tasks you need to complete for your customers as you worked through the review.
Maybe they want more info on life insurance policies or need to increase their uninsured motorist coverage.
Review action items with the client to confirm you understood everything correctly to follow up later!
Step 11: Review long-term goals.
If you’ve been building a relationship with your client, these conversations can be very natural.
Take notes as your client gives you more information on their goals and life events. This will create seamless future opportunities to cross-sell.
Step 12: Close.
Say thank you and let your customer know that you will be in contact shortly to follow up on any action items you have identified.
That’s it! Following these 12 steps will make your meetings smooth, productive, and valuable, not only for you but for your clients.