The "DOs" and "DON'Ts" of Customer Insurance Reviews

Regularly meeting with existing customers is one of the best ways you can grow and elevate your insurance agency.

These meetings strengthen your relationship with customers, thus improving their retention.

They also provide you with upsell opportunities.

To help make these meetings more effective, we’ve put together a list of customer insurance review DOs and DON’Ts.

Adhering to these tips will help these appointments be productive, rewarding, and a good experience for both you AND your clients.

Customer Insurance Review DOs

DO focus on educating your clients.

You want your clients to feel like this meeting is valuable for them.

If they are learning more every time they meet with you, they are likely to keep coming back.

They will also be more likely to buy more products if they understand them.

DO be personable and take an interest in your clients.

Nobody wants to feel like they’re just another sale.

Make sure your clients know you care about them by remembering details about them.

Some agents even go as far as sending birthday and Christmas cards.

DO keep your meetings short.

Around 30 minutes is the right amount of time.

If you go much longer than this, it will be tough to get your clients to come back in for a review in the future.

DO conduct your meetings in your office whenever possible.

This keeps the feel of the meetings consistent.

It also keeps you in control and you won’t ever misplace your files or resource materials.

DO review your client’s file the day before the meetings.

If you are unprepared and look like you are winging it, your client will feel unimportant, and probably irritated.

Plus, you may overlook potential cross-sell opportunities.

DO offer visual explanation.

If you have a whiteboard in your office, use it.

Explain what the numbers in your client’s policies mean.

Use charts and graphs where applicable.

DO follow an alphabetical approach to scheduling appointments.

We’ve found that the best way to make sure you meet with all your client’s throughout the year is to work through your full list of names alphabetically.

Read more about list strategy - Should I Have a Strategy Behind the Lists I Use?

DO tell clients you’re not going to sell to them.

NOBODY likes to be sold to.

The point of the meeting is to make sure your client has the coverage they need and are educated about their policies.

If it so happens that their needs have changed and they need more coverage, let them make the decision.

Actually tell your clients that you are not going to try to sell to them.

DO remember to follow up.

What good is the meeting if you don’t take any action?

Make sure you have send-able information ready to give to your client to help them know what coverage they need.

Remember to make any changes to the policies that are required.

Customer Insurance Review DON'Ts

DON’T sell during the policy review appointment.

Hard-selling during the meeting may offend your clients.

Make notes of coverages that need to be updated or changed.

If the customer wants more information on this, provide it to them.

Follow up a week or so after the meeting to discuss additional policies that might be relevant.

DON’T schedule customer insurance reviews at renewal time.

Premiums often increase at the time of renewal.

If you schedule a meeting at that time, you’ll likely spend most of the time justifying the increase in price instead of reviewing the coverage.

DON’T focus on price.

Focus on the coverage and service you are providing instead of price.

Once the topic comes up, that will be your client’s primary concern.

DON’T allow any distractions.

Turn off alerts on your phone and computer to minimize any distractions.

If your client feels like you're distracted, they're much less likely to come back for a review in the future.

DON’T wing it.

Spend a day or two before the meetings reviewing your client’s needs assessment, policies, and past notes.

You’ll seem more professional and be better prepared to cover the needs of your clients.

What other DOs and DON'Ts have you learned in your experience with customer insurance reviews? Let us know in the comments below!