When it comes to maintaining ongoing communications with theircustomers, many independent insurance agents and brokers are asreticent to start sending out emails as they would be to poke asleeping bear. “They’re already customers," they think. “If I emailthem, they might remember they’re paying for insurance, and they’llleave me!” This view point is more prevalent than you mightimagine. But it is misguided.

The statistic that we always share with such agents is that 60%of insurance clients don’t believe they get any additional valuefrom their agent or broker after they’ve written a check. 60%! Ontop of that, a full 86% think the communication with their agent islacking. With that kind of dissatisfaction in our market,establishing consistent communication with your customers isn’tpoking a sleeping bear, it’s dealing with a bear that’s alreadyawake and pretty angry.

Related: Whyis your insurance sales presentation terrible?

Insurance agents face unique challenges when trying tocommunicate with their clients. First of all, insurance iscomplicated and misconceptions abound among consumers. Most peoplefeel they understand enough about insurance to make intelligentdecisions, similar to the way they buy things on Amazon, when thereality is exactly the opposite. As a licensed expert, you areaware of the intricacies of the insurance market and have realvalue you can provide. So how do you let your customers know thatyou’re the one to help solve their problems?

1. Provide ‘commercial teaching’

The key is not to simply blast someone once with a ton ofinformation and hope they absorb it all. “TheChallenger Sale” by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon is a bookwritten specifically for sales teams, but it has a lot of practicaladvice for anyone who is responsible for attracting prospects,generating leads and converting them into clients. The bookintroduces a concept called “Commercial Teaching.” A Forbes article reviewing the book said this about commercialteaching:

Successful salespeople challenge theircustomers by not simply responding to their needs but actuallyredefining them. A good challenger provides insight, helps acustomer avoid pitfalls, and offers products and services that theclient doesn’t even know exist.

Related: Inbound marketing: Give insurance prospects what they want, forfree

2. Use your knowledge to keep clientsloyal

By responsibly educating your clients and prospects about theintricacies and importance of insurance coverage you can inspirethem to not only retain your services but to become an active andloyal customer. It is a simple exchange: knowledge for loyalty,security for references.

Commercial teaching provides a tangible value add, which leadsto an increase in loyalty in the customers who benefit from theinformation. There are few things more valuable to an independentagent than loyalty. A loyal customer delivers more than 250% morereferrals than your average disgruntled customer. A loyal customerrenews at a rate of 97%. A loyal customer buys 25% more insurance.These statistics illustrate why turning your disgruntled customersinto engaged, loyal advocates can transform your business.

Another thing that loyal customers do is leave positive reviews.There are many places that a review can be left online now, fromYelp to Glassdoor to your Facebook page. And with 81% of allconsumers researching major to minor purchases online before theypull the purchase trigger, it’s important that the reviews you haveonline are positive. It’s your reputation, and you need to manageit. That is why you can’t afford to let the bear go unpoked.

Related: Targeted prospecting: why you should be doing it (and why youprobably aren’t)

3. Avoid jargon and technical terms

We find that most insurance agents have strong personalcommunication skills, but often their ability to deliver themessages in a written format could be lacking. One problem we oftensee is over-jargoning your communications. Using too much insiderterminology is usually an attempt to impress an audience with yourexpertise.

What’s more impressive, however, is the ability to explain theconcepts in a way that will not only help someone with no insurancetraining to understand it but also help them be able to recall andrepeat the information later to other parties. Information can goviral this way and result in an increased book of business that candramatically improve your bottom line.

Related: What words insurance clients do and don’t want tohear

4. Be memorable

Perception is often more powerful than reality. Even if you’resending out the odd missive, it’s not providing you with the kindof social proof you’re hoping for. More than 44% of insuranceclients believe they have not received a single communiqué withtheir agents in the last 18 months whether that’s the case or not.If you want to retain and grow your client base, yourcommunications should be intelligent and understandable. Theyshould come out at a pace that gives your clients the chance tointernalize them and even miss a few without missing out on yourexpertise entirely.

When it comes to a consistent communication strategy it is wellworth the effort to take the chance and start poking the bear rightnow; you may avoid an even worse bear attack down the road. Sodon’t hold back. Poke that bear, and see how much your businessimproves.

Rick Fox is the president of AgencyRevolution, a software company that provides an AMS-compatibleautomated communication platform for insurance agents. He is aveteran of the tech industry and an independent insurance agentwith more than 20 years in the business. He lives in Bend, Ore.,and can be reached at [email protected].

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