The way you position your agency's brand in the marketplace hasa lot to do with the way you position your customers within yourbusiness. If you treat them just as accounts, then the likelihoodis they will treat you with little regard as well. They'll jumpship the minute something better arrives.

If you want your agency to stand out in the crowd, you need todemonstrate what that uniqueness means to your clients. Show a truerelationship with them, not just a knowledge of their needs andpreferences. Then your policyholders won't have to find a reason tostay with you even if a new agency comes along to lure themaway.

Two things solidify your relationship with insureds beyond justproviding great products: good pricing and excellent service. Youneed to gather as much data as you can on your clients' likes anddislikes, preferences and lifestyle. Understand how to connect withthem in a manner that supports their needs, not yours.

Knowing your client will not only improve the way youcommunicate, but will also allow you to target your messages totheir specific interests. For example, it makes little sensetargeting homeowners' messages to renters or to push Auto insuranceinformation to boat owners. Taking the time to segment your listand deliver messages appropriately demonstrates your respect foryour clients and the limited time they have.

Provide omnichannel service

Delivering a seamless customer experience is difficult toachieve, but can be done through true omni-channel service. Deeplinking and big data mining have been the beacons of achievingengagement and personalization. But that ever-illusive seamlessintegration of channels to provide that consistent and connectedcustomer experience from start to finish, anywhere, any time andany way is the current goal for companies of any size.

Mobile is even more of a primary aspect in a consumer's shoppingjourney than it once was; it's also a key point for interactingwith the brands with which they do business:

• 89 percent of consumers began doingbusiness with a competitor following a poor customerexperience.
• 73 percent of consumers prefer to dobusiness with brands that use personal information to make theirshopping experiences more relevant.
• 66 percent of customers have made apurchase in the last 6 months that involved multiple channels.
• 54 percent would consider ending theirrelationship with a retailer if they are not given tailor-made,relevant content and offers.

Omni-channel customer service isn't easy, and for some vendors,their interpretation of its meaning is narrowed by their particularslice. A recent study from eTail shows that 71 percent ofretailers polled are using data to improve personalization andpredictive marketing, while 54 percent are coordinating userexperiences across channels including in-person, online andmobile.

Even the biggest of companies are missing the mark most of thetime. For medium-size businesses, it comes down to availability andaffordability of the technology, which can be outside theirbudgets. For the small businesses, it's still a matter of cost, butsome avoid that issue by outright elimination of some channels.

That's certainly one method of streamlining the customer serviceexperience, but agencies have to understand that consumers aredemanding a multichannel connection. If you can't provide it with aseamless workflow, be ready for them to take their businesselsewhere.

Rick Gilman, APR, CMP, is president of South Orange, NewJersey-based communications and public relations consultingcompany APPsolute Marketing. Contact himat [email protected].