5 Quick Tips To Ace Your Onboarding Process

We’ve already done a comprehensive look at onboarding with our ultimate guide to onboarding, but you’re busy and time is short so we’ve put together 5 quick tips to ace your onboarding process.

1. Remind customers why they chose you
   
   Research shows the two biggest reasons customers walk away is that they either don’t understand your service or don’t see its value. Throughout the sale you may have tried to simplify the benefits of a policy to make it as easy as possible for customers. Now that customers have signed a policy however, it’s time to ensure they understand exactly what protections they have and how to most easily file a claim in event of an incident. Doing so will solidify the value of the customers purchase and plant seeds for renewal early.

2. Establish trust
   
   Business.com data shows that the majority of revenue for established agencies comes from returning customers. As discussed in our Ultimate Onboarding Guide, if you can get a customer through the first renewal there is a very high likelihood of that customer staying with you for 5+ years. How do you get a customer to renew and what does that have to do with onboarding? It all comes down to trust. When customers sign a policy, they hope never to use it. Your job is to ensure them that if an incident were to occur, you would have their back. This starts by seeing each customer and policy, not as premium, but as an opportunity to build trust through quality service. And best yet, there’s another major benefit to building trust beyond renewal... referrals.
   
   

3. Ask for referrals
   
   We’ve done guides on how to ask for referrals, and the benefits of referrals for your agency, so be sure to check those out if you want more details. As Hubspot points out “The good thing is your customers already like you, and they already believe in your service — that’s why they bought it.” Don’t be afraid to use your onboarding email as an opportunity to ask for referrals. Customers still have the value of your service fresh in their mind, and most likely they’ll be eager to share this value with their friends and family. An email is the perfect place to ask as any referral links are easier to return to and share.
   
   

4. Follow up your email with a call 2 weeks later

   
   This is your chance to differentiate yourself from past agents your customers have worked with and further build trust. By taking the time out of your day to reach back out to a customer and see how their policy is suiting them, you establish yourself as having the customers best interests at heart and provide customers an opportunity to tie up loose ends and answer any questions they may still have. Finally, use this call to remind customers of your referral policy, sometimes asking in person can be the motivation your customer needs.
   
   
5. Automate the process
   
   We get it, you’re busy and you have countless customers to keep track of, but letting even one onboarding email slip through the cracks can mean a customer lost. Data from Andrew Chen shows that failing to establish a smooth onboarding process for customers can result in a 75% chance of losing that customer in the first referral period. Trust takes a long time to build, but it only takes a moment to break for good. Automating your onboarding with tools such as AgencyZoom will ensure no welcome packet ever gets forgotten.

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