The Ultimate 3 Step Onboarding Process for Insurance Clients

You just sold John Doe a home and an auto insurance policy.  Now what? Do you have a kick-ass onboarding process for new insurance clients?

Your work as an insurance agent doesn't stop here, it just started!

The right onboarding process should focus on the following

• Generating customer referrals
• Breaking up the prior policy
• Protecting your agency from E&O
• Getting your agency a 5-star Google review
• Increasing the first-term retention

We've done tons of research, spoke to 1000's of agents and worked on creating the ultimate onboarding process that every insurance agent should implement and apply to each client starting with day 1.

DAY 1: The Welcome Packet

Old school days people use to walk into an agency to buy an insurance policy and they left with a branded folder that included all of their policy information, ID cards etc. The folder and documents helped the client feel comfortable about the decision they just made.

These days technology has taken over the insurance industry and insurance agents went from selling policies in person to by the phone, email or text.  Although there are many benefits to today's sales processes, however, it comes at the cost of lower first term-retention, higher E&O risk and fewer referrals.  Why? Because it's no longer a personal experience between the client and the agent.

If you don't have a tool like AgencyZoom to automate creating the welcome packet then here's what you need to do.

• Have the producer send John Doe one personalized email immediately after the sale is made and attach the “Welcome Packet” to it.
  • The body of the email should do the following:
    • Let them know there is a “Welcome Packet” attached and to sign and return as needed
    • Give contact information for your agency, claims, etc
    • Help them register for any mobile apps for your agency or carrier
    • ASK FOR A REFERRAL! This is your best chance at getting one
• Create a coverage rejection form listing all of the gaps and declined coverage
• Break-Up letter/cancellation form to help with the break-up process of prior policy
• ID Cards
• Any other agency marketing collateral as you see fit

Here's a sample welcome packet to give you an idea of the end result.  We highly recommend that you use tools like AgencyZoom to automate creating this packet to save you time and get a consistent process

In a recent survey, 92% of satisfied clients said they are willing to give a referral but only 11% of business owners had a referral process

Now that you've sent the welcome packet, the next thing to do is schedule a day 14 welcome call.

DAY 14: The “Welcome Call”

Let’s face it.  Sh*t happens!   The welcome wall is your opportunity to tie up loose ends, answer questions the customer may have, and most importantly, differentiate yourself from every other insurance agent they did business in the past.  

Ultimately, a great welcome call will absolutely minimize the number of future calls you get from this customer and that’s a good thing. Time is money, and the less time you spend with a client the more profitable they are and of course, it means you and your team will have more time to spend selling.

So what does the perfect welcome call look like? 

Prior to the call:

• Confirm you have signed documents back (as needed)
• Confirm they registered on your client portal or the carrier’s portal

During the call

1. Thank the customer for joining your agency and see if they have any questions
2. Give or get confirmation about the transfer process from the prior carrier
   1. You will give confirmation if you helped by getting a break-up letter sign.
   2. Make sure you get confirmation from the customer if they said they will handle it.
3. Re-confirm their email, mailing address, mortgagee clause, etc
4. Ask a question that gets a “YES” answer
   • Example: “Overall, would you say you are satisfied with our agency John?"
5. Let them know you are sending a follow up one question survey and you would appreciate it greatly if they reply.
6. If they haven't sent a referral on day 1, this is your 2nd chance to ask for referrals 
7. Ask about life insurance and other products your agency offers
8. End the call

After the call

• Set a calendar reminder to call 45 days prior to their policy renewing.
• Send survey that generates 5-star Google reviews

LAST STEP: The Pre-Renewal Call

We want to make something absolutely clear.  You have to get John Doe to buy from you again on his first renewal.  That’s the mind frame you need in order to have the highest retention results possible.

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, which makes them very profitable for your insurance agency.

When does the Pre-Renewal call happen - 45 days before their policy is set to renew.  Here exactly what to do on a Welcome Call:

Prior to the call:

• Review current policy for gaps and discount recommendations
• Confirm they registered on your client portal or the carrier’s portal
  • In case someone slipped through the cracks

During the call:

• Say “Hi” with a smile and let them know you’re checking in on them.
• Ask if they have any questions (don’t make it feel like a boring policy review)
• Ask a question that gets a “YES” answer
  • “Overall, would you say you are satisfied with our agency John?”Almost everyone answers “YES” to this
• Let them know you went the extra mile and reviewed their policy.
• Go over recommendations as needed.
• End the call

Wait, this is going to take forever. Is there a better way?

You’re right...it is going to take a lot of time to provide a world-class onboarding process that generates referrals, gets you 5-star reviews, protects you from E&O and guarantees you the highest retention results.

If you’re serious about getting the highest sales and retention results then this is the process you must adopt now. But you don't have to do this manually. Tools like AgencyZoom will do this entire onboarding process including asking for referrals and google reviews for every new insurance client automatically!

Interested in learning more?  Schedule a demo