| Act cFluent Newsletter, January, 2006 - Subscribe
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How Do You Get and Keep More Profitable Customers?
(Hint: Customers that Fend for Themselves are Good for Your
Agency) For the answer to that question
(and it isn’t obvious), we have to look to the retail,
banking and cell phone industries. By combining some of what
has been learned about consumers there with what is known
about consumer insurance needs and expectations we can sketch
out a roadmap for growth and profit in 2006.
Consumers really would like a local provider for their insurance,
in fact, Progressive Insurance learned in a 2002 survey that
92% of all consumers would like to be able to do business
locally1. But that’s not all. Most consumers would also
like the option of using the internet, at least sometimes.
A 2005 study of the retail industry by Adjoined Research put
this number at 80%2 and growing.
The banking and cell phone industries have learned something
else about those consumers who want to customize services
for themselves: they are
more satisfied, profitable and stay with their service provider
longer. Verizon Wireless has one of the highest online, self-service
usage levels and one of the lowest customer churn rates in
their industry3 and that’s no coincidence. Bank of America
noted that 50% of their customers who use online banking rate
their service satisfaction a 9 or 10 out of 10 vs. only 41%
for the general customer population4.
But back to the insurance world. What insurance consumers
want, overwhelmingly, is peace of mind. In a 2002 survey by
the National Association of Insurance Commissioners 90% of
respondents said that is the biggest benefit of insurance.
What that means is consumers want to know they have the right
level of insurance protection for their particular circumstances.
That same survey found that 72% of consumers felt they did
not understand their insurance program very well and that
was a major reason why 83% of those surveyed felt that an
annual review was a good idea. Online services that let customers
address these concerns for themselves result in more product
sales, enhanced retention and promote higher referral rates.
One more piece of good news: services delivered online typically
only cost 1% to 5% of those same services delivered in person5.
So with online service everyone wins: happier customers stay
with their agent longer, buy more products and refer others
and agents dramatically cut the cost of delivering customized
service. Confluency Solutions has a variety of web modules
that can be dropped into your agency web site to make your
customers happier right away. This a good time of year for
annual reviews for personal lines customers. Three tools to
make that easy and profitable are highlighted this month:
The
Personal Property Wizard helps estimate replacement cost
for contents and possessions without requiring a tedious inventory.
The
Personal Risk Wizard provides customized guidance for
appropriate levels of insurance protection. The Annual Review Wizard walks users through changes that may have taken
place that might require an update in their insurance program.
All modules take no more than a few minutes of a customer’s
or prospective customer’s time, can be used in a variety
of ways and can be installed on your website in minutes. To
access evaluation versions or a flash demo of these tools
go to http://www.confluencysolutions.com/store.
- http://www.progressive.com
- Business Wire, March 16, 2005
- Dom
Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. November, 2005
- Tom
Van Horn and Robert Wollan, November, 2005
- Dom Peppers and Martha Rogers Ph.D., sas.com magazine,
Third Quarter, 2005,
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Act cFluent
Information for independent agents about issues at the confluence
of technology, consumerism, marketing and agency practices.
Tell us what you like, dislike, agree or disagree with.
>> tstrong@cfluent.com
About Confluency Solutions
-----------------------------------------------
Confluency Solutions specializes in solutions that generate
growth through high customer satisfaction. Easy to implement
technology combined with traditional independent agency strengths
vault your agency into the ranks of the top performers. Confluency
Solutions provides complete business solutions, not just technology.
We free you up to compete at an advantage, with any size competitor,
in a way that just isn't possible without the right tools
and without knowing how best to use them. Confluency Solutions
makes the web work.
>> Learn more about us: http://ConfluencySolutions.com
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