How to Successfully Onboard New Clients
As an independent insurance agency specializing in health, senior, or group benefits insurance, part of your success hinges on effectively onboarding new clients. The client onboarding process involves integrating new clients into your agency's systems and workflows, setting the stage for a successful long-term relationship.
How can you do this? The best way to maintain meaningful communication with all of your new clients with little time or effort on your part is by putting a process in place and utilizing automation.
This blog and infographic will walk you through the essential steps of client onboarding, from initial contact to ongoing maintenance communication, helping you establish a powerful plan that sets both your agency and your clients up for success in the complex world of insurance.
What is Client Onboarding?
Client onboarding is a crucial process for insurance agencies. It sets the stage for potential long-term relationships with new policyholders. This process can include welcoming clients, setting expectations, and familiarizing them with your services and procedures. A well-executed client onboarding process can significantly impact client satisfaction, retention, and your agency's overall success.
Implementing a robust client onboarding process offers several benefits, including:
- Reduced misconceptions about policies and procedures
- Enhanced customer loyalty and retention
- Increased competitiveness in the insurance market
- Lower operational costs due to decreased customer churn
- Simplified insurance processes for clients
According to Whatfix, effective onboarding not only eliminates policy misconceptions but also fosters opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.
Client Onboarding Sample Process
Follow this example client onboarding process to ensure your agency is covering all of your bases. The onboarding process in the infographic below is an example — edit it as you see fit to serve your clients best and fit your agency's processes.
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1. Use a needs assessment tool: Conduct a thorough needs analysis to understand the client's insurance requirements. Knowing what’s important to your clients and prospects and what types of coverage or features they need in a policy can help you serve them more effectively.
2. Gather data: Gather all the necessary information and data for each contact, and ensure it’s in your agency management system (AMS) or CRM. Even further, make sure the information is correct, especially if you’re utilizing automation! Automation relies on information and data being accurate to work properly.
3. Submit the policy: Create a workflow to keep the policyholder updated on where their policy is at in the submission process. You can send emails automatically when the policy is submitted, when the policy is pending, and when the policy is active.
4. Welcome: Now that your lead is a client, send an automated welcome message introducing your agency and outlining the next steps in the onboarding process. This could also include any pertinent information they might need going forward, like your contact information, who their specific point of contact is, etc.
5. Send a gift or handwritten card: Taking the time to send a thank you gift or card to your new client can be a nice touch. Some handwritten card services even integrate with agency management systems or CRMs (like AgencyBloc’s AMS+ solution) to make this process even easier.
6. Follow up: Following up with the client to address any potential questions or concerns once they near the end of the onboarding process is important. You could also use this touchpoint as a cross-sell opportunity to see if there are any additional insurance coverages your agency can help with.
7. Ask for referrals: Referrals are an excellent and effective way to reach new prospects (they typically have higher conversion rates than other acquisition types!). Set up a workflow to trigger after your client has been with your agency for a certain amount of time to automatically send an email asking them for potential referrals.
8. Keep it going: Now that onboarding is over, it’s time to focus on client retention! Here, communication is key. Establish a communication plan for policy updates and renewals, birthdays and anniversaries, and other vital communication touchpoints using automation.
How To Use Technology to Support Your Client Onboarding Process
Incorporating digital tools, like an agency management system (AMS) or CRM, can significantly enhance your client onboarding process. By implementing these technologies, you can create a more efficient process and reduce the workload on your team.
AgencyBloc’s AMS+ solution offers powerful tools to streamline your new client onboarding process:
Remember, a well-designed client onboarding process sets the tone for your relationship with new policyholders. With clear communication, personalization, and automation, you can create a positive first impression that lays the groundwork for long-term client satisfaction and loyalty.
By following the best practices and steps outlined in this guide, you'll be well-equipped to create a positive onboarding experience. Start refining your onboarding process today to drive growth and success at your agency.
Looking For More Client Onboarding Resources?
Successfully onboarding new clients is all about providing value at every available opportunity, and this can be made easier by using tools like automation that help you remember to reach out on a timely basis and even automate many of those touchpoints for you.
Check out the resources below to learn more about using automation at your insurance agency:
This blog and infographic were originally published on August 12, 2015, and have been most recently updated and republished on December 31, 2024.
Posted
by Sarah Rosonke
on Tuesday, December 31, 2024
in
Email Marketing Software
- client retention
About The Author
Sarah is the Design and Content Specialist at AgencyBloc. She creates and designs helpful resources to support life and health insurance agencies in growing and automating their business. Favorite quote: "You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try." —Dol
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