Insurance Agency Client Onboarding for Long-Term Relationships

Client onboarding is the process companies use to introduce new customers to their services. Health insurance agencies often accomplish this by using policy information sheets, guides for accessing online accounts, and comprehensive welcome kits. When done effectively, insurance agency client onboarding can help your agency build long-term relationships.

Onboarding Best Practices

At first glance, insurance agency client onboarding means familiarizing a new customer with the health benefits they are working with you to offer their employees. But, more importantly, it’s also about giving your clients an excellent experience that affirms their decision to use your agency and motivates them to renew when the time comes.

Even if a client is already working with your agency to offer their employee benefits, it’s not safe to assume that they will become repeat customers. In fact, many companies lose customers in the weeks following a sale. The good news is there are insurance agency client onboarding practices that can help prevent this from happening. Here are some of the best onboarding practices your agency can implement, inspired by Hubspot’s guide to customer onboarding:

• • Set Expectations
    From the very start, make your clients aware of what will happen after they begin working with you. Give them an overview of your agency’s onboarding system and make it clear where they are in the process. Having this clarity will give them a sense of direction and motivate them to complete the necessary steps.
  • Break Things Down
    While new customers have a lot to learn about their benefits package, don’t overload them with information. This can make new clients feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Instead, decide what is most important for them to know and break it down into small, manageable steps. Only give them one task to do at a time and provide clear instructions.
  • Tailor The Experience
    In addition to explaining the features of their benefits, try to tailor the experience to your client’s specific needs and concerns. You should understand their challenges and pain points and understand how your agency can help them find a solution. Do all you can to personalize the experience for your client by addressing their concerns. For example, if a client is offering telemedicine via your agency, explain that this benefit can help them with the common issue of healthcare accessibility.
  • Show Concern For Your Customer
    Onboarding is an opportunity to develop a relationship with your clients. Make sure your customers know you can help if they have questions about their benefits. You might give them an email address where they can send their questions or a 1-800 number where members of your staff can help them during the day. This communicates that you care about their experience and gives them a positive view of your agency. Encouraging them to express their concerns can also provide insight into how your onboarding process is working.

Benefits Of Insurance Agency Client Onboarding

Insurance agency client onboarding can have many long-term benefits, including increased client retention and loyalty. If your customers have a successful onboarding experience, they are far more likely to use your services in the future. This is because it is much more expensive to find a new customer than to retain one you already have. A higher retention rate typically results in more revenue over time. In fact, 20% of your current customers can generate 80% of future revenue for your agency.

Another major benefit of onboarding is that satisfied clients often become your greatest advocates. Agencies that welcome new clients, educate them on their services, and work to ensure their satisfaction stand out from all the others. Clients who have a positive onboarding experience are likely to refer other people to your agency. As I mentioned in last week?s post, recommendations from existing customers make prospects trust you more. A glowing recommendation from someone they know will give them far more confidence to work with your agency.

Ultimately, effective onboarding can help your agency to develop a strong relationship with clients, make them trust you, and motivate them to refer you to others.

Using Welcome Kits To Onboard Clients

For insurance agencies, welcome kits are an effective way to facilitate the onboarding process. A welcome kit contains all the materials your new clients need and gives you the opportunity to create a trusting relationship with them.

Ideally, you will provide your clients with both a physical and a digital welcome kits. Physical welcome kits can make a great first impression and help your agency stand out from your competitors. A physical welcome kit is typically mailed to a client within 48 hours after they begin working with your agency.

Physical welcome kits should include the following materials:

• • Contact Information: Your agency’s address, phone number, email, and links to social media accounts
  • Background On Your Agency: Your agency’s mission statement and information about your staff
  • Policy Information: Essential information on the policy purchased and how to report claims
  • Guide To Online Accounts: If applicable, a tutorial for helping your clients set up their accounts online and how to use them
  • Promotional Materials: Merchandise such as pens, magnets, calendars, or travel mugs with your agency’s branding

A digital welcome kit is just as important as the physical version and tends to be more effective in the long run. It is best to use an automated process for the digital welcome kit. Typically, a digital kit follows a particular sequence, such as a welcome email, a follow-up email with contact information, and a third email with other useful details. In addition to distributing essential information, you can use this digital system to ask for online reviews, share posts from your agency’s blog, send notifications, and more.

Insurance agency client onboarding involves acclimating new clients to your services, but it’s also about creating a loyal and long-term relationship with your customers. Having a strong client relationship is especially important for you, particularly because customers rely on you to address their company healthcare needs and concerns. Building a relationship with your clients helps you to better serve them and increases your chances of retaining loyal, long-term customers.