As an insurance agent, you are likely deemed to be your customers go to expert on all things insurance related, including car rental insurance. It seems like everybody wants to find a way around paying the exorbitant car rental insurance fees and they usually want to know if they are covered by their auto policy even in the rental car.

While it is a personal decision for your customer to make, you can advise them of the pros and cons.

If your customer is involved in an accident and did not take the car rental insurance:

• They will have to pay their auto policy’s deductible.
• The rental car company will probably charge them a daily rental rate while the car is repaired. This will not be covered by the insurance company.

If your customer is involved in an accident  and they did pay for the rental company’s insurance:

• They won’t have a deductible.
• If they are involved in an accident, the claim is likely to not show up on their auto insurance policy (unless there is an injury).

There is also another great option available through American Express.  Car rental insurance through AMEX is a FLAT $24.95 per rental period, vs per Day by the Car Rental company.

Coverage includes:

1) reimbursement for damage to or theft of the Rental Auto and personal property, and

2) medical expenses and death and dismemberment benefits resulting from a Covered Accident. Coverage is worldwide.

What the Plan Covers
The $100,000 coverage level with a premium of $24.95 covers:

• Up to $100,000 of primary damage and theft coverage for the rental car.
• Up to $100,000 of Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage.
• Up to $15,000 per person of excess coverage for Medical Expenses.
• Up to $5,000 per person of excess coverage for personal property, maximum of $10,000 for all.
• For Florida Residents, up to $15,000 per person of excess coverage for personal property, maximum of $25,000.

Check out the Amex website for more information.

Keeping insurance clients happy is the way many of us stay in business…or even have business. What about those problem customers, though? We all have them…or have had them, at some point. Rohit Bhargava, one of my favorite marketing bloggers, offers insight on handling difficult customers.

1) Dig down to the real issue.
2) Focus on what you can fix.
3) Kindly and gently raise the issue.
4) Give him/her another chance. And maybe a second one…but the third strike is out.
5) Politely terminate the relationship and refer to another insurance service provider.
6) Start fresh with new prospects.

Rohit expands on each idea in his blog post. I think all insurance professionals can relate with this issue. While most customer relationships are wonderful, there are always a few that just aren’t profitable or fair. If a customer is a consistent drain on your business or your team’s productivity, it may be beneficial to both you and the customer to part ways. Follow Rohit’s tips to do this successfully.

Looking for ways to keep long-term insurance clients? Impeccable customer service is key! The folks over at PC360 have a few tips for you:

1) Focus on your insurance agency’s culture. If you don’t, your team members won’t.

2) Manage your brand. Take ownership of situations. Be patient and compassionate with your insurance customers and prospects.

3) Encourage and reward your team members. If your staff feels appreciated they’ll be at peak performance and take optimal care of your customers.

4) Implement technology that makes your customers’ lives easier. Just make sure you maintain your personal touch.

To read the full article, click here.

Interesting insight from the folks at Accenture.

To build long-term relationships with insurance customers and/or prospects, you need to understand them. Communication is not “one size fits all”. All relationships vary. To ensure you’re communicating effectively, take time to learn more about your audiences.

We all know the customer is king. Offering top-notch customer service is vital to the growth and well-being of your insurance business. The folks over at AgencyIQ recently shared their “keys to delivering great customer service“.

- Empowering your staff
- Turn problems into opportunities
- Anticipate and plan for change

Head over to the AgencyIQ blog to read further.

And if you’re not familiar with AgencyIQ, they offer a wonderful insurance lead management system. We’re an approved vendor, so our leads feed directly into their system meaning less work and more productivity for you!

One of the best ways to earn referrals for your insurance business is to focus on building friendships with your current clients. Here are a few tips:

1) Write snail mail. Handwritten notes have become a thing of the past. Think about it. When was the last time you received a handwritten card in the mail?  Take a few minutes at the end of every week to handwrite a brief message to some of the insurance clients you spoke with throughout the week.

2) Plan a customer appreciation event once or twice a year. An open house event is a great way to open the doors to your insurance agency, invite clients, prospects, other businessowners in your community and treat them to a nice evening of networking and fellowship. Encourage clients to bring guests.

3) Be receptive and note special events in the lives of your clients. These events offer additional opportunities for tip #1. Your clients notice when you care about them. Make an effort to play an active role in their lives and show you care about their family milestones.

Most people don’t like talking about insurance. Insurance discussions typically involve health issues, death, life, monumental purchases (a new home) and so on.

What are you doing to make these interactions and conversations fun and engaging?

We recently came across another entertaining insurance-related video:

While we don’t work with actuaries, we appreciate this light-hearted approach to explaining what an actuary actually does. If you missed yesterday’s video clip from Jason Cass over at JDC Insurance, click here to view it.

Your prospects are looking for that human connection. Find a way to use humor to engage others and make insurance fun. You won’t be sorry.

If you’ve ever shoe-shopped online, chances are good that you’ve seen a Zappos ad, read an article about Zappos or perhaps even purchased shoes from them. Zappos is known for its stellar customer service – which includes super-helpful customer loyalty representatives, free shipping both ways and overnight upgraded delivery.

Zappos focuses on creating a superb customer experience and every single day, Zappos employees live out their mission of “delivering happiness”. The company’s CEO Tony Hsieh has even released a book titled “Delivering Happiness” that covers how his company does just that.

Do you deliver happiness with your customers and prospects? Do you genuinely go out of your way to help others have a better day? What details do you focus on to make ensure your customers enjoy working with you? What would your customers say about you?

As I was catching up on insurance industry news today, I ended up connecting with a person who was very disgruntled about a recent interaction with his/her insurance agent. Even used the words dismissive and condescending to describe the attitude of this particular insurance agent. Within 30 minutes of this comment, I reached out to let him/her know there are other options and indicated how we could help.

Are you aware of how you’re communicating with customers? Do you have your finger on the pulse of what your customers and/or prospects are saying about you?

This is a fantastic lesson on the power of social media. Today’s consumer has choice. There are other insurance professionals who would LOVE to take care of your client if s/he is not happy with you.

So be mindful of how you interact with them.

If you’re friendly, they’ll tell friends how wonderful you are and hopefully refer many new customers to you.

If you’re unfriendly, they’ll tell their friends how unfriendly you are and probably deter others from doing business with you.

Either way, chances are good they’re going to tell someone. So, what is today’s lesson? When interacting with clients and prospects, be genuinely kind and caring. You never know who is listening.

According to a recent Forrester study, consumers EXPECT poor customer service. Of the 4,200 consumers surveyed, 70% of them expect a poor customer service experience when seeking help with health insurance policies, specifically.

Making a phone call regarding an insurance policy may not always be fun or exciting for the consumer or the insurance professional, but the overall customer service experience should be superb.

Follow these tips to ensure your next customer service interaction exceeds your prospect or customer’s expectations:

1) Customer is king. Serve your customers needs. Without customers, you don’t have an insurance business. To truly understand your customers needs, you must…

2) Listen well. What is your customer/prospect saying? What is her/her back story? Don’t just listen to what is being said, but also take note of how it’s being said. Always give your customers your undivided attention. Put down that cell phone, close the computer and focus on the customer.

3) Under-promise and over-deliver. Just do it. At all costs, avoid over-promising and under-delivering.

4) Always ask for feedback. Be genuinely concerned about your customer service experience and always provide an outlet for feedback. Follow up with customers regularly to ensure they’re happy and thrilled with their service.

5) Start on the inside. It all starts with your employees. How do you treat them? When employees are happy, they will treat customers well.

We believe in giving exceptional customer service. When you call us, we have real, live people here to take your call. (Monday-Friday, 8-5 CST, that is.) Give us a call today to learn more about how we can help you grow your insurance business.