When your clients truly understand what they are signing, this reduces confusion and conflict later. Yet it can be difficult to communicate complex insurance concepts to your clients. How do you make client communication simpler?
Get To Know Your Audience
Communication is very much about your audience. What do you know about yours? You probably have multiple audiences, from the parents of teens who are new to driving to seniors who have been with your insurance company for many years. Each individual has a different background and current ability to understand your insurance language. As you strive to communicate with these audiences, be aware of:
- Each individual’s questions and understanding. If possible, keep a note file open on each client so you can note questions that the client has expressed.
- The general interests and questions of that group as a whole. Remember that your groups might not divide down age-related lines either. You may have a group of clients that are very well-versed in insurance issues and have specific questions about your products, and you may have another group that is quite new to these issues that need to you to answer relatively simple questions.
According to Copyblogger, “the problem is not your amount of knowledge; it’s how you distribute it.” You know a lot about your topic, but you need to ensure that you can communicate this to those who know much less.
Define Your Objectives
What do you need to communicate to your clients? It’s easy to write a few paragraphs about your insurance product, but does that document actually answer your clients’ questions, and is it easy enough to read?
Do the same with communication during client meetings. Confirm what your clients want to discuss, talk about their specific needs, and give them the opportunity to add feedback about what they want to discuss. By giving your clients some control over the conversation, you ensure that you answer their specific questions.
Work With Your Audience
As you create materials and answer questions at your insurance agency, take on the role of insurance educator. This will improve your connections with your clients, and they will see you as a resource person that they can trust. For instance, you could create:
- A FAQ page with answers to questions of varying difficulty, with links to additional information for those who are curious. Your FAQ should be an evolving document. Take notes about the questions that clients have regularly and add that information as well.
- Information sheets at your agency or downloadable from your website, in clear, simple language. As you develop these documents, check with your clients to see what is missing or what is difficult to understand. Request their feedback on your forms, so that you can ensure that the forms are very clear to your clients.
As you work with your clients, make sure that you build in time for questions. Ask what they need to know, and as you explain, check in regularly to see whether they have any questions about your products. You might discover that you need to simplify your language a lot and start at the very beginning for some of your clients, but this will reassure them and give them a much better understanding of your insurance products.
Get E&O Insurance
However diligent you are about client communication, it’s possible that you make an error or omit some information that is key to your clients’ understanding of your insurance products. In this case, you need E&O insurance. If your client does experience challenges because of your omission, you want to be covered so that you can see the situation through and improve communications in the future.
At American Agents Alliance, we’re here to make your work life easier. From affordable E&O insurance to our Alliance Convention, we help you find the resources and networks that you need. Contact us today and experience our membership benefits.
