Your insurance company wants to be known as one that cares. This is especially important at a time when social media news travels quickly. Posts and complaints about poor customer service can spread easily over social media, potentially negatively impacting your insurance marketing efforts. How is social media customer care different from traditional customer service?
Insurance Clients Deserve Excellent Customer Care
According to Sprinklr, when it comes to customer care, “some executives may still see insurance as a low-engagement, disintermediated category.” However, there’s no reason why you should frustrate your customers with poor customer service. Just like clients in any business, your insurance clients deserve responsive, well-managed customer care.
Know Where Your Customers Are
As you seek to improve your social media customer service, make sure that you’re on the right platforms. Look for mentions of your business online, and note where most of your customers are. Be on those platforms no matter where they are. Why? They are the places where your customers are already talking about your insurance company.
Answer Your Customers’ Questions
When you’re engaging with customers on social media, you’ll notice that many of them ask questions about your business practices. Why is the insurance cost going up? How do they fill out this specific form? Instead of just referring them to talk to someone in person or on the phone, make an effort to fulfill their needs within the social media platform. If that form is simple to fill out, give them instructions and then ask them to call, text, or email as follow up if they need to do so. This not only gives your customer the immediate response they need, but it also shows others who are watching the interaction that you are able to be very responsive to customer needs.
Be Quick
Social media isn’t like sending a letter to your insurance company. The expectation from your customers is that you’ll answer their questions quickly, ideally within an hour or so. According to ZenDesk, “69 percent of customers believe fast resolution of the problem is vital to good service, making social consumer support invaluable. ” You might not have the option of doing this if they ask a question at 2 am, so be transparent about your business hours. However, when your business is open, make sure that you look at your social media messages and posts often throughout the day, so that you can easily respond to any questions.
Stay in Character
Your insurance company has a brand persona that you’ve honed over the years. As you engage with customers on social media, stay consistent. Make sure that you respond in the way that you would have responded if you were standing there with a customer, talking in person. Customers are looking for a seamless experience that makes them feel the same way about your customer care no matter whether they are calling, emailing, or on social media.
At American Agents Alliance, we want to help your insurance agency thrive. Our membership benefits help you become a stronger company that has the tools for exceptional customer care and insurance marketing. Contact us today to learn more about how our company can help yours succeed.
