How to Maximize a CRM Software For Insurance Agencies

Saphyte Team

4 min read

Updated: February 15th, 2021

A CRM software for insurance agencies is extremely useful in making sales and marketing processes smoother and more efficient. The tool helps in pulling data and information from customers and letting company representatives perform activities and workflows that can establish profitable relationships with these customers. 

Although using a CRM software is not necessary to conduct businesses, the competitiveness of the market gives CRM users the edge. It improves the way businesses engage with leads and customers. It makes the service more personalized and responsive to the needs of the customers, thereby improving customer satisfaction and customer retention at the end of the day.

A CRM software is a contact management system that improves business processes. But how do you ensure that you maximize your CRM software as an insurance agency?

Let’s first explain how an insurance company generally works:

How an Insurance Company Works

Insurance is a necessity that we all pay for so we can rest assured that we don’t end up in debt in case something tragic happens like if our house burns down, if we crash our car, or somebody dies.

Insurance provides the insured a peace of mind. It helps them prepare for the future, so that when something bad happens, the insurance company is going to pay for what is needed to be fixed. 

For example, if you pay $200 a month for home insurance and after only six months your home burns down, the insurance company will buy you a new house likely in the matter of hundreds of thousands of dollars but you would have only given them 1200. 

Why would they do that? That’s the power of insurance. The basic concept of insurance is that a company, the insurer, offers a guarantee for a certain risk that may or may not occur. Then another party, the insured, pays the insurer in exchange for protection against that risk. 

When a bunch of people do the same thing for the same risk, eventually the insurer is getting a lot of income but the probability of that risk happening is spread out among a bunch of people and stays about the same. 

Insurance companies make money by figuring out how much money they need to bring in to turn a profit on a given risk with a given probability. That calculation then influences how much each of the insured pays each month. In general, it’s simple math but in actuality, insurance companies have highly complex models for all of this.

Why an Insurance Company Needs a CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is often used as a term for CRM software. CRM software is designed to help businesses manage the typical business processes. This may include customer data, customer interaction, accessing of business information, automation of sales, tracking of leads, contracts, marketing, customer support, clients and contacts, support vendor-partner relationships, employees, knowledge and training, and assets or resources.

There are six basic types of different CRM software. 

1. First is what’s considered operational. Focus is on using applications which help incorporate different sets of customer information into one useful file so basically bringing all these different bits and pieces into one place so it’s easier to look at.
2. Salesforce automation. They automate sales activities like reports, scheduling calls, and mailings by keeping a record of every stage of the sales cycle. It is like a very advanced calendar that can do things for you.
3. Analytical. It uses data mining to look at data from available databases to come up with trends and patterns. It also helps you look at all the different things you have, helps you identify trends so that you can focus that way.
4. Collaborative. The focus here is on integration of external contacts, which allows for a proactive customer to better their experience with the company. The tools here can include a support center and technology like instant messaging.
5. Campaign management. One of the popular types of CRM. It’s a combination of the analytical and operational systems as it can store, analyze, and track various campaigns. It can also target specific subsets of customers by sending emails, phone calls, or directed marketing emails with special offers.
6. Sales intelligence. This is similar to the analytical system but it focuses all that analytical power on employee sales trends and sales performance.

So how does all these relate to the insurance industry? Insurance has two basic parts: sales and service. The first part, sales: a company needs insurance coverage, so they find an agent or broker which can be either a captive or independent agent. 

Captive, meaning that they only sell for one insurance company. Independent, meaning that they sell products for several different insurance companies. So an agent will submit an application to one or more companies for quotes and then that company’s underwriting determines what coverage is needed and their ratings department will determine what price to charge. 

The company then gets the coverage and if they need anything on the policy it would switch over to the service side of things. So if a loss would occur, “claim services” gets involved. If they need basic things for the policy like auto ID cards, workers comp posting notices, or medical provider panels, the service support unit works on it. 

So if you are an insurance agency or company that uses a CRM, how can you maximize your CRM so that you will get the profit you deserve to justify for its costs?

How to maximize your CRM

Here are a few ways to make the most of your CRM:

• Segment your campaigns for personalization

No one loves those emails where it feels like your name has been copy and pasted in. It’s clearly just sent to a couple hundred or maybe even a thousand people. So by segmenting your lists to maybe 50 to 100 people, you’re ensuring that each candidate feels like they’re unique.

There’s a level of personalization here especially when these people are categorized together for a commonality. And this deeper level of personalization can be your key to getting the customers’ nod and a step closer to him making a purchase.

• Create master email templates for different purposes

Create master email templates for introductions and another for events. By creating different templates for different purposes you set yourself up for success. The verbiage is predefined, ensuring everyone sending emails (like your sales representatives) is staying on brand and being consistent.

• Remind and continuously engage buyers throughout their journeys

We’ve gotten distracted before, forgotten something in our shopping cart then we get an email reminding us “Hey! Finish checking out!” There’s a reason we get those emails and they work. Maybe they want us to look over one more time or get distracted with a phone call. 

Set up an auto trigger and send an email reminder to make sure they cross the finish line and make their purchase from your company.

• Provide rich content and a lot of it 

Content is king as they say. You think you had enough but nice try, there can never be enough fresh videos, testimonials, or day-in-the-life pieces that will help your leads and customers connect with your business. 

So make sure that you provide a constant stream of information that will help your potential customers and your existing ones engaged. This also increases the chance for a repeat purchase.

• Add more notes

Your chosen CRM should allow you to add notes within the system. These notes may include post-interview notes or post phone call notes. not only is this going to help you in the long run but it will also help your team engage your customers as one. 

Again, this goes back to the needed personalization which the CRM provides. This will also help eliminate redundancy and repetitiveness which may annoy customers and decrease customer satisfaction as a result.

Saphyte: A CRM Built for Insurance Companies

For your CRM needs, use Saphyte.

Saphyte is a cloud-based CRM that has the CRM tools designed for insurance companies. It is developed to ensure a smooth sales process for its users and to improve customer experiences. Saphyte has also been proven to increase sales and it can be useful for an insurance broker that has to manage multiple clients at the same time. 

This CRM solution helps you and your sales team manage your marketing campaigns by using your customers’ contact information — so you can run all your needed business activities in one centralized platform.

If you are a small business, there is no need to worry. Saphyte is designed for everyone and more importantly, it is designed for growth. So partner with Saphyte now and see how the CRM solution can help your business grow.

Give our support team a call and we’ll give you a free demo.