Using an insurance customer relationship management (CRM) software as an insurance agent or insurance broker can offer several benefits. The software can provide better data management, increase efficiency, help save money, and enhance customer loyalty. However, some insurance agents probably don’t know what to look for in an insurance CRM software, and they end up with a platform that’s difficult to use and doesn’t meet their needs. With that, it’s important that they know the right questions to ask for insurance CRM.

So what should an insurance agent look for in an insurance CRM? As an insurance agent, you should look for features that cater to industry-specific needs. Features that provide support in closing policy deals, maximize opportunities for insurance sales, and generate more referrals are just some of what you should look for in an insurance CRM. Additionally, consider basic factors such as affordability, accessibility, and reviews to guarantee an excellent CRM software that fits your needs. 

Why Should an Insurance Agent Use CRM Software?

Before looking at what factors to consider before choosing an insurance CRM software, let’s first discuss why an insurance agent should use the said platform. Though some insurance agents may think that an insurance agency management system doesn’t provide an edge over traditional work tools, taking a closer look at its benefits can provide knowledge on how the platform provides the tools needed for the insurance industry. Some benefits of CRM software for insurance agents include the following: 

Provides Better Data Management

With an all-in-one platform that stores all relevant information, CRM software can provide better data management for insurance agents. Those who use the platform while working can quickly look up important data that they need. This benefit is handy when an agent needs to attend meetings with clients in different locations since they don’t have to carry around tons of paperwork. The CRM platform already offers everything they need, allowing easy access from anywhere. 

Offers Better Marketing Collaterals

One of the best ways to help increase sales and revenue is to create marketing campaigns and collaterals that spark a customer’s interest. With CRM platforms already offering access to important customer data, an insurance agent or insurance broker can use this information to their advantage so that they can create more effective marketing campaigns.

Compared to traditional marketing tools, CRM software already analyzes the customer data for you. This is a task that’s difficult to do manually since agents can spend hours looking at data yet still not make sense of them. But with a good CRM system, you know what stimulates a customer’s interest to help an insurance product become more well known. 

Improves Lead Generation

An insurance CRM software improves lead generation. The software can do this by collecting data about an existing customer whether offline or on social media. Information like age, location, and more can help further segment your target market. This information can also change over time, but CRM software that has data cleansing can remove unnecessary customer data from the database. 

Additionally, insurance agents have to nurture these leads until they convert to insurance sales. Using the right techniques is essential so you don’t lose these leads along the way. With CRM, agents can nurture leads across different platforms and easily manage all of them using a single tool. 

Enhances Customer Loyalty

Letting customers have a good customer experience is one of CRM’s main goals. Since the platform focuses on customer relationship management, it can also help enhance customer loyalty. This can be done through features that allow agents to have more personalized interactions with their clients. For instance, CRM platforms have marketing automation features where agents can input a client’s first name in an email’s salutation for more personalized communication. When an agent offers great customer service, a client can also refer an agent to other people they know, which is helpful for generating more sales.

Increases Efficiency

Increased efficiency is another benefit of insurance CRM, especially for agents who are part of a larger insurance agency. Aside from storing important customer information, the CRM solution also provides a singular platform where agents and other employees can communicate. They don’t have to switch through different software or platforms just to talk to other people from different departments. 

With more people working efficiently, an insurance agency can guarantee more insurance sales and higher revenue. Efficient working is also necessary when an agency wants to expand or scale its company. 

Helps in Saving Money

For a small price to pay monthly or yearly, an insurance agent or insurance broker can guarantee a better ROI through using insurance CRM. A good example of how insurance CRM software can help insurance agents save money is how it generates analytics for an agent’s use. With easy-to-understand analytics, agents can create more effective strategies, minimizing the money they spend on marketing campaigns that don’t convert to sales. The money saved from this simple benefit can be used on other efforts that can help improve the insurance business.

Specific Needs of an Insurance CRM Software

Insurance agents need industry-specific features so that a CRM can fully cater to their needs. This guarantees that the software is already equipped with the right tools for an insurance agent to work efficiently. Some specific needs of insurance CRM software include:

Supports Agents in Closing Policy Deals

A good insurance CRM software needs to support agents in closing policy deals. It helps them with the entire process, right from the first contact with the client until they sign a policy. With features that can aid them in tracking a client during every step of the sales pipeline, an agent has an easier time closing policy deals. 

After they close these policy deals, important information about the client is also stored in the platform so that the agent can use this to enhance the customer experience. This can lead to the client possibly purchasing more policies so that the agent can generate more revenue in the long run. 

Generates More Referrals

When an agent has just closed a policy, they need to receive more referrals so that they can continue generating more income. Remember that most insurance agents work on a commission-based salary, so they need as many referrals as possible to promote an insurance product and sell policies. 

Insurance CRM needs to have features that help agents generate more referrals. Referrals can come in different forms — from an individual who simply saw an ad for a policy to people who know clients who have already purchased policies. CRM software that offers tools that can help them identify these individuals allows them to create ads based on the provided information and analytics.

Maximizes Opportunities for More Sales

An excellent CRM software that insurance agents can use is one that maximizes opportunities for more insurance sales. A platform can do this by letting agents know about a customer’s behavior or interests through every step of the sales funnel. Features that allow agents to easily determine and provide data about what a customer experiences throughout the entire sales process are a great way to help agents implement better strategies. 

Connects With Customers Regularly

Since insurance policies are generally a more “personalized” product compared to others, a good insurance CRM enables an agent to connect with customers regularly. With regular interaction, an insurer can update their customers about their policies and other products of the insurance agency. Personalized customer interactions can also create a better customer experience for the policyholder. 

It can also help agents remind policyholders when it’s time to pay for their premium. If the due date for the payment is near, then a CRM feature that connects with customers can provide alerts that they have to pay. This decreases the workload for the agent since the CRM is already doing this task for them. 

Targets Specific Demographics

Insurance CRM that offers features to segment an agent’s market is more efficient since it can help them target specific demographics. Not all of an insurance agent’s clients have the same interests, hobbies, and behavior. With an insurance CRM that can segment the market, the insurance agent can upsell policies that are more appropriate for them. 

With easy targeting of a potential customer, agents are able to work more efficiently. Features that help analyze specific demographics also allow an agent to understand their target market better. A good example is looking at a customer’s behavior on social media so they can create ads that enhance customer engagement. Because of this, they don’t waste time and money in trying to create ads that don’t appeal to a certain segment of their target market. 

Allows Third-Party Integrations

Though insurance CRM software should already be an all-in-one platform where an insurance agent or insurance broker can accomplish all their tasks, there are still a few applications that are essential for work purposes. An insurance CRM that allows third-party integrations can make an insurance agent’s job easier. They don’t have to worry about using different platforms just so they can accomplish their tasks. There’s also less confusion in having to operate multiple applications at once just so that they can get the job done. 

Other Factors to Examine When Choosing Insurance CRM

Aside from having industry-specific features, an insurance CRM also needs to cover the basic features that allow for a better workflow. Here are some of the factors to consider or examine when choosing an insurance CRM: 

Ability to Meet Agent Requirements 

The first question to ask when choosing a CRM is if the platform meets your requirements as an agent. Simple questions like, “Does this CRM have the features I need?” or “Will this help me accomplish my work as an insurance agent more efficiently?” can help determine whether a certain CRM platform is right for you. If an insurance CRM doesn’t meet simple requirements as an agent, then it may be best to look at other options instead. 

Affordability

Another factor to consider when choosing an insurance CRM is affordability. Sometimes, insurance CRM can be quite costly yet it doesn’t offer the features you need. When this is the case, it’s better to look for less expensive options with fewer features that you can utilize. This way, you don’t have to spend extra money on an insurance CRM that offers any benefits. There are also different kinds of free CRM available for agents to experiment with at the beginning.

Accessibility

Accessibility should also be an important factor when deciding on what insurance CRM to choose. If you’re an insurance agent or insurance broker who’s always on the go and going to different places to meet with clients, you don’t want to be carrying a lot of things. A cloud-based insurance CRM is more practical since it enables agents to access important information anytime and anywhere.

Simple Function Tools

An insurance CRM that fits your needs should have simple function tools. This means that the software should be simple enough for you to learn about its features easily. When you spend too much time trying to learn how the CRM operates, you might be wasting time that could be spent to accomplish more important things that could help the agency grow.

Ability to Scale

Another factor to examine when choosing an insurance CRM is its ability to scale. When you’re just an independent insurance agent starting out as a small business, it might be okay to choose a subpar CRM without assessing its scalability. Though this may not be a problem at the start, it can be a source of frustration when it can’t handle more data in the future. 

Additionally, an insurance agency management system should also be able to cover different kinds of policies in the insurance sector such as car insurance, commercial insurance, business insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, and more. 

Company Reviews

Lastly, remember to look at the company reviews of your chosen CRM vendor. This can provide an insight into what to expect when using a certain CRM platform. Products that aren’t that great may have poorer reviews compared to CRM software that can do the job efficiently. Always remember to research before committing to an insurance CRM so you don’t waste any money paying for something that can’t help.

Effective Insurance CRM at Commence

Since there are several factors to consider when choosing an insurance CRM, it can be quite frustrating to find a platform that fits all an agent’s needs. Here at Commence CRM, we offer an effective insurance CRM that caters to all the needs of an insurance agent so they can accomplish all their tasks efficiently. 

With features such as policy tracking, commissions tracking, custom reporting, document management, and more, Commence CRM guarantees all the features you need as an insurance agent. What’s best about Commence CRM is that even though it offers all these features, it’s not over-bloated and difficult to use. Contact us today to know more about our products.