A recent survey found that some 84% of customers shop around for insurance at the point of renewal. And of this 84%, only 53% end up staying with their existing providers.

In this post we’ll explore some customer retention strategies for insurers and brokers. These are ways you can continue to offer value to your customers while responding to market trends, and while staying compliant with evolving regulations.

How Much is Customer Acquisition in Insurance?

Customer acquisition costs are particularly high in the insurers industry. For insurers, it can cost up to 9x more to attract a new policyholder than it costs to retain one. Meanwhile, research shows that increasing customer retention by just 5% can grow an insurance company’s profits by up to 95%.

Review Your Onboarding Process

Treat your onboarding process as an opportunity to build trust with your customers. As early as you can, demonstrate the value of your cover and the quality of your customer service. You can then subtly convince your policyholders that it’s worth sticking with you for the long-term.

Avoid making your new customers feel overwhelmed. Focus on providing clear and straightforward guidance on how to use your products and services. If possible, give each of your customers a named point of contact, and let them know that they’ll always be on hand to give them whatever support they need.

Stay in Touch To Make Customers Feel Valued

Most customers won’t interact with their insurers until it’s time to make a claim – or until it’s time to renew. But ongoing communication with your customers can demonstrate that you don’t take them for granted, and that you’re committed to delivering value.

According to one report, the main reason why customers switch products or services is because they feel unappreciated. There are multiple touchpoints when you can prove that you do not take your customers for granted: when requesting quotes, when interacting with your website or app, when completing a purchase and, crucially, when the time comes for renewal.

Create targeted and proactive communications for every possible touchpoint with an emphasis on making your customers feel recognised and valued. You can also keep tabs on policyholders who have been inactive for a while, to send them communications designed to re-engage them. Then, at the point of renewal, they may be more likely to keep using your services.

Be Proactive With Your Feedback

Don’t depend on your customers to tell you when something’s not right. According to one study, only around 4% of customers actively share their complaints with businesses. Most unhappy customers just leave.

So take the time to ask your customers how they feel about their products and services. Use embedded forms and surveys to provide the opportunity for customers to give feedback at as many key touchpoints as you can. Also send survey requests via email following certain customer milestones – such as after signing up, after renewing, after making a claim, and so on.

Make a point of reviewing and acting on whatever feedback you receive. Look for insights into how you can enhance the overall customer experience, and you can make the sort of improvements that could result in a boost to customer retention.

Offer Tailored Policies

Don’t offer all of your customers the same off-the-shelf insurance product. Instead, take the time to understand their needs so you can tailor a bespoke quality that meets their exact requirements.

Tailored policies can help customers save money, as they can avoid paying for cover they may never need. Yet a bespoke approach can also improve customer retention, as you can offer the sort of personalised policies that other insurers and brokers may struggle to match.

Strengthen Your Offering

Offer a wider range of insurance products, and your customers will have less cause to shop around for alternative providers. They can instead get everything they need from you.

With a wider range of products, you can cross-sell, to offer customers additional cover for their existing policies, and perhaps even discounts on bundled insurance policies.

If you don’t currently offer certain forms of cover – such as travel insurance – we’re here to help. Whether you’re setting up your first travel insurance scheme, or you want to enhance an existing scheme, we can help you boost customer retention through strengthening your offering.

At Capacity Insights, all of our insurance products deliver exceptional, tailored coverage at a truly competitive price. As well as a range of health and dental insurance policies, we specialise in both business and leisure travel insurance. So no matter what your customers need, we can help you provide it.

Find out more about our flexible, simple, and affordable travel insurance schemes.