How to Treat Your Customers Like VIPS
Consumers demand quality customer service, but what if you could provide a level of service going above and beyond what they expect? This white-glove service will keep your customers coming back and make them fans who are helping to create a consistent referral stream!
To create these customer experiences, you need to make sure they feel like the most important people in the world. Let them know you’re willing to bend over backward to make their day better. The small details matter most.
Think about the last time you had an excellent customer service experience. You probably shared your experience with your friends and family, and also stayed with the business or did more business with the organization.
Here are a few tips from some of our most successful agents in how they go above and beyond for their customers to ensure their client retention, referrals, and sales numbers continue to grow!
1. Do what you say you will do, no matter what.
Doing what you say you’ll do becomes easy when you’re dedicated to building a customer service model around “wow” moments. When your goal is to impress your customers, you will always look for ways to go the extra mile. The key is to get your entire agency on board to ensure that they all follow-up and meet their deadlines. You don’t want anything to fall through the cracks!
“Giving customers more than they expect can come in many forms,” says one agent. “We’ve done a small gift, more help, more support. Everyone loves getting free stuff!” The agent also discusses how they invested in free branded pens, calendars, notepads, and pass them out to clients to help them feel appreciated.
2. Admit mistakes and fix problems immediately.
Mistakes happen. However, it’s imperative that if you don’t have a plan in place to handle them the problems will hurt your customer satisfaction, retention, and agency’s success! Nightmare customer service is rampant in the marketplace. We’ve all experienced it. In fact, we’ve encountered so much poor service, we tend to take it for granted at times.
An agent in Nevada says, “Some of the biggest customer service mistakes are over-promising and under-delivering, hiring the wrong people, and not training your team!”
“Creating a customer service policy based on asking your clients what they really want has been pivotal in increasing our retention rates and customer satisfaction,” adds another agent from Wisconsin.
3. Let go of customers that aren’t a “good fit.”
Sometimes we all get that one customer who is a nightmare! When this happens, you need to know when it’s time to let them walk away.
“You can fire a client! It’s a difficult decision for your business, but sometime’s it’s necessary,” one agent said.
“Most agents find it difficult to let bad customers go. They’re afraid of the loss of income or feel like a failure. Don’t let your agency be held hostage by a bad customer,” explains an agent from New York.
4. The most important tip from our insurance agents has been to always follow up and follow through.
Many agents spend time, money, and effort chasing down new customers only to lose them after the first or second interaction because they don’t follow up or follow through after the initial enrollment or sale. If your customers don’t feel appreciated, they’re likely to go to your competitors instead of making you their choice for repeat business.
“Always give your customers more than they expect, especially after you make your first sale. Show your appreciation for their business, follow up with them. It makes them feel special, and I think that’s the ultimate goal,” said an agent within 45-years of industry experience. “So make follow-up and follow-through a consistent mission for yourself and everyone in your agency.”
