With the high pressure of running a profitable agency, seeing the insurance buying experience from your customer’s point of view can be difficult. But agents who provide an outstanding buying experience differentiate themselves in the marketplace to win both repeat and new business. Utilizing a coverage checklist with your clients can help you drive sales, save time and grow your business.
If you’ve never used a coverage checklist before, you might now know how this easy-to-create tool can help you grow and strengthen your business. Here are 5 ways coverage checklists set you apart from the competition:
Insurance Agent Coverage Checklist for a Buisness Policy
1. Save Time in Coverage Conversations
By using insurance checklists, agents save time for themselves and their customers by tailoring the conversation to the customer’s exact coverage needs based on information already compiled in the coverage checklist.
2. Help Customers Identify Unwanted Exposures
If a general contractor subcontracts a cabinet installer, and that subcontractor does not carry their own insurance, any problems on that jobsite could hit the general contractor’s insurance policy (a case known as “uninsured subs”). No business wants that exposure. By identifying these ahead of time, you can help your customer get the protection they need (using risk transfer) before it’s an issue.
3. Improve Policy Coverage Option Education
Business customers don’t usually speak insurance. Coverage checklists give agents an opportunity to educate customers about coverage choices that might otherwise seem confusing in written policy form. Through a thorough Needs Assessment, the best coverage options will emerge.
4. Create Cross-Sell Opportunities
Using a checklist to discuss coverages reminds agents to cross-sell other lines of insurance that fit customer needs, while improving the agency’s bottom line. The checklist guides conversation regarding insurance products the insured either does not have or has placed with another agent.
5. Generate Business Through Word-of-Mouth
Customers educated about their best coverage options will tell their network about their great experience, creating the kind of agent advertising money can’t buy. They may even be able to provide useful lead-generation information to your agency, so you can reach out and earn that business.
What's Included in a Good Insurance Coverage Checklist?
Insurance policy checklists save time, help customers make informed decisions about their insurance coverage and drive agency sales. But how do you know if your coverage checklist is up to the task? Consider these four factors when creating or updating your insurance checklist:
Recent Business Changes
Companies grow, shrink, and reorganize, but if your coverage checklist doesn’t make room for all of these changes, your clients could be under-covered. Changes in staffing affect payroll, which also affect workers’ compensation coverage and general liability coverage. If the company payroll and/or sales have increased over the last term, agents are in a position to offer a more accurate price at the time of policy binding, which minimizes the chance of a surprise at audit.
Valuations for Different Levels of Insurance
Sharing the value of different type of insurance prompts agents to explain the policy options available so that the most appropriate coverage can be chosen. It allows customers to compare, for example, the cost and benefits of having replacement cost coverage versus actual cash value coverage.
Explanations of Risk Management Strategies
Insureds whose risks are well-managed can avoid or minimize claims, saving time and money for insureds and insurance carriers. By outlining risk management ideas, you show knowledge as an adviser, increasing the insured’s likelihood of binding that account with you.
Carrier Supplemental Information Requirements
Many carriers require loss runs or other pertinent information to quote an account accurately. By prompting the customer to provide this information in advance, carriers will often be able to provide a quicker turnaround for a competitive quote.
Small Business Insurance Solutions from AmTrust Financial
AmTrust is a leading insurance carrier for small to mid-sized businesses across the country. We work closely with our agents and policyholders to design the specific small business packages they need to comply and succeed. Learn more by contacting us today.
This material is for informational purposes only and is not legal or business advice. Neither AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates represents or warrants that the information contained herein is appropriate or suitable for any specific business or legal purpose. Readers seeking resolution of specific questions should consult their business and/or legal advisors. Coverages vary by location. Contact your local RSM for more information.