The ideal journey for your insurance agency sees your brand growing steadily over months and years. Even if you start small, you want to build a loyal client base and a strong reputation for excellent products and service.
This growth, however, won’t happen without a few growing pains. As your agency grows and expands, it becomes more complex to manage. Scaling your insurance agency from a handful of staff to a an instantly recognizable brand comes with its own challenges.
Here are a few tips to help you work through your agency’s growing pains while ensuring customer service does not suffer.
Recognizing Signs of Growth
First of all, encountering growing pains is a good sign. It means your agency is achieving success. But it also means that your agency has outgrown its current way of doing things. You may notice some of the following signs at this point:
- Your team is constantly overwhelmed and struggling to keep up with data capturing, insurance renewals, and staying in touch with customers.
- It is becoming difficult to balance work and resources, which may lead to unnecessary errors.
- You are onboarding more clients than your team can handle.
- Your management system struggles to handle the sudden influx of client information and data.
- There is an unexpected breakdown in internal communication, which can lead to customer frustration.
If one or more of these things are happening in your agency, it is time to take a step back and adjust your current strategy.
Adjusting Your Strategy
Scaling your insurance agency requires a completely new approach. This is where adjusting your strategy will have the most impact.
For example, you must implement consistent steps and workflows for important tasks like client onboarding, policy renewals, and claims processing. Doing this will help save your team time and cut down on mistakes.
Your team will also grow because you need more agents to handle client growth. Empower specific team members to take ownership of certain areas in your agency. This will give you more time to plan and build client relationships.
Automation is more important than ever in the insurance industry. Use technology to automate data entry and appointment bookings. This will give your team more time to focus on more complex tasks.
Moreover, JenesisSoftware is one of the most powerful tools you can invest in to manage your agency’s growth. The JenesisNow insurance agency management system allows you to automate various tasks to streamline your team’s workflow.
Jenesis provides a central information hub for client and policy data. You will no longer need to rely on multiple spreadsheets and broken silos. Your team will enjoy functionalities like automatic quote generation, policy renewal reminders, and automated commission calculations.
The JenesisNow system also offers detailed analytics to help you identify growth trends and track team performance. Ultimately, Jenesis will encourage team communication and collaboration, which is the foundation of a successful agency.
Infrastructure and Technology Upgrades
Investing in technology is non-negotiable if you want to sustain your agency’s growth. Jenesis can help you accommodate a growing IT infrastructure, which includes an expanding team and customer data volumes. Jenesis is a cloud-based solution, making flexibility and scalability much easier.
Furthermore, as your agency grows, so should your cybersecurity measures. Protect your customer data and your IT infrastructure with data encryption and firewalls. Your agents should also receive cybersecurity training.
Insurance agency technology also extends to self-service options for customers. Implement online portals allowing clients to access their information, make payments, and submit claims. As your client base grows, self-service portals will reduce the administrative burden on your team.
Maintaining Quality Service
As your insurance agency transitions from a small company to a mid-size corporation, it is crucial to maintain excellent customer service. Here are some steps you can take to ensure there is no service decline while you scale your agency:
- Provide your team with ongoing training on new systems and technologies you implement. Also, round off this training by explaining and enforcing best practices.
- Make sure your clients stay in the loop throughout all the changes in your agency. Keep them updated about new technologies and upcoming client portals. If you receive inquiries, answer each one as quickly as possible. If your clients feel left out, you risk losing them altogether. Always be transparent about what is happening in your agency and how it will benefit customers in the long run.
- Always keep customer relationships front of mind. It does not matter how many new strategies you implement, customer service should be your goal.
Partner With Jenesis To Grow Your Agency
Growing and scaling your insurance agency is an exciting prospect, isn’t it? If you use the right technology and tools, you will get through the initial growing pains and cement your place as a trusted provider. Jenesis Software can be your partner throughout this journey, helping you streamline operations and maintain the customer service your clients deserve. Interested in learning more? Request a demo, today!