How do independent insurance agents use texting?
Many insurance clients now prefer texting over talking on the phone. Insurance agents can use texting to communicate with prospects and clients to quickly exchange information about policies, claims and service. Some agency management systems include built-in texting capabilities.
Why should insurance agents use texting?
- Reach customers quickly and easily via a channel they are highly attuned to. Most people have their phones on them constantly, so texting is an easy way to get their attention. According to Gartner, text messages have a 98% open rate and a 45% response rate.
- Make it easy for customers. An AT&T survey found that 85% of consumers prefer receiving a text over a call or email. Liberty Mutual and Safeco research found that more than half of millennials used texting to get service on their policy.
- Personalize your communications. Texting can feel more casual and intimate than email or a phone call. It can help you build a personal relationship with your clients, helping them feel that you are there for them.
Every agency appointed with Liberty Mutual and/or Safeco Insurance is responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with all state and federal laws/regulations that govern their business, including, but not limited to, telemarketing, texting and commercial emails. If you have questions, please seek advice from your legal counsel.
Texting stats
Whenever we write a new account at Portal, we ask the client their preferred method of contact.
In the last two years, every single person has said they prefer text or email. I once had a client who left to work with an exclusive agent, but then came back because he could just text us about a problem and we would fix it, whereas he felt like he had to chase the other agent down – he had to call him and stay on the phone for 15 minutes to resolve the issue.
As a result, a lot of our agency is centered around texting. We want to be everywhere to make it as easy as possible for customers to find us.