According to a 2010 Harvard Business Review survey of 75,000 people, building loyalty among your client base has less to do with delighting them and much more to do with informing them. The HBR research found that “exceeding [clients’] expectations during service interactions makes customers only marginally more loyal than simply meeting their needs.”
In fact, research indicates that increasing customer interaction is far more likely to lead to unfortunate loyalty losses than exemplary, client-cinching service.
Perhaps the simplest way to provide just the right amount of service to your client base is to let them lead. Rather than attempting to woo prospects with free keychains or cute kitten videos, make it easier for them to understand your products and to take action on their decisions. In short, use your clients’ most common questions, complaints, and problems to develop loyalty-winning content.
Using platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, your independent insurance agency can create short videos that provide guidance on a variety of risk-management issues that might confuse your prospects. These might include what to do in the event of a car accident, first steps to take after a house fire, or even how to file a claim.
Using programs like InDesign, you can create interactive ebooks that take clients and prospects step-by-step through complicated issues like risk-assessment. Provide a little insight, and then give the reader space to jot down notes directly into the book. These types of digital workbooks make popular lead magnets to share on your site and on social media platforms.
Answer common questions quickly in shareable, visual social posts like this one we created for Life Insurance Awareness Month.
People are 30 times more likely to read an infographic than to read plain text, making the case for infographics undeniable. Complicated questions can often be answered much more simply with visuals than with words, so take those hard-to-explain answers and create an engaging infographic to do the heavy lifting like this infographic that explains “impaired risk.” You can see the entire infographic here.
Your clients are your best content strategists because they know exactly what they want and when (and where) they want it. Pay attention to your clients’ questions and preferences and use that understanding to forge a stronger marketing strategy with a much further reach.
