Don’t Tell Me What You Can’t Do.

by on 06/28/2011 | 0

If you’re in sales, or any kind of business that has ANYTHING to do with customer service (is there a job that doesn’t?) telling your customers/clients/prospects what you “can’t do” is the dumbest thing you can do (see? I used the word “can”?).

Heres just ANOTHER reason why my insurance company is losing my business in 15 days.

Like I wrote in my last post, I gave my current insurance agent the simple task of reviewing my policy to make sure I was getting the best rates possible with the coverage I needed.

Am I missing any discounts? Is my coverage right? What if we change the deductible? Is there anything I’m paying for that I don’t need?

I was impressed with the follow up. He called me back in less than 2 hours. I thought “well, maybe I’ll stick with Nationwide afterall…”

This is basically how the conversation went:

“Brian, hi it’s Jim from Nationwide”

“Jim, good afternoon. I’m hoping you have some good news for me”

“Well, Brian. I reviewed your policy, and it looks like you’re getting all the discounts you are eligible for,” (including an airbag discount… which seems odd to me, but okay) “so I can’t really do anything else for you, okay?

“Um, okay, thanks Jim”

“Yup. Have a good one”

Thats when he lost my business. What could Jim have done differently to retain me as a customer? He could have told me, “Brian, here’s what I CAN DO…” Jim could have told me what makes Nationwide stand out. Or why being with Nationwide is a better VALUE. No benefits. No features. No attempt to retain me as a customer. If he doesn’t want my business, why should I continue to give it to him?

Every customer matters. Every client is important. When there is a problem with price, show the customer the VALUE.

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An Important Lesson In Customer Service

by on 06/27/2011 | 0

My good friend Joe Woelfle recently opened his own State Farm agency.  I’ve known Joe for maybe 3 years – we worked together at Bar Louie and I bought my fair share of beer from Blatz Liquor (R.I.P.). Joe is my friend. My current insurance agent doesn’t even know who I am.

I was in a car accident 3 years ago with my (at the time) brand new Jetta. I had JUST switched insurance agents, as my previous agent couldnt cover me in MKE.  My agent, Dorman (I’m pretty sure that’s his name) goofed something up with my automatic withdrawal, so I ended up missing 2 payments and my policy was cancelled.  Because my policy was cancelled, I was “un-insured”. This turned into a whole mess where Nationwide was going to refuse to pay for the accident. I was lucky that my dad was able to sort out the issue, and eventually Nationwide covered the accident.

After the accident, I figured I “owed it” to Nationwide to stick with them. I never heard a peep from Dorman or James Kelly, the owner of the agency. In the almost 3 years since, I havent heard anything from either of them. Not a “Thank You” or even a generic Christmas card. They’ve had my business for THREE YEARS and I havent heard a thing.

Joe (remember, my buddy with the State Farm agency?) told me that the accident would officially drop off my record on July 15 of this year, and I should talk to him then about switching my auto and renters insurance.

“Awesome” my buddy can be my insurance agent? Sounds good to me.

So I called Nationwide to let them know we would probably be breaking up. “Dorman. It’s Brian Maguire. I’m thinking of switching to State Farm. My friend has his own agency, he says he can save me some money. Want to look over my policy and make sure everything looks okay?”

“Sure. Whats your name again?”

“Brian P. Maguire”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll look over your policy and Email you in 24 hours”

I havent heard anything from him in 10 days. So I called again and asked to talk to Jim.  I told Jim the same story, and asked him to review my policy. He said he would E-mail me back tomorrow. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

I spend nearly $150 a month between my auto and renters insurance. Thats a lot of money for me. A LOT.

If the agent can’t take the time to thank me for my business, and review my policy. I’ll go elsewhere. There’s plenty of options out there.  So heres the lesson to pull from this: Take the time to say “thank you” to you clients/customers. It will make them feel important. It will make them feel like you are taking care of them and that you are looking out for their best interest. If you don’t, you might lose a customer.

(end rant)

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