Gaining a client's trust has historically been achieved by meeting in person but today’s time constraints on families and businesses alike make it nearly impossible to have on-going face-to-face time with a client.
Thomas Bouttier, RVP of PGi Canada explains how you can take a traditional approach and bring it into the 21
st century.
Getting an appointment in a client's already full schedule can be hard and while clients understand the critical need to keep their policies in force and get the best protection for their families, these important meetings are often postponed and delayed.
And for many, the phone will not suffice. Discussing medical histories or important changes to insurance policies on a phone call can be both complicated and intimidating.
With obvious time and trust concerns, an easy solution to these barriers is online meetings. As technology has evolved, time and distance barriers have dissolved, allowing for access to experts worldwide. The reality of business today demands the use of virtual video communication for at least some meetings and is quickly becoming a de-facto standard.
A picture is STILL worth a thousand words
Just like in a traditional in-person meeting, when communicating face-to-face virtually through video, the speaker can draw on visual cues from the audience to gain quick, immediate feedback and make rapid adjustments as necessary. Visual cues and social presence in face-to-face dialogue also enable participants to more easily learn about one another’s background, experience, and areas of expertise. These cues build trust within groups that interact face-to-face. (continued.)
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An online meeting allows you to present any insurance policies, contract terms, or important data to the client live over the Web and removes the impersonal experience of a phone call. Online meetings allow the broker and client to confirm contract information just as if they are sitting together in person - except they don't have to travel; they don't have to be in the same city; and they can meet anytime, night or day.
Five reasons for meeting online with clients:
- Professional: Clients feel more at ease with the broker and the insurance company's offerings when they view a professional presentation. Screen sharing enables a broker to present any policy resource, document, or visual aid in face-to-face meetings over the Web. Legitimate tools are favoured over “free-ware” for providing a professional, high-quality image and secure environment.
- Privacy: The online experience is more convenient for the client since it’s a "non-invasive” appointment, as the client does not need to clear the office or make time to receive the broker in their home or office.
- Personal: Sharing documents and seeing each other in video, as long as the video solution is HD quality, restores a level of intimacy similar to an in-person presentation which a phone call could never achieve. Clients show more confidence and comfort in discussing private information when they see everything on the shared screen, as opposed to just hearing a voice over the phone.
- Security: Understandably people are worried that providing sensitive personal health details or financial information to a stranger over the phone may land in the wrong hands. Professional, cloud-based meeting tools provide the most secure environments and are used widely in many industries requiring absolute security.
- Time: Traveling to meetings results in a lot of unproductive time and extra costs. By enabling clients to see their policies right before their eyes, you save them great amounts of valuable time and reduce your costs.
Today’s technology provides a more cost-effective, time-sensitive and secure way to discuss insurance policies and meet with your client. With a growing number of insurance brokers/advisers incorporating online collaboration tools into their client interactions, insurance companies can expect the new technology to deepen business relationships and build client trust further.
For more information about tools that help drive insurance industry collaboration, contact Thomas Bouttier, RVP of PGi Canada at [email protected] or visit pgi.ca.
