Consistency should be one of the main goals of your insurance agency. Consistency ensures ongoing customer satisfaction because your customers will know what to expect. It also helps build trust and loyalty with your customer base.
To achieve customer satisfaction and make it easy for your customers to trust your agency, you must implement consistency in more than just your product offerings. You must also ensure that your insurance team’s knowledge, skills, and customer approach are aligned.
A well-trained team displaying well-rounded insurance knowledge will give your agency an unshakable foundation to build a solid reputation in the industry. To succeed in this goal, you must create a culture of ongoing learning in your agency.
Identifying Core Competencies and Skills
So, what does this mean for the team you have now? Does it mean starting from scratch and teaching everyone as though they are a novice at insurance selling? No, but it does mean considering your agency’s status in the market and kicking off your training based on that.
For example, you start the training with a thorough overview of every insurance product you offer. Chances are your employees will learn something new or remember something they forgot long ago. Cover everything in your initial product training, including coverage, exclusions, and claims.
Emphasize how important customer service is. Customer service is about so much more than just replying to emails on time or answering the phone. It is about having genuine empathy for a customer’s situation. It is about actively listening to their concerns. Most importantly, it is about clearly communicating with them and explaining things in a way that is easy for them to understand.
Customer service training spills over into sales training. An agent cannot sell someone something if they do not understand what they need. Every one of your agents must take the time to understand their customer’s pain points and be able to present them with the appropriate insurance solution.
Doing this will turn any customer conversation into a consultation instead of a mere transaction. It is also crucial for your team to be up to speed with industry regulations and compliance requirements. This will allow your agency to continue operating ethically, protecting your business and clients.
Jenesis Software offers a certification program for its agency management system, which will help your agents apply their training well. This program also shows off the features and shortcuts of the JenesisNow system, making it easier for your agents to stay more productive throughout the day.
Creating a Training Plan
With the JenesisNow insurance agency management system and your own insurance industry knowledge, you can set up a complete training program for your team.
Start by identifying any skills gaps. You can do this with performance reviews or a direct observation to give you an idea of areas that need improvement.
Get familiar with SMART goals and help your team set them over the short and long term. SMART goals refer to specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals for your training. For instance, your first goal could be to complete a training module within three weeks. If this training module is on a Jenesis product or system, even better.
Use a combination of training methods to appeal to every team member. This may include in-person, or online workshops, webinars, and online modules offered through Jenesis. This will help you cater to different learning styles and hold your team’s attention throughout the training sessions.
Create a training calendar that considers your team’s busy schedule and workload. If full sessions are impossible, consider microlearning modules for ongoing skills development. Save full training sessions for times when your agency is less busy.
Schedule team meetings once a month to allow your team to highlight challenges and revisit more complex training topics.
Implementing Consistent Training Methods
Different training methods will allow you to simultaneously train everyone on the same level. For instance, if you have remote agents and office staff, you can use online training modules to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Use standardized training materials and presentations and give your staff access to the same resources to keep training consistent.
You could even give a handful of team members a chance to become trainers. These agents can head different training sessions and even run workshops for their teams.
At the same time, as an owner and manager of an insurance agency, you must actively lead and participate in training sessions. You must set an example of continuous learning for your team.
Measuring Training Effectiveness
You must get feedback from your team and clients to know whether the training is working. Get client feedback using surveys and do knowledge assessments to see if your agents retain the training information. Track team performance like sales volume, claims efficiency, and customer retention. If you notice an improved performance, it means the training is improving positive outcomes.
Adjust your training program based on this feedback if needed. This will help you maximize the impact training has on your team and your customers.
Jenesis Software Can Help Your Team Grow and Learn
Consistency in training is how your team will achieve efficiency and growth. By investing in your team’s development, you provide them with the skills and confidence to communicate with customers and close deals.
Explore Jenesis Software as a valuable tool to get your training started and to empower your team to deliver exceptional customer service. This will ultimately drive your agency’s ongoing success.