Contractors, property managers and commercial accounts are some of the most profitable clients for insurance agents. But commercial lines clients can unintentionally overwhelm agency staff with day-to-day requests for certificates, auto IDs and other simple but time-intensive activities. The time used to process these tasks takes attention away from more critical service needs.
To assist our clients, our agency implemented an online portal where our clients can service themselves for certain needs. The product we use is CSR24®, from Artizan Internet Services. The portal is available on our Web site, and it’s linked to our mobile app.
We have seen this service significantly decrease the amount of time we spend issuing certificates. So we have more time for our advisory and more complex servicing activities. An added benefit: Client satisfaction. Our clients appreciate being able to access their policies and print certs and IDs when they need to. We feel the portal gives our clients another reason to remain loyal to us, since we understand the need for certain levels of self-service, and we provide the means to accomplish it.
We also use the portal to post commercial clients’ policies, if they wish. Many of our larger clients want to rely on an always-current electronic copy posted on their portal.
From our experience, we believe an online certificate tool is a valuable part of a commercial agency’s customer service plan. If you’re looking to add online service for your clients, here are a few tips we can offer:
- Work with a provider that can integrate with your Applied Systems agency management system software. This will save time and keystrokes.
- Look at all the features available. Don’t settle for a service that offers only cert processing. At our portal, clients can log in and view their policy information, request changes and issue their own certificates.
- Be sure the portal is seamlessly connected to your agency Web site. That will ensure easy portal access for your clients.
What are your thoughts on providing online service? Do have any tips to add to my list? I would love to read your feedback in the comments section below.
Debra Hoffman, CIC is the IT manager at Watson Insurance in Gastonia, North Carolina.
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