Don't Let Rate Increases Derail Your Client Retention

With rates increasing, client retention is top-of-mind in the Financial Services industry. Rate increases can feel like you’re fighting a long battle. You may even feel the need to pull back, to cut staff and reduce resources. And sometimes that is necessary, but first there are elements that you can control to help protect your Agency.

Four elements to start with include:

• Hold client reviews – client reviews are often skipped over or offered only to top clients. It can be years before a client sits down with their Advisor/Agent, not only does this reduce your ability to help find possible discounts, but it doesn’t allow you to explain the value your team brings to the table. As a result, clients feel less loyalty and are more likely to leave.
   
• Systemize your review process – if you and your team don’t follow the same review process you will miss possible discounts. A system, even a simple checklist, will help ensure that all discounts are considered, but will also speed up the process. If you’re not doing reviews for all clients now it can seem daunting to start but creating that system should be your first step.
   
• Ensure that your Agency is not a transactional agency – especially when your Agency is busy it’s easy to fall into the trap of just getting the task in front of you done. Your service team will often be more in touch with your clients than you are. Have you trained them to look for the cross-sell? To be proactive in pointing out your clients’ risks and opportunities? Are they thinking about the big picture? Or simply rushing to get a task done? We often find that service teams don’t have the framework to, “Listen, Ask, and Act.” Leaving cross-selling as a task that is outside of their comfort zone. This often leaves revenue on the table. 
   
• Understand your competitive market – most companies have a list of target markets where they are actively trying to gain market share. Understanding what that market is, which will often come from your field leader, will help you identify areas that you can pivot to, because typically those are markets where you will be more competitive.

Remember, rate increases happen in this industry. Prices might increase, prices might decrease. You can’t control the pricing, but what you always have control over is how you react to the challenges.