How Communication Helps with Retention
To achieve a higher retention rate in your book of business, you have to communicate with your contacts. This is true whether they’re a client, prospect, or lead.
For the best chance of a higher retention rate, build a communication plan that starts as soon as they become a lead. The better you take care of them in their buying process, the more likely they are to become a client. The better you take care of them as clients, the more likely they are to stay for the long haul. After all, the number one reason clients leave their agencies is due to a lack of meaningful communication. So, how can you and your team be sure to provide the best communication possible?
Personalization is an excellent way to make sure you’re reaching your clients where they are. It extends beyond just addressing them by their first name in email marketing (although that helps!).
Ask yourself:
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Are you providing content to clients that addresses their specific needs and challenges?
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Are you giving them quotes that are tailored to them and what their needs in a life or health insurance policy are?
Personalization can be made easier with the help of an industry-specific platform that has capabilities like email marketing, quoting and proposal generating tools, workflow automation, and more.
We know that to convert 80% of sales, it takes at least 5 or more touches or follow-ups to do so. But why should that end when they become a client?
If you build a communication strategy that encourages a lead or prospect to become a client, then you should try to maintain that strategy once they are a client. The number one reason clients leave their agencies is due to a lack of meaningful communication. This means many agencies are only working on the sale, not retention.
What are you doing to make yourself stand out and keep your clients? How is your agency focusing on both the sale and the retention?
How to Schedule Client Follow-Ups
Instead of only reaching out to your clients when it’s time for a policy renewal, try adding other touches throughout the year. This helps you build a stronger relationship post-sale.
It can be difficult, though, to remember to follow up with clients when you’re busy with prospects, managing your teams, continuing education, juggling your life, etc. Task management apps and to-do lists can definitely help, but only if you look at them every day and keep them handy. If you’re working in many locations throughout the day, it’s easy to leave your list behind.
To achieve peak productivity, it’s advisable to have your to-do list integrated with your agency management platform. For example, AgencyBloc’s Activities help your team stay on task and ensure nothing falls between the cracks. You can assign tasks to yourself or be assigned tasks by your team—like when you’re out of the office and your client calls in with a question. They’re right there in your AgencyBloc account from the moment you log in so they’re always top-of-mind.

Since AgencyBloc is cloud-based and responsive to any device, you can have your to-do list with you regardless of whether you’re on the go or in the office to help you stay productive. The other benefit is that you’ll have direct access to the most up-to-date notes.
Client notes, documents, and emails (or even call recordings!) stored within AgencyBloc are easily accessible to help you maintain a personalized relationship with each and every client. This helps you show your clients that their needs are top-of-mind for you, and you can have an educated, informed discussion with them as soon as you make contact.
If you’re interested in what types of follow-ups to perform, check with your carrier. Some carriers might have guides or information to help your teams’ conversations with new clients or clients who have recently changed their plans.
By keeping in regular contact with your client, it improves your chances of keeping them. The more help and assistance your agency provides, the more comfortable a client can feel. That feeling can directly translate into retention and possible growth opportunities (i.e. cross-sells, positive reviews, and referrals).
In the next bit, we’ll discuss more about using automation to help you make these touchpoints happen.
How to Schedule Non-Follow Up Client Interactions
Sometimes you don’t have follow-ups to do with your clients, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still try to interact with them. Some non-follow-up interactions with clients include:
- Welcome emails
- Wishing them a happy birthday
- Recognizing them on their anniversary of becoming a client
- Alerting them to an upcoming policy renewal
Instead of attempting to remember every client’s birthday, anniversary, and policy renewal date, try using automation. Implementing automation, like Automated Workflows from AgencyBloc, can help you work smarter, not harder to accomplish everything on your task list plus all the extras—like non-follow-up client interactions!
Think of an Automated Workflow like an if/then scenario. Let’s go over a few examples.
A Workflow to send clients a happy birthday email:
- If: It’s the client’s birthday
- Then: Send an email to them wishing them happy birthday

Another example for their anniversary:
- If: It’s been X year(s) since they became a client
- Then: Send an email to them thanking them for entrusting you with their coverage
A third example is a welcome workflow when they become a client:
- If: Their individual status updates to Client
- Then: Send an email welcoming and thanking them
- Then (2): Send a task to the agent of record telling them to reach out personally
As you can see, automation gives you complete control over what kind of message to send and when to send it. You can either send an email to the client, send an email to someone internally, or assign a task to the agent/someone on your team—or all three!
In AgencyBloc, you can also access a library of saved content for common touchpoints like birthday workflows, policy renewals, turning-65, etc.
Every agency will differ on how and when they want to know about upcoming policy renewals. However, many agencies set up a formula like the one below:
3 Months Until Renewal Date:
- Send an email to the client alerting them to the upcoming renewal
- Assign a low-priority task to the agent of record to reach out to the client
2 Months Until Renewal Date:
- Send an email reminding the client of the upcoming renewal
- Assign a medium-priority task to the agent of record to follow-up with the client
1 Month Until Renewal Date:
- Send an email alerting the client that the renewal date is fast-approaching
- Assign a high-priority task to the agent of record to check in with the client
2 Weeks Until Renewal Date:
- Send an email to the client urging them to reach out about their upcoming renewal
- Assign an urgent task to the agent of record to call the client ASAP
You can set up a variety of triggers (ifs) and actions (thens) all corresponding together to help you work smarter, not harder. For more policy-related email ideas, check out our free Policy-Related Email templates.