Insurance agency CRM that follows up every quote, renewal and x-date.

What calls does an independent insurance agency make?

Four kinds of calls cover most agency phone work: quote follow-up, x-dating, renewal reviews and cross-selling. Each has its own list, goal and timing, so run them as separate call lists rather than one long sheet.

The mix depends on what you sell. Personal lines agents live on quote follow-up and x-dates. Commercial producers spend more time on renewal reviews and remarketing. Life and health agents mostly call people who asked for a quote or a review, and Medicare agents work around enrollment periods under their own marketing rules, covered at the end of this guide.

• Quote follow-up: call people who asked for a quote, present it and follow up until they bind or decide to stay put.
• X-dating: when a prospect isn't ready because their policy has months left, record the renewal date and call before it comes around.
• Renewal reviews: call clients before their policies renew, especially when the premium is going up, so they hear about it from you, with options, before they start shopping.
• Cross-selling: call monoline clients, such as auto-only households, to quote the home, umbrella or life policy they have somewhere else.

What pipeline stages should an insurance agency use?

Use a short set of stages that match how a quote really moves, and make sure each one means the same thing to every producer.

In TopReach, each quote is a deal on a drag-and-drop pipeline, and the pipeline shows the value at each stage. Use estimated annual premium as the value, so the board shows how much premium is quoted and waiting on a decision. Tags tell new business, renewals and cross-sell apart on the same pipeline.

• New lead: a quote request or referral nobody has reached yet.
• Contacted: you've spoken and have what you need to quote.
• Quoting: you're running it with your carriers.
• Quote presented: the client has the numbers.
• Bound: the policy is written, and the client moves into your agency management system as they do today.
• X-dated: not this year, but you have the renewal date and a reason to call back. Use this instead of Lost, and keep a Closed stage for wrong numbers and people who asked not to be called.

What should agents keep in custom fields and tags?

Keep the details a producer needs before the call connects, and leave policy records in your agency management system. In TopReach, custom fields and tags sit on each contact, and saved lists or dynamic lists built from rules on them become your call lists.

Leave out Social Security numbers, health details and policy documents. TopReach isn't a document store and doesn't claim HIPAA compliance, so it should hold what you need to call, not what you need to underwrite.

• Line of business: auto, home, renters, umbrella, life, health, Medicare or commercial
• Current carrier and current premium, so you know what you're quoting against
• X-date, plus an X-date month field so a dynamic list can pull everyone renewing in a given month
• Quoted premium and the carrier you quoted
• Lead source, such as a referral, your website, a purchased list or a partner like a mortgage broker
• State, since you can only sell where you're licensed
• Tags for cross-sell openings, such as Auto only or No umbrella, and for Medicare prospects turning 65

How does x-dating work?

X-dating turns a no into a future call: when a prospect isn't ready to switch, you ask when their policy renews, record that date and call before it comes around.

The question is simple: 'When does your policy renew?' Most people know the month even when they aren't shopping. Record the date, what they pay, what they liked about your quote and why they're staying, so the next call starts where this one left off.

Time the call so you can still quote before the renewal. Many personal lines agents call 30 to 60 days ahead, depending on how early their carriers will quote. In TopReach, set a reminder task when you record the x-date, and at the start of each month pull that month's list from the X-date month field. Power-dial it and log each result as you go.

X-dates add up. An agency that records one on every lost quote builds a calendar of warm calls for next year, and those calls go better than a cold list because the prospect already knows you.

What follow-up cadence works for quotes, renewals and cross-sell?

Call fast, follow up on a schedule and stop at a set point. A new quote request is warmest right after it comes in, and a quote that goes quiet for a couple of weeks usually means the person bought elsewhere or stayed put.

TopReach handles the repetitive part. When a call isn't answered, it can drop a voicemail you recorded once, then send a text or an email on the days you choose, and it tracks every touch so nobody gets the same message twice. Every call, text and email lands on the contact's timeline, so a CSR covering for a producer can see what's already been said.

• New quote request: call the same day. On a miss, the voicemail drops and a text follows; try again over the next few days.
• Quote presented: call the next day to answer questions, then twice more over the following week or two. If they stay put, ask for the x-date.
• Renewals: start reviews 60 to 90 days out on accounts where the premium is rising, so there's time to remarket.
• Cross-sell: call each monoline client at least once a year, at renewal or after a life event such as a new home or a new driver.
• Stop rules: after four or five unanswered attempts, move the person to an x-date or a later list. Anyone who asks not to be called goes on the do-not-call list right away.

Should insurance agents use a power dialer or a parallel dialer?

Use power mode for almost all agency calling. Power dialing calls one number after another, so whoever answers reaches a producer, and the next call starts as soon as the last one ends. It suits quote follow-up, x-dates, renewals and cross-sell, where everyone on the list already knows your agency.

Parallel mode calls several numbers at once and connects the producer to whoever picks up. It can produce more conversations an hour on a large list where most calls go unanswered, such as aged internet leads. When two people answer at once, one gets dropped. That's an acceptable cost on a big cold list and the wrong one for a client whose renewal you're trying to keep, and dropped calls count toward the federal abandoned-call limit covered below.

Both modes come with the same $99-a-month phone licence, so you can choose the mode list by list.

What calling and texting rules apply to insurance agencies?

Insurance calling falls under federal telemarketing law, state law and, for Medicare, CMS marketing rules. The details depend on where you and the client are and how you got their number, so check with your counsel or compliance team before you start. This is a general overview, not legal advice.

TopReach keeps a do-not-call list, handles texting opt-outs across every producer and can record calls. Whether a particular call or text is allowed is still for you and your counsel to decide.

• Consent: under the TCPA, autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones generally need prior express consent, and written consent for sales calls. A dropped voicemail is a prerecorded message. If you buy leads, ask exactly how consent was collected and keep the record.
• Do Not Call: sales calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry generally need written permission or an established business relationship, such as a policy with you in the last 18 months or an inquiry in the last three.
• Hours, abandoned calls and state laws: federal rules limit sales calls to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the client's time zone and cap abandoned calls at 3% of answered calls per campaign over 30 days. States such as Florida and Oklahoma have stricter telemarketing laws of their own.
• Call recording: some states, including California and Florida, require everyone on the call to agree before it's recorded.
• State insurance rules: you must be licensed in the client's state, and unfair trade practice rules cover what you say about coverage and price.
• Medicare: CMS rules for Medicare Advantage and Part D limit unsolicited contact, require a scope of appointment before a sales meeting and require third-party marketing organizations to record calls. They change most years, so check the current rules with your FMO or compliance contact.
• Canada: the National Do Not Call List rules apply to sales calls, CASL covers commercial texts and emails, and provincial regulators set conduct rules for agents and brokers.