Customer loyalty shapes success. It’s what makes or breaks a business no matter what industry you’re looking at, and it’s no different when you own an insurance franchise.
While every business needs to generate new sales to stay afloat, developing a loyal customer base is the ultimate goal. Without the trust and support of your base, your business will lack the element that bolsters continued growth and longevity.
To make your customer base happy, you need to know who they are and what they want.
As an insurance franchisee, your customer base consists of drivers and property owners who live in your community. When these people call your branch office, send you an email, or walk through the doors of your branch office, they’re expecting you and your staff to deliver the best insurance coverage options, products, and services available along with the knowledgeable guidance and advice.
Remember, in the insurance business, most customers typically turn to you at a time of crisis — like immediately after a car crash, for example, or after a house fire destroyed their home.
To build a loyal customer base, you need to be there for your policyholders, becoming a trusted source they know they can always rely on.
Here’s a closer look at how your insurance franchise can build a loyal customer base in your community.
Aligning with a Brand Customers Know and Trust: One of Several Franchising Benefits
When you launch an insurance franchise, you’re essentially partnering with a large local, state, regional, or national company, like Freeway Insurance, that already has a fairly broad reach and a loyal customer base. That means it’s likely that most people will already be familiar with the company’s brand name and image when your branch office opens for business.
This is the biggest competitive advantage an insurance franchise has compared to a startup insurance agency. Your insurance franchise can harness the recognition of your corporate partner’s brand name, ensuring that customers will be familiar with the company before they visit your branch office.
In addition to brand name recognition, opening an insurance franchise also allows you to:
- Enter the industry with little to no previous professional experience needed
- Expand your venture without the risk of debt or the cost of equity
- Capture a share of the market ahead of competitors
- Operate a much leaner organization with the support of your corporate partner
- Hire a manager to handle the daily operation of your franchise or run the branch office yourself in an owner-manager role
- Reduce business risks through the backing and support of your corporate partner
Over time, all of these benefits start adding up. Building on the good name and reputation of your franchisor is only the first step.
3 Tips for Building a Loyal Customer Base
Now that we’ve looked at some of the benefits that franchising can bring, here are a few tips to help you grow a loyal customer base in your community.
1. Engage customers
Nowadays, your dealings with potential customers and existing policyholders aren’t just limited to phone conversations, emails, or office walk-ins. There’s also a virtual component that keeps you connected to an online audience all of the time.
While your franchise’s website acts as the main portal for this online audience, social media is typically the preferred platform to engage potential customers and existing policyholders.
Having a professional Facebook page for your franchise, as well as a Twitter and an Instagram account that you can post insightful content to regularly is one way to keep the lines of communication open with your policyholders. It’s also a good way to attract new ones.
2. Reward loyalty
In the insurance business, most customers stick with a company that stands by them no matter what. That’s typically considered customer loyalty and it’s customary for insurers to reward customers for it.
Discounts, deals, and other policy-related perks encourage repeat business and create vocal brand advocates. These are the customers who will recommend your franchise to their friends and will post glowing reviews about your branch office across various social media platforms. Aside from investing time and energy in promoting your branch office, they are also more likely to buy additional coverage options, for example, and stick with you for the long run.
3. Personalize communication
It’s safe to say that no one really likes impersonal, unwarranted solicitations from any company, and that stands for the insurance industry.
Before you start sending out mailers advertising your new branch office, it’s important to know the types of drivers and property owners who live in your community and what their needs are. That way, when you reach out to them, you can do so in a more personalized way with a message that’s both thoughtful and genuine, especially online.
If your branch office is located in a city that’s plagued with heavy traffic, for example, you can use your branch office’s social media platforms to post content that offers tips on safe driving or information on coverage options that can protect local drivers from, say, a specific type of accident that tends to happen at a certain intersection.
This may, in turn, spark a conversation on one of your branch office’s social media sites about traffic in your community, which will give you greater insight into what your policyholders and potential customers are experiencing.
Why Joining the #1 Team in the Industry Matters
Building a loyal customer base in your community can be as simple as sharing insights on your branch office’s Facebook page to encourage interaction among policyholders and potential customers, offering discounts and deals that make brand loyalty worthwhile, and delivering a genuinely personalized experience that resonates with customers living in your community.
The time you invest in cultivating your customer base can add significant value to your insurance franchise, especially if your corporate partner is Freeway Insurance, which is a trusted by thousands of Americans across the U.S. for more than three decades.
At Freeway, we have the brand recognition and proven business model to help you establish a solid customer base in your community. As the number one team in the insurance industry, we put you in the driver’s seat of your professional future, helping you build a customer-focused business that rewards hard work and dedication. To learn more about our franchising opportunities, contact us at (877) 822-3024 or contact@freewayfranchise.com
