Let’s explore how virtual assistants help insurance agencies reduce costs and boost profits.
In this blog, we will discuss:
- Advantages of Hiring Insurance Agency Virtual Assistants
- Core Use Cases of Virtual Assistants in Insurance Operations
- Final Thoughts
Key Takeaways
- For multinational companies, outsourcing is ever more important because it reduces operational costs and makes the expertise available from global firms for a portion of the internal employee operating cost.
- VAs are more flexible than any traditional hires or BPO firms. They can also be configured according to specific workflow needs at your agency, be it lead tracking, follow-ups with clients, document management, etc.
- The complete insurance industry revolves around consumer contentment. With a virtual assistant, there will always be someone around to handle client communications, and you can assure that your clients will receive a timely response, support, and even follow-ups.
The insurance market is a fast-paced and highly competitive requiring agencies to simultaneously seek solutions for improving efficiency, decreasing costs, and scaling services without sacrificing quality.
Yet, a lot of agency owners struggle with staffing, agency budgets, and growing operational demands.
So what’s the solution? Hiring Virtual Assistants (VAs).
Outsourcing is hardly a new phenomenon (in reality, a significant amount of the work of major multinationals has been outsourced to consultants). For multinational companies, this is ever more important because outsourcing reduces operational costs and makes the expertise available from global firms for a portion of the internal employee operating cost.
It enables them to allocate resources towards core competencies, increasing efficiency and scalability. As per the global outsourcing trends report by Deloitte, companies can cut down their operating costs by 30% by outsourcing. The savings are mainly because of cheaper labor, space stay savings, and lower overheads.
This advancement in the modern world where an agency can save costs, increase efficiency, and profitability by employing a virtual insurance assistant can do good for the insurance sector too.
At OWL TPS, we provide best virtual assistants for insurance agencies which will help your business run smoothly by improving productivity and reducing costs. Today we will discuss how virtual assistants can help you, what are their primary tasks and how they can change your agency.
Also read: Outsourcing Freelancers vs Full-Time Employees: Which One’s Best for Your Business?
Advantages of Hiring Insurance Agency Virtual Assistants
Fully Utilized Cost Optimization and Resource Utilization
Insurance agencies often have a limited budget, so they need to reduce operational costs. Agencies can manage huge amounts of administrative workload without the employment costs of a full-time staff who would be based in-house by hiring virtual assistants. Since many VAs work from their own homes, they help to save on associated costs, such as those for office space, equipment, and benefits.
Additionally, VAs are scalable according to demand through flexible contracts, which makes them perfect for seasonal fluctuations or high workloads.
Improved operational efficiency and productivity
They are experts to manage vital insurance workflows like onboarding of clients, claims processing, renewal reminder, etc. This will free your in-house team so that they can concentrate on higher value activities such as prospecting, relationship building, and strategic planning for your agency, which cannot be outsourced.
An agency owner, without a VA, may have to quote policy, draft client emails, or even do renewals himself/herself, when this time could be spent prioritising other areas of the business. This is where a VA can step in, carrying out these repetitive tasks by ensuring that every step is done correctly and efficiently and helping you free some time for your plans.
A more efficient process can increase your quoting capacity by 2x with quicker responses and better client engagement.
Benefits of better client satisfaction and retention rates
The complete insurance industry revolves around consumer contentment. With a virtual assistant, there will always be someone around to handle client communications, and you can assure that your clients will receive a timely response, support, and even follow-ups. When a client makes a claim or asks about renewing a policy, a VA can help your agency respond as quickly as possible.
With time-consuming follow-up calls, quote preparation, and appointment scheduling delegated to VAs, agency staff can keep a human connection, and give tailored advice to clients — increasing their satisfaction and building long-lasting loyalty.
Based on our findings, agencies that use VAs have been able to maintain an impressive retention rate of more than 97% — a clear indicator of the difference that on-time and quality service delivery can make.
Offer Flexibility and Support for a Tailored Workflow
VAs are more flexible than any traditional hires or BPO firms. They can also be configured according to specific workflow needs at your agency, be it lead tracking, follow-ups with clients, document management, etc.
VAs can be tailored to your agency needs, allowing you to respond to your agency specific requirements on-demand and to quickly refocus as the needs of your agency evolves.
Get Specialized Expertise Without The Training Time
When you hire a VA with a highly specialized need, like OWL TPS, you essentially gain employees that come pre-trained on your most important needs in insurance.
These VAs have specialized knowledge in policy administration, claims processing, lead generation, and managing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and can therefore be onboarded in minimum time and cost.
Agencies gain immediate access to experienced VAs with insurance industry knowledge, as opposed to allocating months to onboard new hires or entering into a BPO contract.
VAs have experience in regulatory requirements, compliance issues, and sometimes even specific CRM systems, allowing them to be brought up to speed in little time.
Also read: Measuring Success in Outsourcing: The Top KPIs You Need to Track
Core Use Cases of Virtual Assistants in Insurance Operations
Insurance agencies go through multiple workflows, a lot of them repetitive yet important for the smooth functioning of the agency. VA can assist your agency in multiple aspects, right from administrative support to outreach.
Here are some examples:
Claims Processing and Policy Administration
Insurance is all about claims processing and policy management. VAs can look into the back office functions of claims including verification of documents, data entry, and follow-up on missing documents. This frees your reps up to spend more time consulting with clients and negotiating settlements, not completing administrative steps.
Having these chores done by VAs also ensures not only quicker turnaround times but also lesser chances of error during claims processing, further enhancing the client experience. Having VA on-board also minimizes the risk of bottlenecks at peak times for clients — such as during a natural disaster or high incidence season — and enables the clients to receive timely support.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
By handling CRM tasks such as periodic follows-up, birthday or anniversary greetings, and policy renewal reminders, VAs can make client relations smooth and seamless. Ownership of these touchpoints can allow VAs to play a role in sustaining client attention, leading to consumer loyalty and lower churn rates.
In addition, VAs trained in CRM platforms can generate comprehensive reports about customer interactions available from these reports. Such insights will be helpful for fine tuning marketing strategies, enhancing client retention and finding cross-selling potential.
Marketing Support and Lead Generation
Every successful insurance agency needs a steady flow of new clients. Implementing lead generation is something that VAs can handle like managing any digital marketing section such as social-media, email marketing and promoting follow-up communications.
VAs increase your agency client base without distracting your in-house team from their core duties by nurturing leads through regular communication and targeted outreach.
Especially for growth-focused agencies, VAs can handle routine marketing activities: scheduling social media posts, tracking engagement, and facilitating requests by potential clients. It also gives your team time and energy to follow through on leads and sell them.
Pre-Renewal and Remarketing Work
While they also represent important value for an insurance agency, renewals take a lot of time and effort to service. Before the renewal, VAs can prepare documents, contact clients, research similar rates, and book appointments for policy reviews. They further contribute to remarketing efforts by commencing outreach to clients, freeing agents to focus on closing the deal.
As a result, you will have the same consistent manner of handling renewals and each customer of yours will be treated to the top notch services. And when renewals are done correctly, clients are more likely to renew their policies, providing a steady income source for the agency.
Administrative Assistance Compliance Documentation
Insurance agencies have to follow stringent regulatory requirements so accuracy and documentation are critical. When you have an agency, these administrative work needs to be complied regularly, which is why VAs can take care of all of this to make sure that your agency stays in compliance without leaving your agents to do the paperwork.
Your VA is also trained in compliance such as getting your policy documented, E&O tracking, client file maintenance, etc. It minimizes the regulatory risks it faces and ensures that your agency complies with prevailing industry specifications.
Also read: Is It Time to Outsource? 4 Clear Signs Your Business is Ready
Final Thoughts: Scale Your Insurance Agency with Us!
In order to save cost, increase efficiency, and grow your insurance agency, OWL TPS is here to assist.
Let our wonderful and expert Virtual Assistants take care of your administrative tasks while you focus on growing your business and building relationships with your clients.
Contact us today and discover how our virtual assistant services can be customized to your agency.
