So what can we possible do differently? Our CSRs take all of the customers' calls and take care of their questions and needs. Many of our clients call us asking if we can save them money, and we do our best to provide them alternate quotes as quickly as possible, hopefully offering them more suitable prices. We continue to do our best to take care of everything our policyholders need when they come to us, just as we always have. But that simply isn't enough anymore. In many cases, we see our clients finding replacement coverages elsewhere without even contacting us.

“From a customer retention standpoint, I think really being proactive with our customers is the most important thing these days,” said Sean Ryan, vice president of personal lines at Hanson & Ryan Inc., Totowa, N.J. “Contacting our insureds, even without them reaching out to us, really goes a long way toward retention, even if it is just to say hello and see if we can assist them with their insurance needs, or any questions or concerns they may have with their current policies. You really need to be in their hearts and minds with all the competition out there.”

“Proactive” is a key word in today's market. It is imperative that we keep in touch with our customers, letting them know they are important to us. Many times just reaching out with a simple phone call is enough to keep them from going elsewhere. Some of your clients may not even know that you can offer other competitive quotes and possibly save them money without looking to outside alternatives. And postcards, mailings and e-mail campaigns, although useful, simply don't have the effect that a conversation can have.

At the beginning of 2010, we initiated our “Can You Hear Me Now” campaign, overseen by our personal lines manager Tara McGinniss, which entails contacting each of our customers at least 30 days before policy renewal. The response from our insureds has been overwhelmingly positive. This has not only helped retain customers, but also helped us gain new business. Providing superior customer service certainly makes our clients more comfortable in allowing us to quote and write multiple lines of insurance for them. In fact, our lost business this year is down nearly 10 percent through the first half of the year, and this campaign is just getting started.

Taking the personal call one step further, proactive quoting is easily the best thing you can do for your existing customers. Picture calling your customer 30 days before their auto insurance renews, and telling them you can save them hundreds of dollars with a different carrier. In most cases, this will not only prevent them from looking elsewhere, it will also make that customer much more loyal to you and your agency. Even if you ran the quotes and could not save them money, calling and letting them know you tried for them can have very positive effects as well.

I'm sure all of this sounds good, but what about all the extra work implementing programs such as these create? I'm sure many of us are already trying to accomplish more in our personal lines departments with fewer people due to the economy. How can we find the manpower to provide this level of customer service? The tools and technology are out there for agencies to drastically reduce the amount of paperwork and processing needed to keep personal lines running. Taking advantage of company download and making sure your carrier's data is fully integrated with your management system will free up a huge amount of time for your employees. Using a real-time comparative rating system also drastically reduces the amount of time needed to quote, and re-marketing current customers can be very simple if your management system can export data to the comparative rater.

However, it still may not be enough to save time through technology. Another place to turn is to your carriers. You might be surprised how many of your carriers may be willing to do some quoting for you. And why wouldn't they? It could mean more business for them, too. If you are looking to do some proactive quoting and are short on manpower, it never hurts to ask around to your carriers.

Anything you can do in today's market to stay in front of your customers, offer superior customer service and fulfill all of your insured's needs will only add to your retention. The place to start is with a phone call. Talk to your clients, offer them quotes and let them know you are looking out for their needs even when they didn't ask you to. It can be done, even without hiring new employees to do it. The sooner your agency becomes more proactive with your customer service the better. As you retain more customers and continue to write new business as usual, you will see your book growing instead of struggling to break even.