Whether you’re a storm chaser or catcher, maximizing insurance sales will give you a huge advantage over your competition. Finding a sales tool, like SumoQuote, that you can use to present your quote to the homeowner and an insurance adjuster is an important first step.
“I’m not giving a customer a bid for an insurance claim. They’ve got a check and are ready to pay.” We hear it all the time, and while insurance sales may differ slightly from selling residential, there are a few key things to consider when quoting any roofing or siding job.
When asked about the top priority for their business in the next five years, 45% of 1920 interviewees stated that the customer experience outweighs pricing or product.
In the words of author Donald Miller, “When you confuse, you lose.” The following three factors helped one salesperson sell $8M of insurance jobs in one year. If you put them into practice, they can also help improve your insurance customer experience, leading to more sales.
3 Factors to Improve the Insurance Customer Experience
Photos and Photo Reports
When it comes to insurance sales, providing clear documentation of the damage to the home is key. Insurance adjusters may need proof of damage to issue funds, but even when the homeowner has a check in hand, they generally want to understand the process and what to expect for their home.
In this case, finding a way to showcase the inspection results can be very helpful to tell the homeowner the full story.
Even if you’re waiting for approval, you can still get the process started. Importing your own images into a presentation or proposal is a useful way to educate the homeowner on the things they can’t see from the ground. This could be hail marks on shingles or a part of the roof that needs particular attention.
They want to understand what you’ll replace and why.
You can also create and send photo reports easily to help communicate with insurance companies.
Contingency Agreements
The homeowner will also want to know when the work will be completed. There are industry-wide mixed feelings about contingency agreements. While not legally binding, a contingency agreement can be a powerful use of documentation to close an insurance sale.
What Is a Contingency Agreement?
A contingency agreement is a document that communicates to the insurance company who the homeowner would like to use for their roof or exterior repair if their claim is approved.
Additionally, it can outline the process for a homeowner. Outlining the project steps and giving a glimpse into how you do business can help build the homeowner’s trust in your business.
Optional Upgrades
A roof replacement is the perfect time to offer a homeowner optional upgrades. With insurance covering the basic replacement needs, the cost to upgrade the quality of the product or add additional improvements to the project doesn’t feel so daunting.
Why not offer options and increase the chance of increased revenue? Check out these 6 optional roofing upgrades to improve your cash flow.
[Contractors using SumoQuote average $3,103 in optional upgrades on every job.]
Bonus
If you have an Xactimate report, you can add it in to show the homeowner details of what the insurance company has approved. Plus, customers can sign off on it with the quote.
The $8M Salesperson’s Secret
An estimator at Epic Roofing & Exteriors is one of many at the company who exceeded $6M in sales over 12 months. What was his secret? He used the three types of documentation listed above in his estimates, with a couple of specific features.
He included:
- A photo of the home on the front page of the estimate to personalize the quote for the place they care about so much
- Company testimonials as social proof for the homeowner to build trust
- An overview of the insurance process to manage the homeowner’s expectations
Getting the Most from Your Insurance Jobs
At the end of the day, the homeowner will decide which contractor will replace their damaged roof or siding. You’ll win their trust—and the job—by creating an outstanding customer experience.
You can improve your customer experience by using helpful documentation like photos in the sales process, building a contingency agreement, and offering optional upgrades.
Including these factors in the insurance sales process lets homeowners have some say over the project and get the best possible outcome for their home. And those three things let you manage client expectations and maximize your insurance sales.
If you want to see how SumoQuote can provide all the tools to level up your insurance sales game overnight, book a demo today.
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