It is actually a simple, yet effective marketing strategy, re-engaging old customers. We gained their trust at one point, thus the reason they initially did business with us. Yet, for one reason or another they decided to take their business somewhere else. For instance, some moved out of state; some found a better premium; others were introduced to a new agent; or there is even the case when newlyweds end up listed on the spouse’s policy. For one reason or another, they are no longer our customers. These lists of old inactive customers, however, can be more than just data taking up hard drive space. In our agencies, these lists present an inexpensive opportunity for us to put business on the books.
The customers I typically target in this campaign are those that have not been with the agency for the past two to seven years. I am easily able to mine these old clients through my agency management system. Using customer data that old can present the obvious problems though, such as the phone number is no longer valid or the customer has moved. For this reason, to increase our ability to make contact, we use postcards. By listing “Resident” instead of the customer’s name, the postcard is delivered regardless if the customer still lives there. While it may be considered impersonal, doing so decreases the chance the postcard will be returned and increases our opportunity to get our agency’s name in the hands of the current resident.
As with any marketing effort, sometimes indicating the exact piece that initiated a customer’s inquiry isn’t always as easy as “How did you hear about us?”, so tracking the closing ratio on these cards can be a bit tricky. Sometimes the customer may just indicate they were a prior customer, not that they had received a postcard. Initially though, when I started this campaign back in 2008, the typical results would yield about seven new policies a week.
There have even been cases where customers will hold onto the postcards for months before they decide to come back. One customer held onto the postcard for over a year before he called in. He had been without a car for that time so he said he kept the postcard handy until it was time to buy a new one.
Whatever the case may be, this campaign to re-engage old customers is working. Postcards have been a simple and effective marketing strategy for our agencies. It’s generating phone calls and getting old and new customers in the door. Printing and postage costs for the postcards are rather inexpensive compared to our other marketing efforts. Therefore, to achieve a return on investment only requires a few policies to be written.
Brian Jackson
ABC Insurance Agencies of TX, LLC