All too often, we only think of direct mail as a tool for new client acquisition. But direct mail can be a powerful customer service tool in the right hands. It can be a way of keeping your current customers up-to-date and even cutting down on your customer service work in the long run.
When you deal with a complex product like insurance or Medicare products, it can be hard to give your customers all the information on their policies at once. Dump too much information on them and their eyes glaze over. Send them home with a thick packet of materials, most of them won’t read the information. That means you’ll spend more time on the phone later explaining the ins and outs of what’s covered in their policy. Sometimes, that can even mean an unhappy customer when claims time comes around, if they feel they’ve been mislead—even if you told them the information.
Where does direct mail come in? Easy. You can send your customers bite-sized chunks of information. After all, they might not sit down and read a whole insurance policy, but they very well might read a quick bite of information about how flood insurance isn’t included in their policy or a brief letter about re-enrollment periods for Medicare.
Try to time these mailings to when questions naturally arise. For instance, a mortgage company might send an explanatory letter just before the customer makes their first monthly payment. An insurance company might send a clarification informing customers that hurricane coverage isn’t included in their policy in the fall, just before storm season hits. You might just have a chance to make an up-sale and have a better protected customer to boot.
Remember, just because you’ve landed a client doesn’t mean they’re yours forever. You need to constantly work to make sure they understand they’re valued, understood and that you want them to be informed consumers. If you don’t, you can rest assured someone else will.
Need more information on how you can make direct mail an integrated part of your customer service? We can help. Contact Premier Advantage Marketing, a direct marketing agency. We’ll help keep your customers happier for longer.
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