78% of U.S. consumers say a text message is the fastest way to reach them for important service updates and purchases. But texting comes with many rules, regulations and setup challenges. Read on to see how we make it easy.

Text messaging for businesses is still a pretty new concept. You might be wondering if your clients would really want to be getting text messages from their insurance agent. The answer is a resounding “yes”.

In the State of Texting 2019 report 67% of respondents said they would rather text with a business about appointments and scheduling than communicate by email or phone. And that percentage goes up as the age of your clients goes down.

For millennials, for example, text messaging is the preferred communication method, according to Forbes.

Imagine if your client gets in an accident and needs to get a hold of you. They can’t remember your phone number, but they know you’ve reached out to them via text before and they have that conversation.

They text you, you respond. Their perception of your service goes up immediately. The same works for check-ins, renewal times and even time-of-purchase situations when, for example, they need to quickly add a new vehicle to their policy.

Texting doesn’t involve hold times, even when you aren’t able to respond immediately. Your clients can reach out, go about their day and get back to the conversation as soon as you respond. It’s convenient for everyone.

But before you start texting your insurance clients, there are a few things you need to know.

Opt-ins and regulations

Sending your customers a text is pretty straightforward, all the legal and regulatory considerations are not. Confusion over all the rules can really make text messaging a challenge. But don’t let that stop you.

To text your clients, you need to secure their permission, also known as an opt-in.

Without an opt-in, texting is like showing up at someone’s house uninvited whenever you want. Unless they told you that’s okay, it’s a quick way to ruin a friendship.

And it goes beyond being considerate. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires businesses to obtain written consent from individuals before sending them any text messages.

Securing consent from all your clients may seem overwhelming, but not if you have the right tools.

With ClientCircle, you can quickly send an opt-in request to all (or some of) your clients and/or import any opt-ins you already have. We take care of both single and double opt-ins for you, depending on state and federal laws.

Keeping your number

There’s nothing worse than trying to change service providers or having to get a new phone number.

If you already have a business line you use for calls, we can help you enable texting on that line. If you use Zipwhip or RingCentral, we have direct integrations with them, so you can easily add ClientCircle texting to those platforms. 

Don’t have a number? We’ll set you up with one or as many as you need for your whole team.

Accessing your conversations in one place

Communicating with your clients should be seamless whether you’re at your desk or away from the office. It shouldn’t look like a juggling act between answering your phone, making notes in your management system and sending emails.

With ClientCircle, you can start texting your clients using our beautiful mobile app and/or via your online ClientCircle dashboard, so all your communications are in one place.  

You have full access to the conversation history and can search for and see all conversations by other employees in the office if you need to.

Sending surveys and review requests via text

While some people love email, many of your clients would prefer to give you survey feedback or leave a review over text.

We’ve automated that for you as well. Our system learns each client’s preferred communication method and we will send them review and feedback requests through a channel that works best for them.

Start texting your clients today

More and more people want to be able to text with businesses, and their insurance agent is no exception.

Whether you are thinking of using texting for your agency, or already are, make sure you are using a tool that makes it easy and automated. That way, you can focus on what you do best—running and growing your agency—while we take care of the communications.