Use Your 5 Offline Senses to Connect with Your Policyholders Online

You work in insurance; you know how to communicate. Eye contact, a physical presence and comforting smile all engage the senses and play a large role in building the foundation of that relationship. But face-to-face interactions with every policyholder on a regular basis can be exhausting, if not impossible. So how can we harness the power of an in-person experience when we can’t be there in person? Social media.

You don’t have to run yourself into the ground trying to master all things digital. However, there are a few key insights that you can take in right now that will guide how you grow and retain a loyal customer base.

How Agent and Policyholder Interactions Are Different in 2014

In the past 20 years, technology has caught up with our increasingly busy lives. While anything less than a phone call used to be considered informal or unprofessional, the world has changed and conversations can now take place in real time, on the go, and almost entirely online.

Social media has become the way for you to continue conversations with all of your policyholders in between your annual phone calls or face-to-face interactions. These micro touches online are more personal now than they once were and have become a very acceptable way to stay in touch with policyholders. Think of social media interactions and email newsletters as a way to supplement your offline interactions.

An especially effective way to make online interactions feel more ‘real’ to your audience is to invoke their real-world senses. When you do this, you’ll soon realize that online conversations aren’t that different from offline ones, and in some ways, they’re better. You’ll be able to increase your communication efficiency and effectively scale your policyholder outreach.

The Five Senses

In the insurance world, no symbol of business is more recognized than a firm handshake. We can feel that. Can a particular photo of a tree emulate that sense of firmness? Can a picture of a lake house evoke a sense memory of a summer vacation? Can the color yellow make you feel the sun on your face? Neurons in our brains are literally thinned out or kept based on sensory experience and the frequency with which certain experiences take place. Can you think of an experience or message a customer can identify with on a sensory level? This is what you want to recreate in an online format for your policyholders.

Sight

Face-to-face interactions are important. So try to think of the last time you had a sit-down meeting with an important customer. Perhaps a simple smile upon greeting did the trick in making that person feel more at ease. When communicating over social media, are lots of words on a screen more powerful than your winning smile? How can the two influence each other? A “Happy Friday” Instagram post of the dogs in your office could reinforce the already-positive feeling of a Friday and endear your agency to policyholders.

Smell

A cup of coffee is a perennial favorite when attempting to be productive. Can you use an image of a cup of coffee to connect with a lifetime of sense memories to engage your customers’ attention? What if you were to set up a coffee bean counting contest? Post a photo of a bowl of coffee beans to your Twitter page and have them guess the number of beans. The first follower to guess correctly or closest would get  a Starbucks gift card on you. You could even hand deliver the prize and have another social media photo opportunity.

Touch

There’s a reason there are over four million sensory receptors located in your hands, lips, face, tongue, neck, fingertips and feet: We were meant to feel. That handshake we were talking about earlier … what does it feel like when you shake someone’s hand? You can’t shake a hand through a screen, but you might be able to evoke the feeling of touch through a familiar object. Try using the Vine app and piece together a sensory engaging video clip of sand running through your fingers, condensation on a glass of iced tea, and water splashing on your face. Share the clip on your social channels, wishing everyone a happy and healthy summer.

Taste

When something tastes delicious, that’s usually your body telling you it absolutely loved whatever you just ate. Our sense of taste lets us enjoy foods to their fullest. Healthy policyholders mean happy life experiences. Why not start a conversation with policyholders asking them what their most favorite tasty and healthy dishes are. Leave them with a good taste in their mouth, so to speak.

Sound

Things that you didn’t know could be social have actually become things that people share. Making a playlist and listening to music used to be a solo endeavor, but with music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, it can now be a shared experience. Put together some playlists on Spotify that fit different times of the year. If it’s the end of the year, make a playlist with some of your favorite holiday songs and share it to your Facebook page. Maybe it’s summer and families are going on vacation. Put together some popular driving songs for the road. Something like this is helpful, fun and shows off a different side of your business.

Involve

Engaging your policyholders using powerful offline senses in an online format will strengthen the connection they have to you in between face-to-face interactions. Social media is an acceptable way to maintain visibility and is a great way to supplement your existing relationships. Remember that online conversations aren’t that different from offline ones; they’re just a way to maintain an open line of communication with policyholders while saving you time and energy.