Don’t neglect word of mouth in era of digital communication

We hear a lot about transformation, change and disruption, buy every now and then, you hear a more traditional story. This is one such tale.Last week, we had the pleasure of initiating a policy for a new customer. Originally, Mark found out about The Shepherd Group through a friend of his employed at TSG.That was a few years ago and back then Mark was not prioritizing insurance as he had registered his vehicle under his father’s name. However, as time went by, he became dissatisfied with his previous insurer’s level of customer service.Finding himself on the market looking for alternatives, he remembered TSG. With his friends urging him to consider a broker for the superior customer service experience, Mark called us.Coming in to TSG, Mark was in a special situation: not only was this his first time getting his own auto policy, but it was also his first time dealing with a broker. Therefore we wanted to ensure a smooth and hassle free transition for Mark which we did by carefully explaining all his policy details.Mark ended up so happy with the service he received that he eagerly referred TSG to several of his friends looking for insurance solutions. He explained that one of the main reasons he opted for TSG was the way we followed up. In his own words, his previous insurer communicated quite poorly.In speaking with TSG after his policy was up and running, he mentioned that word of mouth was important to him and was in fact the reason he reached out to us.This piece of insight intrigued us because it indicated that despite all the technological changes sweeping the insurance industry, several classic principles of customer care and brand awareness remain unchanged.It also shows that trust and familiarity can go a long way to attracting customers. Interestingly, his way of spreading the word about TSG was the same way he found out about it – word of mouth among his network.Small businesses should take note of this and leverage their word of mouth channels of communication and promotion. In the race to transform their digital and tech offerings, they mustn’t neglect that face to face, personalized human interaction remains their bread and butter.Our interactions with Mark suggest that the most successful brokers will be the ones who adapt to change while preserving and enhancing traditional means of communication. For customers, this means having more channels of communication with their broker. In other words – flexibility.Is your broker flexible? Comment below or tweet us @TheShepherdGroup