Insurance Virtual Assistant

As the world increasingly becomes more digital, insurance agencies are looking for ways to keep up. These days, clients expect fast, almost instant service from an insurance business, which means that the typical day-to-day tasks of an insurance agent have multiplied. One way to help your team and keep your clients satisfied at the same time is to add a virtual assistant to your agency.

An insurance virtual assistant (VA) can help with a variety of back-office tasks for insurance agencies, such as customer service, billing, and policy changes. By using an insurance virtual assistant, you can free up time for your agents and sales team so they can focus on more important tasks. In addition, using an insurance agent virtual assistant can help you save money on overhead costs.
Keep reading if you’re interested in learning more about how virtual assistant services can benefit your insurance business or agency.

An insurance virtual assistant is a remote, work-at-home freelancer or contractor who performs various tasks for an insurance agency. Depending on your needs, an insurance virtual assistant can handle customer service calls, answer general questions from potential and current clients, download policy information from carrier websites, research possible coverage options to recommend to clients, and much more.

An insurance virtual assistant can be extremely helpful when you need to free up time for an insurance agent in your team. In fact, you can hire an insurance virtual assistant to assist each insurance agent in your entire team to maximize each agent’s productivity and performance.

For example, if an agent in your company is spending too much time on the phone with a client and another transaction comes in, they may not be able to pick up that call as quickly as necessary or answer it at all. A virtual assistant can answer that call and wait on the line until a highly trained insurance agent is available to take over.

Hiring an insurance agent virtual assistant is a game-changer for businesses in the insurance industry. There are many benefits to using virtual assistant services for your company, including:

Improved customer service

Your insurance assistant can do the necessary research for your support and sales team. Instead of your employees taking time out from serving clients to research insurance options or gather policy information, your VA can handle these tasks instead. This means less time spent on the phone with clients, which translates to better customer service.

Reduced operating costs

With a virtual assistant working remotely and on a contract, you no longer have to pay for office space and other employment-related benefits. You also don’t have to pay for computers and office space equipment. All of this can help to reduce overall operating costs.

Improved productivity

When you’re able to free up your employees from time-consuming tasks, they’re able to focus more on the business at hand and give better service to clients. This also helps to improve employee morale as a result.

As we mentioned above, an insurance assistant can perform various tasks for your agency. Some of the most common tasks they handle include:

Administrative Tasks

Administrative tasks such as basic data entry, transcription, file management, email management, and research are critical day-to-day tasks in the insurance industry. You can hire an insurance virtual assistant to do these routine administrative tasks so your team can focus on high-value business processes instead.

Customer Service

The best way to get new business is from current clients, so providing them with superior service is crucial. Clients often have questions about what they’re eligible for and what kind of coverage might be best for them. By having a virtual assistant who can conduct research, review policy information, and recommend different options to clients, you’ll be able to serve your clients better.

Having a phone-trained virtual assistant who can handle customer service calls and help clients with immediate issues will ensure that you get more referrals from these clients in the future. You can also hire a separate insurance agent virtual assistant to provide non-voice customer support services such as email or chat support.

Scheduling Appointments

Virtual assistants can contact potential clients and schedule appointments for your clients with your insurance agents once they’re ready to purchase or need more in-depth support.

Preparing Policy Information

Preparing proposals and ensuring that the policy information for each client is updated is an integral part of the entire process for any insurance agency. This requires a ton of administrative work, so it’s going to be super helpful if you have a VA team that can gather policy information, edit existing policies, and prepare proposals for potential clients.

CRM Management and Creating Reports

Insurance companies and agents use a variety of software programs or CRMs to store important data, including policy information and financial records. Virtual assistants can manage these applications and create reports for insurance agents when needed.

Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, and Lead Management

Converting a lead into a paying customer is not an easy process. Insurance agents spend a lot of time calling potential clients to try and make sales. To ensure that you’re getting as many leads as possible and not losing business due to a lack of a good lead nurturing process, you can hire virtual professionals with lead management experience.

Lead gen virtual assistants will positively impact your lead gen process from the very beginning. A virtual assistant can help them by researching these leads and putting together follow-up information for your team. This not only helps your team close more sales but also helps free up their time so they can spend it on other tasks that are more revenue-generating in nature.

Taking Payments

Most insurance companies now offer their clients the option to pay premiums online. In an office, this is often handled by a receptionist who also takes incoming calls from clients and customers. A virtual assistant can take over this task for your agency, freeing up time spent on other tasks.

These are just some of the business tasks that an insurance agent VA can help you out with. If you want to know what other tasks they can do for you, book a free consultation with us right here!

When hiring virtual professionals for your insurance agency, be sure to look for candidates with the following traits, skills, and experience.

Customer Service Experience

Customer service experience is vital because it’s one of the most important aspects of insurance agencies. A virtual assistant who has handled customer service tasks before, even for a different industry, can get the job done faster. This means that they can quickly and efficiently answer questions, gather information, and more.

Digital Tools and Software Skills

By having a VA with digital savvy, you can be sure that they can complete tasks in a timely manner and that your data will stay confidential. It’s a huge plus if your VA is already familiar with the different software applications and tools you use in your agency.

Quick Learner

Since insurance agencies often work on tight deadlines, the VA you’re hiring must learn quickly about new products, services, and technology so they can handle any task given to them. A new virtual assistant with a fast learning curve can breeze through the on boarding process in your agency. They are also more likely to take the initiative with most tasks, which frees up time for the owner or manager of the agency.

Also, if you can’t find a VA with a background in the typical insurance process or experience with the tools and software you use in your business, the next best candidate is a VA who learns quickly.

Attention to Detail

Virtual assistants who are detail-oriented will be able to handle any task thrown their way, whether it’s finding sales leads or creating reports. Attention to detail is vital because even the smallest error can lead to major problems down the road when working with an insurance company.

Great Communication Skills

Whether you just need your new VA to do data entry or something a little more complex, hiring a VA with good communication skills can help your business save time. This is because they can understand instructions easily and communicate important business updates in a timely and concise manner.

Communication also plays an enormous role in the insurance business, as it’s how you maintain your relationship with clients and show them how much they matter to your agency. A great communicator can talk in a way that builds rapport with customers.

Organized

Insurance virtual assistants often work on multiple projects simultaneously, so they need to be organized to complete all tasks on deadline. Clients will also expect their virtual assistant to be well-organized and efficient if you plan to give them referrals or recommend your assistants for your client’s business.

Ready to hire a VA for your insurance company? The first thing you need to do is create a job description. Check the list above and see what you need your VA or virtual assistants to do for you. Once you have crafted a comprehensive job description, you can start looking for candidates.

Many virtual assistant services online can help you find the right candidate for your agency. Make sure to check the inclusions of the virtual assistant companies you’re checking out to ensure that they have everything you need.
At 20four7VA, we offer an end-to-end solution. This means that we help you with everything from the interview process to onboarding to processing payroll for your virtual assistants.

Add virtual assistants to your team today and discover how VA services can help you manage your business better and help you focus on higher-value tasks. Contact us today to get a free quote!