3 post-renewal communication strategies for benefits advisors

Renewal season is the annual opportunity to review and revise benefit plans for clients, ensuring they align with changing needs and regulatory requirements. It also serves as an opportunity for benefits brokers to build and maintain relationships with their clients. While preparing renewals, brokers can demonstrate their ability to provide valuable services such as plan analysis, negotiation with carriers, and efficient administration, thus promoting client satisfaction and retention. 

But as the year moves along and you take a moment of reflection on the hard work and value you’ve brought to your benefits clients, the need to communicate, build and maintain customer relationships remains strong! Once you’ve closed the deal, it’s essential to show your clients that your service and partnership don’t just end when you close the deal. Here are three post-renewal communication strategies that can prove that you are a vital partner who is committed to the success of your clients currently and into 2024.

1. Ask questions

It’s crucial to continue the conversation after renewal. The right questions will strengthen your relationship and provide greater insights into the wants and needs of your clients.

The quality of your questions shows the quality of your commitment, so it requires more than just a check-in. According to a survey from Salesforce, 66% of customers expect companies to understand their needs, so be sure to ask intentional questions in post-renewal to help you understand the client more. Not only will the client feel valued, but these questions can lead you to unearth more goals the clients want to achieve, which creates additional cross-selling opportunities. Some examples of intentional questions to ask your clients include:

• How will your benefits strategy evolve over the next year? 
• Do your financial goals warrant a move to self-funding? 
• Have you aligned benefits offerings with your retention, recruitment, and compensation objectives?

To further continue and maintain the conversation with your clients, benefits advisors can incorporate marketing automation technology to send custom one-off communications or set a more complex reoccurrence of touch bases more quickly and efficiently. Sending thoughtful, probing inquiries will help you deliver the solutions that allow your clients to achieve their short-term goals and fold them into their long-term strategies, while also showing them that you are an invested and trusted advisor who cares post-renewal.

2. Provide personalized education

Every customer has unique needs and a different level of understanding, so providing education to your clients — specifically educational content that is personalized to each customer — is another key component in post-renewal success. Personalizing the education process enables customers to understand their benefits better and builds you up as a trusted advisor. In fact, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences, according to a study by Epsilon. However, taking the time to do that for each client can be tedious, especially in addition to your daily responsibilities. Investing in marketing automation software can help you quickly and easily build marketing email campaigns that deliver the right information to clients at the right time. 

Providing expert information through articles, checklists, infographics, and more eases your clients’ pain points and keeps them engaged long after renewal. Also utilizing marketing automation technology can show you which content generates the highest engagement, allowing you to continue providing the information your clients find most valuable. Providing personalized education post-renewal proves that you are invested in each client, increasing their loyalty and satisfaction.

3. Stay connected

It is essential for benefits advisors to communicate frequently with their clients during the lead-up to renewal. But after the deal is closed, some customers receive radio silence from their brokers. You can differentiate yourself from the competition with consistent, high-value communications beyond renewal.

Regular phone calls and emails filled with useful content enhance the client experience because they demonstrate your respect and commitment to the customer. And constant communication lessens the chances of clients feeling neglected, reaching out with unexpected requests, or looking for solutions and services elsewhere. A recent Salesforce survey reveals that 76% of customers want a consistent experience regardless of how they engage a company.

Incorporating marketing automation software into your tech stack can help benefits advisors maintain consistent contact with customers, such as sending them regular updates and reminders and distributing helpful content. Simplifying and streamlining these communication processes frees up time to cultivate your client relationships and be there when your clients need answers. Also, marketing automation technology helps find and fill potential gaps in coverage, ensuring compliance with legislative and regulatory updates. Building this post-renewal connection creates a better understanding of their challenges, helps you to prepare the right solutions for their needs, and builds your reputation as a trusted broker.

Benefits advisors need to prioritize consistent communication with clients to enhance value post-renewal. By focusing on education and communication transparency to clarify complex terms or conditions, brokers can build strong, trustworthy relationships as trusted advisors. Proactive engagement with clients, including asking them intentional questions and providing valuable resources, enhances brokers’ reputation as reliable advisors. Lastly, utilizing marketing automation technology to improve interaction efficiency offers convenience and opens avenues for rich, interactive, and personalized communication. 

Jeff Krzeminski is SVP of Product Management at Applied Systems.