Agencies need to make specific inquiries to learn more about their potential new clients. Insisting that swamped reps ask ancillary questions to everyone who requests a personal lines quote is one way to gather this extra information, but it is impractical.

A better method is to employ a short but inquisitive agency questionnaire and ask the applicant, not the CSR, to optionally complete it as part of the quote process. This client-completed approach is not new. Virtually every physician’s office requires such forms before they’ll grant you an appointment. Many attorneys, accountants, and other professionals employ them as well. P&C insurance agents are wise to follow this simple pathway to supplemental facts. Any complete or partial information that you can collect aids you in understanding the factors that drove the prospect to your door, what he values (or doesn’t value) about insurance, plus the person’s commission potential and servicing demands.

To help, we have developed a Personal Lines New Client Questionnaire. Our sample document, which you can easily modify with Word, gathers basic marketing data, policy expiration dates, insurance preferences, and claims history, all on a single easy-to-answer page. Its full or partial completion fine tunes and speeds up the quote process, which benefits both parties.

Quick link to tools page.