First, let’s talk about how messaging can help you sell more insurance, serve your customers better and make your work life a little easier. The bottom line is that you can’t serve customers you can’t reach. Emails, phone calls and voice mail are tried-and-true communication channels, but you can spend hours begging your customers and prospective customers to respond to them, instead of spending time selling or serving.

Most of us have smart phones with built-in texting capabilities, and we carry our phones everywhere. Because of the nature of texting, we open 98% of our messages within three minutes of receipt, and we respond to 40% of them. We only open 20% of our emails, and you already know how hard it is to get a customer on the phone. When asked, 90% of us said we’d prefer to communicate with businesses via text.

What those statistics mean to you is that you can send reminders, have one-on-one conversations or schedule automated messages – and your customers will read your messages and respond faster than with any other channel. They get great service, and you have more time to work on your business.

To help you decide if messaging can make a positive impact on your business, here are the top 5 questions insurance agents ask – and the answers:

1.What should I do before I start texting?

You’ve probably heard about the regulations governing messaging. The regulations will apply when you want to send bulk marketing messages, and you’ll need to get permission from your clients or prospects to text them. Asking them to “opt-in” can become part of your emails, awareness and branding campaigns, applications or quotes. Even if you’re only texting one-on-one, it’s best to have written permission, but it’s easy to get. To make record-keeping easier, SMS-Magic keeps track of customers who have opted in to texting, and more importantly, it tracks who has opted out, so you won’t send them any more marketing texts.

2. Can I use my personal mobile phone?

The SMS-Magic mobile app allows you to use your own smart phone but doesn’t require you to use your own phone number. We don’t recommend that you send business texts from a personal phone number. You should set up texting for your office and connect it to your database, especially if you’re using Salesforce or Zoho. SMS-Magic can also connect to many office-management systems. With a mobile app, when you’re not at your desk, you can message your clients as if you were using your laptop, and yet you still maintain your privacy.

3. How can I handle times when I’m out of the office?

If you’re on vacation, sick or out of the area, you probably want some time away from work. Wouldn’t it be great if colleagues could field a client’s question via text and have all your previous conversations at their fingertips? It’s more than possible with messaging platforms like SMS-Magic. Once the messaging system is integrated with your database, texts are routed to the appropriate agent and the conversation is stored in the client’s record. Anyone with access to the system can read the background and respond. Your client gets great service, and you can disconnect from work knowing your colleagues have your back.

4. What types of messages can I send?

Texting gives you and your clients an easy way to share information. One agency serving a high volume of contractors, for example, encourages clients to use text to request COI’s. It’s easy to take a picture of a business card that has all the relevant contact information and text it to the agent. The agent can respond with a text or email containing the COI. Or a client might send a photo of a VIN by text to add a new vehicle to an existing policy. Another company uses texts to check in with prospective clients they’ve quoted but who haven’t responded. Text is a great way to send reminders for almost anything, including auto renewals and appointments.

5. Do I have to send all the texts myself?

Messaging is a great way to connect with clients, but sometimes you need the system to send automated messages immediately. When a client opts in to texting, for example, they need an immediate response to their request. With messaging solutions like SMS-Magic, you can set up pre-written automated messages that are triggered by certain actions like opting in or asking for more information. Your client gets an immediate response, and you don’t have to monitor text traffic 24/7.

Although messaging has been around for a while, it still seems more relevant to today’s consumers than email. Messaging platforms like SMS-Magic make it easier to conduct business by removing the repetitive chores that eat up your day. Messages are personal and relevant. And your customers love them.

SMS-Magic integrates with many office management systems, so ask us about your system. We’d be happy to talk about your needs. If you’re ready to start, set up a demo of SMS-Magic today!

Business text messaging gives brokers and other financial service professionals the capability to respond at any time, day or night, with automated personal responses. You can also schedule appointments and gather critical loan information using automated campaigns.

We put together this infographic to give financial services leaders a quick overview of how you will better respond to, and connect with, lead and clients with text messaging from SMS-Magic.

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging for your team and want to learn more, schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your business results.

It’s not just your advisors who are getting younger, it’s also your clients and investors. This shift has pushed new communication channels into preference. It’s time for financial firms to take on modern communication channels, such as SMS text messaging, without concerns about compliance risk. And considering that 39% of financial firm employees are asking for SMS/text messaging, it’s likely because their clients are asking for this channel to be used.

The problems with compliance begin when you rely on a policy prohibiting your advisors from using their personal smartphones for firm communications. Recent research found that 56% of finance compliance professionals lack the confidence that they can prove their prohibition policy is working.

Instead, consider what an Intelligent Text Messaging Platform brings to help you painlessly evolve your communications channels. After all, mobile device usage in the workplace will only continue to grow. Financial firms need to rise to the challenge to address retention and oversight challenges.

Archival: Know what’s been sent and received

An Intelligent Text Messaging Platform automatically records all messaging conversations – including incoming and outgoing text messages. These messages are archived to your lead or contact record in your Salesforce CRM, providing a complete audit trail should you ever need to retrieve and present a message during an examination.

According to the 2018 Electronic Communications Compliance Survey, 48% of firms that allow text messaging lack an archiving system. Don’t just think “archival,” think about a complete conversational messaging platform with native integration with your Salesforce CRM.

Incorporating a comprehensive messaging platform mitigates risk and empowers internal and external communications by providing the following:

Context: Know what’s been said

Because all messages are archived, the context of the conversation is clear to the examiner or to your supervisory personnel, ensuring appropriate oversight. For the 29% of financial firms that have no written policy in place to govern text messaging, access to context can help you develop one.

Mobile: Know you’re in compliance

With a mobile app and automated alerts that let an advisor or broker know when a client has reached out, they can respond no matter where they are through the messaging platform by using the mobile app. This relieves both your concern that messaging is happening on personal devices that’s untracked, as well as to provide protection to your advisors by helping them follow policy.

The same survey found that 50% of finance compliance professionals expressed concern about non-email communications, including social media and text messaging. And 42% expressed concern about managing the use of mobile devices. Intelligent Text Messaging Platforms can help to close this gap between compliance and risk.

Oversight: Know how messaging is used

Dashboards enable easier oversight by showing compliance professionals the volume of messaging, the types of messages sent and the number of conversations that take place within your firm. If you see the volume of messaging escalate for an advisor, you can easily step in to apply oversight to ensure that the conversations follow policy.

The Bottom Line

Your clients and investors want to use text messaging to converse with your brokers and advisors. Your brokers and advisors are adept at using text messaging to communicate and prefer it for efficiency and matching communication preferences for conducting business.

Text messaging is growing as a preferred channel. Clients and investors want questions answered quickly and to exchange information in the way they prefer. There’s no reason that your firm can’t adopt text messaging to satisfy both internal and external needs. Just make sure you choose an Intelligent Messaging Platform like SMS-Magic Converse to give you a leg up on addressing compliance risks.

A recent study by J.D. Powers found that 80% of Americans text regularly, but only 10% of financial firms use text messaging to communicate with their clients. Financial firms need to up their game to keep pace with what their clients want. The advances in text messaging make that easy and keep you compliant.

Thanks to intelligent text messaging platforms, you can respond quickly to their messages, whether you’re in your office or on the go. Your brokers or advisors can also initiate interactive conversations, respond to automated conversations activated by keywords sent by clients, and pin important conversations to their desktops so they’re quickly available for response.

Message Financial Clients from Your Office

In the office, you can use the SMS-Magic Converse Desktop to easily manage and respond to every client message, regardless of the volume. In your office, you’ll have access to your Converse Desktop on your laptop or computer.

This intuitive, intelligent Desktop sorts and filters conversations for you, making it a snap to quickly locate and respond to messages from a variety of different clients.

• You can filter leads and customers any way you want to find the specific conversation you want to access or respond to quickly, whether by date, name, topic, keyword, and more.
• You can set alerts to be notified the moment a new message is received to ensure that you keep conversations flowing easily with less effort.

Our 360-degree conversational history lets you see every message with a client. You can review that history anytime you want. It also makes it easy for your team to respond to a client request if you’re unavailable. All they have to do is review the history to understand the context of the conversation.

Converse also saves you time by making it easy for you to update your Salesforce CRM directly from within the Desktop. You can edit records, events and tasks or create new ones. That’s so much easier than bouncing between windows to update information.

Message Financial Clients While on the Go

When you’re out for that client meeting, you can use SMS-Magic with Salesforce1 Mobile or use our app on your mobile phone.

All messages are synced back to the Converse Desktop and your CRM or database to maintain a complete history of every single conversation. You never lose a key piece of information or message again. Even better, you meet the regulatory requirements that may have been preventing you from using messaging in the first place.

The Bottom Line

Your clients want to talk with you through text messaging. It’s their natural method of communication. Thanks to SMS-Magic, you can now respond to them wherever you are, whenever they need you. Whether your brokers or advisors choose to message from the office or message on the go, all conversational data syncs across all devices, so they’ll always know where their conversations stand with clients.

Even better, the Converse Desk blends deep intelligence with simplicity to empower your advisors to be more productive than ever, building long-term relationships with your clients in ways they appreciate.

Imagine how much your client responsiveness and satisfaction are going to grow.

Due to its growth in popularity, the 2017 Electronic Communications Compliance Survey^[1] found that 42% of responding firms reported employees have requested to use text/SMS messaging for business purposes this year in comparison to 21% in 2016. However, the survey also found that non-email communications channels (including text/SMS messages) are the top risk concern for financial services compliance professionals.

Which is why many financial services firms don’t allow text messaging between clients and their teams. They’re required by law to maintain a record of every interaction with a client – both inbound and outbound – and that’s next to impossible with text messaging from personal phones.

The thing is, clients text financial services brokers all the time. They do so via their broker’s personal device, forcing brokers to have to switch over to email to maintain the documented flow of interactions required by FINRA. The result: a fragmented experience for both brokers and clients that’s difficult to manage due to a lack of visibility across the entirety of the conversation.

Until now, most financial service organizations have outlawed any form of SMS messages. But that’s changing thanks to advanced messaging solutions like SMS-Magic. This is good news for the 83% of firms that allow employees to use personal devices for business communications as the Salesforce1 application for SMS-Magic integrates seamlessly with your CRM, updating every message exchanged with a client. So whether in the office on the desktop or on the go with smartphone in hand, your brokers can respond to clients quickly, in a compliant manner.

4 Ways Advanced Messaging Platforms Address Compliance

With advanced conversational text messaging solutions, financial services institutions can have the best of both worlds. Firms can allow brokers to communicate with customers as the customer wants via messaging and meet regulatory requirements for supervising and archiving all messages.

• 360° conversational histories. Every message is stored within the 360-degree history, whether it’s from the Converse Desktop or from Salesforce1. This history is available to anyone who has the ability to view the associated lead or account record within the CRM.

• Salesforce/CRM integration. Since all messaging data remains in Salesforce as the system of record, the interactive conversations are stored within the Salesforce database. When that database is archived, so are the conversations, meeting regulatory requirements for archival.
• Quick Restore or Search. You can use the same Salesforce tools to locate and restore conversations, just as you would emails.
• Security. The messaging platform also uses the permissions and security of Salesforce so all client communications are protected based on your pre-set security parameters.

Remove Compliance Concerns for SMS Messages

SMS messages enable brokers to communicate with and serve customers faster – in the way they prefer. Whether by sharing updates as interest rates change, answering questions or keeping clients updated about the status of their loan progress milestones, the personalized and responsive service will be appreciated.

Messaging is only growing in popularity – for both your brokers and your clients. Empowering them smartly via an advanced conversational messaging platform that meets your needs for supervisory oversight and archival provides a proactive approach to keep pace with the market.

Considering that 67% of compliance professionals report a gap in confidence that their prohibition policies for SMS are actually effective, getting ahead of the problem – before FINRA decides to examine your firm – is a prudent business move.

^[1] 2017 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS COMPLIANCE SURVEY REPORT
http://www.smarsh.com/whitepapers/2017-electronic-communications-compliance-survey-report/

Of course, your document workflow solution helps manage the flow of documents. Though it establishes the paper path from approval to funding, for the most part it leaves communicating with the client up to you. With the average mortgage application file pushing 500 pages, that’s a lot of communicating.

Along the way, emails get missed, phone calls get ignored, and voicemails languish unheard. That means client managers have to personally get involved in tracking down documentation and pestering clients to send information, burning up valuable time.

Here’s how an automated conversational text messaging platform working alongside your document workflow solution can help simplify the loan documentation process.

1. SMS Messages Get Read

Let’s face it; it’s really easy to miss an email. It only takes a swipe to dismiss a phone call, and nobody wants to sit around listening to voicemails. This is not exactly ideal when you need to get a loan package to the underwriter yesterday. On the other hand, text messages get read and get responses fast.

• 99% of text messages are read within 3 minutes
• 50% of people respond within 90 seconds
• Text response rate is 209% higher than phone calls
• Texting is 10X quicker than phone calls

For these reasons alone, SMS messages can make managing your loan document workflows much simpler and faster.

2. Advanced Messaging Supports Automation

It isn’t just the volume of loan documents that takes so much time, it’s all the calls and emails you have to send along the way. With an advanced messaging platform, you can automate much of your routine notifications and reminders, saving you a significant amount of time.

To accomplish this, you can set up a workflow that shows all the documents you need within your messaging platform. Then, you can set timeframes on when those documents need to be returned, across the timeline of the workflow. You can set up text message reminders ahead of the due date for documents, as well as past due reminders. All of these reminder messages will trigger automatically until the document is received. Here’s what that might look like for income verification:

Loan Officer:

Client:

Loan Officer:

Loan Officer:

Loan Officer:

[Client sends documents to your doc portal]

Loan Officer:

3. Texts Let you Provide a Personal Touch

As part of your reminder SMS messages, you can include an auto-response keyword that clients can use to ask for help with the documentation. Which, as you know, they will definitely need.

When they respond to the text with that keyword, their account manager is alerted and can immediately reply via text and set a time to discuss how he or she can help your client. For example if your client needed to write a gift letter:

Loan Officer:

Thea:

Loan Officer:

Thea:

Loan Officer:

Thea:

Loan Officer:

Focus on Your Clients, Not Just Documents

By automating reminders and the documentation process, you get back all the time you used to spend prodding clients to turn things in. With loan document packages as thick as your head, that’s a lot of time to focus on what you want to do – help your clients reach their financial goals. With conversational text messaging moving things along, you’ll also make the process faster, easier and more transparent for your clients, and have them raving about you to their friends.