Last month, we walked you through a few creative strategies for client retention, from creating buyer personas to adding humor to your marketing efforts.

To kick off the New Year right, here are five more outside-the-box ways to retain insurance clients:

6) Get sorted. Categorize your clients based on the value they bring to your agency. We’re not talking about monetary value here, but whether they are actually worth having as a client.

You only have a limited amount of time in the day. The more time you spend with clients that give you a headache, the less time you spend providing awesome service to your great clients.

Here’s how to categorize your clients:

• High-value: clients that are profitable, pay on time, treat you with respect, value your services, and continually rant and rave about you to others
• Churners: disloyal clients who are constantly on the lookout to switch
• Bloodsuckers: accounts that take up a disproportionate amount of time and energy in relation to profitability
• Golden geese: your one or two huge clients that come around every so often

7) Teach them stuff. You don’t have to stick to educating your clients on insurance. Every person at your agency has special talents and skills, and if you’ve categorized your clients according to lifestyles and interests, you’ll probably find that there’s a whole lot of overlap.

I have a client who’s an absolute 80s rock junkie. He’s taught me more than I could ever imagine on little-known facts about some of the most famous bands. I wouldn’t be shocked to discover that a section of his client base is also into 80s rock and roll.

Other insurance agents:

• Teach classes.
• Share incredible recipes.
• Curate recommended reading lists.

8) Send handwritten notes. My insurance agent sent me a letter last week. The only reason I even opened the letter was because I saw that it was handwritten. Usually, they go straight into the trash. 

In a digitally overloaded world, going back to what used to work is definitely a way to stick out. Basically, handwritten means you took the time to do it. And in your clients’ minds, if you took the time to write it, you must actually care.

Here are a few tips for your handwritten letters:

• Use personal packaging.
• Use a stamp.
• Make the package lumpy.
• Include a P.S. message at the end.

9) Do a fun survey. Your company probably already does surveys. But I bet they’re boring, and I bet they don’t tell you very much about your clients. That’s why you should give your surveys a spin. Make them more personal, dive deeper and get specific in the questions you ask.

You need to know the truth, so ask questions that will warrant the truth. People like themselves, so ask them questions about themselves. The more personal questions you ask, the more personal the information you’ll get. Just make sure there’s a balance between personal, closed, ranking, multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

Here are four types of questions to ask:

• Personal. Get them invested in the survey, make them think and learn a bit more about your clients.
• Service. Get specific—ask them what they’d like to see.
• Comparison. Compare and contrast different facets and features of your offerings.
• Experiential. Ask for direct examples or stories.

10) Wow your influencers. These are the people whose opinions are respected within their circles. If they give you the stamp of approval, their tribe will listen. Want to keep more of your clients? Go above and beyond for the influential people. Give them a reason to go out and talk about you. Give them a reason to mention you.

That could mean:

• Creating customized offers.
• Personalizing the experience.
• Allowing them to interact with your company through multiple channels, 24/7.
• Responding to inquiries and complaints within an hour.
• Treating them like royalty.

Cam Bob III is author of The Digital Insurance Agent and founder of Infinity Leads, a digital advertising agency exclusively for insurance agents.