Educating Your Customers about Relocation Insurance

Many consumers decline relocation insurance for one of two reasons: a) they believe it to be an unaffordable luxury purchase; or b) they believe their belongings are fully covered through their homeowners insurance or through the mover's valuation. The common thread between the two reasons is lack of education on the topic. As insurance professionals with strong relocation backgrounds, it is our responsibility to provide the clarity our customers need in order to make well-founded decisions and protect their belongings.

The Cost of Moving Insurance

The truth is, the cost of our All Risk policies tends to stay between just .07% and 1.75% of the declared value of the insured items. Think about that. To cover a $1,000 television during a move, the shipper would typically pay from $70 to $175.00! On a larger scale, an entire shipment with a declared value of $50,000 could cost just $400 to insure.

Homeowners Insurance and Mover's Valuation

Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover one's belongings once they've left the home. Homeowners are encouraged to review their existing policies carefully, but unless they have added on relocation coverage specifically, chances are that policy will not cover the value of their items in transit or storage.

Movers' valuation is not the same as insurance and will not cover the full value of one's belongings. Of course most of our readers are well aware of this fact, but it is worth noting if only to remind you all to make sure your customers are well aware of it. All My Sons Moving does a great job of educating their customers on the various coverage options available, and illustrating the differences between valuation coverage and relocation insurance. (Incidentally, AMS carriers consistently rank amongst our top movers!)

Are your customers typically confused about their coverage options? What are some reasons your customers give for declining insurance coverage (if offered)?

Are You Connecting With Your Audience?

If you're still waiting for this social networking thing to pass, it's time for you to take a look at the latest statistics. According to findings from the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, sixty percent of Americans use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. What's more, Cone found that consumers today expect to find companies on such websites, and are more likely to develop loyalties to companies they interact with on social networking sites.

Have you begun to use social networks for marketing or customer service? Share your success stories, or ask questions in the comments below.

Does Group Health Insurance Make Sense for My Business?

Like most Americans today, healthcare reform is at the forefront of the minds of virtually all business owners, managers, and employees. While planning ahead is always a good move, many of the components of President Obama’s proposed legislation will not take effect until at least 2013. In the meantime, we still face the age-old question: “Does group health insurance make sense for my business?”

Obvious factors such as cost of premiums, tax benefits, and overall health of staff are common to all businesses. Instead, let’s explore the question using conditions specific to the relocation industry: injury risk, high turnover rate, and low wages.

Injury Risk

Movers are obviously subject to rigorous physical activity which can put them at higher levels of risk for injury. It might make sense to help keep employees as healthy as possible by offering medical benefits, which may also keep workman’s compensation claims to a minimum. However, many hourly laborers continue to work with known injuries to avoid missing any wages for time off tending to them.

High Turnover Rate

Most group insurance plans require a 90-day employment period before new hires become eligible. This helps avoid unnecessary paperwork and administrative costs for the employer. Unfortunately, there tends to be a high turnover rate amongst relocation professionals, so a relatively high percentage of workers never become eligible for benefits in the first place.

Low Wages

Of course some employees will inevitably stay with you for longer terms, rendering them eligible to participate in a group insurance plan. In general, employees with healthcare benefits tend to be happier with their employment and of course in better shape to perform their jobs. Although according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, workers with lower wages may prefer to keep more of their paychecks over contributing to group insurance premiums. Tack on deductibles and co-pays, and suddenly healthcare coverage doesn’t look so attractive to a low-wage, hourly employee.

So, should you provide group health insurance benefits or not? We’re willing to bet that for most relocation firms, it just doesn’t make sense financially. However, we want to hear from you! Are you currently providing medical benefits? Why or why not? Share your thoughts and discuss in the comments below.

Dealing with personal technology

As a business owner who manages several departments and spends a good deal of his time traveling, I depend heavily on technology to keep me connected. In a world of rapidly advancing communication devices, one would think it would be fairly easy to stay on top of things. However, finding the perfect device has still proven to be quite challenging for me.

The gadget-lover that I am, I recently purchased an iPhone for testing as a possible replacement for my BlackBerry. The most important part of setting up my new iPhone was to make sure that I could send and receive email for all my email accounts (I have several different inboxes to check). Furthermore, I needed to figure out how to sync the phone with Outlook to make sure I’m always seeing the latest emails and appointments.

Long story short: I did not achieve the results I was hoping for--not even close. It turns out that the iPhone’s email handling is just not up to par with that of my trusty BlackBerry. On the other hand, the iPhone’s Internet browsing just can’t be beat. So what did I decide? Well, I think I’m keeping both of them. (Didn’t I mention I love gadgets?)

What experiences, good or bad, have you had? We would love to hear your trials, tribulations, and success stories with technology at work. Share them and discuss other’s stories in the comments below!

Thinking outside the Business Vertical

Recently I participated at a conference organized by a large national association operating in a market that was not immediately in our business vertical. We generated great leads which we hope will turn into a continuous flow of business.

The best outcome of this show was realizing the potential new markets outside our immediate ‘business vertical’ that need exploring. I call it ‘Thinking outside the Business Vertical’.

One could argue to concentrate on your core markets, and to some extent I agree. However, what if your core markets are over crowded by competitors? What if your core markets are saturated with similar products and you cannot generate any new sales from these markets? Can you explore new market verticals? Can you afford not to be searching for other verticals?