The weather is warming up, and that means the busy moving season is right around the corner. Before things get too hectic, it’s time to focus on your moving claims prevention strategies. With the right tactics you can reduce claims, keep your customers happy and safeguard your company’s reputation.
Train Your Entire Team
It’s something of an understatement to say that many companies have been experiencing high turnover rates recently. The Great Resignation means that many of your workers may have quit, and you’re having to train new workers as a result. Before you send these green workers into the busy season, you need to make sure they’ve been trained on packing protocols.
Your more experienced movers could probably use a refresher, too. If you’re not careful, bad habits can develop over time, and that can lead to moving claims as well as worker injuries.
Do all of your movers know the following?
- How to pack and load boxes to protect fragile items
- How to handle big screen televisions and other appliances to avoid damage to the machines
- How to pack breakable kitchen items to avoid damage
- How to handle mattresses, beds and other large items
- What items should never be packed
- How to label boxes to make unloading easier for your movers and unpacking easier for your customers
Don’t wait until there’s an incident to find out that the answer is no, your movers don’t know all of these things. Focus on training them now. For great reminders to share with your moving crew, download our Packing Tip Sheet and Items Requiring Specific Packing.
Safeguard Your Company’s Reputation
Moving is a stressful experience for your customers. If things go wrong, your customer become angry, and they might vent their frustrations online.
According to SocialMediaToday, WhoIsHostingThis conducted a survey and found that 51% of social media users had complained about a company on social media. Considering that about seven in 10 American adults use social media, according to Pew Research Center, that’s a lot of people airing their frustrations online. Whether or not the complaints are completely founded, the damage to your company’s reputation will be done.
Avoiding damage is the best way to keep your customers happy and your reputation untarnished, but let’s face it – accidents happen. Even if your workers are extremely conscientious, some claims may occur.
This doesn’t mean that your customers will simply accept that their belongings have been damaged, destroyed or lost. If you’re going to keep them happy, you’re going to have to offer a better solution. That solution is third-party moving insurance.
If a claim happens, third-party moving insurance can provide a resolution. This can keep customers happy and prevent them from complaining about your company.
Education Is Key
The U.S. Census Bureau says that the average person will move 11.7 times during their life. Some people move a lot less frequently, and as a result, they might not know all the ins and outs of the process. They might be so busy figuring out what to do that they don’t even think about insurance – until they experience a loss. By then it’s too late.
Your customers might assume that their belongings are completely protected in your hands, they’re going to be furious to discover that their stuff has been severely damaged and the best you can offer is pennies for each pound. To avoid this situation, you need to advise them on the value of moving insurance before the moving day arrives.
Once you’ve developed a relationship with a moving insurance provider, educating your customers about their coverage options is easy:
- Add a banner on your website homepage.
- Add a moving insurance page to your website with more information.
- Share the moving insurance handout with customers. This handout includes a chart that clearly outlines the differences between all risk insurance, named perils insurance, total loss insurance, and very limited protection available through moving companies. This way, your customers can make informed decisions.
Become an Affiliate
By becoming a Moving Insurance affiliate, you can protect your customers’ belongings and your company’s reputation.
The Moving Insurance team can even take care of all the moving insurance customer service and selling for you. Just refer interested customers to us and we’ll take care of the rest. We’ll inform you when a customer purchases a policy, and we’ll let you know about any special packing and handling requirements. And if there’s an incident, our professional, in-house claims team will carry the claims load.
Learn more about joining the Relocation Insurance Group Affiliate Network.