The right CRM system for your insurance agency should allow you to see a complete view of the client across all departments. This could include individual health plans, group benefits, commercial insurance, and retirement planning relationships. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 as the foundation, modern CRM solutions provide unprecedented flexibility and integration capabilities that transform how insurance brokers manage client relationships.

While a CRM system is great at giving you quick access to data and analytics, it can also be used to drive sales. The Microsoft Power Platform‘s comprehensive suite of tools enhances these capabilities even further.

CRM as a Sales Strategy for Benefits Brokers

Here are a few ways we have seen insurance benefits brokers use their CRM system as a sales tool:

1. Existing Client Check-ins: Strengthen Relationships Through Automated Engagement

Key Benefits:

• Increases client retention through proactive engagement
• Uncovers additional sales opportunities from existing clients
• Ensures consistent follow-up across all account managers and producers
• Creates accountability for client relationship management
• Leverages both built-in tools and advanced automation options

Using the built-in workflow automation features of Dynamics 365, client check-in assignments happen automatically based on territory, specialization, or workload balancing rules. For those comfortable with more advanced automation, Power Automate provides additional capabilities, but the native workflow tools within Dynamics 365 are often sufficient for most agencies’ needs.

Success Story: One insurance agency we work with has a rule that any client with a premium volume of $50,000 or higher is contacted once per quarter. Lists of those client accounts are readily available and organized in CRM based on their assigned account category.

Each quarter they are required to contact all those clients to check in on them, ask how they are doing and if there is anything additional the agency can do to assist them. The account manager records the call notes to leverage for future reference and are measured on those actions through Dynamics 365’s built-in dashboards and reports.

Sometimes just asking an existing client how they are doing is enough to uncover an opportunity you would otherwise have missed. For more advanced analytics, Power BI dashboards can track detailed engagement metrics, but many agencies find the native reporting capabilities sufficient to identify trends and monitor activity.

2. New Client Onboarding: Create Consistent Client Experiences

Key Benefits:

• Standardizes the client experience regardless of which team member is involved
• Prevents missed steps in the onboarding process
• Increases client satisfaction during the crucial first few months
• Creates opportunities for cross-selling additional products
• Builds client loyalty through personalized, consistent communication

Power Apps and Dynamics 365 allows agencies to create custom client onboarding workflows that seamlessly integrate with an agencies workflows. Business process flows can guide agents through standardized onboarding processes while capturing critical information that populates across the entire system.

Success Story

When a benefits agency onboards a new client, each product type has a specific group of codes associated with it. For example, if they enroll in a certain type of health plan, they get a task assigned to them through the CRM system that reminds them, “Hey, in three days, you need to send out a handwritten thank you note for this account.”

Fifteen days after enrollment, an automated reminder prompts a phone call to make sure they received their insurance cards and their first benefit statement. There are many small tasks through that first year that are assigned to the employee and tracked through the CRM system.

The platform’s ability to create custom automated sequences through both native Dynamics 365 workflows and Power Automate ensures nothing is missed, from welcome emails to renewal reminders. Each contact with the client strengthens their satisfaction and opens up an opportunity to expand the relationship with additional services. And keeping your onboarding process consistent allows anyone in the agency to provide the same level of service in each client journey.

3. Prospective Clients: Transform Lead Management and Conversion

Key Benefits:

• Centralizes lead management for better visibility and accountability
• Provides structured sales processes that improve conversion rates
• Enables precise segmentation for targeted marketing campaigns
• Integrates with external data sources to enrich prospect information
• Offers both simple and advanced options based on team technology comfort

With Power Apps and Dynamics 365 agencies can create custom lead management interfaces tailored to their specific sales processes, along with powerful lead management capabilities out-of-the-box.

Success Story

Some insurance brokers will import lists of contacts, such as small business leads that are affiliated with a local chamber of commerce they are partnering with. Those lists of businesses are imported into the CRM system and distributed to the members of the sales team.

The account managers and producers will review the list and select the ones he or she will personally contact and mark those as leads. LinkedIn integration can be used to enrich prospect information automatically.

Having an organized sales pipeline allows you to segment potential sales opportunities by where a prospect is in the sales funnel and how and by whom they were last touched. Dynamics 365 Sales and Power Apps’s advanced segmentation tools make it easy to create targeted marketing campaigns based on industry, size, renewal dates, or any custom criteria. Personalization in your outreach or re-marketing efforts can also establish a connection you can continue to nurture.

4. Referrals: Maximize Internal Revenue Opportunities

Key Benefits:

• Creates visibility across different departments or specialties
• Prevents duplicate outreach to the same client
• Tracks referral sources for commission or recognition programs
• Automatically notifies appropriate team members of new opportunities
• Provides multiple reporting options from simple dashboards to advanced analytics

Having complete information in the CRM system helps employees to make referrals within the agency. The Power Platform allows for the creation of custom referral portals that make it simple for any employee to submit qualified leads.

Success Story

A benefits broker sees that a client is approaching Medicare eligibility or knows they need additional coverage. They can engage with this client automatically right through the CRM system with a well-structured and informational pre-built email that is personalized for the client.

Using either Dynamics 365’s native business process flows or Power Automate for more complex scenarios, these workflows can trigger notifications and create follow-up tasks.

Some agencies have a rule set that after six months of no activity, which means no notes or updates have been made to the client record, it will automatically create an activity for the appropriate broker to follow-up. These business rules are easily configured in Dynamics 365 without requiring custom code development.

This type of visibility and communication encourages insurance brokers to be focused on client engagement and capturing the outcome of each engagement. This creates a better client experience and helps uncover new revenue opportunities while retaining your existing book of business. Management can easily track engagement performance using:

• Dynamics 365’s built-in dashboards for quick overviews
• On-demand reports for detailed analysis
• Filtered views for specific segments or time periods
• Excel exports for further manipulation with familiar tools
• Power BI for sophisticated visualizations and deeper insights

Also read:

• BenefitsBridge: ForgeXRM’s CRM Solution for Health Insurance Brokers

BenefitsBridge by ForgeXRM: Health Insurance CRM Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365

ForgeXRM works with more than 2,000 insurance and benefits organizations across the country, including many of the top U.S. brokerages. The ForgeXRM team is dedicated to helping insurance benefits brokers improve efficiency and reach greater success through our solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.

Complete Insurance Broker CRM Solution

BenefitsBridge, ForgeXRM’s CRM for Health Insurance powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365, empowers agency staff with the tools and information needed to efficiently deliver high-quality, personalized service – for all interactions across all channels. The solution leverages the full Microsoft platform:

• Dynamics 365: Comprehensive client relationship foundation with built-in workflow automation that connects all aspects of your business
• Power Apps: Custom applications for specific roles or processes without extensive coding, with built-in workflow capabilities
• Power Automate: For advanced users, sophisticated automated workflows that reduce manual tasks and ensure consistent follow-up
• Built-in Reporting Tools: Out-of-the-box dashboards, on-demand reports, and filtered views that provide immediate insights without additional tools
• Excel Integration: Export any filtered view to Excel with a single click for further analysis using familiar tools
• Power BI: For advanced analytics needs, deeper actionable insights through interactive dashboards and reports

Streamlined Insurance Agency Operations

Automated alerts and workflows help brokers reduce the time required to resolve inquiries. These workflows, available both through Dynamics 365’s native capabilities and through Power Automate for more advanced scenarios, streamline processes across functional areas, such as:

• Automating client onboarding processes
• Qualifying group benefits plans
• Managing policy renewals
• Tracking carrier appointments
• Monitoring licensing requirements
• Coordinating producer commissions
• Streamlining claims support

Microsoft’s platform’s flexibility means that as regulations change or new products emerge, your CRM can quickly adapt without expensive custom development. Agencies can start with core functionality using just the built-in Dynamics 365 features and gradually add more advanced capabilities as their needs evolve and their team’s comfort with the CRM technology grows.

Why Insurance Brokers Choose BenefitsBridge and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Over Other CRM Options

Insurance benefits brokers face unique challenges that generic CRM solutions often fail to address. BenefitsBridge from ForgeXRM, built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, offers specific advantages that make it ideal for the insurance industry:

• Compliance and security: Microsoft’s robust security framework ensures sensitive client health and financial information remains protected
• Scalability: From small agencies to enterprise brokerages, the platform scales with your business needs
• Integration capabilities: Connect with insurance carriers, quoting engines, and benefits administration platforms
• Industry-specific workflows: ForgeXRM’s BenefitsBridge accelerates implementation with insurance-specific workflows, data models, and reports
• Flexible automation options: Choose between native Dynamics 365 workflow tools for beginners or Power Automate for advanced needs, allowing teams to grow into the CRM technology at their own pace
• Reporting flexibility: Use built-in dashboards and reports for quick insights, filtered views for daily operations, Excel exports for familiar analysis, or Power BI for advanced analytics

Also read:

• The Right CRM for Insurance Agencies, Benefits Brokers, and Financial Advisors
• Overcome Insurance Brokerage Challenges with BenefitsBridge from ForgeXRM
• How the Power Platform Transforms Insurance Agency Operations

 Is your CRM helping or holding you back?

BenefitsBridge by ForgeXRM, built on the Microsoft Power Platform, is specifically designed for health insurance brokers, offering unparalleled advantages over other CRM solutions.

With streamlined workflows, enhanced security, and unmatched scalability, BenefitsBridge empowers benefits brokers to boost productivity, deliver personalized client experiences, and stay ahead of the competition. Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform, this familiar and flexible CRM solution is designed to support your agency’s growth and operational efficiency—now and well into the future.

Watch the BenefitsBridge Overview Video to see how it works!

Contact ForgeXRM today to schedule a demo and discover how BenefitsBridge can simplify and automate your agency’s commission tracking.

The post 4 Ways Insurance Brokers Use CRM to Boost Sales appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.