30 Seconds or Less: Building Trust at the Front Door

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Picture this: you’re sitting at your desk, desperately trying to help your insured. Weeks of phone calls go to voicemails. Text messages go unanswered. Emails get bounced back. Letters get returned. Many factors can occur here: someone had to move, someone changed their phone number, an email was misspelled. Sometimes the claims process is just overwhelming in and of itself that people avoid, hoping their adjuster will take care of everything for them without their involvement. Ultimately, someone has to go knock on their door.

In our digital age, trust is hard to come by, and with the abundant number of scams plaguing our daily lives, it makes trust a precious commodity. Successful contact is not about being pushy or demanding. It’s about building rapport with a stranger within 30 seconds to have a productive conversation.

Start by Removing Uncertainty

So, what is the best way to establish trust and complete the task at hand? Several factors go into in-person visits when attempting to speak to a subject about a sometimes-sensitive topic such as a car accident they were involved in. You may be bringing up bad memories, fear of being in trouble, or just general stress from talking about a delicate event in a stranger’s life. And then, a stranger unexpectedly arrives at your doorstep with paperwork, and you are met with suspicion and sometimes fear. They may think, am I in trouble? How did they find me? Is this a scam? Why didn’t they just call me? Your goal should never be to get a document signed or have a message delivered. Your goal is to break down the barrier known as uncertainty.

Make the First 30 Seconds Count

In 30 seconds or less, you need to explain yourself as efficiently and practically as possible. Always introduce yourself and maintain a pleasant demeanor. State who you are there representing and the adjuster’s name if possible. have your identification ready and portrayed. Then with your remaining 15 seconds, you need to explain why you are there in 2 sentences or less. Don’t dump their entire claim history on them, and don’t pressure them to sign or list the ways they’ll get in trouble if they do not cooperate. Tone matters: You want to maintain a cool and calm demeanor, enough so it communicates: I’m legitimate and we are here to help.

Treat Every Door Knock as a Fresh Contact

A good rule of thumb is to never guilt the insured. Even if we have tried calling and texting and emailing with no response, showing up to their home unannounced and claiming they have been difficult to get a hold of immediately puts them on the defensive. Treat every door knock as a fresh contact because if you treat them as uncooperative, you are fortifying the barrier between you both instead of breaking it down.

Explain the “Why”

So there you are after your 30 second spiel and you showed them the document to sign. Instead of demanding or pressuring them to sign, the best way is to explain the why. Why it matters, why it is in their best interest, why it protects them. People tend to cooperate more if they understand the why behind the request.

Read the Person Standing in Front of You

You’ll never know who you’ll get at the front door. You need to be ready to read cues, assess body language, and be thoughtful of your own and how it’s being presented to the insured. An important rule of thumb is to match the amount of conversation to the person in front of you. If you get someone chatty, let them speak. Often times you’ll get more details than their adjuster would. Alternatively, someone who exudes that they are too busy to speak with you means you need to give them a timeline of how long the interaction will take, and be up front with how long it will take. Someone who may be upset that you showed up at their door unannounced may need you to hear them out and vent before they start to cooperate. Sometimes just being heard is enough to establish that rapport.

Respect Physical and Personal Boundaries

Another important aspect of home visits is being mindful of your space. Don’t crowd the doorway. Take a step back from the doorbell camera so they can see you. Be respectful of any pets or children. If you’re speaking to neighbors, don’t disclose why you’re there; respect the insured’s privacy. Home visits require a delicate balance of persistence with respect for the individual and their privacy and boundaries.

Know When to Disengage

Then you may have insureds who have heard your spiel and don’t want to sign or cooperate. Building trust doesn’t mean it will force or encourage them to sign. This is where safety for the investigator comes into play. If the subject becomes hostile, refuses to let you speak, or in general if the circumstances of your visit feel unsafe, disengage immediately. Your role at this point is to ensure the interaction is documented accurately. This provides accurate and useful information for the adjuster regardless of the outcome of your visit. Information is always power.

Closing the Gap Between the Claim File and the Real World

Field visits are important because they can resolve issues that did not have answers previously. For example, a person may have passed, or moved, or their preferred contact method is different than how they were previously being contacted. We’re not just delivering paperwork. Sometimes we close an information gap between the claim and the real world. Even if the insured refuses to sign, field visits are valuable because it can still produce important information that the adjuster did not previously possess. At Hodson P.I., providing accurate reports and findings is an important part of the investigative work. It can help the adjuster determine the next viable steps in the claim. When unanswered calls and messages bring a claim to a standstill, connect with Hodson P.I. to move the investigation forward.

Make the Interaction Easier, Not Harder

Your primary goal at these visits is to not only get the document signed or delivered, but to make it clear why you are there as efficiently as possible. Be transparent, be concise, explain why you are there, respect the boundaries of the interaction, and document everything. The most productive home visits should never feel like pressure or confrontations. They should feel like two people working on solving a small problem together. And that is the biggest accomplishment you can achieve.

Author Bio:

Annette San Roman is a Case Manager I in Hodson P.I.’s Locate Department, where she supports senior case managers by handling assigned investigations and helping ensure cases move forward efficiently and accurately. Her responsibilities include conducting fieldwork throughout Southern California, contacting witnesses, completing research and documentation, and managing administrative and reporting duties in support of active investigations.