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Auto insurance for just about any driver can often become fairly costly, and that's grown into a greater concern for many Americans over the last few years in particular, as premiums charged by most insurers have routinely risen. For this reason, many drivers may now be on the lookout for a number of different ways to reduce these ongoing but necessary costs, and therefore, it might be wise for insurance agents to do more to help them in those efforts. That, in turn, might prevent them from thinking about shopping around.

The question for agents, therefore, typically becomes one of which types of discounts are most popular and available to the largest number of drivers, according to a report from New England Cable News. And while the obvious answer to this question is, ""the biggest ones,"" the fact of the matter is that the actual reason for the reduced cost on their policy might matter at least a little bit to consumers.

What does this mean?
For instance, if they can get a discount just for their personal circumstances, such as being a member of a certain group, that might help them to feel better about their policies, the report said. This can also apply to living in certain places, or driving less than the average person. In addition, drivers might also be able to obtain a number of smaller discounts just by making different choices. For example, switching to electronic documentation from paper-only, or just having grades. Of course, no insurer has the exact same discount offering as another, and as such, agents might need to do a little more work to connect with people in this regard.

Insurance agents who can find the occasional discount for their clients will likely have some amount of success in retaining them, because this is the kind of thing consumers generally appreciate - both because of the savings and the perceived effort that can go into such savings. However, those that also regularly work with their clients to find the best possible policies that fit their needs - while still providing good savings opportunities - may go even farther in this regard. Studies have shown policyholders actually value strong customer service just as much as or perhaps even more than just paying as little as possible, and the right combination of these two factors could keep satisfaction and retention rates as high as possible.

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