News for May 2009

The 4 Hugest Insurance Agency Marketing Mistakes Ever!

Nothing is more essential to being successful in the insurance game than effective marketing. 

Nothing.

If you are amazing at marketing you might succeed, but if you cannot promote your business you will definitely fail. During several years in insurance, I saw uncountable advertising mistakes. Save yourself by avoiding the most popular four.

1 - The first error is failing to plan.

I am perpetually astonished at the quantity of insurance agents who do not properly prepare their advertising plan beforehand. Some insurance agents simply set aside a certain amount of their budget and try to spread it evenly through the year. Responding to sales representatives that meet you is not a smart approach. You really need to take time to make a plan for marketing your agency. Think about your prime customers and allocate your budget based on the different mediums that you think will reach them. If your target customers are retired folks you may use a more traditional approach. If you’re targeting clients with many lines of insurance, you will want to spend a majority of your funds on online advertising.

2 - The second agent error is not tracking the effectiveness of various advertising strategies.

Marketing is constantly changing, and what was successful before may not reach target customers today. You always should perpetually try different methods and if you fail to track your results you will never know what to modify. Make sure to learn how each client of yours contacted your business and invest more resources toward the things that bring customers, and stop paying for the ones that are a waste.

3 - The third mistake is utilyzing former strategies.

I know the previous methods of branding your name no longer work. Insurance Salespeople of the past believed that if they bought marketing all around town, prospects would remember their agency when they shop for insurance and contact the agency. That does not work any more. Moving forward, a person could drive past your billboard twice a day for ten years still use the internet to shop. The intent now is to be the first second or third agency they contact when they are searching for insurance. The place to market is on the web.

4 - The final agent advertising error is not using your customer base.

Some individuals don’t go online for insurance, they consult other people. That is why it is fundamental that you develop a referral program where you reward customers for referring people they know. Ensure each customer knows about it and that they always have your phone number. Ensure this by convincing them to program your phone number into their mobile phone in case they get in an accident.
In order to be successful at advertising, you must be ready to evolve. Properly proportioning your budget from the onset, utilyzing new techniques like using the internet, using your current clients, and keeping track of your results will help you head off all these slips and help you develop customers.

Edited: May 23rd, 2009

InsuranceSplash Posts Video On YouTube

Here is the Insurance Splash explanation video from YouTube.  This is also featured on the front page of their site, InsuranceSplash

Edited: May 23rd, 2009

Amplify Referrals From Your Insurance Agency

In today’s marketplace there are only two ways most of Americans search for new insurance. The first tactic is researching online, the other method is asking their associates. You can educate yourself about online advertising in other articles of mine; for this piece I am going to concentrate on the best strategies for getting referrals from your current book of business.

Develop a referral program

If you are operating without a referral plan, you need to create one ASAP. This means a planned way of paying back clients who refer new customers to you. Different states have limits on the amount you may spend on one referrer for referring an insurance agency. Whether it is with gift certificates, gas cards, or a check, my advice is to pay your clients as much as you can within the limits of the law. There is no more effective way to spend money for new business I write this because referred clients are surely the best type of new consumer. They buy easier because you often already have their respect, and since the majority of people will not send unsafe individuals to your business, they are frequently better for your expense ratio. Never be stingy when it comes to sending new clients; think you sell more effectively when you are rewarded more from your carriers?

Make sure every insured understands your rewards.

Unless each client in your agency realizes that you compensate for referred clients and how you reward them, you are not going to see the best results. Never neglect to reference the referral program with each and every positive client communication you have. In your agency, make a very prominent display that shows the rewards available for referrals so no one could come into the office without noticing it. Stuff information about your referral program in every piece of mail you send your customers. Update the signature in your email system to advertise your referral program in all the messages you send. Spend time during every policy review and when you write new business to discuss the referral program. The important thing to remember when you talk to clients about your program is to emphasize the benefits to them if they send referrals.

Guide your clientele to refer.

It might sound weird, but you should to instruct your clients how to send you business. I have constantly alleged that an educated client is the best customer and this certainly is true for referrals. When you spend the time to explain coverages to your clients you are not only building your connection with them, you are also providing the tools to teach others about insurance and explain the benefits of your agency. Once you identify an insurance need, request the customer to think of others they know that could have the same liability. Customers are constantly animated to sound bright to their friends. Also, when clients comprehend about all the products and services you give, not only do you initiate the possibility for cross-selling but your clients are more able to identify needs in other people they know and refer your office. Provide your clients specific suggestions about referrals like, “who else in your knitting group would we be able to assist?”

Offer Clients the Tools to Send Business to Your Agency

Often the only thing stopping your existing clients from referring your insurance agency is not having your website information readily available. Persuade every client to key in your phone number into their phone so they can call you in the course of an accident. This works excellent because it develops the idea that you will be there for them if they need you, and it allows them to hold on to your phone number all the time. I also suggest creating small tags with the policy, your phone number, and the local emergency phone numbers for them to put on their keys. You can do the same on a card that fits in a wallet. The key is giving clients a way to have your contact information 24/7 without them knowing it.

Implement Your Insurance Referral Reward Program

The leading error agency owners make about referrals is failing to follow through. If you pronounce you will remind every client about referring new business make certain your staff and you do. If a client says who referred them, don’t forget to send a thank you card. If you plan the strategy beginning to end at the beginning, you will have an easier time doing what you said.

And never forget the most crucial rule for referrals - Ask!

Edited: May 3rd, 2009