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Building insurance
Building a successful insurance
business comes only when you develop and implement a widespread marketing plan. Your agency business plan should include the
outline of this marketing plan.
Success in marketing insurance
products now also requires a versatile approach. No longer can you rely on one or two methods
of marketing insurance and financial products.
Simply put, use every available company approved method to market your
agency.
Some ideas that worked several
years ago may still be as effective, but others may not. Many marketing tools are as old as the
insurance industry and are still very effective. There are also many new marketing methods
that can be utilized today. Here are
some that have found to be very effective.
Networking. In the long run, no more effective way
exists to find new business than through networking. Networking can be talented in many ways
it is all about developing and maintaining relationships.
Advertising.
No better way exists to get your name out fast and keep it out in
your community than local advertising.
This can be talented through a countless of avenues, including your
local newspaper, billboards, radio, policyholder newsletters, company
sponsored direct mailing programs, and a host of items in the company
sponsored advertising handbook.
Items in the handbook include proposals and sales aids that help
advertise your business. Some
companies now have this information online to make it easy to access and
order what is appropriate for you.
Also consider that most companies have cooperative programs that
share in the cost of some advertising.
But like any other marketing strategy, your message must be
consistent and repetitive.
Only
with an ongoing repetitive strategy will advertising get you positive
results. Short term advertising
generally will get you only short term results or no results at all. The best advertising is to have a
strategically placed office in an area with high exposure. Make it impossible for your clients and
prospects to pass your office without seeing it. Remember, your company does a great job
of brandling its name, but to be recognized, you must do a great job of
branding your own name.
Cold calling.
Cold calling still is an appropriate and viable way of marketing
your agency. Cold calling requires
a lot of discipline. But remember
that cold calling is just a fast way to build your agency, not something
you will have to continue to do to build your agency. At some point in your career cold
calling can come to an end. Only
you can decide when that time is right for you.
Door to door.
This is the oldest form of marketing in the insurance business and
still one of the most effective for writing good new business. Many financial brokerage firms require
their representatives to go door to door so as to meet people face to
face. Because people like to see
with whom they are doing business, there is no more effective way to write
solid business that will stay on the books than going door to door. This is also an effective way to
prospect business owners for their insurance during daytime hours.
High touch service.
Never underestimate the power of marketing your agency by providing
high touch service. People today expect
good service when they call your agency.
Very successful agents provide not only good service, but also the
high touch service policyholders do not expect. Nothing will be more effective in your
entire agency operation to drive new business from referrals and customer
retention than your providing high touch service. Nearly every service related telephone
call is an opportunity to market your products to your policyholder. If you do not have a message when a
person is on hold, you are missing an opportunity to market even in
downtime. As you can see, many
methods are available to market and grow your agency. Agents must find a marketing plan that
works for their personality and situation.
Each community also presents different challenges and
opportunities. Work with your
district manager to find the right marketing strategy for you and your
community. Remember"The more
seeds you plant, the more you will have to harvest". So plant, plant, plant, and you will
reap results guaranteed.
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