Insurance may be a tough market. If you sell life, you've probably noticed the apparent shift towards low-commission term life vs. the higher paying whole life. If you're within the P&C crowd, you've noticed the fixation on the low price game (and when comparing two companies towards with one has no affiliation, price may be a big initial selling point). Selling insurance isn't as easy because it was in years past. People are strapped for cash, so their buying fewer and smaller policies lately , and a bent to "jump ship" for a rather reduced premium (even before contacting their current agent) has created a volatile market and -- for several agents -- volatile books of business. during this modern and touchy insurance market, there are a couple of key belongings you can do to both grow your business and increase your persistency rates.
Many agents have turned to calling "cold leads," or maybe trying to get "warm leads" to contact and eventually make a purchase . While I'm not getting to deny the initial usefulness of leads as a partial business solution, they can't be the entire game. Most insurance leads are getting to be the aforementioned price-shoppers, and if they're willing to dump their present carrier for you to save lots of a couple of hundred dollars a year, what does one think they'll do when somebody else comes along who offers them a far better deal than you?
So, instead of become dependent upon leads, there are some steps you'll take today to extend both the quantity of business on your books and also the persistency of your book of business. In no particular order, here they're .
Increase Your Accessibility To Your Clients. Call them. ask them. Build that relation. The #1 reason that folks don't switch to cheaper insurance is a longtime relation with their present agent. Growing up, my family had "our" agent, and our agent knew our whole family by sight! I'd never think to modify to anyone else once I knew that "Larry" would have my best interests in mind.
Have Your Clients Best Interests In Mind. bound to work sort of a charm, if you follow step 1's advice and call them, such a lot better to call them once you can save them some money. It seems counter intuitive to some agents to supply their clients a less expensive plan than what they need presently, but if you would like to cement your clients into place for the end of the day , nothing does that like calling them to save lots of them money over what they're already paying.
Differentiate Your Agency From Your Competition. this will be the foremost rewarding step, and also the foremost challenging, because it'd force you out of your temperature . refund to your community (which increases visibility, which also helps you under step 1). Volunteer. help at local schools or community organizations. This looks like a no brainer , but join your local chamber of commerce! These simple steps cause you to more visible, but also cause you to stand call at sharp relief to your competition!
Expand Your Portfolio. Along an equivalent lines as step three, offering plans that your competition doesn't offer may be a good way to further cement your book in situ . Studies have repeatedly shown that the more policies a customer has with a specific agent, the less likely they're to modify . the matter most agents face immediately is what to feature . the normal insurance market is admittedly over-saturated, hence the worth competition.
One insurance agent i do know has likened the insurance market to fishing in an over-fished and under-stocked pond. But there are some markets which, though less traditional, are starting to show themselves as viable markets. I'll high-light just two of those under-fished, over-stocked ponds here.
The first is pet insurance. because the number of youngsters per family has declined, the amount of pets per family has increased, and more and more those pets are getting a neighborhood of our families. Veterinary bills are pricey, so some clients are jumping at the chance to hide Rover's risks for an inexpensive price. Still a novelty by most standards, this is often certainly a viable market with little penetration as of yet.
The second area of open ground is legal insurance or "pre-paid legal plans". Broker world declared that, though once a novelty, the concept of pre-paid legal plans has come "from a novelty to an accepted insurance marketing opportunity." (March 2003) While many of us may have a knee-jerk reaction of "I've never needed an attorney" when initially broaching the subject , our increasingly litigious society is making the notion of legal coverage something beyond a practicality -- in many cases the service is bordering on a necessity. Most plans will cover a spread of issues, including: Consultation about personal and business matters, phone calls and letters on behalf of the members, contract and document review, will preparation, automobile coverage, trial coverage, audit coverage and more, including fraud protection and 24 hour "emergency legal coverage".
The benefits of expanding your portfolio are manifold: from the power to contact your present book with something they will get nowhere else - which causes you to more accessible (#1), differentiates you (#3), and shows that you've got got your clients interests in mind (#3). Moreover, the power to seek out new business where otherwise there would be none, including the power to figure insurance markets outside of your assigned territory (if you've got one), are often very liberating -- and lucrative! Many businesses won't consider changing insurance policies fairly often , but they're going to entertain offering a highly wanted benefit which may demonstrably increase their bottom line and worker satisfaction. And getting oneo's foot in these doors gets an agent one step closer to having the ability to talk to the advantage of considering switching other insurance products (Health, Life, Dental, etc).
Not only that, but with generally no claim forms and simplified applications, the power for onsite group enrollments with payroll deduction, and usually very generous commission structures, offering a non-traditional insurance product are often a viable thanks to help new agents get their foot in many doors which might be otherwise closed off.
Relying solely or totally on insurance results in expand and grow one's business while neglecting one's extant one's book of business may be a mistake. many thousands of dollars are potentially on the table for an agent with a book of just 500-1000 clients. These are services your clients are getting to buy, shouldn't it's you that they pip out from?
Justin West married with three children, holds a BA in Philosophy and a BA in history, and at 30 is presently working towards his MA in Philosophy. He authors the blog http://www.LifeAfterLiberalArts.com, and works as a legal benefits broker, helping small insurance agencies gain dominancy in their local markets. More information for brokers and agents are often found at Insurance.JustinWest.Biz.
One insurance agent i do know has likened the insurance market to fishing in an over-fished and under-stocked pond. But there are some markets which, though less traditional, are starting to show themselves as viable markets. I'll high-light just two of those under-fished, over-stocked ponds here.
The first is pet insurance. because the number of youngsters per family has declined, the amount of pets per family has increased, and more and more those pets are getting a neighborhood of our families. Veterinary bills are pricey, so some clients are jumping at the chance to hide Rover's risks for an inexpensive price. Still a novelty by most standards, this is often certainly a viable market with little penetration as of yet.
The second area of open ground is legal insurance or "pre-paid legal plans". Broker world declared that, though once a novelty, the concept of pre-paid legal plans has come "from a novelty to an accepted insurance marketing opportunity." (March 2003) While many of us may have a knee-jerk reaction of "I've never needed an attorney" when initially broaching the subject , our increasingly litigious society is making the notion of legal coverage something beyond a practicality -- in many cases the service is bordering on a necessity. Most plans will cover a spread of issues, including: Consultation about personal and business matters, phone calls and letters on behalf of the members, contract and document review, will preparation, automobile coverage, trial coverage, audit coverage and more, including fraud protection and 24 hour "emergency legal coverage".
The benefits of expanding your portfolio are manifold: from the power to contact your present book with something they will get nowhere else - which causes you to more accessible (#1), differentiates you (#3), and shows that you've got got your clients interests in mind (#3). Moreover, the power to seek out new business where otherwise there would be none, including the power to figure insurance markets outside of your assigned territory (if you've got one), are often very liberating -- and lucrative! Many businesses won't consider changing insurance policies fairly often , but they're going to entertain offering a highly wanted benefit which may demonstrably increase their bottom line and worker satisfaction. And getting oneo's foot in these doors gets an agent one step closer to having the ability to talk to the advantage of considering switching other insurance products (Health, Life, Dental, etc).
Not only that, but with generally no claim forms and simplified applications, the power for onsite group enrollments with payroll deduction, and usually very generous commission structures, offering a non-traditional insurance product are often a viable thanks to help new agents get their foot in many doors which might be otherwise closed off.
Relying solely or totally on insurance results in expand and grow one's business while neglecting one's extant one's book of business may be a mistake. many thousands of dollars are potentially on the table for an agent with a book of just 500-1000 clients. These are services your clients are getting to buy, shouldn't it's you that they pip out from?
Justin West married with three children, holds a BA in Philosophy and a BA in history, and at 30 is presently working towards his MA in Philosophy. He authors the blog http://www.LifeAfterLiberalArts.com, and works as a legal benefits broker, helping small insurance agencies gain dominancy in their local markets. More information for brokers and agents are often found at Insurance.JustinWest.Biz.
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