Agents Marketing Insurance Badly

From an insurance agent...

Greetings Scott,

I just read an article you wrote regarding (employment practices liability insurance. I am a brand new agent with both L&H, P&C licenses. I had never heard of this before, but find it intriguing.

I have been prospecting for several months now with very limited success. My focus is on commercial lines. Do you have any words of wisdom when soliciting new clients? My modus operandi is to go to a tall office building, start at the top and work my way down. I realize that I need to get to the HR/Personnel department, but I am always stopped at the reception desk.

Is there a “Letter of Introduction” I could use in email format that might help?

Thank you in advance.

Name Withheld

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan,

Thanks for you note.

First, you need to get up-to-speed on the insurance products you sell. Your statement that you had never heard of EPLI is shocking, as you are a licensed agent. Call your state insurance agent association and get yourself enrolled in some classes. The CIC program is an excellent place to start. The insurers and brokers you represent can also offer help.

Second, you need some guidance in marketing. Cold calling - on the phone or in person - is the most unprofessional way to sell. It also will not get you the results you need. Frankly, HR is almost never where insurance or benefit decisions are REALLY made. I've found few HR people who are real decision makers - they can say "no" - they can not say "yes" without approval from someone else. You need to market to the decision makers.

Start by reading Seth Godin's book, Permission Marketing. Then read his book Purple Cow. Then his book, Meatball Sundae. Order them from Amazon and you can start reading tomorrow.

Third, you need a coach. Someone to guide you and provide feedback. After you have enrolled in a class and read the books I suggest, call me. I provide mentoring for insurance agents on just such issues. My clients are exceptionally successful. You can be a super star too.

My intent above was not to offend. You need serious help if you are going to survive in this business. If you want help, I'm here to give it.

Regards,
Scott

Interruption Marketing

If you are going to use interruption marketing, at least get the name of your city right!

I just got two Robo-Calls from a local car dealer telling me about their great deals. Annoying at best! The recording mispronounced the name of the city the dealer is in!

Interruption marketing is bone-headed. Using an out-of-state marketing firm who screws up the message is pathetic. Not checking the message going out is idiotic!

Cold Calling

Here's a letter to the editor I wrote to the insurance magazine The Standard on one of my favorite peeves, cold calling.

Sir,

I'm prompted to write in response to your article, "Sensible Sales Strategies Work, South Shore Agents Learn" (The Standard, April 25, 2008).

Hogwash!

The strategies espoused by Mr. Nanigan may have worked in the last century, but they are ineffective in 2008. Interruption marketing techniques like cold calling are the last resort of desperate, unsuccessful salespeople. Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping they will be interrupted in their work by phone spam. No business person, upon realizing that they are talking with a cold-caller, thinks, "It's my lucky day, an insurance salesperson is calling me!" What professional would want to start a relationship with such a negative.

Cold-calling does nothing for you. The occasional successful appointment only teases cold-callers into thinking that they are being productive. In reality, of twenty unsolicited calls you make, nineteen of the people on the other end of the phone think that you must be a loser if this is the only way you can get new business. Stop cold calling.

Even the suspect who does allow you to meet with them thinks poorly of you, as you started the relationship on a negative. Your chances of establishing a profitable long-term relationship are almost zero.

In my twenty years as an agent I made my share (and more) of cold calls. Even ten years ago they were limited in their success. Now, cold calling just irritates potential suspects.

Now to Mr. Nanigan's most outrageous advice: if you can't get through to someone, deceive them with a tricky voice mail message. His suggestion that you leave a short message claiming that the conversation is important is the pinnacle of arrogance. Clearly, the call is important to you. The person you call will be less than thrilled at being hoodwinked by your message. Would you buy from someone who deceived you into calling? Who wants to treated that way?

If you consider yourself to be a professional you will act as a professional. Market yourself by showing exceptional value to your clients. Referrals from clients can open the doors to their friends who need (and deserve) your help. Write articles for your local newspaper and trade publications. Speak to industry association meetings. Be seen by your market as the go-to person for insurance help. Create a body of knowledge and work that causes great prospects to seek you out. Such marketing gravity puts you in your prospect's mind as a vital, valuable resource. Price now becomes a secondary matter in the insurance transaction.

Mr. Nanigan's suggestions, as made in your article, are misguided at best, unethical at worse. Insurance professionals are better than that.

Regards,
Scott Simmonds, CPCU, ARM, CMC
Insurance Consultant & Coach

The Do-Not-Do List

I once saw a cartoon that showed a road sign, "Stamp Out and Eliminate Redundancy."

I've always enjoyed such plays on words. There is the Miss Piggy joke, allegedly the world's smallest joke, "Precocious, Moi?"

Then, there is the mathematician joke, "There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who can count, and those who can't."

Such comments point to their own absurdity. Some would say that what I'm about to say is absurd. Bare with me, though.

Add to your to-do list a do-not-to-do list.

Most successful people have some kind of list of the actions they want to take or the goals they want to accomplish. Some use paper, some use their computer. Some are simple while some are complicated. Whole books are written on to-do lists. There are literally hundreds of websites and computer programs to help you track your actions.

However you keep track of your to-dos, add a list of those things you will not do.

Business thinker Peter Drucker said, "There is nothing so useless than that which is done effectively that should not be done at all." He also asked executives what things they have stopped doing.

Is there a line of business you should no longer be in? Is there a service you should not be offering your customers? Is there a business practice you will no longer engage in?

What activities have you performed in the past that no longer provide value to you or your customers?

What duties can be delegated or outsourced? Are there others in your company who could learn from new duties?

Consider the best things for you to do as well as those things you should stop doing.

Seth Godin Career Advice

I sat down yesterday and read Seth Godin's book, The Dip. It came out a year or so ago. I'm not sure why I didn't read it then as I'm a Seth Godin fan.

Many great take aways - one in particular for my readers who are stuck and thinking about making a change...

"The time to look for a job is when you don't need one."

This isn't new advice for most of us. I have coached hundreds of people - young and old - to prepare for job changes now. Build your network. Contact old friends and acquaintances you have not talked to in some time. Have coffee with that person you met two months ago who seemed interesting.

At some point, when you do make a change, you can not have too many people on your side.

Tiger Woods

"I don't see how you can live with yourself not trying and not giving your best. I don't see how you can go home and say, 'I didn't give it my best.' People do that. I don't know how they do that. That, to me, is unacceptable.

"I've got four or five hours out there. I don't see how you can't go out and give it everything you have. You've got 19 other hours to recover. I don't see how you can think any other way."

Tiger Woods
3/21/08 As Quoted by the LA Times

Google Calendar and Gmail

A few months ago, I realized how poor a job Microsoft Outlook was doing for me in managing emails and my calendar. I dipped my toe in the water of Google Apps by starting with their calendar. After a few days I made the leap and moved my email to Gmail.

I think they both are great.

The calendar is quite intuitive. I can view and edit entries from any computer. I don't have to sync my laptop; I just grab it and go. I can even access "public" calendars that add the Bruins and Red Sox games to my listings. I can post my calendar so clients can see it. I can allow my family to see my detailed calendar so they can plan family events.

Gmail is even more impressive. The spam filter is the best I've used. The system groups emails by conversation so all are stored together and easily accessible so I can see what was said by whom. The filters allow for setting priorities and categories. Again, my emails are accessible from any computer.

The only issue I found was the idea of a backup of the emails and data. I solved that by the use of a bcc of each email being sent to another mailbox I have set up. Google Calendar now syncs with Outlook - so I use Outlook as my backup for calendar data.

I've blogged before about my efforts to lessen my work intercity. The use of great tools like Google Apps is helping me with that effort.

Simple and Straightforward

The other day I had to refill a few prescriptions. My local pharmacy has a service where you can order refills by phone.

I called the number, followed the simple instructions, and entered the first prescription number. Then the second and the third. The nice recorded voice told me my prescriptions would be ready at 11:00. I stopped by the drug store while doing other errands, paid my co-pay, and was on my way.

Simple, efficient and straightforward. Worked great. No long-winded message, no spamming me trying to sell other products. Just great service.

Think of this the next time you design a service or product. What does your customer want from you? What are their expectations? Make it easy to do business with you and you'll get customers returning time after time after time.

Showing Off

I'm not sure why this didn't come to me sooner.

Most of my clients repeat with me. They retain me for a second, third, and forth project.

Today, it dawned on me that I should indicate multiple projects on my list of clients to show off the value my clients feel they get from me.

I added a symbol to my list of clients this morning.

Show off the fact that your customers and clients are pleased with your work. Use testimonials and your client list as proof of your value.

Fax Machine Set Up

I just set my fax machine to ignore faxes sent by "Unknown" fax machines.

Every week I get twenty or more spam faxes. All of them seem to come from "Unknown." Health insurance and travel bargains seem to be the favored topic.

Set your fax machine up correctly. Use the setup feature to display your fax number on the header (that little line at the top of inbound faxes).

Stamp out spam faxes.