Have you heard of the “My Guy” philosophy? It goes like this: Our customers seem to have “their guy” or “their gal”—and as long as their business partners are providing simply average service at a competitive price, they will continue to utilize the services of that vendor. Wrong!
Over the years, we have observed the mistakes of many salespeople in many different types of “selling situations” in trying to acquire and retain business. Although the actual approach or style will always vary, there are many common pitfalls that can trap salespeople. Here are the most prominent:
Personal lines competition continues to intensify unabated as more and more players enter the marketplace. However, independent agents CAN fight back…IF they are willing to make some fundamental changes in the way they do business. In this article, I’ll present seventeen ways your agency can compete and WIN in personal lines.
The silliest of all marketing and advertising mistakes is when agency owners get caught up designing fancy headlines, logos, slogans and toll-free numbers, and forget the number-one feature of their firms: their people. You build a local insurance brand with people. Your employees literally are living the brand every day. They touch your customers and…
Sales people are the front end of many businesses. For many companies, they are the most influential person in the client relationship. For this reason, if for no other, it is critical that sales people know, understand, believe and support the company’s goals and objectives. They should have internalized the company spirit so that it…
With all of the discussion in recent years about the importance of understanding our customer’s needs, it’s a valuable exercise to try to see ourselves as we might be perceived by our customers. For example, if a customer glances out the office window as we march from the visitor’s lot towards their fortress, briefcases and…
Personal lines, like life insurance, can be a more difficult sale than commercial lines. Generally speaking, most consumers look at home and auto insurance as a commodity. So, if you want to grow your personal lines book, what can you do? Recently, we were asked just that question, so we solicited some suggestions from our…
Jeff is a 22 year old producer who has been in the insurance business for less than a year. He came from a finance industry company where he was involved in outside sales. He’s having trouble launching his insurance sales career and is curious what can benefit him right now and what he can do…
Question: I was wondering if there were any specific marketing techniques that other insurance agents have used that could help a young agent (less than one year in the business) get more of a “grip” or hold in the market. Is there a tried and true method utilized to get a young agent’s name more…
Your agency has a commercial marketing department, but you have the option of either marketing an account yourself or using the marketing department. Most producers do it themselves since they have a perception of not getting a thorough and complete job from the department. Assuming that you have a completed submission, what do you do?
