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SIAA Can Help You Do It!
How do you gather clients when all kinds of insurance agencies around you are losing them? You differentiate your independent insurance agency and make yourself unique.
It’s not easy to make your independent agency stand out when you work in the insurance industry. Competition is intense, and sometimes it can be hard to put your finger on exactly what sets you apart… and why customers should work with you as an independent agency instead of your competitor or directly with an insurance company.
Independent insurance agents don’t have the marketing budget of insurance carriers, but there are many ways to go about insurance marketing, and a good marketing strategy can set you apart as an independent agent, and grow your book of business with loyal clients who want to work with no one else. Knowing why customers choose you over competitors can drastically increase your sales.
Here are a few ideas for determining your selling proposition:
- Ask your customers. Send out a survey asking your existing customers why they chose to do business with you. Their answers might surprise you…and they might have little to do with pricing. Your customer service, knowledge, accessibility, or personality may have played a big role in making you their exclusive agent for life insurance, auto insurance, or multiple insurance policies.
- Consider pricing. As an insurance agent, you may not have much ability to control the pricing of the products you sell (that said, captive agents have even less autonomy.). But many customers - especially in the B2C market - are very price-conscious. They want to know they can afford what you sell.
You may not be able to reduce the prices on the plans you sell. But you may know a lot about why people get discounts or how to reduce the cost of their coverage. Advertising that you can help people find the coverage they can afford will go a long way to driving new business to you and helping you sell insurance.
Most agents work under pressure from existing clients whose relationships with the agencies are based on price alone. Selling price is easy. If you are competing in only that dimension, you either have the lowest price or you lose the client. But think about your most loyal clients, the ones who trust you to protect them and count on you as their insurance advisor. Cost is certainly a consideration for them, as well as for the price-shopper. But most subscribe to the ‘You Get What You Pay For’ philosophy.
Consider customer service. How accessible are you to your customers? Can they reach you across all forms of social media? Do you spend time with them on the phone to answer questions and guide them through difficult insurance questions?
Some customers value a reassuring presence that can help them solve insurance issues, especially when they have a claim. Using this to set you apart can help you tap into that anxiety about insurance being too complicated to understand.
One thing is for sure: selling price alone will be an uphill battle every day. Make your life as an independent agency easier… DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF!
Questions? Let SIAA Help You!
-----John Egan, SIAA – Agency Growth Coach
