Brand is critical to an insurance agent for one overwhelmingly simple reason: Brand builds--or kills--referrals.
Brand is who you are, it's what you stand for. If you really want to know what your Brand is, eavesdrop on what the client says about you. Novices think Brand is the logo of your agency or the company you represent; or that Brand is the cute advertising slogan you run.
Nope. Brand is the aggregate of what the customer perceives you to be. And if you want that perception to be positive, you need to make sure that your marketing and sales communications deliver a series of positive messages to the customer that support your Brand.
One of the most critical of the messages any insurance marketing can provide is the message of "Care". Now, right away with male insurance agents we might be putting ourselves in hot water even by mentioning the word. Guys are tough, guys are business-like, and guys aren't supposed to be sappy when it comes to real-world business transactions like insurance.
Yet every customer wants to know that you pay attention to them, that when the chips are down you and your company will be there for them. In a world of intense competition--in an industry with hundreds of advertising messages screaming at the client each week--you need something about your own Brand that quietly reinforces to your client that you will be there when they need you most: Claim time.
Of course you care about your clients. Whether you sell them business or personal lines, you want them to prosper and flourish. Plus, if they do well and grow you'll have the opportunity to sell them new products as you continue to develop the relationship with them.
But how well do you signal the fact that you care? Michael Porter, in his book Competitive Advantage, reaffirms how vital it is for a company to communicate to its customers not only what value you bring to the customer, but also the lack of value that your competitors bring (p. 155). Of course, tact and creativity is urged when pursuing the latter. Arrogance and one-upmanship can quickly devastate an agent's brand.
If you don't signal that you care, then the client might not pick up on it. One good way to signal to the client that you are caring is getting back to the policy-holder quickly. If you are consistent in returning calls quickly, then it's a good idea to occasionally remind the client of this. You don't have to be heavy-handed about it at all; you can just say something like: "Did we do a good job getting back to you on that last quote?" Subtle questions like this will typically reinforce to the client that you are looking out for them and trying hard.
Of course, sometimes clients will also point out to you that you didn't get back to them soon enough, and then you have an opportunity to fix what you didn't do right.
Marketing yourself, as an insurance agent, is much more nuanced than simply buying leads and coming up with a good slogan. Every customer contact must reflect your brand--it must reinforce who you are.
Besides promptness in getting back to the policyholder you need to identify other actions you can take that show you care. Some suggestions:
No matter what people say, no matter how gruff their exterior, almost every one of them has friends or associates which they can refer you to, Make sure that the policyholder feels they are cared about, and you'll get those referrals.
And that's a source of new insurance leads more precious than money can buy.
Craig Lutz-Priefert is Vice President of an insurance lead generation firm. MorePolicies.com provides insurance marketing services for local insurance agents. MorePolicies.com also provides quality natural insurance leads and agent-engineered websites.
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