by Syndicated Insurance Resources | Nov 29, 2017
Holidays create a mixed bag of merriment and stress for everyone. It can also be Since insurance marketing is a long-term endeavor, any gifts or random acts of kindness can go a long way to engender your brand in the future.
Use this busy time of year to focus on building relationships and awareness about your insurance business. Pouring into your prospects and customers during peek times of stress is sure to pay off when they are seeking renewals or new policies in the future.
Here are some ways to do this:
- Send handwritten holiday cards.
- Stand out by sending your notes early in the season.
- Mail gift cards to restaurants.
- Participate and/or sponsor community events.
- Organize local charity drives.
- Write helpful blog posts.
- Create holiday preparation and “how to” videos.
- Provide special insurance packages.
- Donate money to a cause.
- Invite customers to festive happy hours.
- Promote your donations or sponsorships.
- Host a customer thank you dinner
- Schedule a holiday open house.
- Create a fun light or window display.
- Give away stocking stuffers.
- Deliver gift baskets to your customers.
- Organize a virtual ugly sweater contest.
- Post the results on your website and social channels.
- Promote the contest and results in your newsletter.
- Offer holiday help, eg. gift wrapping services.
- Create 12 days of deals with special bundles.
- Educate and promote about your 12 days of deals benefits.
The holiday season provides tremendous opportunities to build awareness about your insurance business. Start today by making a list of what you’re going to do to help your brand stand out during the holidays.
Investing in others is daunting task. But it is sure to pay strong dividends over time.
by Syndicated Insurance Resources | Nov 22, 2017
Holidays create a flurry of projects, as well as a mixed bag of merriment and stress for your insurance business, customers and their employees. While productivity for holiday-related activities increases, workflow is potentially impacted. Here are a few tips to offer your employer-clients to help employees survive holiday stress.
Encourage Eating Right. Treats seem to magically appear in mass quantities over the holiday season. From baked goods to potluck dishes — the opportunity to overindulge and gorge on yummy things can lead to sluggish behavior. Suggest that your employer-clients find ways to encourage healthy choices.
Promote Wellness: Colds and flus tend to spread during the fall and winter. Advocate wellness practices like frequently washing hands and staying home when sick, etc. Place hand sanitizers and tissues around your office. Suggest that your employer-clients engage their teams by asking employees to share creative activities that encourage staying well.
Reward Employees. Show employees that the work they do is valued and appreciated. Give gifts to those who go the extra mile. Suggest employer-clients bring in a chair massage therapist for a day for their overachievers. Other ideas include: Buying gift cards. Creating special awards. Giving handwritten thank you notes for a job well done. Finding other ways to publicly acknowledge employees who take initiative to get things done. If you have the budget for it, offer to pay for some of these things as a thank you to your employer-client.
Provide Flexible Scheduling. Help team members balance work and personal schedules by offering adjustable hours. Allow remote work opportunities. Consider four-day work weeks with longer workdays. Build a trust relationships with clear expectations by allowing employees to accomplish goals in an adjustable shift and/or telework environment.
Increase Holiday Pay. Buying gifts places additional financial stress on some employees. Consider offering additional shifts to earn more money over the holidays.
The holiday season is a perfect time for you and your employer-clients to showcase gratitude and compassion. Remove chaos by taking steps to ensure a safe environment is created for team members.
How do can you help employer-clients and their employees cope with stress?
by Syndicated Insurance Resources | Nov 9, 2017
Selling insurance is an art that you have to hone and develop continuously. This occurs by practicing your craft and using a variety of ways to find prospective customers, develop a rapport and showcase the value you bring to them.
Since technology has filled the insurance business landscape with competitiveness, you need to find ways to increase your sales and revenue.
Here are some tips to consider when trying to create and maintain a viable practice:
Listen to Client Conversations. The key is to hone in on the emotions in their words. This can help you uncover your clients’ needs. In doing so, you can tailor the recommendations you make to address their pain points.
Set 90-Day Goals. Annual goals are great but seem a bit lofty. It is hard to measure success and make needed pivots when you’re looking at an entire year. Focus on goals you can achieve within a 90-day time period. You still map out the whole year, but you break it into 90-day chunks that are more manageable. You can easily tweak the upcoming 90-days based on real-time experiences.
Educate about Solutions. Most salespeople are product focused. If you focus on educating about the solutions you offer to solve your prospective client’s needs you’ll create a more engaging conversation that can convert to a sale.
Don’t Be Pushy. Keep in touch with prospects and clients but don’t overdo it. You run the risk of irritating people if you are overly persistent. This can make them reject an offer. Being pushy can get prospective clients to unplug from you and not want to do business with you in the future.
Keep Determined. No matter what happens, never give up. Use your setbacks as learning opportunities. Analyze what occurred and address potential problems. Tweak your process using new strategies. Implement your new approach. Remain committed to meet your goals.
Nurture Your Pipeline. Building relationships can help you close more sales. Connect with contacts on social media. Send personalized, targeted emails. Remember the small things – like birthdays. Set up coffee dates for one-on-one time. Make connections for them by introducing your clients to each other as appropriate.
Make Everyone Feel Important. Give personal attention. Make each client feel like a VIP. Treat them like gold by providing finding ways to offer value and always being available. Let others feel like they are a top priority by focusing on them. Put the smartphone down and look into their eyes. Stop multitasking when you’re on the phone with someone, so they can tell you’re engaged in what they are saying. Find ways to say and show you appreciate them genuinely.
Categorize Your Clients. Some clients need more attention as you develop the relationship while others only require maintenance. By classifying your clients, you can determine which ones need more of your time. This can help you devote your limited resources to those who need it the most.
Commit to Networking. Expand your business by joining a group that meets weekly. This could be a coffee group, an entrepreneurial group, Rotary or Kiwanis. You can find community in person or online through platforms like LinkedIn. Participating in local events can also get your name in front of people in your target market. Regardless of which one you choose, you’ll reap the rewards of the time and energy you put into it.
Leverage Technology. Finding quotes for the right products and services is very time-consuming. Tap into free networks that help do the research for you. When you sign up for a free Syndicated Insurance Resources account, you get access to more than 150 markets and 40+ unique product offerings. You also receive commissions that are higher than others. Using a free tool that saves you time and money? What more could you want? Have questions? Email [email protected] today.
Sharpening your insurance selling skills can help you remain competitive and grow your business. As you know, there are many options to use. Implement the ones that work for you and add to it over time. Remember: Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
by Syndicated Insurance Resources | Nov 2, 2017
Getting your client to say yes to your proposal seems like the ultimate end game. But closing the deal is really just a part of the process. You should consider collecting a series of approaches that you can repeatedly use for closing sales. When used right, they can help you build long-term relationships with your customers.
Ultimately, you want an ongoing relationship that can lead to repeat business over time; not a one and done experience. So, how do you make the close conversation seem natural and flow smoothly?
Insurance is about customization. Since one size does not fit all, you have to create personalized experiences by finding the right product to meet the specific needs your of your client. You also need to be well equipped with several closing techniques to fit a variety of situations.
Here are a few tried and tested approaches that you may want to add to your arsenal of closing tips.
Listen to Understand. If you carefully listen to what customer says during your interactions, you’ll know which way to guide the conversation. Once you understand what the customer wants to accomplish, you can use that information to your advantage.
Speak to Their Needs. The key is to uncover the needs of your client. Ask them “What is important to you?” If you listen carefully – they will mention precisely what you need to emphasize to help close the sale.
Create a Sense of Urgency. No one likes to be rushed to make a decision. But you can help move the decision-making process along if you share that “this rate is set to increase in the next x-number of days/weeks.” By creating a fear of losing out, you are helping to move your client towards the decision they need to make.
Showcase the Benefits. The payout or coverage of a policy is clearly the number one benefit. If you turn it into a question, you’re helping the client focus on the benefit of why they need the policy you’re offering. Ask questions like “Could a check for $1 Million help in the event you experience property damage or are held liable and sued?”
Ask Their Opinion. Ask customers “In your opinion, do you think this will solve your problem?” Their response can provide you with insights. It can also give you more time to address any additional concerns or objections. If they answer yes, you can move to asking them to sign.
Leverage Requests. Your customer may ask you to make concessions on pricing or additional terms within the policy. They may also want you to give them extra perks or free add-ons that you haven’t offered. Close the sale by saying “If I could do that for you, would you sign the agreement now?”
Be Direct. You’ve addressed your customer’s concerns and are confident your customer knows the value of the policy and services you’re offering. When you’re sure of these things, use a yes or no question to close the sale. “Are you ready to sign with us?”
Find the closing tips that work best for you. Try each one on for size. Customize them to your specific conversations. Add the ones that work for best into your closing talk tracks that you script out. With time and practice, you’ll begin to know when and how to use your closing tips.
