by David Bell | Mar 1, 2018
You make money when you can promptly provide competitive quotes selling workers’ comp to individuals or businesses. Since most work injury claims cost an average of $37,000, selling these policies should provide you with a constant revenue stream.
Think about it. Every business with employees needs workers’ comp protection, especially if they have occupational hazards or illnesses associated with their industry. Many states also make it mandatory, and some vendors are required to provide proof of coverage to bid on jobs.
So, selling workers’ comp sounds like a no-brainer for any insurance broker or agent to easily accomplish. Or is it?
Competition is fierce. You’re not the only insurance broker or agent selling workers’ comp that is looking to gain new clients and close deals.
Let’s face it, today’s world is a first-come, first-served marketplace. You may do all the work and lose the deal because you didn’t respond fast enough. How can you compete and win?
Here are six steps to successfully sell workers’ comp in any state.
1) Know workers’ comp requirements.
Before you start selling, get licensed for every state you’ll be selling workers’ comp in, and ensure you’re compliant with the mandated guidelines for each state. Stay on top of the mandates, as regulations can shift over time.
2) Educate yourself.
Understand class codes, laws and underwriting so you can anticipate answers to questions before they are asked. You should also learn key workplace injury statistics and claim facts – from productivity losses to recovery time to claim costs. Weave these points into your client conversations about their workers’ comp needs.
3) Sell your expertise.
Your knowledge is a commodity that can set you apart from competitors. It also positions you to give clients advice on rule, laws, and ways to save money. Go into client conversations armed with thought-provoking questions to ask your customer about their workplace potential risks. Help them focus on the reasons they need a workers’ comp policy.
4) Create a marketing plan.
Cold calling is hard. Create a marketing plan designed to help you target to the types of clients you want to reach. Marketing is a full-time job. Consider hiring a marketing consultant to set you up for success. (Ask our marketing consultant, Joy, to point you in the right direction.)
5) Develop a workflow.
Follow a three-step process that you walk through with every prospective client that Educates, Shops, Advises. Start by educating and informing business owners about workers’ comp rules. Let them know you’ll do the shopping so they can compare prices and quotes. Advise and help them with workers’ comp claims and coverages after the sale.
6) Work smartly.
Stop chasing rates and policy options as it can quickly eat up your time and diminish your productivity. Use smart tools that increase your market access and quickly gets you quotes, even for your hard-to-place clients. Don’t just sign up for these tools; actively use them. If you don’t know how to use them, ask the provider to guide you through the process.
These six steps seem easy enough to follow. But the devil is in the details, especially when it comes to quickly getting workers’ comp quotes. Remember, you’re competing with other insurance brokers or agents who may submit quote options to your prospective clients first.
Since quick response is the key to your success, you need to tap into smart options that help you quickly deliver.
Stop wasting your time navigating multiple carrier systems, dialing for quotes, and waiting for returned phone calls. Access exponential options and get quick quotes today using your free Syndicated Insurance Resources Dashboard. Save time and money by using our one-to-many approach. Upload one ACORD and receive instant indications.
Already have an account? Log in now. Need one? Sign up here. Either way, get started quickly finding quotes today. (Note: First-time users need to set up their Appulate Link.) Want someone to walk you through the process? Call or email us at 877.333.8195.
Stop leaving money on the table. Let Syndicated help you work smarter today!
by David Bell | Feb 8, 2018
Workers’ compensation insurance is something companies need. You know this because you’ve been successfully selling these types of policies for years. But you how do you win more business and keep existing clients coming back for more? Are you effectively communicating the value you provide employer clients?
Since most insurance producers sell on price, you need to find opportunities to showcase the ways you’re different. Help your clients and prospects focus on the many ways you help them. In every touchpoint and interaction, shine the spotlight on the hands-on approaches you use to meet their needs.
Before you can effectively share your value, pause a moment to reflect on what you’re not. When you sell workers’ comp insurance, you are more than an order taker. Managing paperwork and getting signatures on documents is only one step in a multi-faceted process. Finding insurance quotes is a result of the many things you do.
Your job is complex. It requires deep knowledge and expertise. You are good at what you do because you’ve spent hours learning the nuances of a very complicated subject — workers’ compensation. Your extensive training provides you with license(s) to prove you’re prepared to solicit and sell workers’ comp insurance.
How can you focus on the value you bring to clients? Make a list of the ways your services make a difference.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in business for a long time, you probably know ways to stand out from your competitors. But do you actively share your value with everyone you know? No matter where you are in your journey, make sure you reflect on the ways to bring value to your clients.
10 Ways You Bring Value
When you work with clients, do you provide one, all, or some of these value-added services?
- Advisor. Provide insights to help determine the protection your client’s business needs.
- Conduit. Funnel information between all parties and mediate interactions between employers and insurance carriers.
- Translator. Put things in plain English to help employers and employees successfully navigate a labyrinth of information that is typically difficult to understand.
- Guide. Help employers make better, informed workers’ compensation programming decisions.
- Fixer. Identify areas clients could possibly change to positively impact their workers’ comp loss run reports.
- Evaluator. Look at a company’s risk to locate the right types of policies at the best possible rates.
- Shopper. Leverage the right tools and resources to quickly find the policy options that fit your employer client’s needs.
- Analyzer. Review data about employee injuries before the “magic moment” and make sure cases are not open that should be closed. This analysis can quickly assess ways that may help lower experience mods.
- “Boy Scout.” Help your client’s prepare for workers’ comp audits in advance by reviewing payroll records and checking job classifications for possible mistakes.
- Creator. Develop a process for employers to follow when accidents occur. This can help ensure claims are filed appropriately while employees receive help and can return to work quickly.
This list is not comprehensive, as there are things you do that others do not. Take a moment to reflect on the ways you help your clients. Use this as your foundational list, and add additional ways you provide value over time.
Download this one-page PDF we created just for you: “10 Ways We Bring You Value.”
Create Constant Reminders
Now that you have your list, you need to find ways to remind everyone about your value continually.
Dale Carnegie said it best: “Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.”
In this case, your audience includes your clients, prospects, and even yourself.
Place your values in strategic places that are highly visible. Leave them in plain sight for everyone to see. Here are a few easy ways to remind people about your value:
- Create a framed sign for your office.
- Post the information on your website.
- Print a flyer that you include in your welcome folder.
- Highlight one value every month in your email signature.
- Include it in your newsletter.
- Make a Facebook ad touting your key differentiators.
The opportunities to promote your value are endless. So toot your own horn and remind people about the benefits of doing business with you.
Grab your copy of “10 Ways We Bring You Value.” We created it so you can share your value with your clients immediately.
by David Bell | Jan 30, 2018
Selling insurance is a rewarding business that affords you the opportunity to serve numerous clients. As a broker or agent, you can enjoy flexible scheduling and even increase (or decrease) the amount that you earn.
But just like any career, there are consistent challenges and hurdles to overcome. Every insurance agent is on the same journey as they strive to accomplish their production goals. But consistently arriving at the goal line is a daunting task, especially when you need to:
- Save time and money,
- Increase revenue,
- Grow sales,
- Build awareness with prospective customers,
- Find policies for hard-to-place customers, and
- Beat your competition
- … all at the same time.
The pressure to produce quickly and efficiently is real. You and every other insurance broker or agent experiences this stress every day. At the end of the day, you have one job to achieve. You need to bring in money selling insurance.
Your tension begins to mount when you have a dip in sales, or you aren’t hitting the numbers you’ve targeted. You want to find quick fixes that can help you quickly plump up your numbers.
You find yourself continually seeking ways to rise above potential roadblocks so you can succeed. Unfortunately, you are tethered to antiquated manual processes that delay your responsiveness to clients. You find yourself limited because there are only so many hours in a day for you to place calls and research options.
Being unable to access multiple markets quickly adds to your struggle to find options for those hard-to-place clients. Seeking quotes and doing your job the “old-fashioned way” takes up valuable time that, ultimately, costs you money.
Selling insurance doesn’t sound all that glamorous when we spell it out this way. In fact, a job working in retail or food hospitality might seem a bit more appealing right about now. Which sounds less challenging: “How did you want that burger cooked?” or “Let me do some research to find you the best options possible. When did you need it?”
Yes, you can put things in place that help you build solid, long-term relationships with your clients; but that is only half of the process. To successfully stay in the game over the long haul, you need to access markets quickly so you can present your clients the best policy option to meet their needs.
At Syndicated Insurance Resources, we’ve been in your shoes selling insurance. We know what it means to scramble to get the quotes you need in a timely fashion. In fact, we’re so familiar with your struggles that we decided to create a solution to help meet your needs and overcome your pressure to produce. If you’ve already been using our platform, you know how quickly we can help you grow your book of business. (Of course, you can only reap the benefits by using the dashboard consistently.)
Before we go on—you need to know up front that our dashboard is entirely free—and we pay higher commissions than most. So you have everything to gain by partnering with us.
We provide a broker marketplace for competitive insurance offerings. Sign up for a free account today to automatically increase your speed-to-market and responsiveness. Through our Syndicated Insurance Resources dashboard, you can access more than 150 markets and 40+ unique product offerings.
Think about it—you don’t have to play the manual game of dialing for quotes anymore. You can sign up for our dashboard and instantly send your ACORD to multiple markets for quick quotes.
Not sure about how to use technology the right way? We understand. Reach out to us, and one of our customer success managers can quickly walk you through the process.
Here’s what to do next:
- Sign up for your free account.
- Click “Request a quote” to send us a submission.
- Register to get paid.
Take the pressure to produce off yourself. Tap into our dashboard of free options that are guaranteed to save you time and money.
by David Bell | Dec 6, 2017
Your customers are typically business owners, which means they have a long list of things to think about and manage. Help yourself by setting your insurance business apart. Proactively help business-owner prospects understand why they need insurance.
Knowing what a customer needs and why it is important to them ultimately helps you sell. Needs-based selling can increase your sales while improving your customers’ satisfaction.
We all know that running a business comes with inherent risks that range from financial loss to protecting employees to potential lawsuits. Build on this base knowledge by readily explaining why your customers need to insurance for their business.
Here are five reasons why your business owner clients need insurance:
Potential Accident Coverage. Workers’ compensation regulations and requirements vary from state to state. Regardless of the state your business owners clients are located in, workers’ comp ensures that their employees who suffer from job-related injuries or illnesses get the medical care they need, as well as wage replacement if they are unable to return to work.
Lawsuit Protection. We live in a society where lawsuits are commonplace. Liability insurance gives peace of mind and coverage for lawsuit and liability claims. This type of protection can protect your business from lawsuits resulting from accidents or disgruntled employees. Liability coverage can even help with expensive legal defense costs.
Contract Requirements. From client contracts to bank loans to leasing a business facility, your business owner clients may be required to carry insurance. Requirements vary from agreement to agreement and state to state. Regardless of the fine print, having insurance policies in place show potential vendors and clients that a business is a credible, safe bet.
Business Continuity. In the event of a natural disaster, property and casualty insurance can cover the loss of buildings and equipment. And Business Owner Insurance can help a business survive the loss of income and compensate for regular operating expenses.
Mandated by Law. Businesses that have employees are required by law to provide certain types of insurance. What is required varies from state to state, but failure to have insurance policies in place can result in civil or criminal penalties or fines.
Actively share with your prospective business-owner customers the types of insurance coverage they need to protect their business. Help clients purchase peace of mind so they can focus their attention on growing and developing their business.
by David Bell | 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 David Bell | 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.
