Your website is the online storefront to your independent insurance agency. When potential clients go window shopping, you want them to stop at your agency and come in. If your website looks sloppy or outdated, you’ll give the impression that your agency is sloppy and outdated as well. Ultimately, when a client sees your website, they are gathering information to answer the question: “Can I trust them?”. If you can’t be trusted to keep a good website, why would they trust you with their business?
Show these potential clients your agency is a trustworthy partner! In order to have a website that give this impression you’ll need a few key elements.
Attractive design
First impressions are important. Make sure your site has a pleasing look. Stay away from large blocks of text, and avoid clutter. Also, make sure your site is built so that it can easily adjust for smartphones and tablets, and won’t take too long to load on each.
Easy Navigation
Make sure your site is organized in a logical manner and that pages are named appropriately. This includes using valuable keywords in page titles, so they can be easily searched and indexed by search engines (read more in our next post!). If a user can’t find what they’re looking for, they are likely to get frustrated and leave. By making your site easy to use, you’ll keep them around – and research shows the longer a user is on a website, the more likely they are to make a purchase or request more information.
Valuable Information
Great websites give users exactly what they’re looking for, and none of what they’re not. You want to give potential clients access to things that make their life easier, like online quoting or claim filing. When a potential client sees these features, they’ll see you value client experience, making them more likely to bring you their business. Be careful about putting too much information in one place, however, as it can look cluttered and be overwhelming.
Strong Call to Action
No matter how great your website looks and functions, you won’t find success without giving users a clue on what to do. With a strong call to action, you bring users along in the buying or lead capturing process. A good call to action effectively uses size, shape, color, placement and wording to get the message across and compel users to take the next step.
Once you have a website that really shows off your agency, you need to make sure people can find it. In our next post, we’ll look at optimizing your site for web search and other ways to get your name out there online.
SIS knows online presence plays a big part in making your agency know, and we can help by streamlining data between your website and our innovative agency management system, Partner XE. Contact us today to find out more!
Jeff Yates, Executive Director of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), recently wrote an article entitled, Sales and Servicing Strategies to Grow Your Agency’s Business. His article highlights what drives today’s insurance consumers and provides tips on what independent agents should do to compete against direct online carriers. Because we feel the article is highly relevant to independent agencies and aligns with our goals at SIS, we’d like to share it with you.
Inherent in Yates’ messaging is
That consumers value convenience and personal service and
That efficient use of technology and web-based tools enables independent agents to effectively offer both.
In addition to several specific strategies he lists to grow personal lines, Yates points out that agents should:
Communicate regularly and proactively with their clients
Offer the communications options clients want
Grow agency client interest in other online communications
Create a strong online presence
While your Partner XE agency management system will not address all the issues he presents, our marketing features make it simple for you to communicate regularly and proactively with your clients (and prospects).
With Partner XE, email communications (and calendar appointments) from Outlook are synched with your agency management system and attached to the appropriate client’s file, so you can easily track conversations.
In addition, when you take advantage of the functions like Real-Time, Downloads, Direct Mail Marketing Link and Paperless Document Storage offered in your Partner XE agency management system, it enhances the overall efficiency of your operation and frees up more time for personal contact.
LeadGen, a systematic method of identifying real people and organizations with a need for your services, capturing their information and building your sales pipeline is a critical piece of the insurance sales and territory management puzzle.
In the whole scheme of things, however, generating the lead is just the beginning. Leads need to be managed and nurtured in order to bear fruit. Timely follow-up, lead management and lead nurturing are all critical to moving a prospect through the buying cycle from inquiry to close.
A consistent lead nurturing program will help you stay in front of your leads and, in turn, keep you top of mind.
According to Brian J. Carroll, professional speaker, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, and founder and CEO of InTouch, Inc, “Lead nurturing converts inquiries into qualified leads and starts the qualified leads on a trajectory to capture sales. It essentially follows up and turns qualified leads into future sales opportunities by consistent and meaningful dialogue, regardless of timing to buy.”
Decide what information would be most relevant to them. Begin by asking your producers, “What questions do your customers ask most often? What do they care about? What issues are they facing?” Find content – articles, blogs, whitepapers, and the like – that addresses these issues. Pass this content by your producers. Ask them whether their customers would value it. As much as you can, repurpose content. For instance, industry briefs or letters from your companies can be transformed to articles and articles to blogs.
Email prospects this relevant content, but whatever you do, don’t pitch. These should be simple emails that are written as if you are speaking to them directly. Be genuinely helpful. Provide your sales team email templates so that they can follow up and engage in their own conversations.
Follow up with a human touch. Make a personal connection and follow up emails with phone calls to directly gauge prospects’ interest. Never rely on email alone.
Throughout the process, it’s also important not to forget the basics:
Use targeted e-mail or snail-mail messages to bring your agency to the top of mind either before or after the initial sales call.
Have specific information and literature ready so that you may use email to send literature and answer questions after your calls.
Send follow-up summaries to review what was covered during phone conversations or in-person visits and confirm the next steps in the sales process.
When leaving a voicemail, remember to keep it simple and speak clearly. Include a compelling reason to return your call.
Take care not to leave multiple voice mail messages in the same day for one person, unless there is an absolute need to.
Increase the likelihood of reaching the buyer directly by varying the time of day you call and/or drop by.
Remember – companies need insurance. It’s a must have. So being on top of your lead generation and follow-up is critical for your success.
Track your activities. Give yourselves reminders. Be professionally persistent and offer value when you call or email.
Your insurance agency’s marketing goal is to stand out among the noise. Identifying and investing in serving a niche market is one of the most efficient and effective ways to achieve this challenging goal.
When you serve a niche market, you have less competition, making it easier to gain new customers in a specific arena. Your agency is set apart as providing “X” type of insurance, making you distinctive. PIA National’s 2022 Independent Agent Survey found that respondents devoted more than 20% of their book of business to a niche market. You, too, can capitalize on this valuable strategy.
Identifying Your Niche
The first step in capitalizing on a niche market is deciding where to focus. There are a few factors to consider when selecting a niche market, such as market saturation, agency expertise, and interests. It’s best to find a niche that has a low market saturation, is an area your agency has some knowledge about, and one that is particularly interesting to you or members of your team. With these elements combined, you are more likely to break into this niche area successfully.
One of the ways you can find your niche is by looking at your agency data. See if there is a specific area where you see a coverage gap or a pattern in your longest-standing customers. You can also talk with your team and see what problems they find interesting. From there, do research to identify the need for this particular niche in the markets you serve and gain some baseline understanding of what this particular area needs in terms of coverage.
Capitalizing on Your Niche
Once you know your target area, start gathering as much data as possible. Use your internal analytics to see who among your customers may have interest, and leverage marketing automation to serve them information about your new coverage. This data will also help you see how you can grow this niche area by identifying common coverage among this segment.
You’ll also need to grow your expertise in this specific niche area. While you should already have a baseline, you need significant depth to establish yourself as the go-to agency. Invest time in learning more about your niche market. Attend conferences and get involved in industry groups to get on-the-ground intel about what individuals or businesses in your niche want and need. Get endorsements from your current niche customers. The more you can show off your expertise, the better.
Marketing Your Niche
Your next step is to market your niche to customers and prospects. The only way you can capitalize on your target area is to let people know you’re an expert in that specific arena. Start by adjusting your SEO strategy, and adding keywords that pertain to your particular niche. Add those words to your website and, if possible, invest in online ads to pop up when individuals search for that niche within your coverage area.
Beyond SEO, you should also add a page about your niche on your website and, if you have a blog, add a category dedicated to it. Be intentional about producing content related to your niche and highlight it regularly on your social media. Another great marketing avenue is to provide informational sessions to local businesses or organizations that fit your niche profile. The goal is to get your name associated with your niche anywhere and everywhere.
Other Elements to Consider
A few other areas to consider when breaking into your niche are carrier coverage, staffing, and internal processes. Before diving into your niche, be sure you have at least one carrier that covers your determined area. Ideally, you should have three to five carriers available to offer some choice for customers.
You should also consider adjusting your team structure and internal processes to facilitate your niche coverage. Perhaps you have individuals who already have some expertise in the niche area you can move into new positions. Maybe you need to start looking for a new hire to manage your new specialty better. Consider the updates you need to make ahead of launching your new initiative.
Partnering with the Right Provider to Help You Find Your Niche
At Partner Platform, we’re constantly working on making it easier for our agencies to grow their reach. Our integrated data and analytics make it simple to gain the information you need to identify and capitalize on your niche. From there, our Marketing Automation Manager and Producer Results Manager CRM are designed to help our agencies get the word out and track engagement.
See how we’re working with our tech partners to stay on the cutting edge, keeping our Partner Platform agencies nimble and a step ahead of the rest. Fill out a contact form here or get in touch at [email protected] or 800.747.7005, Option 6 to find out more.
Over the past few years, there has been a surge in insurance agency management transitions. Mergers and acquisitions specifically are on the rise, with an estimated 550 deals, up 12% from the previous year, in the first quarter of 2021. While these transitions can be profitable for owners, they can come with significant trepidation and worry from employees and customers.
As an owner, you need to start thinking ahead about how to prepare your agency for its eventual ownership transition. Whether you plan to perpetuate internally or externally, it’s essential that you prepare. That preparation includes setting your agency up for its highest valuation, prepping your team, and investing in tools and processes to bring your agency into the future.
Financial Prep
One of your top goals should be to set your agency up to gain its highest valuation. Whether you’re selling internally or externally, it’s beneficial to add the most value possible to your business. Spend time defining the methods you’ll use to determine your worth and focus on how to boost them. One of the best ways to increase your value is to focus on a niche market. Carve out a few areas that you specialize in, and capitalize on that exclusivity.
Tech Prep
Part of increasing your value is equipping your agency with the tech it needs to stay competitive in the market. Invest in critical insurtech like a cloud-based management system and integrated accounting. Successful agencies have turned their focus to customer tech tools like a client portal and branded agency app. You’ll also need marketing automation and a customer relationship management tool to stay on top of valuable data to inform your marketing and service plans.
Beyond the technology itself, you also need to train all of your team on each new tool. Even if you don’t anticipate a particular team member or group will frequently use a new piece of tech, they still need to know what it is, how it works, and why it’s valuable. Keeping your team educated is part of setting your agency up for a successful future.
Staff Prep
As you create a perpetuation plan, keep your staff involved in the process. You need to be aware of how each department and team member is performing as part of your valuation process. The more open and connected you are with your team, the better they’ll perform since they’ll be more invested in future success.
Open communication also helps ease any anxiety around change. Change is uncomfortable in any context, but especially when it comes to one’s job. Continual training on new technology and a slow introduction of process updates can help normalize change in your office.
Partner Right to Prepare for the Future
Who you partner with has a significant effect on your agency’s future. We at Partner Platform know how important it is for our agencies to be well-equipped with the best technology and training to stay competitive in the market.
That’s why we invest in tech and training for all our Partner Platform agencies. And our technology partners help us stay ahead of the curve for the best insurtech to serve both our agencies and their customers.
Automation plays a significant role in many industries, and insurance is no exception. The rapid innovations of insurtech have thrust data and automation into the forefront of ways to improve and enhance agency operations.
One of the most prominent data automation uses is in the underwriting process. Due to digitized automation processes, agencies are seeing loss ratios decrease and overall premiums increase. According to Willis Towers Watson, over 60% of agencies surveyed say the predictive analytics of automated underwriting have reduced issues and brought down expenses.
Underwriting automation has great value, but the wealth of data and required processing power can be daunting for the average agency. Yet, if your agency can put in place the right processes and people to gain and manage underwriting data, you can see a big change.
A lot has changed over the past few years due to the unexpected disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. All industries felt the impact, and the insurance industry is no exception. One of the most notable disruptions is the speed at which changes took place, especially around customer expectations and marketing.
What Your Agency Needs to Know About Insurance Marketing
Changes in insurance agency marketing that were projected to solidify in 5 to 10 years ended up evolving rapidly in just two. Chances are you’ve already made some of these adjustments to keep up with immediate demand, but there are other more “behind the scenes” adjustments agencies are making that you should note
The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 left a lasting impact on the world, including how we do business. Quarantine and frequent lockdowns forced us to stay home, and the changes in customer expectations, work environments, and operations remain today.
Insurance agencies that weathered these changes have a few things in common. For one, they had the right insurance software to make the quick transition to remote work and service. Secondly, they have an enduring attitude of being open to change and a readiness to adapt. While we cannot predict what will disrupt the market next, we can use these markers to prepare with the right mindset, tools, and systems for the next unexpected interruption.
