2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide: Astonish, Bankers Financial Corporation, Rough Notes and Seaworthy Insurance Company

Special Report: Maximize Your People, Processes and Systems to Increase Sales PIA National Agency Marketing

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© 2013 Vertafore, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Trademarks contained herein are owned by Vertafore, Inc. elcome to the fourth edition of the PIA National Agency Marketing Guide! The 2013 edition of this PIA Branding Program publication focuses on helping agency owners and managers get the most out of three things that make up a Wgreat deal of every agency: the people, the processes and the systems. People, processes and systems are the pillars upon which much of the success of your agency depends. When one fails, the footing of the entire agency comes into question. When they work in harmony, great things are possible. I hope our authors’ take on how you can get the most out of your people, processes and systems inspires you to make positive changes in your agency.

The 2013 Agency Marketing Guide follows three previous editions. The 2012 publication provided a road map for profitably including personal lines insurance in your agency. In 2011 we helped agents understand how they could successfully use the Internet to market their services. The inaugural edition of the Agency Marketing Guide, published in 2010, featured the Agents’ Guide to Social Media. All four editions of the Agency Marketing Guide are available online at www.PIAAgencyMarketingGuide.com.

PIA National would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide: Astonish, Bankers Financial Corporation, Rough Notes and Seaworthy Insurance Company. Please join me in thanking these sponsors.

Best wishes and happy marketing!

Andrew C. Harris, CIC, CPCU, ARM, AIS, CRM President National Association of Professional Insurance Agents Table of Contents Sponsors: Features:

Seaworthy Insurance Company ...... pages 4-5 Is Inbound Marketing Really the Magic Bullet? by Michael Jans ...... page 26 Rough Notes...... pages 6-7 25 Ways to Grow Your Independent Agency Astonish ...... pages 8-9 by Alan Shulman...... page 28 Bankers Financial Corporation ...... pages 10-11 Leaving Commodityville Special Report: Maximize Your People, Processes and by David Connolly...... page 30 Systems to Increase Sales Consumers Continue to Value Agents Cultivating the Basic Ingredient When Buying Insurance by Nancy Doucette...... page 12 by Bill Jenkins ...... page 32 Producer Acquisition, Compensation, Motivation Marketing 101 – Back to the Basics and Management by George Nordhaus ...... page 34 by Al Diamond ...... page 14 Social Media Trends: Leadership: It All Starts With a Vision Will Your Old PC Become the New T. Rex? by Kitty Ambers...... page 16 by Ted Janusz...... page 36 Make More Money by Fixing Your Agency’s Why Google+ Should Be Part of Your Agency’s Follow-up Failure Online Strategy by Steve Anderson...... page 18 by Matthew Marko...... page 38 Sales Tactics From the Trenches: Top Insurance Web Site Marketing Tips for Success in What’s Working for Agencies Search Engines by Adam DeGraide...... page 20 by Gary Savelli...... page 38 A Prescription for Success: 10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Niche Marketing How to Act Like an Insurance Salesperson by Michael Jans ...... page 40 by John Graham...... page 22 Podcasting: The Secret Weapon to Growing More Than an Agency Management System Your Insurance Agency by Bruce Winterburn...... page 24 by Ryan Hanley...... page 41 OFFERING MARINE PRODUCTS FOR YOUR CLIENTS? YOU COULD BE MISSING THE BOAT

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By Nancy Doucette Finding the right approach for motivating producers he’s put together over the years, he says Senn Dunn is requires creativity, psychology, and a bit of science. working on bringing more structure and “science” to the consultant selection process. There’s a lot of buzz in the marketplace these days coming from folks telling agents that people’s buying habits McCaskill says Senn Dunn has used various testing have changed. And they have. Agents who have an eye on companies in the past but none measured “drive” — that the future are taking advantage of new tools — Internet unknown variable, which some folks call the “‘X’ factor.” marketing, blogging, and other social media techniques Thanks to some skillful sleuthing by the agency’s HR — because, when used effectively, they certainly do director, Senn Dunn is now regularly using such a test. impact sales success. But the basic ingredient — personal selling — hasn’t changed, which means agency execu- Who knew there was science in sales? tives still need to understand how to motivate producers. For Scott White, CIC, keeping production pipelines full Ron Lensing is executive vice president and sales leader is an ongoing problem for the insurance industry. As for BancorpSouth Insurance Services (BXSI), which has CEO, sales manager, and producer at VAST Solution, a more than 500 employees (160 of whom are producers) 34-person agency in Marquette, Michigan, White and the at numerous locations across the South and Southwest. agency’s nine producers gather for a Sales Summit every While he doesn’t manage individual producers, Lensing quarter. “Producers get bored really quickly,” he observes is charged with facilitating the efforts to improve BXSI’s with a chuckle, “so you need to be creative in terms of the sales results and sales processes — and that’s not too meeting structure.” It’s a process that White spoke about much different from the sales manager role he had at when VAST (then called Hetrick & Associates) appeared Ramsey, Krug, Farrell & Lensing (RKF&L) when the agency on the cover of Rough Notes in August 2006. appeared on the cover of Rough Notes in May 1999. The summits keep producers focused and preparing for RKF&L was acquired by BXSI in 2003 and while the head the next one. “If you’re truly a sales organization, why count has increased substantially, Lensing says the chal- wouldn’t you take four days a year with your sales team lenges related to producer motivation are all too familiar. to go off-site and talk about how to improve?” asks White. “It’s baffling why some producers are successful from The agency has held these Sales Summits for the past the start while others struggle to make it. We provide nine years — that’s 35 quarters. “During that time only technical training, sales training, and resources to help one of our producers missed a meeting and that was due our producers, but we weren’t seeing meaningful results to a family emergency,” White notes. from the producers who struggled, and we couldn’t figure out why.” How about that for buy-in?

Sound familiar? Each of these agency executives has taken a slightly different approach to resolving the ongoing challenge of T. Gray McCaskill, CPCU, CEO of Senn Dunn Insurance, producer motivation. Let’s circle back to get more details. headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, says his organization is committed to perpetuation and that of Peer-level Board of Directors course is heavily dependent on sales. (As noted in the “One of the most important things we’ve November 2005 Rough Notes cover article, the agency introduced to the Sales Summits is the idea prides itself on being able to find and recruit the right that the rest of the producers in the agency salespeople — individuals who want to take a chance at are the other producers’ board of directors,” being entrepreneurial.) White says. “Each one of them has to Scott White, present their ‘board’ with their plan for the CIC, CEO of With five offices in North Carolina and about 140 em- VAST Solution next quarter. That’s powerful,” he states. ployees, Senn Dunn has 42 producers that the agency calls consultants — and McCaskill reports that number is Evidently. The one producer who had to miss a summit growing. In the last 12 months, the agency has hired four because of the family emergency still managed to make new consultants, and he anticipates hiring several more by the end of 2013. While he’s proud of the sales team Continued on page 42

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“Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” is not lost and you don’t have to live with only the book of business that you, the agency owner, created personally. This quote has been attributed to Peter Drucker, IBM’s Tom Watson and the famous “Red” Motley. Although I One of every seven people in the world has the personal- don’t compare myself to these great men, I, too, have ut- ity to become a successful producer. Unfortunately, most tered these words to thousands of insurance agency and of these “14%’ers” don’t end up in sales positions. We brokerage owners throughout the U.S. have the assessment tools to determine whether or not a person (high school graduate, college graduate, someone Unfortunately, most of us equate “sales” with “quoting” from another career or a long-term insurance employee) and order-taking in a fashion similar to the gecko, Flo and has the personality to become a producer, but agents the direct writer who claims to be able to save you 15% rarely use these tools. Instead, we determine whether or and solve all of your insurance-related problems in 15 not we “like” an individual and hire them based on our minutes. That’s never been the definition of “sales.” ‘gut feel.’ See the A C G Hiring System on our website (www.agencyconsulting.com) for much more information Selling (in the context of insurance agents) is the building about the assessment tool for sales. of relationships between an identified agency producer and the client in a way that makes the client comfortable But even if you hire a producer candidate based on a suc- with and desirous of using your agency as his insurance cessful assessment, the key to that producer’s eventual provider of choice. success in your agency is how you pay the producer, whether or not they are motivated to grow, and how you Most intelligent people realize that insurance, like taxes manage them on a daily basis. and medicine, is much more complex than it seems and can cause them intense pain if not done properly. Once Large agencies understand the importance of sales man- the client likes you and trusts you (and doesn’t think you agement and invest in a dedicated sales manager to con- are just there to take his money), he will become your tinuously grow the sales force and to monitor and man- biggest fan and will enthusiastically refer others to you as age the producers through the compensation program well. The trick is getting the client to the point of wanting and activity validation schedules. But small agencies can to do business with you. do the same thing (albeit with some outside assistance) as long as the agency owner is fully invested in the suc- The PRODUCER (or Relationship Manager) needs to have cess of the producer instead of hiring the employee with the knowledge, the mannerisms, and the ability to get the thought that the producer will either succeed or be people to like him/her as a representative of your agency terminated. and to trust him/her (and your agency) enough to become your customer and stay with you for life. Since it costs an average of 3.5 times first year annual compensation before an unsuccessful producer is termi- If you mentally compared your current sales staff to the nated, every agency owner underestimates the cost of paragraph above and found that they may not be exactly a bad hire. If you pay someone $40,000 during the first a match, consider yourself one of the majority of agency year, it will likely cost you $140,000 and several years of owners who do not have a qualified producer staff to consternation before you rid yourself of a poor producer. generate the growth that is the life-blood and heartbeat of your business. The answer is to hire the right people (assessment and at least three targeted interviews with different own- The problem is that we have enveloped ourselves with in- ers/managers/staff members), create a compensation surance expertise without the sales personality to create program that is fair to the producer (but still permits the friends from strangers and develop trust relationships to agency to earn a profit on the producer’s efforts) with a close sales. In rare cases we can turn these insurance ex- growth motivator (tiered compensation plan and reduc- perts into sales professionals but, for the most part, they will always be exactly the same as they are today. But all Continued on page 44

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With a Vision By Kitty Ambers, CPIA, CIC, CISR, CPIW If you’re unsure how much our world has changed, just would cost and what he would do to help pay for it. look back 10 years. In 2003, fewer than 1% of cell phones were “smart;” today, one-fifth of e-commerce purchases Today, at age 20, he is a full-time college student and are made with mobile devices. Ten years ago, web-based co-owner of a flight school that has anywhere from six to agency management technology was the exception; now, 10 flight students at any given time. His flight instruction it’s hard to find a vendor that doesn’t offer it. In 2003, work has helped finance his first airplane. Now, that’s only the very oldest of Generation Y had graduated col- planning and execution of what most certainly was a lege; today, they’re assuming leadership roles in our firms. clear vision!

As we think about growing our insurance organizations As leaders of organizations, we are responsible for crafting in this era of incredible diversity and constant change, we the vision and devising an executable plan that will allow should look closely at the fundamentals of leadership and us to realize it. Often, this requires that we take some time decide how to apply them within our own businesses. to work “on” our business instead of just “in” it. Remember, the best growth strategies and tactics fall flat Don’t be afraid to dream a little! The vision you craft for without strong leadership. your firm “when it grows up” involves assessing and re- BusinessDictionary.com defines leadership as, “The activ- assessing the world around you. Ask questions. Is there ity of leading a group of people or an organization or the any market niche you should engage in? Do you have ability to do this.” Wikipedia.com takes it a step further the carriers on board that you need to serve your dream with social psychologist Martin Chelmer’s description of clients? Have you surrounded yourself with employees leadership as “a process of social influence in which one that can help take your firm where you want it to go? person can enlist the aid and support of others in the ac- Have you deployed your agency technology in a way that complishment of a common task.” increases staff productivity? Is your firm’s culture what you’ve envisioned? What does this all really mean and how can we bolster our leadership skills? It might help to break the concept Numerous guidebooks, both general business and insur- down into steps. In my mind, leadership involves: ance specific, exist to help walk you through the mechan- 1. Establishing a clear vision, ics of creating a business plan. The vision, however, is 2. Sharing that vision with others so that they will fol- yours to visualize before putting the action steps in place. low it willingly, Sharing the Vision 3. Providing the information, knowledge and methods Author and educator Dr. Stephen Covey reminds us that to realize that vision, and we “manage things, lead people.” The insurance business 4. Coordinating and balancing the conflicting inter- continues to be a relationship business, which means ests of all members and stakeholders. that people are a major part of the equation. To succeed Establishing a Clear Vision and grow, agency leaders must share their vision to get Children are asked by family and friends, “What do you buy-in from the people who make up their team. want to be when you grow up?” Responses vary from Notice I said “share.” Sharing is quite different than doctor or nurse to ballerina or professional football player mandating. Of course, we need standards, procedures to teacher or fireman. Few of us actually grow up to be and operational guidelines in place, and we should make what we dreamed of as kids. Why? Because few of us had sure they are followed to maximize our use of resources a plan for making our dream a reality. and minimize E & O exposure. However, these guidelines My oldest son is an exception to this rule. He always should be crafted to support the vision and shared in the wanted to be a pilot when he grew up. I didn’t think context of that vision and the future it will deliver. The much about it until, at age 10, he approached me with best way to do this is to talk with your staff about where his “plan.” His timeline showed when he would start and “we” are going, how “we” will get there, and who “we” are finish ground school, when he’d begin flying, how many taking with us. hours he needed in order to “solo” on his 16th birthday, Strategic planning expert Stephen Haines said, “People sup- and when he’d complete his instrument rating and go on to be a flight instructor. He even explained how much it Continued on page 45

16 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Good people Make great partners!

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Agency’s Follow-up Failure By Steve Anderson “We are now at the dawn of a profound technology-driven agency can more effectively handle their insurance pro- transformation that will make the changes we have ex- gram. Once the prospect becomes interested, a producer perienced over the past 25 years seem small and slow. We (or for smaller accounts an inside salesperson) becomes are about to transform how we sell, market, communicate, involved and begins to work with that prospect. collaborate, innovate, watch TV, learn and, as you might guess, much more.” What happens to all the other prospects that aren’t interested right now? They fall through the cracks. –Daniel Burrus, TechnoTrends, January 2009 Very few agencies have an organized and consistent pro- Our personal and business world is being transformed. cess for staying in touch with prospects that are not yet Technology has changed how we live, work, and play. ready to make a purchase decision. And that is a shame. The insurance industry should be at the forefront of this Those prospects will purchase an insurance product at transformation. It’s tough out there. Agency produc- some point in the future. They will become interested in ers and internal agency staff continue to struggle to what you have to offer, and may buy it from you, but only meet their new business and renewal production goals. if they remember you when they are ready to buy. Organic growth in most agencies is all too often in the single digits — if not flat. You would think there would be This follow-up failure is the biggest cause of lower than technology tools available that would help agencies actu- expected sales and the resulting revenue. It is also the ally grow their business. biggest cause of clients leaving the agency. We write them and forget them. Agency owners should be asking their vendors how they can use their agency management platforms and other Very few agencies have an organized technology tools to help them create and use marketing and sales systems. These types of programs are often and consistent process for staying in called a customer relationship management (CRM) sys- touch with prospects that are not yet tem, a Sales Force Automation system (SFA), or a prospect ready to make a purchase decision. management system. Agencies are (or should be) looking for ways to create marketing and service automation processes that will provide the agency with an endless Marketing Automation number of interested prospects so producers spend their To understand how marketing automation should work, valuable time only with prospects that are ready to buy. it is first necessary to understand the philosophy that undergirds your current method of marketing and selling. Before we look at what might be available to help with Whether you realize it or not, you already have a system. this process, let’s define some terms. In our vocabulary, Almost all marketing and selling efforts can be simplified “marketing” is the process of identifying prospects and into these steps: developing a relationship so a producer can be granted that first appointment. “Sales” is the process of moving Step 1: Identify prospects and obtain a policy expiration a prospect from that initial introduction appointment — date. which might be the traditional face to face meeting or, in Step 2: Call 60, 90, or 120 days before the expiration date the new world of marketing, dealing with the prospect to find out if you can get an appointment so you can online or over the phone — to a purchase decision. provide them with a quote. What Is Follow-up Failure? Step 3: If the prospect doesn’t want you to quote this The biggest reason agents don’t write more businesses year, put that contact into a follow-up file and call next is they simply don’t follow up with prospects. If agencies year at about the same time. fix this one problem in their marketing process they can’t help but increase the number of new clients they obtain. Step 4: If you do provide a proposal, try to close the sale. If you are not successful and want to work on that account Here is how most agency producers operate. They spend the time, effort, money, and other resources to identify potential prospects and educate them on how their Continued on page 46

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By Adam DeGraide Whoever said transforming an agency’s culture was easy? those calls. No one! That’s right, no one! Why? Because it’s not. It’s • Developing talk tracks to help staff sell the heck out not easy to take an agency so ingrained in daily routines of insurance! and ways of doing things and tell the staff they need to be more focused on sales. Some agencies also find it useful to have an annual sales and marketing meeting off-site. The focus is on re-focus- But, guess what guys… we see agencies DO THIS every ing everyone on the agency’s goals. Since marketing and day. They totally transform their culture to become more sales go hand in hand, it’s good to take a breather from sales driven and the results are astounding. They’re not the daily grind and just talk about what’s happening on only growing their book of business. They’re providing the sales side and what’s happening on the marketing better service to clients. Their staff is happier. And the side so everyone understands what people are doing to agency owners are more passionate than ever! grow the business. And maybe find out ways to work together more efficiently for SUCCESS. Do you want to fall back in love with your insurance agency? If you do, READ ON. Another good idea: Talk ANNUALLY about your sales scripts. Wait… What the heck is a sales script? It’s a talk These are tactics we’ve compiled from agencies that are track. Basically, you should be writing down specific KILLING IT when it comes to increasing sales. What it really phrases and terms you want your staff to use when talk- comes down to is four things: RE-FOCUSING, CROSS SELL- ing to clients and prospects on the phone or in person. ING, BUILDING TRUST, and FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE. Your sales scripts might be around how to explain the Let’s break these down into tactical steps your agency value of your agency to people who don’t understand the can take tomorrow to get closer to a sales-driven culture benefits of working with an independent agent. You might that doesn’t take away from the service you’ve built your have separate sales scripts for helping staff find different business on. ways for asking for an email address for further lead nur- turing. Or you might have a sales script for asking people Re-Focusing to follow your agency on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. The first step ANY agency can take in driving more sales is to TAKE A STEP BACK. That’s right. You have to take a step What else can you do? Invite speakers to come in and back before you take a step forward. Re-focusing your motivate your staff. Ask someone, whether it’s another agency means looking at all the things your agency is agency doing well with sales or marketing or a consultant doing right now and finding ways to make them BETTER. or company that specializes in insurance sales training That means: and marketing, to come in and talk about ways to im- • Recording and listening to incoming calls. prove the culture at your agency. • Brainstorming with your staff on ways to improve Show some motivational videos and share testimonials Marketing Words of Wisdom from clients to rev up your staff and get them excited about re-focusing on sales! “We’re finding that savvy financial professionals are Cross Selling prospecting like never before. The winners will be the ones who understand that building rapport, demonstrating When it comes to selling, guess what? You don’t need integrity and persuading people to take action, are three new leads. Say, WHAT? YOU DON’T NEED NEW LEADS be- key components to finding and acquiring clients.” cause you’re already sitting on a GOLD MINE. Think about it. Who do you talk to MOST every day? Is it new people Paul Peterson looking for insurance or your current customers? Most of President the time you’re dealing with your current customers! Emerald Connect www.emeraldconnect.com Continued on page 47

20 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide How ListAgent drives LeAds.

Matt Marko Agency Marketing Process Manager

By enrolling in ListAgent, we’ll help manage your agency’s online listings, send your agency information to hundreds of online directories each Put your agency on the map and turn local search month, and help your agency rank higher in online into new business leads with ListAgent from search results. Packages start at just $89 a year with Progressive. “Local search” describes search engine automatic renewal.* results that show local business listings when a consumer searches online for products or services in Here’s what agents are saying about their area. Think of it as the new online alternative to a Yellow Pages directory. And here’s why it matters: ListAgent: • 83 percent of consumers use the Internet to shop “It has put us at the top of Google locally1 • Americans conduct over 6.1 billion local searches Search.” online every month2 Kim Perry South Sound Insurance, Auburn, Wash. • For agencies that have claimed their Google+ local listing, Google+ provides an average of three times as many quotes per month as their “On average, we get five to ten Internet agency website leads per week.” Chris Beeler ListAgent works to build an optimized foundation Beeler Insurance, Cedartown, Ga. for Google+ as well as other online directories. Over 4,500 Progressive agencies have enrolled in ListAgent, making it our most popular agent marketing program ever. For more information, call 1-877-649-4976, visit the Brand Express on ForAgentsOnly.com, or contact your account sales representative.

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13A00359 (04/13) A Prescription for Success: How to Act Like an Insurance

Salesperson By John Graham Finding a salesperson — including insurance produc- A salesperson’s success depends on getting prospects right. ers — who isn’t superstitious may be more difficult than winning the lottery. For some, it’s the way they shake Invest in prospects. In the insurance business, it’s easy for hands, others are fanatical about punctuality, some al- producers to talk about “building relationships.” Unfor- ways wear certain jewelry or write orders using a particu- tunately, a producer’s performance tells quite a different lar pen. story. Cultivating prospects isn’t limited to spending time with them or even learning more about their goals and The list is almost endless. It may be the time of day to problems, both of which are necessary. call for an appointment, interpreting a customer’s body language, or what to order when having lunch with a Producers often miss what is always clear to prospects: prospect. Prospects know you want their money. Most are not willing to say yes easily, particularly today. Success is all about following a salesperson’s “personal rules.” Break the rules and something goes wrong. One way to help overcome what we call “the dollar doubt” is by investing in our prospects. And why not? We While all such “personal preferences” are interesting and expect them to invest in us. sometimes even helpful, there are certain “actions” that lead to far more robust sales results. Here are eight to What should a producer do? It may be as basic as invest- think about: ing time pointing out overlooked exposures, identifying potential safety issues, finding a solution to a problem Every prospect isn’t a potential customer. Some may unrelated to insurance, or preparing a report on a particu- consider this a “negative thought” and want to keep their lar issue. If you do, you may pass the test. focus on the “positive.” Always looking at the “bright side,” however, can mean missing critical clues that are Later, you can talk about the prospect investing in you. valuable in properly evaluating prospects. Get relationships right. Many insurance salespeople “Reading” prospects correctly is essential to know how seem to believe that becoming friends with their custom- best to work with them, to understand their needs and ers is the best way to solidify a business relationship. identify their problems. The goal is not to “sell” the pros- It seems as if more than a few put more effort into the pect, but to decide if, at some point, the prospect can or friend task than anything else. should become a customer. If the honest answer is no, Yet, there are indications that point in a different direc- then it’s time to move on. tion; namely, that customers want to be treated like customers. Whether it’s Apple, FedEx, Staples, Amazon or Southwest Airlines, it’s the combination of competence Marketing Words of Wisdom and performance that creates enduring customer relationships. “Never leave the client empty handed; but don’t always make that something you gave them a bill or policy (that’s It’s the same if you sell insurance. all they will remember about you). Give them something they can use personally or professionally. When they do, Follow up faithfully. Producers, like other salespeople, they will think of you.” seem to find it easy to make promises to customers and prospects. Unfortunately, their performance is something Christopher J. Boggs, CPCU, ARM, ALCM, LPCS, AAI, APA, less than 100 percent. CWCA, CRIS, AINS Director of Education “Not to worry, I’ll take care of that for you,” the producer Academy of Insurance assured the customer. That was Monday and there was www.ijacademy.com Learn from the best without leaving your desk! Continued on page 48

22 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide

More Than an Agency

Management System By Bruce Winterburn The practice of insurance has gone through significant was just such an event. Not only were over half a million changes every decade since Vertafore entered this business homes damaged or destroyed, but hundreds of the very over forty years ago. Efficiencies first started with basic insurance professionals who were expected to help were items like batch processing and green screen technology in the same boat. Utilizing cloud-based insurance soft- to help streamline business. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, the focus ware and mobile devices, duty driven knowledge workers was on adoption of desktop and network based solutions, were there when they were needed the most. solving long suffering challenges likes SEMCI and the elimi- nation of mountains of paper. The past decade, systems Technology properly applied doesn’t replace the human have evolved to include cloud computing, mobility and element, but instead enables people to perform at a leveraging the massive amounts of data and information level never before realized. It is with this in mind that we available throughout the insurance universe. at Vertafore have consciously taken a fresh approach to reexamining what a true modern agency solution should By the 2000s, agency management systems were still the look like in the future — focusing on the customer life- premiere solutions for growing agencies seeking to make cycle and job functions within an agency. sure their CSRs and producers were as efficient as possible. However, what was once considered the Rolls Royce With much input from agents, carriers, industry experts of computing software began to become commonplace and technologists, we have developed an agency core sys- toward the end of the last decade. In parallel, new tech- tems grid to effectively illustrate which technologies are nologies have been drastically reshaping what consumer needed to meet today’s business goals. The grid has the convenience, expectations and service mean. following four quadrants to capture and appropriately categorize the agency’s technology needs: Fast forward to today and if an insurance agency isn’t • Capabilities: Business process management, busi- providing its consumers with anytime, anywhere access ness intelligence, workflow automation, content to their information and an agent’s consultative value, management they run the risk of becoming increasingly irrelevant. As • Agency Client Experience: Web portal, mobility, pro- this shift has become almost viral, agency management ducer automation systems, which have long been the cornerstones of an • Technology: Secure computing, communication agency’s technology, are finding themselves in need of a • Product & Market Access: Comparative rating, major retool or at least a rethink. agency management system, benefits management systems, and others Many management systems have long been little more than a glorified policy management system with some As an agency goes through this exercise they will no accounting sprinkled in. There are other pieces to the doubt see the need to look beyond the basic capabilities puzzle required by today’s complexity of process, information and expectations. Clients, partners and competition all require an elevated level of technology and connectivity. The move toward mobile alone has opened a Pandora’s box requiring system providers and knowledge workers to rethink the way business is performed. This is just one of the many new technology consider- ations an agency is faced with.

Transformative technological advances are often brought into focus within times of need and one of the greatest examples is during and after a major natural disaster. Hurricane Sandy Continued on page 43

24 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide

Is Inbound Marketing Really

the Magic Bullet? By Michael Jans I want to answer a few questions many agents and bro- John Deere’s Facebook Page and notice the similarities. kers are asking right now. And that’s just one example. I don’t have time to discuss #1: What is “inbound marketing” and how is it different how soap manufacturers created “soap operas” back in than traditional marketing? the 1930s as a form of “inbound marketing.” Or how Jell- O, in 1904, gave away the Jell-O Recipe Book. A marketing #2: Is inbound marketing really a new concept? tactic that was so effective it contributed around $1 million in additional sales by 1906. #3: Should I focus on inbound or outbound marketing and why? I give you these examples as an antidote to the marketing “buzzwords” being thrown around today. In marketing First things first. Let’s define a few important terms. there really are no new concepts. Just new ways of pack- Inbound marketing is advertising a company through aging those concepts. blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, newsletters, whitepapers, Who Wins in a Fight: Inbound vs. Outbound SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of content Marketing? marketing. Inbound marketing is also synonymous with Now that we’ve defined what inbound marketing is (and “permission marketing,” a term popularized by Seth Godin. that it’s not really a new concept) I want to move on to Outbound marketing is the more traditional way of mar- our third question: “Should I focus on inbound or out- keting and consists of direct mail, pay-per-click, cold-call- bound marketing and why?” ing, radio, TV commercials, email marketing and telemar- Another way to ask that is, “Which forms of media work keting. Proponents of inbound marketing like to refer to the best? Social media, blogs, direct mail, SEO, pay-per- these traditional methods as “interruption marketing.” click?” As you consider all the new ways to acquire cus- Marketing: I like to define marketing as the intentional tomers you may feel overwhelmed with all the choices. practice of creating meaningful relationships with the And one of the core mistakes many agents and brokers marketplace and customers. So if you define marketing as make is assuming there’s a simple, black and white answer. “tricks,” that’s not my bag. If only it were that easy. If there was a “magic bullet,” I, Is Inbound Marketing Really New? as CEO of Agency Revolution, the provider of the most Now, before we get into the “inbound vs. outbound mar- powerful Digital Marketing System in the industry, could keting” question I want to hop up on my little soapbox for focus on that one medium, or that one marketing tactic a minute. That’s because many inbound marketing gurus or strategy that worked best for agents and brokers. would like you to believe that the concept of inbound marketing is a new discovery. A recent invention. A better, But alas, like most things in life the answer to complex more humane way to acquire customers the “Civilized issues is, well, a bit complex. Way” without having to interrupt them. While it’s tempting to provide a simplistic answer I know But that’s not true. Inbound marketing is simply an old it would be hallow and void of the truth. And I’d lose your idea with a new name. It’s not a new concept. Let me trust. Something I never want to do. explain by giving you an old school example of a company who used “content marketing” (a form of inbound So the “answer” is that you need both. You need to marketing) to speak to audiences instead of interrupting practice what’s being called “inbound marketing” and them with in your face ads. “outbound marketing” strategies. You need to do SEO well so when your target market Googles ‘auto insurance your In 1895, John Deere created a magazine for farmers, The city, your state’ that you show up on the first page. Furrow. And guess what? The magazine’s main purpose wasn’t to “sell” John Deere products, but, to educate farm- But you can’t rely solely on online search. That should ers on technological advances in the industry. And if you only be a percentage of your total marketing portfolio. really want to have some fun with this, I recommend reading an old issue of The Furrow, then when you’re done visit Continued on page 49

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Independent Agency By Alan Shulman, CPCU There are myriad ways for independent agents to grow. Have every agency producer activate a LinkedIn profile, The options are endless and they straddle both the physi- post meaningful updates, and explore the network for cal and digital worlds. Some merely involve extra effort, viable new business leads. while others demand additional people and space. Each agency’s needs and goals are different, but adding new Record brief informational and promotional videos and business is on the agenda of every insurance office. To post them on your own YouTube channel. help, here are 25 ideas for growth. There are plenty more, Don’t confuse random social networking posts with ac- as well. tual marketing. It’s merely a feel good activity that takes Personnel scarce time away from more productive efforts. Establish a full or part-time position tasked with man- In-office Marketing aging the agency’s digital and traditional marketing Promote personal lines sales to commercial lines only programs. Hire a marketing major straight out of college accounts, particularly to your top clients and their man- or reassign a sales-driven CSR with solid communication agement teams. This adds business and helps keep rival skills. agents at bay. Add an inexperienced producer. Hire an aggressive Offer flood insurance to every eligible homeowner and greenhorn or attract a skilled salesperson from another commercial property insured. industry and teach them the business. Establish an actively monitored program to promote Hire a veteran producer away from a competing agency personal lines CSR lead identification, cross-selling, and when it is legally and fiscally feasible. upselling. Feature direct mail / email / social media Establish quarterly prospecting and production goals for campaigns to attract “missing” auto and homeowners all seasoned producers and track their results. Don’t let policies. costly veterans sit on renewals and sell only by referral. Routinely request referrals and testimonials from quality Accept quality brokerage business from carefully selected insureds. producers when your carriers are agreeable. Systematically resolicit desirable lost policies and failed Expansion new business proposals.

Open a virtual office where you sell exclusively online. A Run contests between CSRs and producers to see which company service center (or a dedicated team of in-office group uncovers more salable leads. CSRs) handles client service. Organize a renewal review program for personal and Open a sales-only office in a neighborhood or town small commercial lines. Use print and web-based client- where you want to grow. Perform most service functions completed surveys in addition to face-to-face and voice- through your main office or a company service center. to-voice reviews.

Buy a local agency and roll its book of business into yours Start or expand your financial services department. — or maintain it as a separate operation. Cross-sell life insurance to every salable insured and offer retirement planning to baby boomers. Web / Social Marketing Evaluate the contemporary nature of your agency Web Additional Marketing site. Update its appearance and content as needed. Promote umbrella policies to new personal lines pros- Consider adding visitor-centric features like real-time pects. It sells umbrellas plus gathers marketing informa- personal lines rating and all-hours client service. tion on the person’s underlying policies.

Establish a viable and continuous social media presence Open the doors of new commercial lines prospects with on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Post creative and inter- undersold but important contracts like cyber-liability, esting content that leads back to your Web site. Continued on page 49

28 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Solutions for Very Hard-to-Place Risks An Excess and Surplus Lines Carrier 1-800-257-5590 www.primeis.com Leaving Commodityville By David Connolly When agents focus on reactive service, we service the uneasy feeling we get after we make a purchase, and we insurance policy not the insurance client. When we fail second guess our buying process, or learn that there may as to bring value and create business solutions for our be something better out there. We have all experienced clients, we become part of the insurance commodity this feeling. Most prospects that have been with their marketplace. We get traded like sweet light crude, orange current agent for years are in ignorant bliss precisely juice, and pork bellies, and we live and work in Commodi- because they have no basis of comparison for their cur- tyville* where price is king. rent insurance program. Our job is to be that “something better” in the mind of the buyer. For those of us who want and need to create significant organic growth, this reactive business model is obsolete, Comparison-contrast: The very best way to create buyer’s and we need to leave it and Commodityville behind. Pro- remorse in your prospects is through comparison/con- viding basic reactive policy services may satisfy smaller, trast. The universal truth, “Nothing is good or bad except unsophisticated buyers, but it won’t pass muster with by comparison” has amazing traction in the insurance astute buyers and larger, coveted accounts that under- sales process. Your goal in the buyer facilitation process stand the value in professional partnerships and leverage is to invite your prospects to evaluate the three major vendors for value added services. When you can offer components of their insurance services program: something truly unique or deliver business services that 1. their relationship with their insurance professional provide significant value, you un-commoditize yourself, 2. the value of the professional services they receive and create an unfair advantage. That is when coveted ac- 3. the processes their agency and carrier employ to counts will look to build business partnerships with you. deliver services

Un-commoditization Formula When prospects engage in this evaluation of their current program, it also invites you to share with them your ap- Buyer’s remorse + Comparison-contrast + Buyer proach and a natural comparison/contrast process occurs. facilitation + Proactive business solutions = Value This approach can create significant buyers remorse if your service platform and approach brings more per- Buyer’s remorse: When prospects and clients experience ceived value. buyer’s remorse they will wake up and smell the coffee (another commodity) and look to make a change. What Buyer facilitation occurs when we help our prospects is buyer’s remorse? Put simply, buyer’s remorse is that and clients come to their own conclusion to do business with us VS selling them or telling them. It is so much * Commodityville, a fictitious hometown where agents fail to differentiate and more powerful than selling because it taps into another sell on price. universal law: “The best idea anyone ever heard of was their own.” Your buyer must come to their own conclusion that they are being underserved. Your goal is to get Marketing Words of Wisdom your prospects to decide on their own that you would “Many agents think the marketing effort ends at lead better serve them. This process avoids all objections and acquisition. This could not be further from the truth. You creates a desire on the part of the buyer to do business can use automated marketing tools, such as websites, with you, instead of pushing them and trying to convince email, and text and phone marketing, to market to both them. It’s a totally different experience; more professional prospects and clients. Continuing to market consistently and more powerful. Last, comparison/contrast and buyer will help leads make a buying decision, improve your facilitation, if used professionally, will help nullify the retention and increase your number of referrals. Your power of incumbency, which is often the biggest hurdle marketing does not end when you get a lead. It is only the we need to overcome to write new business. beginning.” The Un-commoditization Process Laird Rixford In the insurance sales process, where do we compete? We Vice President, Products & Marketing compete on Price, Product, Service, and Relationship. The Insurance Technologies Corporation truth is, unless the incumbent relationship is bad, or we www.getitc.com Continued on page 50

30 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Consumers Continue to Value Agents

When Buying Insurance By Bill Jenkins

Tuesday, April 30th of this year, marked the 20th anniver- Numerous research surveys bear this out. sary of the World Wide Web becoming public. Although the technology was first developed in the 1950s as a U.S. A recent Accenture survey of 2031 personal lines custom- government project, it was not until 1993 that the tools ers reported that more than two-thirds (68 percent) of re- became available free of charge to the public. Since then, spondents aged 18 to 24 say they would be willing to pay the Internet has rapidly developed. Indeed, the technol- more for personalized advice when purchasing an auto ogy has been integrated into most aspects of life; it has or home insurance policy. Not exactly what you would changed how people communicate, how economies oper- expect to hear from “The Internet Generation.” And, a PIA ate and how societies function. Partnership focus group research project titled “Reaching Gen Y” reports similar sentiments as well. The Internet has had profound effects on global commerce, signaling a revolution in the production and flow Research by The PIA Partnership of goods and services. For example, the Internet has fun- Another large scale PIA Partnership Research Project, damentally changed how global supply chains operate. “Touchpoints – The Voice of the Customer,” conducted in Previously, retailers had to predict what consumers would 2011 probed more deeply into consumer attitudes about demand in order to ensure sufficient supplies. However, their preferences regarding insurance. the advent of the Internet has allowed for increased ef- This, first of its kind, survey of personal lines insurance ficiency and thus lower costs in the supply chain. It has customers is national in scope and represents the opinions increased profits and enhanced flexibility. However, at the of not only independent agency customers, but also those same time, e-commerce has also made many products purchasing through online, direct and captive channels as and services directly available online, effectively cutting well. With a 95% confidence level and +/- 4% margin of er- out the middleman. ror (the same level of accuracy typically cited by Gallup for In 1998, as the Internet boom was building, a new maga- their surveys), the results are highly reliable and represen- zine, Business 2.0, was started to chronicle the rise of the tative of the entire U.S. insurance buying public. “New Economy.” Business 2.0 enjoyed extraordinary early Among its key findings, the survey shows that, “After good growth in readers and advertising, selling more than 2000 value, customers want to be able to trust someone who advertising pages in its second full year of publishing. will take care of them when it comes to insurance.” In This is believed to be a record for an American monthly other words, your customers value the expert advice and newsstand magazine. The cover of one of its early issues research you offer to provide the best rates and coverage featured cave drawings highlighting a feature article to meet their needs. (See Charts #1 & #2 on page 51.) on 10 business models that the Internet would soon be making extinct. To the distress of many, insurance agents When customers are asked, “If the price of two policies is were among those placed on its endangered species list. nearly the same, what reason would cause you to choose Ironically, it was Business 2.0 that failed to make sufficient one policy over another?” the survey results show that profit with its final issue published in October 2007. customers rank “better coverage” as the top reason. So, customers are clearly saying that when agents demon- However, even though claims of the demise of the agent strate their value by helping them make the right choices, were exaggerated, the Internet has served to help com- they are giving them what they are looking for — some- moditize personal lines insurance — especially for auto one they trust who will take care of them when it comes owners. On the flip-side, for agents, the Internet and its to insurance. minimalist transactional approach to the details of insurance has increased customer demand for a reliable, more personalized approach to meeting their insurance needs. Continued on page 51

32 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide MARKETING. RATING. MANAGEMENT.

All the powers you need to make your agency soar. Marketing 101 –

Back to the Basics By George Nordhaus After working for over half a century on all aspects of Successful vs. Unsuccessful marketing with independent agents, and now with the Over a long period of working with thousands of agen- advent of the new world of communications, I have come cies, I began to see the obvious differences between suc- to this major conclusion: the vital principles of marketing cessful and unsuccessful ones. have not changed. Successful people succeed primarily because they are will- In preparing for this article, I reviewed Insurance Agency ing to do things that unsuccessful people are not willing Advertising and Public Relations, the first of the eight to do. books I have written on the subject. Much to my surprise, the basic tenants of the subject have not changed since Successful agents and brokers: that book was written many years ago. 1. Are willing to develop a game plan. Unsuccessful agents don’t take the time to plan. If You Don’t Know Where You Are… 2 Develop a training program and a career path for In the introduction to that book, I asked agents to answer employees. these five easy questions about their agencies: Unsuccessful agents think they can hire enough 1. Minimum commission you can take on an account trained personnel for survival. and still make a reasonable profit? 2. The average number of policies you have per ac- 3. Understand that research is a worthwhile invest- count? ment. 3. The average in new commissions your producers Unsuccessful ones play follow the leader. generate each year? 4. Have an active, ever-changing prospect list….on a 4. The average age of your customers? sales and marketing plan. 5. What is the 5-year – 10-year growth goal of your Unsuccessful agents keep hoping business will agency? come in over the transom. I added: “To most independent agents the answers to 5. Keep in positive contact with their clients. these and other simple questions about their agency are Unsuccessful agents say, “If we don’t bother them, a complete mystery.” maybe they won’t bother us.” My challenge was: “How can you have a meaning- 6. Know that study and application of management ful growth plan if you don’t know where you are now? principles is the name of the game. Without a basic understanding of your own agency, how Unsuccessful agents believe that management is can you make the decisions so vital to your survival and something you do when all else fails. growth?” I concluded with: Yes, today’s measurement tools, packaged growth plans, consultants, best practices, etc. help us to know more, “Okay…so you don’t do some of those things and you still quicker and accurately. Yet we at AgenciesOnline work consider yours a successful operation. Granted, there is with agents and brokers every single day in this new cen- no magic in these activities…but, by and large, it is these tury who STILL don’t know the answers to those simple time-consuming, no-noticeable-immediate-return activi- questions. ties that eventually separate the very profitable from the ho-hum shops.” The conclusion to the chapter used the still-accurate comparison to Christopher Columbus: Moving Fifty Years Forward...to NOW: In this increasingly complex “GEICO Effect,” Internet- When Columbus left Spain in 1492 he didn’t know dominated world, how can you accurately measure YOUR where he was going. When he got here he didn’t agency’s status? know where he was. When he got back to Spain he didn’t know where he had been. Where do you stand in this world of insurance marketing turmoil?

Continued on page 54

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PC Become the New T. Rex? By Ted Janusz Will that personal computer tethered to your desk soon tablets — shot up 24 percent from June 2012 to 126 mil- become a Tyrannosaurus Rex? Well, maybe not so fast, lion at the end of September 2012. Nielsen’s Social Media but more people may be sharing a single device, sort of Report 2012 found that 43 percent of U.S. users said that like the old landline in your home. (Remember landlines?) they now use smartphones to access social media, with 16 Consumers will have even more “personal” devices that percent connecting via a tablet. they will use to regularly access the Internet. But then you will still hear them occasionally ask, “Mom, can I use “Many commentators have marked 2015 as the year your PC to print out this report?” when mobile search and online activity will overtake overall static usage worldwide,” says Christian Arno, Forecast: Continued Struggles for PC Makers HP, founder and managing director of Lingo24. “For social Dell and Even Microsoft media the tipping point might arrive sooner than that.” The biggest overall social media trend we see during the next few months will be the continued rise of smart- Let’s Look at the Numbers phones and tablets. Primarily Android and iOS devices, Facebook should remain the undisputed worldwide king smartphones and tablets are now outselling personal of social media for the near future. Still less than ten computers. As a result, says Jayson DeMers, founder and years old and now with annual revenues in excess of $5 CEO of AudienceBloom, “supporting mobile devices is no billion, Facebook with over one billion active users has longer just an option; it’s mandatory.” Meaning: Is your established the number one position in 127 of 137 coun- website optimized for viewing on these devices? tries surveyed by Alexa. China (where Facebook is illegal) and Russia are the primary holdouts. In its September 2012 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, According to Edelman Digital, every minute there are: Facebook said, “. . . we • 200 million emails anticipate that the rate • 5.6 million texts of growth in mobile • 2.8 million YouTube views usage will exceed • 2.1 million Google searches the growth in usage • 1.7 million Facebook posts through personal • 275,000 tweets computers for the • 200,000 Facebook pictures foreseeable future In the United States, the top 7 social networks are: and that the usage • Facebook • LinkedIn through personal • Blogger • Pinterest computers may be • Twitter • Google+ flat or continue to • Wordpress decline in certain markets.” Facebook: Can You Ad? According to Facebook has recently ventured into potentially dan- NBC News, gerous territory by running “Sponsored Stories” in the Facebook’s us- newsfeeds of its users, something that could be likened age on mobile to receiving spam in your email inbox. As a result, Patricia only —phones Redsicker advises, “Because advertising on social media is and more annoying than other digital areas, market- ers should proceed with caution and make sure ads are highly relevant and targeted. On the bright side, many people don’t mind social ads if they’re tailored to suit personal taste and interests.”

Continued on page 37

36 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 36 Gradient with Depth Gradient with Depth (preferred usage) (preferred usage) One of the many reasons people initially adopted Facebook was that, unlike email, it was a closed system. You chose your friends and could more easily keep out the rest of the world. As a result, the rise of “Sponsored Stories” on Facebook may also has- ten the growth of the other social network, from Flat Flat the online behemoth Google, number 7 Google+.

You Ought to Be in Pictures Social media users continue to love photographs. According to Edelman Digital, 300 million photos are uploaded to Facebook each day. Visual sites, suchFlat & Grayscale Flat & Grayscale as Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram will continue to surge in traffic and attention. Right now, it is possible to get up to five time higher engagement with visual content on Facebook. (I know that from my own rating management experience. My most popular recent personal post on Facebook was that of my newly minted granddaugh- engine system ter displaying her St. Patrick’s Day outfit.) Flat with White Cat Flat with White Cat

The new darling among these sweet seven social media sites is Pinterest, a photographic favorite of females and fashionistas.

“Pinterest continues to experience exponential COnVeRT Manage growth since its launch in 2011,” says Patricia Red- prospects Your AgencY Flat with White Cat sicker of the Social Media Examiner. “The platformFlat with White Cat with rates that are from your had the highest increase in audience and time spent of any social network.” A May 2012 Harvard Business review article goes on to say that “Pinter- est users reported a surprisingly high correlation between pinning and subsequent purchasing: instAnt outlook More than 1 in 5 Pinterest users has pinned an item that they later purchased. In the social world, this is a high conversion rate.” online Website (By the way, if you think that “pinning” is a word usually used in conjunction with a boutonniere, here from Pinterest is a quick “Pinning 101”: A pin convenient computer starts with an image or video you add to Pinterest. You can add a pin from a website or right from your computer. Any pin on Pinterest can be repinned, AccurAte smArt Device and all pins link back to their source. A board is where you organize your pins by topic. You could pin ideas for remodeling your bathroom to your House Projects board, for example. Boards can be secret or public and you can invite other people to pin with you on any of your boards. Got it?)

Social Media: Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile. Or Is It? “The biggest change we will see in the next year,” says Mike Bal, creative and digital marketing director of Baseline21, “is that we are over the main

Continued on page 53 Why Google+ Should Be Part of Your Agency’s Online Strategy

By Matthew Marko If you’ve been following Google’s social experiment each month, and Google+, acting as an online business from afar, you may have lost Google+ in the shadow of directory, is the most effective way to capture those pros- social media’s 800 pound gorilla, Facebook. But before pects.2 It’s also the best way to do so without having to you dismiss the search giant as an also-ran in social, compete with big brands’ multi-million dollar online ad- take note of Facebook’s own pet project, Graph Search vertising budgets. A key reason to engage with Google+ (www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch). Facebook’s is to acquire new customers in a way that no other social foray into search despite Google’s clear dominance (two media site or online directory can currently offer. out of every three searches online are conducted using Google1) reveals the cracks forming in the wall separating From Places to Plusses search and social. Both companies are preparing for when Google reports that one in three searches have local the wall comes tumbling down, and now’s the time to intent, and 83 percent of consumers search online for 3 position your agency to capitalize. If Progressive’s market- local businesses. If a search query suggests local intent, ing data hold true, many more agents are opting for a Google includes the Google+ local pages in the search place on Facebook over Google+. Here’s why you should results, typically near the top. Formerly called “Google diversify by building a strong presence on both. Places,” Google+ local business pages now include social elements as well, making an agency’s participation in Google+ Is Much More Than Social Google+ (and customer interaction on the platform) a Google+ does have social strengths, such as the ability to growing factor in showing up in local searches. easily segment and target communications to customers using Circles and host Hangouts with customers on Here are five steps to start taking advantage of Google+ insurance topics. However, for now the primary insurance for local search: agency benefit of Google+ is local search optimization. Americans conduct 3.6 billion local searches on Google Continued on page 39

Top Insurance Web Site Marketing Tips for Success in Search Engines

By Gary Savelli

Having trouble getting your insurance web site to appear the same keywords as your favorably in Google? Here are three simple things you can lead product: something like do to increase your placement in the search engines a “Ohio Contractor Insurance, the hundred-fold: Inexpensive Way.” Videos are hot, and appear high in rankings, even when your 1) Buy a domain name that is rich in Keywords for site will not. (But you MUST submit the YouTube URL the insurance you are selling. For example, if you to Google, Yahoo and Bing for listing.) are selling restaurant insurance in Ohio, purchase: ohiorestaurantinsurance.com. If it’s not available get 3) Submit your web site once every three weeks ohio-restaurantinsurance.com, etc. without fail to the major search portals — it’s the most overlooked thing agents fail at. Just go to the The domain name is the #1 thing Google looks at. Submit URL page at each portal — listing is free. (You must then also change the site and hosting to match — you can’t just “point” the domain name at Gary Savelli is president of Insurance Web Sales, Home of the old URL.) the $500 Complete Agency Web Site Package. He has been helping agents gain success online for over 15 years, and has 2) Make a two minute video of yourself teaching written a comprehensive guide: “Selling Insurance on the clients things they can do to reduce insurance costs Internet.” Consult with him for free at www.insurance-web- and place it on YouTube — the title of which has sales.com or email [email protected].

38 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 38 Gradient with Depth Gradient with Depth (preferred usage) (preferred usage) 1. Claim and Verify It If you haven’t done so already, claim and verify your Google+ listing. This is something you can easily do on your own (www.google.com/+/business/get-started.html). Be sure not to create a duplicate Google+ listing Flat Flat for your agency if one already exists. It’s against Google’s rules.

To check if your business already has a Google+ listing, simply go to www.google.com/maps and enter your business address and phone Flat & Grayscale Flat & Grayscale number into the search bar. If a listing shows up reflecting your business name, then your agency already has a Google+ local business page. consumer Agency Ensure it is under your control through the owner-verification process. If someone in your Quoting Websites

agency does not have the log-in informationFlat towith White Cat Flat with White Cat manage your Google+ listing, click on “Manage this Page” on your business’ Google+ page to begin the verification process. Owner verification is a critical step in building trust with Google and guaranteeing that you control your business QuOTe PResenT information on Google+. Progressive research indicates that as of November 2012, more than instAntlY Your best Flat with White Cat Flat with White Cat half of independent insurance agencies had on your with valuable failed to complete this critical first step, significantly diminishing their ability to rank highly in local search results. If you’re not the do-it-yourself type, Website content programs like Progressive’s ListAgent (http://pgrs.in/17Lm3yp) can help you with claiming your business listings online and mobile Device Design optimizing your local presence. While you’re at it, it’s an excellent idea to also claim local search listings at sites like Yahoo, Bing, and Yelp. tAblet resources 2. Build Trust in It Review your Google+ listing for accuracy and be sure that you’re using the identical name for FAcebook seo your agency and its contact information across all directories, on the internet and on your agency website. Search engines like Google look for consistency in your agency’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) online, and your visibility in search results improves if you have consistent listings. Exact NAP match is important. For example, you don’t want your agency website to say “ABC Insurance Agency” while your Google+ listing says “ABC Ins Agency.” GetListed.org and Yext.com offer free, simple tools to assess the

Continued on page 55 10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Niche Marketing Plus, 3 Vital Criteria When Choosing a Niche By Michael Jans Here are 10 reasons why niche marketing is such a power- 8. Through the intimacy and expertise you quickly gain in ful way to market insurance: a niche market, you’ll earn unbreakable customer loyalty 1. You can position yourself faster than you can in the “gen- that will last through difficult markets. eral” market. 9. Much more internal efficiency, as you and your staff 2. Once you “own” a niche, it’s difficult for anyone to take it away. repeat similar actions over and over. 3. You can easily establish a “unique selling proposition” 10. Greater clout with carriers who respect your rapidly that draws the market to you quickly. growing niche book — giving you options for underwrit- 4. Most niches are rich with opportunities for free word of er choice, higher commissions, geographic expansion mouth opportunities — especially if you know how to and co-op money. stimulate them. 5. Nowhere else can you so tightly and powerfully match The list goes on. Suffice it to say you can make maximum your 3 “M’s”: market, media, and message for a dramatic money in minimum time when you apply “High Impact response to your marketing. Marketing” to a niche market. 6. Because of your specialization and knowledge of the 3 Vital Criteria for Niche Marketing needs within the niche, your hit ratio will be higher, so It’s also important to consider three things when selecting you’ll earn more money in less time. a “good” niche. 7. Once you establish a relationship through your niche, 1) Reachability. This group somehow needs to make itself you can cross sell other traditional insurance policies, available to you. You must be able to reach it through one, increasing your retention ratio and lowering your cost or several, of the following means: mailing lists, association per customer operating ratio. lists, government lists, fax lists, phone lists, articles, display ads, speaking en- Marine Underwriters Agency, Inc. gagements and so forth. www.marineunderwriters.com 2) Compelling offer. You must be able to answer the Unique Selling Propo- sition Marketing Question that your 1-800-631-2147 prospects are silently asking: “Why should I do business with you above any and all other options?” Yacht Market Sighted! 3) Size of market. Make sure it’s worth PERSONAL WATERCRAFT TO MEGAYACHTS your while. Small markets are good. You can dominate them quickly. Just • A-Rated Domestic Companies Only recognize that you will reach maxi- • Competitive Rates mum penetration. The larger the market, the more potential growth. • Meaningful Commissions • Liability Only For more information on how to grow your agency with niche marketing • Performance Boats grab your free niche marketing tools at • Charter Boats www.InsuranceNicheMarketing.com. No premium requirements. Michael Jans is the CEO of Agency Revolu- No contract required. tion. He has written and created over 50 books, programs and courses to help insur- START QUOTING TODAY! ance agencies grow including “Niches To Riches.” In the past 20 years Michael has trained and consulted with over 11,000 Just Boat Insurance Since 1956 • Let Our Experience Work For You insurance agency principals with clients in 5 continents. For free tools on how to use niche marketing to grow your agency visit 4155 Litchfield Exchange, PO Box 3667, Pawleys Island, SC 29585 www.InsuranceNicheMarketing.com.

40 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Podcasting: The Secret Weapon to Growing Your Insurance

Agency By Ryan Hanley, CIC Every day we hear more experts preaching the gospel of Long form content marketing, specifically podcasting, podcasting as a content marketing tool. It’s a very entic- flushes that idea down the toilet… ing sermon. We get to have our own little pre-recorded radio show clients and prospects can listen to when they’re …create better content in a format your audience enjoys working out or driving in the car. and they will stay longer.

But how is a podcast supposed to help grow our business? Enter the podcast.

In theory, podcasts create brand fanatics, people who are The podcast audience, by their nature, is deeply invested deeply invested in who we are both as people and busi- in the content they consume. I call podcasting the godfa- ness professionals. Building deeper relationships, which ther of long form content marketing for two reasons: yield more referrals, renewals and revenue, is a pillar of 1. Podcasting has been around for a long time, yet long-form content marketing. very few people are aware the power it yields 2. Podcasting takes your audience outside the Internet Podcasting Is the Godfather of Long Form Content world most of us create content in, operating by a Marketing different set of rules. Long form content marketing is a methodology for attracting the specific target audience that drives our business. Yes, our podcast audience can listen to episodes online, but that is NOT how most podcast listeners consume The idea behind long form content marketing is the longer content. The podcast follows consumers outside the we can keep a prospective lead’s attention focused on our world of the Internet into their everyday lives and allows content, the better chance we have of actually capturing them to consume our content on their schedule when them as a lead and the more qualified they will be. they’re away from a computer screen.

According to Google Analytics, the average visitor This is an incredibly powerful concept. to my website (www.RyanHanley.com) stays for two minutes and seven seconds. According to Stitcher, With a blog post or video content, our audience has to be (popular alternative to iTunes for listening to podcasts) in front of the computer screen or iPad or smart phone. the average listener of my Content Warfare Podcast When someone is consuming a text-based post or watch- (www.contentwarfarepodcast.com) stays for twenty ing a video they cannot be multitasking. seven minutes. Think about that for a second, if you create a video the If you believe the theory that the time our audience reason it has to be three minutes or less and broken up spends in front of our content builds authority then by with an intro bumper, outro bumper and bloopers is to these statistics I would have to produce 14 blog posts to keep your audience from multitasking. As soon as your equal just one podcast episode. audience begins to multitask, your message is no longer being delivered. Shorter Content Isn’t the Answer Many experts would tell you to create content in short This isn’t the case with a podcast. Your audience can be bursts. We hear this rhetoric attached to blog posts and running on a treadmill, driving home from work or work- video all the time. ing on paperwork at their desk. With a podcast all your audience needs is a set of speakers. “Never create a video longer than three minutes…” Your podcast goes where your audience is instead of your ”Don’t exceed 750 words with your blog posts…” audience having to come to you…

The thought process here is consumers on the Internet have such short attention spans they will not stay focused on our content for more than a minute or two. Continued on page 56

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 41 Continued from page 12

Cultivating the Basic Ingredient By Nancy Doucette

his “board report.” He submitted a video so it could be plicant’s behavior style, core motivations, value structure, shown to the rest of the group. judgment, clarity, and focus — and the probability of the applicant being successful in the job they’re being hired White says the agency’s membership in Sitkins Inter- to do. national has helped keep producers focused as well. “At one of the Extreme Networking events, we heard about If an employee is struggling, Riddleberger says RSI can the 90-day sprint concept to build sales momentum,” he identify the specific developmental areas where the recalls. “We do annual planning with our producers and employee needs skills training. “We have an audio library they have a rolling three-year plan, but the 90-day sprints of training seminars developed by our resident PhD,” he really keep them motivated.” says. “There are more than 120 training sessions based on that 70-page report. We can ‘prescribe’ developmental White says “accountability partners” are another good training sessions based on the assessment results.” tool, although VAST doesn’t actively pair people. “They find themselves; they coach, mentor, and provide con- McCaskill describes the assessment as “scary” in its structive feedback to each other,” White says. One of ability to measure drive in a consultant. Unbeknownst the agency’s more successful partnerships is the most to Douglass, McCaskill decided to test the test. He had seasoned producer and a 28-year-old. “Gen Y producers two of Senn Dunn’s young, successful consultants take (such as the 28-year-old) enjoy group selling, and they the assessment. In the follow-up conversation with Mc- embrace accountability because they’re used to working Caskill, Douglass described the work ethics for these two collaboratively.” “candidates” based on what the assessment revealed. “It fit them to a ‘T,’” he recalls. No Cookie-cutter Approach Understanding that one management or Why Johnny Can’t Sell leadership style doesn’t suit everyone on As Ron Lensing mentioned earlier, struggling staff goes without saying, but unless you producers at BancorpSouth continued to majored in psychology, chances are there stumble along, despite technical training, T. Gray will be some trial and error involved before McCaskill, sales training, and other resources. So when you get it all figured out. Enter Resolution CPCU, CEO of a colleague returned from a workshop Ron Lensing, executive Systems, Inc. (RSI), a sales training com- Senn Dunn with information about call reluctance, Insurance vice president pany and strategic consulting firm, based Lensing thought it was worth explor- of Bancorp- in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their across-town neigh- ing. His research put him in touch with South Insurance bor Senn Dunn is a client and uses their assessment and Behavioral Sciences Research Press, Inc. Services interpretation services when hiring new consultants. (BSR) — they literally wrote the book on “The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance — According to Barrett Riddleberger, CEO of RSI, “Our as- Earning What You’re Worth in Sales.” sessment is unique in that it is a combination of multiple assessments that we have tailored for sales and According to BSR’s Web site, call reluctance consists of brought together in one report. Our interpretation of the all the thoughts, feelings, and “avoidance” behaviors assessment can help business owners become better that conspire to hold back otherwise talented, motivated managers by explaining to them how to communicate salespeople. with a particular employee and how to create the ideal environment for that person. A lot of times, turnover isn’t But BSR does more than simply diagnose the problem. because an employee lacks the capacity to do the job. It’s They also offer a day-and-a-half-long Fear-Free Prospect- because they’re managed incorrectly.” ing and Self Promotion workshop to help individuals overcome what’s holding them back. Drea Douglass, chief assessment officer for RSI, points out that the assessment, which typically is administered Lensing says he joined 32 of BXSI’s producers of all ages before an individual is hired, gives the prospective em- and experience levels at the organization’s Mississippi lo- ployer a deeper look into what motivates that individual. cation to take the assessment. The test measures 12 dis- An e-mail link to the 30-minute assessment is sent to tinct types of call reluctance — among them: Telephobia, the applicant. Afterward, Douglass discusses the 70-page report with the prospective employer — detailing the ap- Continued on page 43

42 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 42

Over-Preparer, Sales Role Rejection, and Yielder. “Seldom in the Fear-Free Prospecting workshop as well,” Lensing do any two producers have the same areas of call reluc- says, “so they understand they have new responsibilities tance,” Lensing points out. Each test taker receives a chart where the producers are concerned.” which shows where their strengths and weaknesses are. In many agencies, management positions are held by the Lensing says it’s imperative that the Fear-Free Prospecting biggest producers, which Lensing acknowledges can be a workshop follow the test. “Just knowing where your areas problem. “Clients always take priority so finding the time of weakness are is only part of the equation,” he states. to hold accountability sessions, review reports, and follow “You need to know how to break through the barriers that up with producers takes a back seat. That’s when man- are holding you back, and that’s where the conditioning agement manages less. exercises come in.” “There are no holes in BSR’s program — the holes are in The workshop also helps attendees understand the how an organization implements what BSR offers,” he importance of goal setting — business and personal comments. BXSI uses the call reluctance test before any goals. Lensing says it’s logical that an individual’s drive to producer is hired. achieve goals impacts that person’s desire to overcome call reluctance. “BXSI goes through a production goal When the Mississippi division went through the training setting process with our producers but we don’t touch in 2012, they saw a 300% increase in prospecting activity upon the personal aspect of it, and we should. In most following the training. This prompted the Louisiana divi- cases, that’s why individuals work on business goals — to sion to go through the process early in 2013. achieve personal goals.” Additionally, BXSI now has an on-staff person who com- For a month following the workshop, a BSR representative pleted the four-day accreditation seminar so she is certi- provides group coaching to the producers by phone so fied to interpret BXSI’s assessments and facilitate the Fear- they can report on the number of cold calls they’ve made Free Prospecting workshop for BXSI staff and new hires. and get additional help with any related issues. “That ac- Lensing concludes: “In my conversations with our pro- countability factor helps with the number of prospecting ducers who have embraced this, they have a completely calls being made,” Lensing says. different view of themselves and how they go about But once that four-week period is over, the onus is on prospecting. They recognize what was holding them back agency management to make sure producers don’t fall and are committed to overcoming it.” back into old habits. “Management needs to be involved Nancy Doucette is senior editor for Rough Notes magazine.

Continued from page 24

More Than an Agency Management System By Bruce Winterburn of a management system to really be able to unleash the the other solutions an agency may deploy to properly potential of everyone within the business. While no one service each piece of their core systems grid. technology vendor today can offer every element that will be on the agency core systems grid, they should possess a There has never been a more exciting time to be in the solid understanding of where they fit in. insurance business. I often say, “For once, technology has actually outpaced our imaginations.” This has left us with Beyond this initial understanding, the vendor’s systems a future where technology experts can focus on technol- should help empower insurance agencies with an easy to ogy — leaving insurance professionals to spend their integrate solution that will best position them for produc- efforts on the actual practice of providing insurance and tivity and profitability. By integration I mean two things. service to customers.

First, the vendor has to acknowledge it will clearly take Bruce Winterburn is Vertafore’s Vice President of Industry Rela- more than a historical management system to perform tions and has spent more than 20 years working within the the required functions. The technology vendor’s pieces insurance software industry. He has held leadership roles at Rack- should integrate and flow seamlessly together. Second, ley Systems Inc. and AMS Services (now Vertafore). He has a solid core understanding of the insurance industry, with exposure and the vendor needs to be able to effectively integrate with knowledge in the Agent, Wholesale and Carrier channels.

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 43 Continued from page 14 Producer Acquisition, Compensation, Motivation and Management By Al Diamond

tion program if growth is not achieved) and an activity- Activity-Based, Self-Terminating Contract – Every pro- based self-terminating producer contract in the event ducer should be contracted to include non-competition, that the activity levels required for success are not met non-piracy AND activity-based validation schedules. The over a sustained period. Validation Schedule identifies how much sales activity, proposal activity and sales call activity is logical if the Compensation Program – While paying NB and Renewal producer is to achieve the level of compensation they commission was effective over the second half of the desire within the agency. YOU CAN’T SELL INSURANCE 20th century when most of the producer’s work was in FROM INSIDE A BUILDING WAITING FOR THE PHONE TO the initial sale and less effort was needed on the renew- RING! Whether personal, commercial or financial service als, today’s customer relationships are just as intense in products, relationships are built outside the agency walls renewals as in initial sales. We recommend a Base and speaking to people that are not currently insured by the Growth program that pays the producer one rate (what agency. Once you evolve the formula that tells producers had been the renewal rate) for all commissions gener- how many sales they needs to achieve their compensa- ated in a given year up to the level of that producer’s prior tion expectations, you can derive the projected number year total production (the Base) and a second (Growth) of proposals expected to drive their sales validation and rate for all commissions generated (paid) in excess of the number of sales calls that would be needed to get to prior year’s gross annual commission for that producer. the proposal stage with a prospect. That number, SALES Each year that Base and Growth amount is revised and CALL ACTIVITY, is the magic validation number that the the producer may be paid on salary with bonus, draw or producer must achieve on a daily, weekly and monthly ba- on commissions using this method. The major benefit sis in order to show the agency that the producer is active of Base/Growth is that if accounts are lost in a year, they enough to succeed. You can help the producer with any must be replaced before the producer qualifies for the problem in insurance knowledge and sales training but higher, Growth commission. you can’t force someone to get out of bed and see prospects on a daily basis. That is part of the significant per- Growth Motivated Program – This program follows two sonality of a producer that we assess at the outset of the rules: 1) A “Producer” continuously grows the agency’s relationship. Missing Activity Goals for multiple months book of business, and 2) Producers with larger books of decreases compensation by a small amount regularly business are more profitable to an agency than produc- enough that the producer will find they can’t continue to ers with small books of business. When a producer signs underperform and take agency money as well. on, it should be clear that the producer is there to grow. In any year that the total book of business for which the The combination of a disciplined selection process, not producer is responsible decreases, the commission rate concentrating ONLY on experienced insurance produc- decreases by 1% for the following year. The commission ers for your sales staff along with compensation plans rate may fluctuate down by as much as 5% (the point at that motivate the producers to grow the book (and de- which a producer is actually acting as an Account Execu- motivate lack of performance) will retain the successful tive instead of as a sales professional). An enrichment producers and more quickly eliminate those that can’t clause is also included that motivates the producer with perform to your desired standards. increased commission rates (from first dollar) once they grow sufficiently to generate a higher profit rate for the Al Diamond and Agency Consulting Group, Inc. have been agency. Typically (although there are exceptions) growth consulting for over 35 years and are responsible for over 1,000 at $100,000 commissions in a book of business generates annual agency valuations, the industry Composite Groups (in- sufficiently more profits for the agency that a 5% increase cluding over 4,000 agencies) and the PIPELINE, in continuous publication since 1987. Al can be reached at 856-779-2430 in producer compensation is justified. This also keeps (www.agencyconsulting.com [email protected]). your most valuable producers tied to the agency with To determine when Al and Agency Consulting Group will ‘golden handcuffs’ paying them more than they could be in your state with their seminar, Producer Acquisition, achieve elsewhere (as long as they have a strong non- Compensation, Motivation and Management, please visit compete and non-piracy agreement in place). www.agencyconsulting.com/seminar-registration.asp.

44 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 16

Leadership: It All Starts With a Vision By Kitty Ambers, CPIA, CIC, CISR, CPIW port what they help create.” Too often, we forget this leader- a reality? Create a budget, have an implementation and ship concept in the busyness of our daily routines. Worse training plan, empower others and watch what unfolds. yet, sometimes we ignore it. To move our firms forward expeditiously, we need to have the entire team engaged. Coordinating and Balancing Pulitzer Prize winner Herbert Swope once said, “I cannot I recently spoke with an agency owner whose daughter — give you the formula for success, but I can give you the for- a recent marketing communications grad — was having mula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.” As you trouble finding a job but had no interest in the insurance lead your team toward the vision you’ve outlined, you will business. I probed the agency owner about his vision for encounter challenges. That’s called life. However, when the the agency and how the use of social media might play vision is clear, you can find a way to stay the course during into its future success. Interestingly enough, he realized times of adversity. Keep your eyes on the goal, of course, this could represent a good fit for his daughter and that it but balance that with taking time to stop and look around. might be something she’d enjoy. At last report, she has put her marketing communications knowledge and skills to The world is constantly changing. Is the change you observe work for the agency and they are seeing positive results. being contemplated, discussed and integrated into the vision for your firm? Now, the vision should not necessarily What strengths or experience do your staff members bring be in a constant state of flux, but leaders need to engage in that are not being utilized to the fullest? What relationships life-long learning and must be willing to be agile. — business or personal — might they have that can help advance your vision? Are employees encouraged and regu- In our insurance world, for example, we encounter frequent larly asked to provide feedback for process improvements? marketplace changes. Some can be traced back to legisla- tive actions or economic events that affect our clients in Information, Knowledge, Methods some way. Changes brought on by these actions and events Bill Gates said, “As we look ahead.....leaders will be those drive premiums and, as a result, revenue. Of course, this af- who empower others.” For genuine ingenuity to mani- fects the agency’s bottom line....ideally in a positive fashion! fest itself in the workplace, we need to empower people. Empowerment comes out of providing employees the As a leader, do you take — or make — time to stay abreast proper tools. of the issues that could lead to change at the local, regional, national or international levels? Such awareness In the insurance business, every individual needs a variety can help you anticipate what is coming, and allow you to of tools: soft skills that are used to persuade and influence; adjust your agency vision accordingly. technical knowledge on the various insurance concepts and products we sell; and technical skills that let us use Just as important is the need for inward observation and the automation that has been developed to help stream- internal awareness. Are the employees you’ve empowered line business processes. Productive organizations divide with tools, technology and training meeting the objectives? and conquer when it comes to managing information, Are the carrier partners you’ve chosen to help achieve your providing knowledge and embracing new methods. It is vision getting the job done? Is the social media strategy you difficult for any one person to stay current on everything. deployed resulting in improved customer engagement?

Engage the resources around you. That may mean em- Remember Vince Lombardi’s words: “Leaders aren’t born, powering producers to negotiate directly with underwrit- they are made. And they are made just like anything else, ers or assigning service staff to monitor carrier activity through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay and inform others of changes. It may mean finding a to achieve that goal, or any goal.” If change is challenging willing employee to take ownership of the agency’s you, invest time in developing or retooling your leadership technology initiatives and getting them involved with the skills. It may be hard work, but it will pay great dividends management system user group. It may mean invest- as you work to grow your organization over time. ing in equipment such as laptop computers, tablets and Kitty Ambers, CPIA, CIC, CISR, CPIW, is executive director of the other technology that allows remote access by staff. American Insurance Marketing & Sales (AIMS) Society, which confers the Certified Professional Insurance Agent (CPIA) pro- Go back to your vision. What tools, information, knowl- fessional designation. Follow her on Twitter @kitty_ambers. edge and skills do you and your people need to make it

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 45 Continued from page 18 Make More Money by Fixing Your Agency’s Follow-up Failure By Steve Anderson

in the future, put the contact into your follow-up file and • Most prospects are poorly cultivated and nurtured, call again next year. also according to the individual producer’s strategy. • Only a small percentage of the agency’s prospects Producers are often charged with the responsibility of per- ever result in a sale or achieve their full income po- forming these follow-up steps. As mentioned above, most tential. producers don’t do well at following up on prospects that are not ready to buy. The reasons for this include: Marketing automation creates an easy, no hassle way for anyone to follow up with anyone that has expressed an They don’t like to. Many producers are great at prospect- interest in your agency. With a little bit of time setting up ing, presenting, and closing, but they don’t like writing the system you can have an automatic follow-up se- letters and emails or making follow-up phone calls. These quence in place that will keep your agency in front of the producers see follow-up activity as a waste of their time, prospect until they are ready to talk with you. so they don’t do it. They prefer to work with people who are willing to talk to them immediately. They will worry Service Automation about other prospects when their expiration date gets The same principals apply to many service activities. closer. Again, your policy management systems should help streamline the repetitive service activities that allow They are too busy. Many producers are focused on short- you to create a great customer experience. Two simple term opportunities and believe that they can’t spend examples: the time to cultivate long-term relationships. They move from crisis to crisis, and their time is filled with the urgent New Customer Welcome: One of the best ways to create problems of the day. The important long-term activity is a long lasting client is to treat them well. By creating a not carried out. new customer welcome service that automatically sends out 9 contacts over 90 days you create a great experi- They are not well organized. Some producers allow things ence. These contacts could be a phone call, physical letter, to simply “pile up” and have no system to remind them email, or note card. when it is time to get back in touch with someone. They may have a suspense or diary system, but they always Notice of Intent to Cancel: A good way to keep clients is to seem to be days (or weeks) behind the reminders they help them pay on time. I know your E&O classes have told receive. you not to do this because if you don’t do it for everyone you could be in trouble. What they miss is that service They leave the agency and no one continues their efforts. automation should make it possible for it to be done When a new producer takes over, a transition is usually automatically. The system could trigger the action as a made with the “good” customers. Any prospects that the result of a download or a note on the client’s file — auto- prior producer was cultivating are frequently dropped. matically. Sometimes, when a producer leaves an agency, he or she continues to cultivate the prospects — but at another If you want to grow, fixing your follow-up failure is per- agency. haps the most important improvement you can make in your agency. Various technology tools are available that There is no formal plan. Most agencies have not devel- will help you automate this process. oped a formal plan for marketing and sales. They leave the details of how prospects are to be cultivated over the Steve Anderson has been an agent for over 30-years and is long term to the producer — as the producer sees fit. If executive editor of The Anderson Agency Report (TAAR). He is a the agency does have a plan, it is not managed day by day prolific writer who is known for his knack for translating tech- to make sure it is followed. nology “geek speak” into easily understood concepts. He can be contacted through his web site at www.SteveAnderson.com. All of this means that: • A few prospects are well cultivated and nurtured, according to the individual producer’s personal strategy.

46 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 20 Sales Tactics from the Trenches: What’s Working for Agencies By Adam DeGraide

Now, let me ask you this… Is your staff trained to pull up ments, you could turn them off completely. The last thing accounts when on the phone with a customer? Are they you want is for them to unsubscribe from receiving your asking customers about other coverage they might need? emails. Try sending quarterly emails to specific segments. Are they trained to handle objections … like “I don’t have Make sure each email you send provides fresh, valuable time today”? information. And make sure each one has a specific call to action like “call us at 1-800 today for a free quote.” You might want to take note of what’s working for other agencies. We’ve seen an agency really boost premiums Building Trust by asking a simple question when on the phone with Why don’t people want to buy insurance? Maybe they customers AND prospects. The question: What kind of car don’t have the time or money. Maybe they don’t need it. do you have? What’s the one thing your agency can control when it comes to sales objections? Building trust! It seems too simple, right? It’s just a question. ONE QUES- TION. Why does it work? We all know the main objection We’ve seen agencies take this strategy and run with it. to the cross sell is TIME. People think they don’t have time They explain the “why” when it comes to buying insur- to provide the information you need to give them a quote. ance and NOT JUST the reasons someone should buy insurance. They explain why someone should buy insur- By asking them a simple, seemingly unrelated question ance from THEIR AGENCY. Maybe it’s because you really you can guide the conversation back to what your agency care. Maybe it’s because you will educate them on what can do for them. Even if you’re talking to a client about their policies cover and don’t cover. Maybe it’s because filing a claim, or an admin task, every conversation with a you’ll be at their doorstep when their home catches on client is an OPPORTUNITY to ask the ONE QUESTION that fire, offering service and comfort. Maybe it’s because could help you help them by finding a better policy at a you review their policies every year to make sure they’re better price. getting the best coverage at the best price. Whatever it is: SELL IT. You’ve got to sell what your agency can do for the Think about it: After you ask, “What kind of car do you prospect to build that trust. have?,” how many more questions do you need to provide a quote? Not too many. Before they know it, you’ll have all What else can you do to build trust? It all starts with the info you need – BEFORE THEY HAVE TIME TO OBJECT. the initial call or walk-in. Your staff member picks up the phone. It’s someone looking for a home insurance policy. What else can you do to cross sell to customers? Build What’s the first thing your staff member says? It should be your database. Do you know how many agencies don’t something cheerful. It should always start with a positive keep accurate contact info in their database of clients? greeting and a smile the prospect can “hear” on the phone. HUNDREDS! All you need is the most updated, primary email address of each client. That’s it! Next, comes the trust building. Ask the prospect what they’re looking for. It’s home insurance, so say something Why? Because the next best way to cross sell to current like, “Congratulations, is this your first home?” Maybe it’s customers is by sending out targeted email campaigns. not, maybe it is. The worst thing you can do is launch into Segment your customers by the types of policies they a list of questions about the stuff you need to quote the have with your agency, such as customers who have policy. The best thing you can do is build a relationship. home but not auto insurance. Send an email to those Take an interest in the prospect’s life! Make sure they clients about all the benefits of purchasing auto insur- know you’re there to answer all questions and address ance from your agency. You can do the same for business all concerns. Make sure they know you’re there to build a lines. Suppose you find you have a lot of business clients long lasting relationship. that have general liability but no workers comp with your agency. Send an email to those clients about the benefits Finding the Right People of YOUR workers comp program. Last, but certainly not least, it’s your people who make or break your agency’s sales goals. So, how do you make sure Rinse and repeat, but not too often. If you bombard your customers with emails, even targeted to specific seg- Continued on page 49

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 47 Continued from page 22 A Prescription for Success: How to Act Like an Insurance Salesperson By John Graham

no word by Friday. The customer placed a call. “Oh, yes. Always make it right. Granted, there are some customers Let me check and I’ll call you back.” A week later, she had who deliberately make it their mission to take advantage not called. “She’s out today. Let me see what I can find of salespeople. This is true of some insureds as well. Yet, out,” said an account service person. adept producers can turn around difficult situations by putting themselves in the customer’s shoes and refusing “Poor follow-up” is near the top of everyone’s list of mis- to let them become disasters. takes made by salespeople. It may do more damage than just about anything else. Why? Because customers never For example, we all see what we want to see, which can forget. “Yes, Don is a great guy, but his follow-through be quite different from what was actually intended, par- leaves much to be desired. Just be prepared to remind ticularly when terms, coverage descriptions, dates, and him what he said he would do.” premiums are involved. Written communications, including emails, are often so confusing that they open the door Success eludes producers who are follow-up failures. wide to misinterpretation. Voice mails are no exceptions, either. These can be huge problems. Avoid the “hot potato” syndrome. If there’s a close second to not keeping promises, it’s going missing after To say that “issues” can arise is an understatement, so if getting the account. Whether they’re conscious of it or there is a misunderstanding, don’t get defensive — make not, customers are particularly sensitive to even infinites- it right. imal changes in a salesperson’s behavior once the sale is made: “Will she be as attentive and responsive now that Making it right is always a gain. we’ve given them the business?” or “Will he drop me like a hot potato now that I’m a customer?” Never get comfortable. A pervasive myth that circulates among producers (as well as other salespeople) suggests This is about just one thing: commitment. By buying a time comes when they think they’ve “paid their dues” insurance, customers make a concrete commitment, and and have a right to such rewards as more pay with less they expect the salesperson to be equally committed. work, access to prestigious accounts, little or no prospect- They’re on the lookout for “moving on” indications, which ing, and, of course, “special treatment,” whatever that translate into a feeling of being “dropped.” means.

When this occurs, customers begin to doubt a producer’s Translated, this comes down to “the right to be comfort- integrity by finding other ways to justify their belief that able” or “the right to coast.” Nothing is in writing and no the person was only interested in getting an account on one talks about it, officially. Even so, it’s what we expect, the books (and a commission). with each of us setting the timetable for when it should kick in. Shape the way you’re perceived. This has nothing to do with a producer’s wardrobe, car or favorite restaurant. But It’s a career killer because, inevitably, we begin to act as if it has everything to do with the way an individual thinks, the time has come to be comfortable. particularly a person’s knowledge and ability to identify and solve problems. In other words, it has everything to In spite of what we may say or think, it’s actions that do with being authentic. determine the producer’s destiny.

The objective is to avoid sending a prospect or customer John R. Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales consultant specializing in insurance. He publishes a free mixed or misleading messages about you. Such confusion monthly eNewsletter, “No Nonsense Marketing & Sales.” eventually leads to doubt. Contact him at [email protected], 617-774-9759 or johnrgraham.com. First impressions are permanent impressions, which is why, at a first meeting, it’s important to have clearly in mind the impression you want the customer to come away with.

48 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 47 Continued from page 26 you’ve got producers programmed to sell? Some agencies have found success Is Inbound Marketing Really in the interview process, by asking ques- By Michael Jans tions like, “Why are you the best at what the Magic Bullet? you do?” They consider the applicant’s ability to SELL THEMSELVES the best way to evaluate how well they’ll do at the job. You should also be practicing “outbound marketing” tactics like cross-selling to existing clients, implementing a referral program, and split-testing It’s certainly true that a good sales- your direct mail campaigns that integrate with your digital marketing person has a commanding presence. strategies. They’ve got to believe in themselves and their ability to close the sale. Before You Decide on How to Market Today we defined and discussed different ways to market, which largely Another idea to consider: Hire an as- has to do with which medium to use. But I want to caution you about fo- sistant to help your producers schedule cusing on media without thinking about the two most important things meetings, organize metrics, etc. We’ve in marketing: your market and your message. No matter which medium seen agencies have huge success with you choose to use you MUST first know whom you want to market to and this tactic. Yes, it is an additional person, what your story is. After you figure that out then you can decide which but when the return on investment is marketing strategy is the best for you. above and beyond, you have to consider it a solid business decision. Michael Jans is the CEO of Agency Revolution. He has written and created over 50 books, programs and courses to help insurance agencies grow. In the past The dedicated producer assistant helps 20 years, Michael has trained and consulted with over 11,000 insurance agency make sure each producer is meeting lead principals with clients in 5 continents. For marketing tips and strategies on how measures, which are weekly, monthly, or to grow your agency read Michael’s blog at www.MichaelJans.com. quarterly tasks that ensure they meet end-of-year goals. For example, if a commercial producer’s goal is to sell four new accounts per month, his or her lead Continued from page 28 measure might be meeting with 12 business owners or HR directors per month. The assistant would help facilitate and 25 Ways to Grow Your Independent organize those meetings. Agency By Alan Shulman, CPCU When you think about it, implementing these four sales tactics from the trenches could make a huge difference in igniting data breech, and flood. the passion to sell insurance in your agency. And isn’t passion what it’s all about? Match up viable commercial target markets with specialized programs You don’t just have to believe it. Everyone and policies. Engage and attract prospects in conjunction with support- in your agency has to believe it, too! ive carriers and MGAs.

Adam DeGraide (http://adamdegraide.com) Take full advantage of company co-op advertising programs. Don’t waste is the CEO and Founder of Astonish this generous subsidy. (www.astonish.com), which was recently ranked 267th on the Inc. 500 list of fastest- This article has been reprinted with permission from Insurance Journal. growing private companies in the U.S. De- Copyright 2013 Insurance Journal. Graide and his team are the driving forces behind a vision to help local insurance agencies Alan Shulman, CPCU is the publisher of Agency Ideas®, a subscription-only sales grow their businesses with digital marketing, & marketing newsletter, published since 1990. He is also a long-time monthly training, and technology. Now currently columnist for Insurance Journal magazine and the author of hundreds of P&C serving over 800 retail brokers in America, sales resources. Alan has over 30 combined years of industry experience as a Adam DeGraide and his team at Astonish are successful independent insurance agent and publisher. He may be reached encouraging the insurance industry across at 1-800-724-1435 or by email at [email protected]. His website is the country to “join the Internet marketing www.agencyideas.com. revolution, or get left behind!”

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 49 Continued from page 30

Leaving Commodityville By David Connolly

have amazing pricing, service or processes are the only products and services around their specific talents. How areas where we can win. Our advantage is created when can we use these talents and skills to offer proactive ser- we develop proactive services that anticipate the needs vices and solutions for our clients? Make a list and keep of our prospects, and communicate those advantages track, and learn how to communicate what it is we do, effectively to position us to be the point of comparison. In why we do it and what it means to the prospect. A white- essence, we want create an un-fair comparison. board is great for drilling down on what we do or how we do it that makes us better or different. Most agencies struggle with creating and delivering proactive services. A proactive service is one that helps Competitive analysis: Do a true in depth study of your clients run their business more efficiently or profitably competition. Know them as well as you know your own and is delivered on a proactive basis. Examples include a agency. Get to know the strengths and weaknesses of market analysis visit 120 days before renewal, a claims their agency and their individual producers. Get the infor- review before unit stat cards are filed, or developing a mation by asking questions and doing research. It takes wellness plan on the benefits side. time, but it really creates an unfair advantage when you know them better than they know themselves. Use every If we just slow down a bit and take the source available to you. time to create differentiation, we’ll Learn to compare and contrast: Create a competitive write a lot more business. advantages chart for each of your competitors. Drill down on your specific advantages to determine what you can offer that’s different or better. In new business interviews, The key is to stop thinking insurance and start think- ask questions that lead the conversation towards your ing business and client service. What saves them time, strengths and away from the incumbent’s. Effectively what saves them money, what do they need? Sometimes, articulate your advantage by comparing your creative it’s not even your agency delivering the service, but an proactive services to their typical reactive services. Ask outside resource you can provide. For example, my clients your prospects, how does this compare with what you have me train their best clients on prospecting, pipelines receive now? Creating and articulating your competitive and selling skills. Their clients love it and can’t get it from advantages will make the difference you need to win the competition. The key is to think out of the insurance more business. box, find value added services they need and then learn to articulate what you bring to the table with impact. If Un-commoditization requires change, and change is your strengths or differences match up favorably to the painful and takes time. It took a long time for us to be- incumbent’s weaknesses, and you can effectively articu- come the same. The results will be very positive, very pro- late these advantages, you have a good chance of creating fessional and very rewarding. The pain of change will be dissatisfaction and winning. worth it to leave Commodityville and pork bellies behind.

The problem with most producers is we all feel like we’re David Connolly is the founder of iQ Consulting. iQ Consulting is a recognized leader in helping agencies accelerate organic a moving target and we have to keep the throttle at full growth and perpetuate client retention. David works with speed or we’ll get shot down. If we just slow down a bit many of the top 100 agencies and brokerage firms in the US and take the time to create differentiation, we’ll write a and Canada and has coached thousands of insurance profes- lot more business. sionals. iQ’s services platform provides professional guidance in almost every area critical to agency performance and suc- Becoming Different cess. David’s approach to consulting and coaching is built from Creating advantages: Take an agency inventory. Your decades of personal experience in production, sales manage- people are talented and have skills and creative energy. ment, and agency leadership. For more information on David Do skills assessment. Brainstorm and ask them to develop or iQ consulting’s suite of services visit www.iqsalescoach.com.

50 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 32 The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Consumers Continue to Value Agents When Buying Insurance By Bill Jenkins

Chart 1 The Central Insurance Companies The Hartford Travelers

Phase 1: Tools for PIA Members The Partnership’s current focus is to provide easy to use tools — specifically developed for Professional Insurance Agencies. These tools can help agents make the most of their inherent advantages by leveraging their unique value proposition and insurance customers’ clear prefer- ence for “someone they can trust to help them take care of their insurance needs.”

These tools are currently being developed in two phases. The first phase (already available) provides calculators Chart 2 which help an agency evaluate their personal lines book of business from several perspectives. These calculators have been created using Microsoft Excel, to help ensure ease of access and adaptability for agencies.

The first Excel worksheet is for all personal lines. (See frame capture A.) It is a Personal Lines Premium and Commission Calculator and provides growth calculations based on new business goals along with a one through five year growth projection based on new business you expect to add each year.

Frame capture A

Making the Most of Independent Agents’ Advantages

So, how do agents make the most of their advantages? This is the challenge that The PIA Partnership is taking on. The PIA Partnership is a group of insurance companies who share resources and work closely with PIA National to conduct research and provide tools and resources designed to benefit Professional Insurance Agents. Partner- ship companies include: Encompass Erie Insurance Harleysville Insurance Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation The second Excel worksheet is designed to help an agency MetLife Auto & Home take a better look at auto and homeowner coverages they Motorists Insurance Group write by customer type: Auto only customers, Homeowner Progressive Casualty Insurance Company Selective Insurance Group State Auto Insurance Companies Continued on page 52

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 51 Continued from page 51

only customers and customers with both their auto and while showing everyone that yours is an agency that truly homeowners coverage written by your agency. (See frame serves to help protect the safety and financial well-being capture B.) This type of breakdown is important since of your clients and customers — and their families. retention rates, premium rates and commission can vary between these three groups. Claim Alert Program Leads to Leads Another tool that is being developed by The Partnership is, in Frame capture B fact, one with a dual purpose. On the one hand, it is a claim alert program which can be instituted to benefit current homeowners clients. This can be a great retention tool — especially when combined with one-on-one personal contact. At the same time, it can provide an agency with quality leads who know who you are and know about your agency’s interest in helping protect its clients. Here’s how it works:

The program starts with current homeowners clients and can be introduced to them during an annual review as it’s being conducted, through an agency mailing campaign, or during a phone conversation (initiated either by them or by you).

You tell the insured that you have instituted a program to help better serve their insurance needs. Since they may be out of town from time to time, damage could occur to their property while they are not around. And while they may have folks who are looking after their property, those individuals may not know how to contact the agency to Using this second worksheet helps by first calculating get a claim started and help you take steps to prevent the projected total net written premium over the next 12 further damage. When they agree to participate, they are months for each of these three customer groups. Then, then asked to provide a list of people to contact. by simply estimating how successful an agency will be with the number of account rounding attempts they’ll The agency then follows up with those individuals, asking be making each month, the program calculates the ad- for their willingness to help and letting them know how ditional cross-sell premium and commission for the next to contact the agency in the event of an emergency. 12 months. It then adds everything together to show the totals for premium, commission and the percent change In the process of doing this, they are introduced to the agent year over year. and the agency and become perfect leads for follow-up.

And, the entries and calculations are not static. An agency With this type of claim alert program, your agency can can use these calculators to create “what if” scenarios, “stand out” as being proactive, responsive and actively quickly and easily changing bottom-line results by tweak- caring for the needs of your clients and customers. At the ing entries, reflected in improved retention, increased same time, you can “do well by doing good” in establishing sales goals and ramping up cross-selling activities. your agency with potential new clients and customers.

Phase 2: Tools Under Development Asking the Right Questions The second phase of the current Partnership project is A third Partnership tool being developed centers around currently in development and involves practical tools an knowing more about your current customers. Now, you agency can use to enhance the positive side of their own might be saying, “I already know everything I need to “what if” scenarios. They involve leveraging the most know about them. It’s all there in the application and important assets an agency already possesses — their declaration page. If they need service, have a change, or current customer relationships and the agency’s pres- have a claim, we have that, and more detail, in our agency ence within their own community. Working through that management system.” established community presence, one new tool helps agencies create young driver seminars. These seminars True, those are the “must have” answers to questions. not only provide a whole host of marketing opportunities, But what about other questions you would like to have but are also a great way to “give back” to the community Continued on page 53

52 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 52

the answers to? Those which could help your agency in to ask these questions? It’s not impossible. Many suc- achieving better growth and profitability? cessful agencies are already blending service calls with the ability to uncover new business opportunities. In fact, The questions themselves are not difficult to identify, most insurance designation organizations include this as such as those relating to other insurance business the a part of CSR education. These, and other questions, are agency doesn’t write, in-home business activities, rela- being addressed with real-world answers in the new PIA tives, referrals, etc. Partnership tool currently being developed.

The question is how to ask them? Will your customers be While it’s true that much has changed over the last 20 offended? Will they think you are being pushy? Won’t it years, since the Internet first became public, some things sound, to them, like one of those annoying scripted phone remain the same. People value what Professional Insurance calls they get when they’ve just sat down for dinner? While Agents have to offer. It’s up to the agent to make their value it is possible that these questions can be a turn-off for cus- more easily understood and accessible to their customers. tomers, with the right approach they can also be viewed as beneficial from your customer’s standpoint. Bill Jenkins works with The PIA Partnership and has been involved in the insurance industry for more than 20 years in areas Then, how do you get customer service representatives of marketing, advertising, communication and technology.

Continued from page 37 Social Media Trends: Will Your Old PC Become the New T. Rex? By Ted Janusz

hump on the adoption curve. At this point it’s not a interested in how they should be using social media to specific demographic; it’s all of them from grandmas to promote their agencies and to secure new business. How elementary aged children.” The biggest gains in online should they do that? The advice is rather simple: gamers, for instance, is not coming from the ranks of those with tie-dyed hair, tattoo sleeves or pierced whatev- “If you use social media just to post links to your blog or ers, but from among females 55 and over. website, you aren’t going to gain much,” advises Jayson DeMers. “Be a person. Share links, post videos and photos, According to the Pew Internet Project, 57% of those 50 interact with communities, comment on other people’s to 64 years of age and even 38% of those over 65 are statuses. Do what a person does naturally on social me- engaged on at least one social network. dia. Without engagement, you leave your audience out of the equation. If you do that, you are nullifying the effect Why Social Media Will Continue to Matter of your social media campaign. Be insanely useful before According to Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising report, trying to market anything.” nearly half of consumers around the world say they trust ads on TV (47%), in magazines (47%) and in newspapers Edelman Digital sums up for independent insurance (46%). While those numbers are impressive, they have agents the key to have social media success: “One-to-one dropped by 24%, 20% and 25% respectively, in a relatively social engagement. People are PEOPLE, not just an email short period of time — between 2009 and 2011 and address or a phone number.” should continue to do so. Ted Janusz has contributed articles to all four annual PIA On the other hand, for what many may not consider National Agency Marketing Guides. He speaks to insurance advertising at all, 92% of consumers trust recommenda- agents and PIA state affiliates on “Social Media for Baby tions from people they know and trust and 70% trust Boomers” and “Networking Skills: Getting to Know You.” Learn more at www.januspresentations.com. consumer opinions posted online.

So How Should You Use Social Media to Be Effective? Rather than just reading about the next great social media tool, independent insurance agents are far more

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 53 Continued from page 34

Marketing 101 – Back to the Basics By George Nordhaus

By completing this questionnaire about your agency, �� We get a steady flow of new business from you’ll be able to benchmark how you are doing. The pro- our website. cess is designed to let you determine where you are and where you need to go to compete in insurance marketing �� Viewers return again and again to our web- in the years to come. site.

Try it! You may be shocked! �� Our clients can use our site for making changes, ordering certificates, other servicing The Reality of Your Agency’s Marketing functions. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being perfect) how do you rate your agency? �� We have an active system to obtain our clients’ e-mail addresses. �� We have a current business plan which includes a well-designed marketing system. �� We have a system of communicating/ contacting our clients at least quarterly. �� Our marketing plan is documented. �� We have a professional development and �� We have an in-depth understanding of our coaching program. client base, including number, average income per client, one-policy customers, etc. �� We understand and actively participate in Search Engine Optimization. �� We have an active and growing prospecting system. �� We offer mobile apps to our clients.

�� We are able to easily sort and segment our �� TOTAL client data to do target marketing. Score: 75 or below — Your agency is definitely in need of �� We have the personnel, time and knowledge outside help in marketing, communications and technol- to create and deploy marketing programs and ogy. monitor the results. 76-125 — You are in the mid-range of agencies. You have �� We do annual reviews for each of our clients. a good start toward developing a more robust marketing system. �� We use electronic communications to stay in touch with our clients. 126-200 — You are well on the way toward a prosperous future. �� We understand the necessity of social networking, and have a presence, but realize you How did you do? can go overboard and spend more time and George Nordhaus is Chairman of AgenciesOnline. For many money than value received. years he has been considered one of the leading professionals in insurance agency marketing. He is a former EVP of two �� We have an interactive, three-dimensional agents’ associations, creator of Insurance Marketing and Man- website. agement Services, author of eight books on marketing, and a speaker at many state associations’ conventions and seminars. �� We have a system of communicating online Mr. Nordhaus has earned numerous awards and honors from with our website visitors. a wide array of insurance bodies and last year was inducted into the Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame. He and his firm, �� We have a way of tracking activity to and on AgenciesOnline, work as providers of complete marketing sys- our website. tems for over 70 agencies. AgenciesOnline can be found online at www.agenciesonline.biz.

54 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 39 Why Google+ Should Be Part of Your Agency’s Online Strategy By Matthew Marko

consistency of your agency’s name, address, and phone and include photos and videos. Providing this con- online. tent not only helps your agency rank higher in local searches, but it also makes your listing stand out to You also can improve your local search ranking over consumers and increases the likelihood that they’ll time by creating references to your agency NAP on do business with you. Visit http://pgrs.in/17Lmx7I for additional local directories. There are hundreds of more tips on optimizing your local listings. local directory sites where you can submit your NAP information for free, with the only cost being the time 5. Legitimize It it takes you to manually claim them. Alternatively, On your agency website and within your established Progressive’s ListAgent program can do this for your agency referral processes, ask for reviews on Google+ agency for under $100 a year. as well as other sites like Yelp and Citysearch. Not only are reviews important to your prospects – 70 percent 3. Connect It of consumers say that they trust online reviews as Google changed its local ranking algorithm in 2012 to much as personal recommendations, according to favor Google+ business listings that link to well-opti- BrightLocal – they are also known to be an important mized websites, making your agency website’s search local search ranking factor. Progressive research indi- optimization an important factor in both organic and cates that the average independent insurance agency local search results. While website optimization can be has less than one online review, so creating a slow- time-consuming and expensive, here are a few simple but-steady review generation process can really make changes to help your website’s local search optimiza- your agency stand out. tion: • Include your agency’s name, address and phone The battle between Facebook and Google remains fierce, number in text (not as an image) in the header or and both are making big moves to enhance their value to footer of every page on the site consumers and businesses. Questions may remain over • Include your city or town name in your title tags, social ROI, but there’s no question local search is critical meta descriptions, and header (H) tags as more and more people start their insurance shopping • If you have multiple agency locations, create a online. Adding Google to your online strategy brings a separate “location” page on your website for each few social benefits, but the local search impact makes it a location, and a separate Google+ local business page clear plus. for each location. Submit each location’s page to its respective Google+ local business page. Matthew Marko is a Marketing Process Manager for Progressive Insurance. He works to provide local market- • Start using Authorship Markup ing strategies and tools to help independent agencies (http://pgrs.in/17LmmsR) on your agency grow their business, and has developed online market- website and blog posts ing programs and webinars for Progressive agents on ForAgentsOnly.com. He is one of 40 local search experts If you don’t have a website, consider using a carrier invited to contribute to the authoritative annual Local Search directory page in place of a website in your Google+ Ranking Factors study (http://pgrs.in/17Lmx7I). Email him at listing. For example, the ProgressiveAgent.com agent [email protected]. directory offers Progressive agents free, locally-optimized agency pages that work well for this purpose. References: 1 http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/11/comscore-googles-search-engine- 4. Populate It market-share-increased-in-september-yahoo-down-another-0-6-percentage- Populate your Google+ profile with content. Thought- points/ fully consider your business description, including key 2 http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/11/13/ed-parsons-1-in-3-searches-at- google-are-local/ search terms that describe what your agency does. 3 http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/11/13/ed-parsons-1-in-3-searches-at- Make use of all business listing categories available google-are-local/

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 55 Continued from page 41 Podcasting: The Secret Weapon to Growing Your Insurance Agency By Ryan Hanley, CIC

Podcasting Is NOT for Every Business Anybody can copy and paste thoughts from another Podcasting as a business content marketing strategy isn’t blogger and share them on their website. But it takes a about attracting huge traffic numbers or generating tons true authority, a true expert in an industry to deliver a of new clients. There are people who don’t read blogs or podcast for 30 minutes on a topic. watch YouTube videos, preferring podcasts as a way to consume content. Over time, some of these people will The psychology behind an audience applying authority become your clients. But to set realistic expectations, if to you as a professional after listening to you speak is counting numbers is your goal for podcasting, you will incredibly powerful. mostly likely be dissatisfied with the result. 2) Deeply Invested Audience Additionally, podcasting puts us on display and in a very Think about the amount time the average person vulnerable situation. As a podcaster we must be able spends on your website. Go to your Google Analytics to translate our enthusiasm and command for a topic reports and look at the time spent on your website through the microphone. If we don’t have the personality right now. It most likely is somewhere between 45 or disposition for podcasting we can damage our brand. seconds and two minutes (on our insurance agency site Just as podcasting can build deep, rich relationships with it’s one minute and 47 seconds). our audience, it can just as easily destroy our authority if Contrast this with my podcast where the average we sound horrible. show length is 30 minutes, the average listener stays You don’t have to be Tom Brokaw, just understand podcast- on the line for 27 minutes. In which form of content ing takes practice. marketing do you think I am building a deeper relationship with my audience? Is it the two minutes my Start a Podcast for the Right Reasons and Flourish audience spends reading one of my blog posts or the Instead of podcasting for traffic numbers, use podcasting 27 minutes they spend listening to my podcast? as a VIP offering. Give customers who sign up for your podcast access to information and resources that no 3) Expand Your Audience one else has access to. Give these subscribers a behind There are many people who are not interested in read- the scenes look at your business or discuss local current ing text-based blog posts. This is the built-in podcast events and their impact on the community. audience. These are people who want to consume your content in the audio format. Services like Stitcher, Some experts would say every business should have a Blackberry, iTunes and Zune provide you with a way to podcast. I don’t agree. Podcasting is a unique method for reach a group of people who could become potential attracting attention to a business. Podcasting only works clients that you would never be able to reach with a if the format aligns with our marketing goals. text-based blog post.

Here are seven reasons you may want to add a podcast to Podcasting allows you to expand your audience and your insurance marketing strategy: reach a whole new market of consumers.

1) Build Authority Online 4) Additional Sales Podcasting allows you to dig deep into a topic. It also As discussed above, people who come and listen to your allows you to apply inflexion and deliver your mes- podcast see you as an authority, consume your content sage with a cadence that a text-based blog post is for a long period of time and become deeply invested in not able to do. Podcasting puts you on display as an you as a professional. This provides the ideal opportuni- expert. There is something about delivering your ty to create leads and sales. Podcast listeners interested message in audio that adds a level of authority to what you’re saying. Continued on page 57

56 2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide Continued from page 56

in your product or service become very qualified leads interview people using text-based posts as well, but as they’ll have listened to you for a long time and will it’s harder to get a feel for the guest with simple text. have already made up their mind to buy. The audience also doesn’t get that personal feel of back and forth between interviewer and guest. This is very different from the text-based funnels and squeeze pages used to capitalize on a consumer’s com- Plus, there is a relationship building aspect of having pulsion to buy. Add in the fact that services such as another professional come on your show and deliver their iTunes and Stitcher have a built-in audience that you’re own value to your audience. You’re giving them an op- not currently reaching and you have now increased the portunity to increase the size of their own audience and pool of people who could potentially buy from you. in the long game that pays dividends.

Podcasting as a Business Content Marketing People who come and listen to your Strategy podcast see you as an authority, I’m not trying to convince you to start a podcast. I simply consume your content for a long period want you to be aware of the potential a podcast holds for of time and become deeply invested in your business. you as a professional. Podcasting may seem like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need a super expensive microphone 5) Alternative Form of Consuming Your Content nor do you need a fancy sound mixing board. All you need Whether you’re Shakespeare, John Grisham or just the is a willingness to be open and honest and deliver consis- average blogger there’s a decent chance that the peo- tent value to the consumers your business serves. ple who read your text-based posts on a daily, weekly I have no doubt that there are other ways that you can or monthly basis would be interested in consuming use podcasting for your business. I’ve seen people launch your content in a different form or fashion. Podcasting limited episode podcasts around the release of a book, allows you to add variety to your content marketing I’ve seen people use podcasts to describe products in- strategy and subsequently a deeper relationship with depth and I’ve seen people use podcasts as a jump-off your audience. Once people begin listening to the point for a speaking career… sound of your voice they will remember hearing the words and the way that you speak. …in all these different uses of podcasting there is one common thread, thought-leadership. Podcasting allows 6) Stand Out from Crowd us to dive deep into our well of experience and expertise Depending on the figures you read, there are some- and put it on display for easy consumption. where in the vicinity of 156 million blogs between WordPress and Tumblr alone. Podcasting has helped me grow my marketing business, as well as my insurance agency, and I’m positive, if you’re This number does not include all the blogs from other dedicated to providing value, it can help you grow yours. platforms like Blogger, Joomla, Drupal and HTML blogs. I would also suggest that if you enjoy listening to pod- There are only a couple hundred thousand podcasts. casts on your Mobile Phone try downloading the free So if you’re trying to stand out from the crowd… if Stitcher App (www.stitcher.com). It’s a nice alternative to you’re trying to have your voice heard above all the iTunes. other voices online, do you think you have a better Thank you and good luck. chance of doing that with a simple text-based blog post or on a podcast where you only have a couple Ryan Hanley is the director of marketing for The Murray Group hundred thousand competitors? Insurance Services, Inc. The Content Warfare Podcast is one of the fastest growing weekly podcasts online. Through discus- 7) Networking With Other Experts in Your sion and interviews every episode examines content market- Community ing, social media and how to win the battle for attention One of my personal favorite features of the podcast online. You can find the Content Warfare Podcast on iTunes, format is interviewing other experts. You can certainly Stitcher or www.contentwarfarepodcast.com.

2013 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide 57 PIA’s Agency Marketing Guide Is Brought to You by the PIA Branding Program

CLE PAR A T It is the sincere hope of everyone at PIA that you and your colleagues N N N E I have found great value in this, the fourth installment of the PIA R

P National Agency Marketing Guide.

PIA’s Agency Marketing Guide is made possible by our many wonder- ful sponsors and advertisers and is made available to you through the PIA Branding Program. Through this program, available online at www.piabrandingprogram.com, PIA provides members of the associa- 2013 PIA National tion with a variety of marketing materials. These include print and Pinnacle Partners radio ads in both English and Spanish. It also includes our Internet Bankers Insurance Group marketing program with Agoragate. Encompass Insurance We are happy to announce that PIA National has recently begun work Erie Insurance on a new group of marketing tools that PIA members will be able to Harleysville Insurance use to better communicate with your clients, prospects and commu- Progressive Insurance nity. Stay tuned for our announcement of these new marketing tools. QBE North America Funding for the PIA Branding Program is provided in part by PIA’s Pin- State Auto Group nacle Partners. Pinnacle Partners are highly regarded insurance compa- The Hartford nies that demonstrate their commitment to the independent agency The Motorists Insurance Group distribution system and financially support the development of new marketing tools which are made available to PIA members through the PIA Branding Program. PIA National Agency Marketing Guide

Editor-in-Chief/Advertising Director ©2013 All rights reserved. Alexi Papandon, CAE [email protected] No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, 703-518-1353 stored in a database or retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, Publisher photocopying, recording or otherwise except as expressly Ted Besesparis permitted by the publisher. [email protected] 703-518-1352 The information in this publication is general in nature and is not intended to serve as legal, accounting, The PIA National Agency Marketing Guide is financial, insurance, investment advisory or other published by the National Association of professional advice as to any reader’s particular situation. Professional Insurance Agents. Users are encouraged to consult with competent legal, financial, insurance, investment advisory and or other 400 North Washington Street, professional advisors concerning specific matters before Alexandria, Virginia 22314 making any decisions and we disclaim any responsibility 703-836-9340 for any decisions or actions by readers. [email protected] For additional information on any of the subjects addressed in this publication, please access the PIA National website at www.pianet.com.

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