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This year’s PIA Agency Marketing Guide — the sixth that PIA has produced — is literally bursting at
the seams. It’s full of case studies of independent agents from across the country plus advice on
how agents can stay ahead of the marketing curve.
In these pages, you will find hundreds of strategies that you can put to work in your agency.
From small things you can start doing today, to game changing strategic shifts and everything
in between, our goal is to help independent agents grow and succeed in the modern insurance
marketplace.
If you like this year’s PIA Agency Marketing Guide, you may want to read previous editions of this
publication. They are all online at www.PIAAgencyMarketingGuide.com.
PIA would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the 2015 PIA Agency Marketing
Guide: EZLynx, ITC, Rough Notes and Smart Choice. Please join me in thanking these sponsors.
Best wishes and happy marketing!
Richard A. Clements, CIC, CPIA
President
National Association of Professional Insurance Agents
Table of Contents
SPONSORS
Rough Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4-5
EZLynx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6-7
ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 8-9
Smart Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 10-11
MODERN MARKETING
Agency Case Study: Automated Marketing
With a Little Pepper by Alexi Papandon . . . . . . . .
page 12
Maximizing Mobile: From Good Idea to
Must-Do by Chris Paradiso. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 14
Why Online Reviews Matter by Paul Kerrigan. .
page 16
Here’s What’s Looking at You! — Visual
Content Is King in 2015 by Chris Paradiso. . . . . .
page 18
New Tools for Explaining Coverage
by Steve Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 20
SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES
Agency Case Study: Keeping It Personal — Three
Innovative Approaches to Growth and Retention
by Brenda Mann Harrison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 22
Agency Case Study: Independent Agent Marketing:
as Unique as the Agencies Themselves
by Laura Mazzuca Toops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 24
SALES/PERSONNEL
Agency Case Study: Begin With a Question
by Dennis H. Pillsbury and Nancy Doucette. . . . .
page 26
Agency Case Study: Lessons From a New Producer
by Emily Huling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 28
Is It Possible to “Insure” the Success of New Producers?
by Alan Blume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 30
The Right Stuff: Hiring “A” Players for Your Agency
by David Connolly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 32
SALES OPPORTUNITIES
Agency Case Study: Speaking the Language of Your
Insureds — a Rewarding Strategy
by Alexi Papandon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 34
Agency Case Study: A Unique Growth Story…Logan
Lavelle Hunt’s Associations
by George Nordhaus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 36
FEMA’s New Wrinkle in Flood Reforms Creates a Sales
Opportunity for Savvy Flood Agents
by Dolores Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 38
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Agency Case Study: Pressing the Facebook Flesh:
an Agent’s Social Media Marketing Success
by PIA Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 39
For Social Media and the Smartphone, Half Measures
Don’t Cut It by Tom Wetzel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 40
Not Another Email From Uncle Harry!
by Ted Janusz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 41
Facebook Advertising: Take Control
by Spencer Langrock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 42
Are You an Informer or Meformer?
by Ted Janusz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 43
COMMERCIAL LINES
The Voice of Your Small CL Customer
by Bill Jenkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
page 44
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
5
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MODERN MARKETING
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Automated Marketing With a
Little Pepper
By Alexi Papandon, CAE
We’ve all learned a few lessons along the digital highway.
PIA member Tim Shaw of Tim Shaw Insurance – Acentria
in Fort Myers, Florida, is no exception. Years ago, when the
internet was new and he was setting up his first agency
website, he found out a little too late that he didn’t actually own the web address that
was being used to develop
his website. When he decided
to switch web developers,
the group he was working
with offered to sell him his
web address for $1,200. He
declined and learned a good
lesson. Thankfully he was able
to buy the web address a few years later for only $60.
Fast forward a few years and Tim was working with a
prominent insurance marketing firm with a slick digital
system of websites, email automation tools and other
services. But as convenient as it was, the results just
weren’t justifying the cost. That’s when Tim decided to
take the lessons he had learned working with them and
piece together his own automated marketing solution.
He hasn’t looked back since.
At the heart of Tim’s email automation system is a
program called SendPepper from Office Auto Pilot, which
is now Ontraport. Using SendPepper, Tim captures the
contact information of everyone who contacts his agency
or visits one of his many web pages. He then uses the system to orchestrate continuous email campaigns to these
prospects, contacting them throughout the year with
a variety of useful tips, holiday greetings and birthday
well wishes and then asking for their business as their
renewal date draws near.
Where Do Leads Come From?
But let’s back up and start from the beginning, with the
acquisition of leads. Before Tim’s automated marketing
system can kick in, a lead must be entered into the SendPepper system. So where do they come from?
The majority come through a series of web pages that
Tim has set up to offer specific types of insurance in
specific towns and cities near his Fort Myers’ headquarters. Type in “home insurance” and the name of a
nearby city and you’ll likely find Tim’s agency ranking
very highly in Google and other search engines. If you
don’t have time to do that simply visit Tim’s website at
www.timshaw.com and scroll down—all the way down.
12
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
There, way at the bottom, past all of the regular website
navigation, out of site from the average person but in
plain sight to Google and other web crawlers, you’ll find
links to these many web pages.
These web pages, focused on myriad phrases like “insurance,” “homeowners Insurance,” “home owners insurance,”
and numerous other types of coverages—plus the name of
a locale—are one of the secrets to ranking highly in search
engines. These are real web pages, with high quality content, with a local twist, on a website with many such web
pages. To search engines this is the motherlode.
One thing you won’t find there are web pages with
straight pitches for auto insurance—too much competition. Tim likes to focus on homeowners insurance and
other niche products and save the auto and umbrella for
later in his sales process.
“We don’t pay for web listings,” notes Tim. “Our goal is
to rank highly in organic search and with this strategy
we have been doing just that. But we don’t go it alone. I
work with a local SEO (search engine optimization) guy
who helps me understand the world of search engines
and how to build web pages that will rank highly when
people search for insurance.”
So what happens when web searchers land on one of
these web pages? Hopefully they fill out the simple quote
request form prominently featured on most of the pages
on Tim’s website. These forms are part of the SendPepper
system.
Like most agencies, once one of these forms is completed, staff at Tim Shaw Insurance receives notification
of the new lead and act on it right away to provide the
requested quote and try and make the sale.
However, at Tim Shaw Insurance the new contact is
also automatically included in an automated marketing
sequence that has been created specifically for people
looking for the type of insurance related to the quote
request form they completed.
Regardless of whether a sale is made or not, the new lead
starts to receive periodic emails from Tim Shaw Insurance.
These emails are sometimes insurance related, providing
useful tips about certain types of coverages and describing
Continued on page 46
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MODERN MARKETING
Maximizing Mobile: From Good
Idea to Must-Do
By Chris Paradiso, CPIA
For the past couple of years, consumers have increasingly
used mobile devices to search the web. The number of
mobile searches has grown into the billions over the last
couple of years and it continues to grow. Forward-thinking companies — insurance agencies included — have
responded and built mobile-friendly or mobile-responsive
websites to serve these customers.
Zero Budget and Low Budget
Marketing Ideas
By Emily Huling, CIC, CMC
Connect with Clients
A mobile-friendly or responsive website is designed
specifically for the smaller screens — those found on
smartphones or small/mini tablets. In addition to being
more easily viewed, mobile-friendly/responsive websites
allow users to take advantage of touch-screen capabilities of smartphones and tablets. • Make a donation to a charity in the name of a client
Such websites are accessed using the device’s web
browser. Just like you would on a desktop or laptop, simply enter the URL into the browser or click a link. The website automatically detects a mobile device and redirects
the viewer to the mobile version of the website.
• Use note cards and thank you cards religiously
Mobile Benefits
The primary benefit of a mobile website is that it makes
website content more accessible for mobile users. The
page can maintain the same elements as the regular
version of the website — such as its look and feel, pages,
images and other content — but it displays info in a layout that offers improved readability and functionality. By providing a mobile offering, customers can access your
website anytime, anywhere, using any device. Best of all,
you can allow them to do so without compromising the
user experience. By not offering a mobile-friendly experience, companies found visitors quickly abandon sites
when they arrived there using a mobile device. That, of course, was bad. The stakes just got higher. Mobilegeddon
Google recently tweaked its search algorithm to deliver
additional benefits for individuals using its search engine.
The firm announced in February that, starting April 21, it
would deliver mobile-optimized sites higher in its search
results. Given the public’s shift to mobile, the company
correctly asserted that sites that display well on a smartphone or similar device should be rewarded for delivering what consumers want. The company watched the
data and followed through with what the public wanted,
which is a positive experience on their smart phones.
• Use clients in your advertising
• Award a client with Client of the Year designation and
publicize it
• Call/visit prospects and clients when in the
neighborhood
• Create a client advisory board for input from clients
• Send birthday cards
• Once a new producer account is written, have the CSR
call to introduce herself, and follow up with note card
with business card enclosed
Look for more of Emily’s marketing ideas throughout the
publication.
April 21st has come and gone. How is your site performing? Is Google delivering visitors? What about other
search engines? Are they? You can use Google Analytics, a
free service, to see exactly how people find your site. Are
visitors to your site finding you on a mobile device? Again,
Google Analytics can tell you this. Perhaps the most important question to ask is, “Do
mobile users who click through arrive on an easily readable site, not one that is simply a large, messy, desktopbased layout squeezed onto a small screen that’s hard to
navigate and even harder to read?” You can test this by
using your own smartphone or you can enter your agency
website URL at j.mp/MFriendly to judge its mobile-friendliness and responsiveness. If it fails, your web developer
can fix the problem, quickly and at a minimal cost.
Mobile Apps
In addition to the algorithm change, Google recently
announced content hidden in mobile apps will affect
search results. What’s an app? And how does it differ
from a mobile-friendly or responsive website? Think
Google Play or Apple’s App Store.
Continued on page 47
14
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
TO ATTRACT AND
RETAIN CUSTOMERS
Karen Bailo
GM, Agency Sales
and Distribution
Progressive provides local independent agents industry-leading tools, products and services, which allows them to counsel customers
with confidence when it comes to their simple or complex insurance needs.
To learn more about our products and services or how to become an appointed Progressive agent, visit ProgressiveAgent.com.
Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. & affiliates.
MODERN MARKETING
Why Online Reviews Matter
Online reviews are becoming an increasingly important
part of the online shopping experience and the research
consumers are conducting to find the right product or
service. Just think about your own online shopping habits
on a site like Amazon, for example. You likely click on a
few of the product reviews and they can impact what
product you end up choosing to purchase. In fact, 88%
of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal
recommendations (BrightLocal, July 2014).
Reviews not only provide useful information for shoppers,
but they can be leveraged as a useful marketing tool for
agents. Think of it as an opportunity to participate in a
dynamic conversation with your customers that can build
trust as well as damage control when needed.
Reviews continue to grow in importance as a ranking
factor for local search. When deciding which websites
to present and how they rank, search engines take into
consideration online review signals and recognize them
as relevant content for a shopper. Google+ pages, for
example, require a business to have at least 5 reviews for
them to start showing up in Google search results. This
can become a differentiator for your agency and a way
for it to stand out among your competition. Our research
suggests the average insurance agent has only 2 online
reviews and they’re usually more than a year old.
And perhaps the biggest area of opportunity that exists
is the business intelligence you can gain from better
understanding your customers’ experience, which we’ll
discuss further.
88% of consumers trust online reviews
as much as personal recommendations
(BrightLocal, July 2014).
Tools Available to Agents
Vendors exist to help automate this process. Progressive, for example, utilizes a vendor to help streamline the
process for its agents. These are typically single platforms
that help to automate the process of following up with
your customers after an interaction. Think of these tools
as more of a customer experience management platform. Not only is the goal to obtain online reviews, but
you’re also going to get great business intelligence and
active feedback along the way. We typically see an 8-10%
open rate for our emails and of those who open them,
about 1% will write a review.
By Paul Kerrigan
More Zero Budget and
Low Budget Marketing Ideas
Marketing to Enhance Professionalism
• Participate in trade shows
• Provide business cards to all associates to promote
confidence and pride
• Send articles from business or trade magazines that
are of interest to your customers
• Implement a coverage of the month program
• Teach a class
• Volunteer for Junior Achievement
• Offer high school Driver’s Education programs, a
presentation on insurance facts and responsibilities,
and review the Youthful Operator Family Driving
agreement
Protect Their Assets
• Stay abreast of life changes: marriage, divorce,
children, retirement, inheritance, college, children, etc.
to review and recommend coverage
• Use Personal Lines and Commercial Lines exposure
update questionnaires
You’ll know how your customers are feeling about their
experiences with you — what you are doing well or need
improvement on, which producers are getting good
reviews or where you need to spend more time. This type
of feedback allows you to course correct to address issues
or capitalize and celebrate successes.
One example we can share is from an agent who was
piloting our program. He was using the system and
received a rating from a customer with only 1 star. After
following up, he learned the customer didn’t feel the
agent was timely in his responses. That was because the
agent was on vacation, but didn’t have the appropriate
out of office notifications posted. It became a useful piece
of information that the agent could remedy the next time
he was out of the office.
How a Platform Might Work
After an interaction with your agency, a customer receives
an email to rate his or her experience. One thing to note,
because communication is done by email, it’s important
Continued on page 48
16
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
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MODERN MARKETING
Here’s What’s Looking at You!
Visual Content Is King in 2015
By Chris Paradiso, CPIA
A picture’s worth a thousand words. Coined more than a
hundred years ago, the concept holds true today — and
perhaps more so today than ever. Today’s generation of
digital information consumers are increasingly fond of
visual content. Videos and pictures engage them better
than written content. The written word, of course, still is an extremely important element in a successful insurance agency content
marketing strategy, but the use of visuals is growing.
Insurance agencies would do well to recognize this and
ride the wave of content marketing success by incorporating visuals into the mix. Why Do It?
People notice. Visual images make your posts stand out.
Given the constant barrage of information we face, we
tend to notice pictures and other visual content. With the
majority of the population being visual learners, a good
picture or video can have a significant positive effect on
your content and your agency. People click. Visuals — and especially agency-branded
visuals — cause people to pause. They’re curious to learn
more. Written words are often easier to pass by. Best
of all, the intrigue of a visual often gets people to click
through and land at your web site. That’s good, because
that’s generally the ultimate goal of a content marketing
strategy. People engage. If you’re writing your own agency content,
you should be using images and great visuals and placing them within the blogs or social media posts. This
increases your chances of better engagement and it also
helps to attract larger numbers of visitors to your posts. Visual images make your posts
stand out.
People stay. Visual content keeps people engaged with
content — and on our websites — for longer. Successful visual content marketers use pictures to accompany
content and to host it. Pictures that accompany content
do a good job of breaking it up into more easily digestible
chunks. They also reinforce the written content. But what
about pictures that host content? I’ll save the words and
show you in a picture we recently posted:
People relate. When placing a picture into your social
post, think about your agency’s brand. Be sure to include
your agency staff in pictures, where possible. Doing so in
a picture is extremely powerful, because those are the
people on the front lines. They’re the ones working with
clients and prospects you want to relate to. When you
use photos of staff, their friends and family see them and
jump into the engagement process, which is a win-win
for the agency.
People remember. Visuals tend to make your agency blog
or posts more memorable. This means you’ll be top-ofmind when they’re looking for information down the
road. That’s important because people who are looking
for information usually find it and then go — to the
phone to call, to your contact form, or somewhere else.
By the way, that’s why it’s important to make contacting
your agency easy. When people look for info again, visuals
on your site will help them remember you.
People share. If you’re a social media user, I don’t need to
tell you visual content encourages individuals to share
posts. Aren’t people more likely to share videos or pictures
than straight content? This is a great way to allow your
existing network of fans, followers, and subscribers to
become brand advocates for your agency and share your
content — visual and otherwise — with their own networks and friends. Where to Start
With all of this talk about visual, you might wonder where
to start. First, your agency should have an in-house marketing person — someone who’s focused on your agency’s
online image and activities. A good place to find someone
Continued on page 49
18
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
You have a passion for
finding markets for your
clients’ unique risks.
We have a passion for offering
the program solutions you need.
You take pride in helping businesses in your community find the right insurance
coverage. That isn’t always easy when it comes to clients with highly specialized risks
such as social services, towing companies, scrap metal dealers, pizza restaurants with
delivery service, self-storage facilities, or sports and fitness operations. We have a
passion for offering market solutions for these risks through our specialty programs. We
partner with program administrators who have expertise in these hard-to-place markets
and share our commitment to their success. Talk to your territory manager today, or visit
libertymutualgroup.com/programs to learn more about the programs we offer.
© 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance. Insurance underwritten
by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, MA, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
MODERN MARKETING
New Tools for Explaining
Coverage Sharing Chalk Talks with customers is easy because the
videos can be:
•Emailed to customers and prospects
•Included in your agency newsletter
•Loaded to your agency website
These informative video Chalk Talks are often added to
agents’ social networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter and YouTube.
20
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
• Be a Chamber Ambassador
• Volunteer and get involved in local business and
trade associations
• Raffle a gift at a community event or trade show
• Sponsor an Athlete of the Month or Student of the
Month in your community
• Meet with newly-licensed drivers and their parents
to establish a Youthful Operator Driving Agreement
Get Your Staff Involved
• Have a drive by sighting contest for employees to
generate leads
• Have dynamite business cards for all staff and use
them
Steve Jones is a marketer with The Hartford Financial Services
Group, Inc. Steve and his team focus on developing engaging
materials that are repeatable for their agents and digestible
for their clients.
Special Report:
Agents’ Guide to
Internet
Marketing
Special Report:
Agents’ Guide to
Social Media
2011
There are a number of tools available to agents to help
them explain various types of coverages to their prospective insureds. One of these tools are the short (approx. 2
minute), animated Chalk Talk videos that The Hartford
provides to their agents. These can help explain the
variety of coverages they offer in an easy-to-understand
format. With 13 topics, including business income, data
breach, workers compensation, employment practices
liability and business auto, the videos can help agents’
customers understand what the coverage is and how it
could benefit their particular business. With an agents’
guidance, and the information provided in the video, customers can feel more comfortable knowing that they are
choosing the right coverage for their specific needs.
• Speak to groups—Rotary, Chamber, etc.
PIA National
PIA National
ency Marketing
Agency MarketinAg
g ide
Gu
Guide
PI
REPORT:
SPECIAL Personal
Selling
Your
Lines In
Agency
2013
•48% of home-based businesses depend on their
homeowners insurance to protect their business. Yet
many homeowners’ insurance policies limit coverage
of business property and might exclude businessrelated liability claims.
•Only 59% of small businesses with less than 20
employees have workers’ compensation insurance,
which state law requires for most companies.
•Only 48% of small businesses carry commercial
auto insurance. Many rely on personal auto insurance, which may have lower liability limits and could
exclude business-related liability.
Community Involvement
2010
Did you know…
More Zero Budget and
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2012
Small business owners have a lot on their minds. From
servicing customers to paying their bills, their days require
them to multi-task. They don’t have the time to determine
what type of insurance coverage they need or how much,
which may lead to them being underinsured. They look
to their insurance agent for that guidance — and to help
them understand how having the right coverage can protect them. This provides an opportunity for agents to help
these clients and prospects better understand their true
insurance needs while increasing the number of policies
sold and the premiums on those policies.
By Steve Jones
of the PIA
Branding
you by these
sponsors:
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A product of
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WANT MORE MARKETING TIPS FROM PIA?
Visit www.PIAAgencyMarketingGuide.com
to read previous editions of the PIA Agency
Marketing Guide.
Your clients put their heart
and soul into their nonprofits.
We put ours into protecting it.
Your clients’ businesses benefit their communities. We provide coverages and services
to benefit them. Whether your clients are nonprofits or social service organizations, we’ll
help make sure they have the protection they need. We will also ensure that employees,
volunteers, independent contractors, and medical professionals are all covered so that
your clients can focus on the heart of their mission. Talk to your territory manager today
about Liberty Mutual Insurance, or go to libertymutualgroup.com/programs.
nonprofit advisor
© 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance. Insurance underwritten
by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, MA, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Keeping It Personal — Three
Innovative Approaches to Growth
and Retention
By Brenda Mann Harrison
The insurance landscape just keeps getting more and
more crowded. Look no further than the recent news that
Google is entering the auto insurance market. With more
and more insurance shopping options for customers,
many independent agents are looking for new ways to
stand apart from the competition.
Three independent agents who do business with Safeco
Insurance share uniquely different strategies that have
helped them develop strong customer relationships, grow
their businesses and maintain high retention.
Giving Back to the Community
Giving to the community is just part
of doing business at McClain Insurance Services in Everett, Wash. The
entire agency gets involved in charitable events throughout the year, like
the Stuff the Bus for Kids school supply drive in September, and each staff
member is encouraged to support a
charity of their choosing.
Claudia McClain
Agency principal Claudia McClain matches her employees’ financial giving to charity and pays each of her staff
members to spend 16 hours a year doing volunteer work.
And there’s more — for every referral from a customer,
the 38-year-old agency donates $25 to a featured “charity
of the month.” All that adds up.
Why does McClain Insurance Services do all that? “We
are passionate about the community in which we live
and work,” says McClain. “My whole team believes this is
important and it’s a part of who they are.”
McClain and her team may be driven to volunteer by
a passion for their community, but there is a positive
impact to the business that comes from all their good
works: McClain Insurance averages 96% retention and at
least 25 monthly referrals.
Like McClain Insurance Services, any agency that gets
involved in its community for all the right reasons will
find itself reaping additional benefits. For more than a
decade, Deloitte has been tracking volunteer impact.
In 2010, 64% of executives surveyed said community
involvement produces a tangible contribution to the company bottom line. In 2013, 88% of executives participat-
22
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
ing in the Deloitte Volunteer Impact Survey agreed that
volunteering positively impacts the business’s reputation.
Making an Investment in Social Media
Many agencies are taking a wait and see approach before
investing time or money into social media. That’s not the
case for Shaun Murphy of Pablo Beach Insurance Group
in Jacksonville, Florida. “We have for many years put other
priorities in front of this. But not
anymore,” says Murphy, who recently
contracted with an outside marketing
firm to manage the agency’s social
media marketing efforts. “We will not
and cannot compete into the future in
our market space without a presence
Shaun Murphy
on social media.”
While the marketing firm helps set strategy and track
metrics, Murphy is still very much involved in executing on the strategy so that the content and tone of the
agency’s online conversation remains genuine and personal. The agency’s most successful Facebook post was
when Murphy posted a message congratulating his son,
Spencer, for passing his agent exam.
To effectively engage his audience, Murphy uses a mix of
posting styles: brand posts are about the community and
agency employees, value posts point back to the Pablo
Beach Insurance Group blog for a quick read about a
particular topic and sales posts include calls to action for
customers to contact the agency.
Metrics are tracked through inbound marketing software,
which tells Murphy if people are seeing his posts and
engaging with his content, and if that engagement is
driving traffic back to his site and converting.
Since launching a new website and a social media presence in January, Murphy is seeing a return on his investment. Engagement is strong and visits to his site are
up significantly. “We’ve done a lot in a short amount of
time,” says Murphy. “We’re not the poster children of the
market but there’s a lot of great stuff going on.”
The Power of Listening to Customers
Browse the Joe Peterson Insurance website and you’ll find
testimonials raving about great service. All the comments
Continued on page 57
You’re committed to your
clients’ success.
We’re committed to yours.
Finding markets for unique risks isn’t easy. Relationships often make the difference.
At Liberty Mutual Insurance, we value our winning relationships with agents like you.
That’s why we offer expertise and solutions for your clients with self-storage facilities.
Our self-storage insurance program protects your clients from inappropriate sales,
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units. Talk to your territory manager today about Liberty Mutual Insurance, or go to
libertymutualgroup.com/programs.
© 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance. Insurance underwritten
by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, MA, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Independent Agent Marketing:
as Unique as the Agencies
Themselves
By Laura Mazzuca Toops
Back in the day, marketing for an independent agency
meant mailing out flyers or having the owner press the
flesh at the local Chamber of Commerce meetings. The
sophistication and easy use of today’s technology tools
means agents can expand their marketing reach from
across the street to around the globe.
But that almost limitless range of capabilities brings
with it a unique set of challenges and questions: Which
approaches to use? How much to spend? Do it in-house
or rely on an outside expert? And is there still room
in the modern marketing mix for the tried-and-true
approaches?
Independent agency members of NetVU, the official users
group of the Vertafore agency management system, run
the gamut from small, family-run agencies to megabrokerages. The marketing approaches of these agencies
are as unique as the agencies themselves. Most utilize
a combination of old-school methods and cutting-edge
techniques spurred by social media and technology.
Event Marketing
One agency that’s part of a large regional bank takes a
surprisingly low-tech approach to its marketing: real-life
appearances.
BW Insurance Agency is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Bank of the West, with the insurance home office
located in Fargo, N.D. BW’s employees operate out of
44 agency locations in nine states: California, Colorado,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Oregon and Wyoming. BW serves more than 43,000 customers, with written premium volume in excess of $141
million. Specialties, which vary by office, include oil and
gas, crop and hail, employee benefits and individual life
and health insurance.
Although the agency does direct mail for personal lines,
along with digital billboards and print adverting in several markets to help with overall branding, BW finds the
best success with event marketing, such as appearances
at trade shows, for both personal and commercial lines,
says Stephanie Baril, AVP.
“We’ve found that having booths at community events,
trade shows and conferences is a great way for us to
localize our brand and the agents in each office,” she
says. Another benefit of event marketing is the ability
to tailor event attendance based on each office’s insurance specialization. “For example, Wyoming and western
North Dakota specialize in the oil and gas industries, and
because of that we spend a lot of our marketing doing
trade shows in that industry.”
Although the dollar amount varies from year to year, BW
dedicates a “significant percentage of the budget” to various marketing avenues and deployments.
Best of all, it’s effective. “Event marketing always has a
fairly high ROI, mostly because our agents are talking
face to face with potential customers that are interested
in our help,” Baril says. “It isn’t a forced sale or aggressive
environment to try and have a conversation. With print
and billboards, it’s a little harder to determine the ROI,
but for branding, they’re doing a good job.”
Although event marketing is effective for the agency, BW
is always looking for new ways to reach clients and prospects. This year the agency launched a mailing specifically
directed at its agriculture clients and prospects. AgriculContinued on page 50
24
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
Sports & Fitness facilities
carry all kinds of risk.
We share your passion
for protecting it.
Understanding your clients’ needs, no matter how broad or complex, is your passion.
Liberty Mutual Insurance has a passion for protecting your clients’ businesses with a full
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and medical payments coverage, our package policy offers the protection your sports
and fitness clients need to safeguard their businesses. Talk to your territory manager
today about Liberty Mutual Insurance, or go to libertymutualgroup.com/programs.
© 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance. Insurance underwritten
by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, MA, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
SALES/PERSONNEL
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Begin With a Question
By Dennis H. Pillsbury and Nancy Doucette
If you’ve spent any time with five-year-olds you know
they ask lots of questions. If one of your goals is to keep
your agency’s producer pipelines percolating, perhaps it’s
time to get in touch with your inner child and start asking
more questions.
Michel Drouin, president of Charlesbois-Trepanier, Gatineau, Québec,
started quizzing himself at the suggestion of a speaker at a Greenwich
Group meeting. During a presentation by MarshBerry at the meeting,
attendees were asked: “What is the
biggest problem that producers and
account executives have?”
Michel Drouin,
president of
CharlesboisTrepanier,
Gatineau, Québec
Michel says a number of ideas ran
through his head but before he could settle on one, the
presenter answered his own question. “Getting the first
appointment,” he announced. “Getting in the door and
talking to a prospect.”
It was true, Michel thought to himself. The agency’s
producers were having difficulty getting enough appointments to keep the agency growing. They were stuck in the
“process and service” trap.
So he decided that the agency needed to hire someone
for whom setting first appointments would be their sole
responsibility — a business development coordinator
(BDC). Because this position didn’t exist in the agency, the
management team needed to develop a profile for the
BDC. They also needed to create a suitable workspace, in
addition to developing scripts because the BDC would be
soliciting appointments over the phone.
“It’s important to have somebody with a mature voice —
not a young voice,” Michel says. “And no call reluctance,”
he adds with a chuckle. “The BDC needs to be comfortable
approaching large accounts, have business acumen, and
not be discouraged by rejection — cold calling is hard work.
“This is not an entry level position,” Michel emphasizes. “A
semi-retired person might be a good fit.”
As for the workspace, the management team determined
that the BDC would need an office, rather than a cubicle,
to avoid cross talk or other background activity; a wireless
headset so the BDC wasn’t tethered to the desk; and a
large screen display to check a prospect’s website before
making a call — to gather details to personalize the call
26
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
and help start a conversation.
Once Charlesbois-Trepanier hired its BDC, he started
working off a list that the agency had compiled based on
inactive prospects that the agency’s producers and account
execs provided. The list also included chamber of commerce, board of trade and program members. “We have a
car dealers program,” Michel explains. “We subtracted the
ones we already write and contacted the others.”
Out of 500 contacts, the BDC obtained 160 appointments
that took place within the first five months. Another 140
were to be secured at a later date. “Our BDC was generating about 12 appointments a week,” Michel reports. “We
couldn’t handle that much traffic so we gave him some
other work to do to slow him down.” Nice problem to have.
Adding Value
At Peoples First Insurance in Rock Hill, South Carolina,
producers approach prospects by asking: Please tell me
about your business and the daily risk and compliance
issues that frustrate you. How does your relationship
with your insurance broker help with these frustrations?
This is the entrée into the agency’s Risk Watch™ process
— a diagnostic, consultative approach which helps the
agency identify exposures, define strategies, implement
programs, and monitor and adjust the program as the
client’s organization evolves. Risk Watch is based on the
tenets of the Beyond Insurance Global Network (BigN) of
which the agency is a member.
“Several years ago we started to
look at ways we could add value to
the relationship we have with our
customers,” recalls agency president
Jimmy Galloway. He says he liked the
BigN approach of “becoming partners
with clients and helping them reduce
and/or eliminate risk.”
Jimmy Galloway,
president of
Peoples First
Insurance, Rock
Hill, South Carolina
“We made the decision to do the right
thing in terms of risk management,
even if it meant turning down a potential customer,”
explains Ken Cushman, CIC, CWCA, vice president, commercial risk advisor. “By taking this approach, we team up
with those clients or prospects who want to create a safer
workplace, reduce losses, and are willing to work to do so.
Continued on page 51
Your clients look to you
for solutions.
You can depend on ours.
We know you have a passion for finding solutions. We’re passionate about partnering
with you to make that happen. With coverages such as impaired property and
conversion, our Scrap Metal Dealers Program is designed to address the unique risks
and exposures your clients face. Talk to your territory manager today about Liberty
Mutual Insurance, or go to libertymutualgroup.com/programs.
© 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance. Insurance underwritten
by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Boston, MA, or its affiliates or subsidiaries.
SALES/PERSONNEL
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Lessons From a New Producer
By Emily Huling, CIC, CMC
Our six-month new producer coaching program was
coming to a close. Both Sarah and I felt we had accomplished much in laying the foundation for her long-term
sales success. Through her own connections, during this
time, Sarah successfully closed 20 new accounts. Through
homework assignments and phone coaching sessions,
we covered a variety of topics: creating her unique value
proposition, moving prospects to clients using effective
sales funnel activities, working with different personality and decision-making styles, and handling customer
objections.
The purpose of our final call was two-fold. I wanted to
learn from Sarah the top three lessons that she will apply
consistently. The second piece of our discussion was to
talk about where she goes from here. Here’s the essence
of our conversation.
Three lessons Sarah will continue to apply:
1. Stay heavily involved with networking organizations.
Half of Sarah’s new business success came through
her BNI (Business Network International) connections.
Her weekly group helps her hone her value message,
networking skills, knowledge about the local business
community, and gives her an opportunity to refer business to others.
Buyers want to do business with
people they can relate to.
2. It’s not about price. What a great thing for a young
producer to learn early on! Sarah had chosen to work
on a piece of new business that she knew had a longtime connection with an existing agent. She knew that
the price and coverage she was offering was better
than the buyer’s current program so she proceeded.
Guess what? The lower price and better coverage did
not move the account. The relationship between the
account and the existing agent was too strong. Sarah
will now do a better job of qualifying business and pay
close attention to red flags.
3. Sales success requires harder work than she imagined.
Although she had been told the hours would be long,
she was amazed at how much there is to learn about
28
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
coverage, rating, carriers and the selling process. Her
first six months as a producer was a reality check.
Where did I suggest Sarah go from here?
1. Broaden her reach. While BNI has been an excellent
source of business and connections, Sarah needs
to create more connections building on the success
that she had. One method is to approach her existing clients with a list of prospects that her client may
know and ask for information and a referral. Another
technique to generate more prospects is mind mapping, which helps identify connections between
clients and people they do business with. Joining and
participating in the trade associations of target classes
is another strategy. Sarah needs three to five channels
that create qualified prospects.
2. Build her personal brand. Today, buyers want to do
business with people they can relate to. They want to
know some personal information about those they
are doing professional service business with. Through
e-newsletters, writing articles, speaking at business
events, using LinkedIn and Facebook effectively, and
even creating her own website with a link to the
agency’s site, Sarah can communicate her business
personality, areas of expertise, philosophy of client
service, and community interests and causes.
3. Continuous learning. Having and applying knowledge
is a key ingredient of anyone’s success. Sarah is creating a personal development plan that covers formal
and on-the-job continuous learning opportunities. Key
areas to cover include technical knowledge, communication, negotiating and sales skills, and carrier and
competitor information. If all the agency staff works
to discover, gather and share information, learning
advances for all in the agency.
What Sarah learned and her game plan to move forward
applies to producers and CSRs, new employees and seasoned staff. From this list of six, what’s one thing that you
will do to further your career and your agency’s success?
Emily Huling, CIC, CMC helps the insurance industry create
top-performing sales and service organizations. She is the
author of Selling from the Inside, Great Service Sells, and Kick
Your “But.” For information on her programs and products
visit www.sellingstrategies.com.
LifeQuotes.com, a PIA member company, now offers
PIA members a turnkey, online, customer-facing,
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SALES/PERSONNEL
Is It Possible to “Insure” the
Success of New Producers?
Congratulations, you’re ready to hire a new producer.
This may be your first new producer, or your 20th recruit.
Regardless of the number hired, the question you should
ask yourself is, “Should I hire a new producer if I don’t
have an insurance marketing and lead generation program in place?” Is this the age old question, “Which came
first, the chicken or the egg?” or is there an inherently
logical answer to be found?
Producers Must Be Proficient at Many Functions
The answer can be gleaned from your hiring success rate
(or conversely your failure rate). Most agency owners
and executives would agree that one of the greatest
challenges with top line growth revolves around producer staffing. Agencies often struggle with a formula to
successfully recruit, train and retain new producers. The
producers must succeed at so many varied tasks, their
probability of failure often becomes a statistical likelihood. Let’s review a top 10 list of important responsibilities expected of most producers:
1. Identify In-Profile Target Suspects
2. Prospect These Suspects
3. Qualify (who should they spend time with and how
much time)
4. Present - Differentiating the Agency and Insurance
Products
5. Quotation/Proposal Creation
6. Close - Sign Applications
7. Ensure Successful Transition to CSR
8. Maintain Relationships (while finding new business)
9. Ongoing Service - Claims, Changes in Exposures,
Issues, Questions
10.Renew - Review Coverages, Remarket (when needed)
Should I hire a new producer if I don’t
have an insurance marketing and
lead generation program in place?
Important Questions
The list above is just a partial inventory of the responsibilities and tasks producers must master, and each of these
requires one or more skills. This list raises some interesting questions:
•How likely is it that a new producer will command all
these skills?
•And if they don’t, can the agency supplement some
of the missing links to ensure the success of their
30
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Alan Blume
new producers?
•Are some of these skills easier for agencies to supplement than others?
•When skills are missing, are some more likely than
others to result in producer failure?
The Insurance Sales Funnel - The Producer Pipeline
Let’s separate our top ten list into three major categories: prospecting,
sales and service.
Arguably, the success of every new
producer begins
with prospecting.
Without effective
prospecting, there
will be insufficient
opportunities moving into the top of
the sales funnel,
resulting in meager
metrics at the bottom of the funnel.
An insurance agent
sales funnel typically consists of suspects, prospects, presentation opportunities, proposals, and ultimately closes
(new clients). The sales funnel concept is used across
many industries, attributable to the graphic describing
the funnel, wide at the top (suspects), tapering in the
middle (qualified prospects and proposals) and narrowing
significantly at the bottom (closes). The top of the funnel
is normally filled with suspects, which become in profile
prospects, and a portion of which, based upon your producer close ratio, become new clients.
The Marketing Investment Paradigm
Some agency owners think that all prospecting should
be done by the producers. After all, that’s the way they
did it when they started their agency. Besides, what else
do these new agents have to do with their time? One of
the flaws in this reasoning relates to the modest percentage of producers who ultimately become agency owners.
Agency owners likely possessed a disproportionately high
percentage of the top ten skills needed, allowing them to
create a successful agency (or to rise to the responsibility
of running one). Owners and executives are often reticent
to add marketing dollars to their current sales spend,
as costs will increase immediately upon hiring a new
Continued on page 52
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SALES/PERSONNEL
The Right Stuff: Hiring “A” Players
for Your Agency
By David Connolly
High failure rates for our new production talent have
always plagued our industry. Onboarding successful new
production talent is not a subject whose time has come,
it is now an issue whose time is now. Recent published
research from Reagan Consulting and others paint a dire
picture for production talent attrition and new producer
failure rates over the next 7-10 years.
An Aging Population
Almost half of ALL Production Talent is over 50 years old.
Almost 60% of Agency Principals or those who own stock
are over 50. Couple this with average new hire failure
rates of over 50% means we have to hire two or three to
keep one.
Also, there aren’t many recent graduates who have
“Insurance Agent” in their top 10 career choices. Selfpromotion at the college level is another area where we
fall short. We tend to recycle talent and hire from within
our industry, which makes the available talent pool pretty
shallow.
The good news is that the best firms in the industry have
strong new producer onboarding success plans and enjoy
success rates rate of 80% and higher.
How do the best agencies succeed at onboarding exceptional new production talent? I don’t believe there is one
single model for success. I’ve seen a variety of different
agency cultures have success developing exceptional
production talent. What I can say with confidence is that
they all employ processes that create predictable results
and help maximize their chances for success. This article
is a synopsis of these processes, and offers observations
on agencies that have better than average success with
producer development.
A strong sales aptitude is just one of
many core competencies required for
success as an insurance agent.
The Ideal Insurance Producer
I believe the first mistake agencies make is when they
look to hire a “Sales Professional.” They are staffing the
wrong position. Finding a pure “Sales Professional” is a
piece of cake. The successful insurance agents I work
with are not “just” sales people. A strong sales aptitude
is just one of many core competencies required for success in this position. In order to find something, we need
to know what we are looking for. You need to start by
32
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
More Zero Budget and
Low Budget Marketing Ideas
Networking
• Join a leads group or networking club
• Attend trade shows
• Be on a Board of Directors
Maximize Referrals
• Partner with other local professionals and businesses
to share referrals
• Send small gifts to referring customers and circle of
influence people
• Create a magnet program to obtain new personal
lines leads and serve existing customers
• Have lunch once a week with a circle of influence
person (banker, realtor, accountant, attorney,
mortgage broker)
• Create an insurance information relocation brochure
for realtors and new community residents
describing the attributes, strengths and characteristics of
your ideal insurance producer.
This is where the problem starts. To properly describe the
“ideal” producer would require too many words and more
positive attributes than most job applicants would have
walking into an agency. Put that on a job search description and you won’t get many responses. Those who do
respond would most likely be egomaniacs. The bottom
line is that highly successful producers are very special
people and are hard to find. So, with these incredibly
steep and varied skill set requirements, how do agency
principals find, recruit, hire, train and grow successful
production talent? They start with the right stuff, high
quality raw material with potential, and build a finished
product that is exceptional.
The best all start with the end in mind, and all begin with
very high standards for potential candidates. This gives
them the raw material they need to work with, and the
best chance for success at building a great producer. In
short, all start by hiring “A” Players.
What’s an A Player? There are several definitions, but one
I found on an entrepreneurial blog gives a good descripContinued on page 53
SALES OPPORTUNITIES
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Speaking the Language of
Your Insureds — a Rewarding
Strategy
By Alexi Papandon, CAE
Like many PIA members, Robert “Bob” Klinger of Klinger
Insurance Group located in Germantown, Maryland
didn’t grow up in the insurance business or study
insurance in school. Rather, after serving as an infantry
commander in the First Gulf War he was turned on to
insurance by his girlfriend’s father, who worked for Erie
Insurance at the time.
Bob started with
Mass Mutual Financial Group in Buffalo,
New York and later
took a position in
Erie, Pennsylvania.
During this formative time a few of
Bob’s life insurance
clients passed away. This really drove home the importance of insurance to Bob.
“I realized early on that it wasn’t about selling insurance or earning an income, it was about promises made,
promises kept. It was taking care of people, understanding their needs and then finding the right product to
meet those needs.”
It was at that time that Bob took a property casualty
position in the Washington, DC area while living in Maryland. There he found an area with an incredible cultural
diversity, one very different than what he had previously
experienced while he was in New York and Pennsylvania.
Bob soon realized that people of different ethnicities
tended to focus on certain lines of businesses and that
this presented an opportunity.
He applied lessons learned while in the military and
immediately set about analyzing this potential opportunity to better understand the people, the risks, etc. He
wanted to know who they were buying insurance from
(a few agents within each ethnic community), why they
were buying from them (because they spoke the language) and what other value these agents provided (surprisingly, very little — they relied heavily on the language
connection and provided little actual service). While the
business owners often referred to these agents as their
friends, because loyalty is important in their culture, Bob
soon found there was little beside a common language
34
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
holding the sale in place.
A Niche Is Born
At this point Bob decided to focus his sales efforts on
local dry cleaning businesses. He went to upstate New
York for classes to learn about the industry and then set
about working on this business niche, dominated in large
part by Korean-born owners who spoke very little English.
Fortunately for Bob, his wife spoke Korean. However, this
should not deter those agents who are not so fortunate.
Bob now sells to many other business industries dominated by owners who speak very little English. In addition
to learning a little Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai
himself, Bob has hired many multi-lingual employees in
his agency. On Bob’s staff you will find CSRs and producers speaking a variety of languages including Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Hindi.
Early on Bob learned that simply advertising to these
groups wasn’t enough. He had his multi-lingual staff
members visit the local stores to set appointments. They
would also join him on follow up visits when he explained
to the store owners how he could create an insurance
package for them that would offer them greater protection than they already had. In many cases these small
business owners came from cultures where insurance
wasn’t as highly valued and had previously been sold
cut-rate policies with less coverage. Part of Bob’s job was
providing an education to his potential customers thru
visits to their businesses and seminars in their language,
while at the same
time building a relationship of trust.
Bob soon began
to focus on other
niches dominated
by various ethnic
groups, including
delis, hair products,
nail salons, restaurants, liquor stores, auto repair, wholesalers and many more. Along the way he worked closely
with his carrier partners, getting buy-in from them and
a commitment to provide him with sales and support
materials translated into a variety of languages. He also
Continued on page 56
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SALES OPPORTUNITIES
AGENCY CASE STUDY
A Unique Growth Story…Logan
Lavelle Hunt’s Associations
By George Nordhaus
Every successful agency owner or manager can usually
attribute their firm’s growth to a number of factors. The
usual actions mentioned to account for consistent agency
expansion include, among others, long-term planning, use of
technology, great hiring practices, mergers, acquisitions, marketing, client communication and the resulting relationships.
Louisville-based Logan Lavalle Hunt, however, has taken a
unique path towards growth. Over the past few years, LLH
has expanded to a total of seven locations, four in the Blue
Grass State, and three in Southern Indiana. For any agency,
but especially one almost 100 years old, spreading rapidly
in such a short period of time (and in two separate states)
is an anomaly.
What is LLH’s growth “secret”? In the
words of Stan Logan, co-owner and
agency sales manager, “We attribute
much of our recent expansion to the fact
that we have a somewhat unusual specialty — contractors and bonding. Now
when companies and other agents visit
they already make reference that we are
known for being a contractor agency.”
and create their own relationship with these associations?
Stan’s answer, “Many agencies are like ours. They want to
grow and market. But funds are limited on what and where
to spend. We have a distinct advantage in that we utilize
the services of an outside marketing firm, AgenciesOnline,
to help bring organization to our marketing effort. It is the
next step in pushing marketing forward. With just a few
ideas they can make it happen. This, tied in to our association relationships, makes a more cohesive campaign. But
the secret to marketing is being consistent and constant.”
Also helpful to LLH’s growing marketing activities is the
participation on a co-op advertising basis of insurers such
as State Auto and Motorists Mutual.
Other Associations
The agency makes no secret of the fact that it is very “association-involved” and not limited just to the building trades.
Here is copy from LLH’s website:
Stan Logan,
co-owner of Logan
Lavelle Hunt
During the downturn, we tried to venture in to other areas,
but then decided ‘we are what we are so let’s do it even
better.’ Getting active in the trade associations of the contractors we deal with allows us to think like them and know
their issues.”
Working with associations is what we do
At Logan Lavelle Hunt we work with many associations
providing their members with innovative insurance
and risk management programs — including employee
benefits, property casualty insurance, workers compensation and wealth management.
When like-minded organizations come
Continued on page 58
LLH agency leaders ARE very active participants in the associations (and a growing
number of their members) they insure.
Stan Logan, for example, is currently the
Associate VP of the Home Builders Association of Louisville as well as Associate VP for
the Home Builders Association of Kentucky.
Why Association Relationships Help
Agency Growth
When asked why its relationships with associations helps spur LLH’s growth, Stan had a
simple answer, “Because of our association relationships, agents in other areas want us to teach
them how to do it in their geographical ‘footprints.’ So we buy, merge or manage agencies
then set them up as our association partners.”
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Kentucky 50
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
Make it simple --- call us today!
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Why can’t other agencies copy the LLH formula
36
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Materials used by Logan Lavelle Hunt
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the construction industry.
SALES OPPORTUNITIES
FEMA’s New Wrinkle in Flood
Reforms Creates a Sales
Opportunity for Savvy Flood
Agents
By Dolores D. Glass, ANFI
Climate change is a hot topic — so are the FEMA flood
reforms and the updated FEMA flood zone map changes
occurring across the country. When FEMA revises the flood
zone maps moving properties into the high risk flood zone,
owners must re-consider their flood risk or may face a
mandatory purchase of flood insurance. Flood insurance
agents should jump into this opportunity to offer current
details on the flood reforms and earn a client for life!
Flood insurance premiums are based on flood risk identified on the FEMA flood zone maps and the construction
features of the buildings that mitigate those risks. The
original flood reforms are all about raising premiums
to match the flood risk of each property through the
reduction of premium subsidies previously offered by
the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The latest
round of flood insurance reform has limited the annual
increases for some property owners, but it has not
stopped the reduction of subsidies. Flood reform is still
progressing, albeit at a slower rate.
Newly Mapped Into the SFHA — Started April 1, 2015
For one year only, until April 1, 2016, owners whose properties have been remapped into the high risk flood zone since
October 1, 2008 have a last chance offer to be rated using
a new procedure that FEMA calls Newly Mapped into the
SHFA (high risk flood zone). This one year offer allows the
purchase of a new NFIP flood policy with extremely low
premium rates and without an elevation certificate. Then,
in future renewal years, puts them on a slow progression
up to full risk rates subject to the NFIP annual premium
caps in place now. This policy, marching upward slowly,
beginning at the lowest possible rate, can also be transferred to any subsequent buyer of the property creating an
asset to the seller. A prudent property owner might want
to buy into flood insurance available only for this one year
period to assure a low cost policy without an elevation certificate is available to future buyers of his property. Mentioning this fact to owners remapped into high risk flood zones
since October 1, 2008 demonstrates a well-informed agent
has his clients’ best interests in mind both in protecting
property as well as generating an important asset to the
future sale of the property.
After April 1, 2016 the Newly Mapped into the SFHA procedure will be eligible to properties, without need for an
elevation certificate, that undergo a map change moving
them from low risk flood zones to high risk flood zones
only for one year after the date of the flood zone map
change. But the asset generated by the timely purchase
of a low cost policy increasing very slowly up to full risk
rates still applies both in protections to the property as
well as the future transfer to any new buyer.
Information About Map Changes; Flood Reforms
Armed with this new opportunity, flood insurance agents
need to be on top of their game and:
•be trained in the NFIP program,
•be informed of the effects of the flood reforms as
they are implemented
•be aware of past and future FEMA flood zone map
changes in their community.
How to Get in Synch?
Agents should count on their flood insurance company
and partner to keep them in synch with the ever changing flood reforms and annual changes to the NFIP.
•Intuitive online rating tools and flood policy training
to guide agents through the flood transaction; keeping them in compliance with the NFIP rules will be an
important feature of the right flood insurance company.
Continued on page 58
38
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
AGENCY CASE STUDY
Pressing the Facebook Flesh: an Agent’s
Social Media Marketing Success By PIA Staff
Social media is ubiquitous, today, and the ways we use
it continue to evolve. Most of us are connected on at
least one, if not more, social platforms. Interacting with
friends online is commonplace; however, using social
media for business still eludes many people. Many
think they need to be technically savvy to do social,
but this is a myth. The real skill that’s needed for social
media success is one that many agents already have
and use in face-to-face interaction: good people skills.
The trick is to translate the way you interact with people
in person to an online venue. But, again — with practice, this, too, can become second nature. In fact, with
a bit of creativity and a “keep-it-real” tone, you could
dramatically increase your business using social media.
For proof, look to Denisse Bravo, an agent in Tucson
(https://www.facebook.com/BravoInsuranceSolutions),
who generates 50% of her sales from her Facebook page.
Bravo is an independent agent who, among other brands,
sells products for MetLife Auto & Home®. Over the past
few years, she has discovered some valuable social media
marketing strategies that have helped her to realize
impressive sales growth. Her methods are creative and
relatively simple, but she’s diligent in her efforts. She’s
spent a number of years growing her online presence and
using it as part of her overall brand identity.
Like most of us, Denisse Bravo began using Facebook for
personal reasons — posting to friends and family, and
talking with others about kids, community, and current
events. After working as a captive agent for five years
with AMFAM, she and her husband, Michael, went out
on their own in 2014. She realized the power of social
media to spread the word about her agency, and built a
Facebook business page. Her posting style changed a bit,
but she retained her friendly and casual demeanor, as
well as her community mindedness. Part of the secret to
her success is that she doesn’t spend a lot time directly
plugging her agency. In fact, the majority of her posts are
about everything except her business.
Bravo begins each morning with a social media scan. She
reads through her main feed, answering posts people
make to her, responding to questions and comments and,
whenever she can, offering helpful information. “I engage
with other folks,” she explains. “It’s all about having a conversation.” Bravo keeps the scope of these conversations
broad. She’ll often post about local news and information; for example, if she hears about a car accident, she’ll
let her local online community know, which helps com-
muters to avert traffic snarls.
Another — and very important — aspect of her scan is
to offer recommendations about local businesses. When
she began using Facebook, Bravo noticed a lot of posts
from people asking for advice about local services. She
began to reply to these posts whenever she knew a reliable merchant. Part of her criteria for making a recommendation is that she personally knows the merchant.
This adds a level of credibility to her posts and, as a result,
has enhanced Bravo’s credibility. She’s become known
amongst her friends (and their
friends) for her suggestions,
which has helped grow her base
of followers. Through “Liking” the
businesses she recommends, she
gains many of their followers.
Often, the businesses will refer
Bravo, too. For all concerned, it’s
a win-win. And it goes back to
traditional marketing principals.
Bravo attests that “everything is
referral-based in social media,”
but, of course, referrals are integral component in sales.
Denisse Bravo with her
family
While Bravo’s strategies may
sound easy, they do require a concerted effort. One has
to learn some basics: how often to post, what times/days
to post, etc. But above all, one has to come across as a
real person speaking to other people. For instance, Bravo
ensures her content is customized and aimed at her
audience. She focuses on community — but stays away
from politics and religion — and, again, she doesn’t ask
for business. People know she’s an insurance agent, and
this is a good thing to keep in mind for any agent looking
to drum up business online. Use your logo and put your
business information in your “About” section. And while
you can certainly post about the services you offer, you
don’t need to be heavy-handed about it. People will know
who you are and this will take the pressure off you; you
won’t need to write those uncomfortable sales-y posts.
Another strategy Bravo has learned is melding her online
and offline presences. For instance, she owns a Facebook
group for her son’s school. She also runs weekly promotions where she’ll pass out donuts at a different location
each week. She’ll post the location and, when people
Continued on page 49
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
39
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
For Social Media and the
Smartphone, Half Measures
Don’t Cut It
Social media is no longer just a box agents can check
off just by setting up Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Nor
is mobile-optimizing the agency website all there is in
going mobile. In today’s connected, 24/7 personal and
business climate, half-measures don’t cut it. PIA members can exploit their personal, hands-on, local footprint
advantages over directs and online carriers, but only if
they use two digital tools the right way to beat them at
their own game: social media and the smartphone.
Social media has become an agency’s “front porch” — a
platform in which its empathy, work ethic and expertise
is on full display. Few consumers take the time to visit
an agency’s office to obtain a quote or discuss coverages
for the first time. Business clients and prospects are also
surfing the Web less, i.e., “Googling,” but instead are
going direct to the sites or platforms they already like.
This trend emphasizes the critical importance for agencies to use social media as a means of being “found.”
Social media has become an agency’s
“front porch” — a platform in which its
empathy, work ethic and expertise is
on full display.
Being found, however, requires more than just setting up
social media pages and hoping people find them. Posting
generic kitten photos and sunsets one day and then hardsell “buy this coverage” pitches the next day does little to
attract attention, especially if the agent across town is
posting similar content.
Personalization is key to social media success — and it’s
not enough for agents to just provide sound advice —
the best advice is useless if no one is listening. To break
through the chatter and separate themselves from their
competitors, agents need to create “visceral bridges” such
as humor and demonstrable support of their communities and clients. In simple terms, that means appealing to
the heart and the head at the same time — in heartfelt
Social media is one part of the digital
formula. The other is making your
services accessible via the smartphone.
By Tom Wetzel
More Zero Budget and
Low Budget Marketing Ideas
Branch Out
• Follow up with non-agency claimants after claim
settlement
• Market to those you send certificate of insurance to
for your insureds
• Offer a free lunch fishbowl drawing weekly at local
restaurant
• Offer Commercial clients complimentary Personal
Lines reviews for their employees during a lunch and
learn
Get Involved in the Media
• Publish articles in local paper, trade and community
business publications
• Be interviewed by broadcast media
• Use press releases as often a possible
• Write letters to the editors; be a guest columnist in
the local paper
ways that stay true to the agency’s persona.
Effective social media posting also boosts an agency’s
SEO ranking. Google now ranks an agency’s website
higher based in part by how many people link back to you
from social media activity. Your social media influence is
determined by many factors such as relevance, reach, and
resonance. For example, is your content relevant to your
brand? How many people do you reach with the content
you’re sharing and are you reaching the people you want?
It’s also worth noting that mobile-optimized sites receive
additional credit in Google’s rankings.
Social media is one part of the digital formula. The other
is making your services accessible via the smartphone.
Social media and the smartphone are closely linked — in
fact they feed off each other. Smartphone penetration in
the U.S. has now reached 70 percent according to Nielsen
and comScore reports that social networking is “the number one category in terms of overall digital engagement…
Continued on page 59
40
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Not Another Email From
Uncle Harry!
Does this ever happen to you?
I regularly receive emails from an in-law who sends his
emails seemingly to a cast of thousands. When I open one
of his emails (which I rarely do), I notice he is usually talking about another relative, someone whom I rarely know.
Yet this in-law has expressed his disappointment that
few if any of his receivers ever respond to his emails.
His thinking is that he can save his time and energy by
bombarding everyone with the same email rather than to
craft a personalized email to each recipient. The difference is the impact he could make if I believed his email
was directed only to me.
Worse yet, another person I know uses social media to
regularly blast out posts. I notice that these posts rarely, if
ever, get “likes” or comments but are usually just ignored.
Why? He will send identical messages to both his Facebook fans and to his Twitter followers, usually self-serving
notices about his own interests. Sure, using an automated program to rifle messages to both social media
platforms allows him to be very efficient. But the real
question is, is he being effective? Doesn’t he realize the
real secret to effective social media marketing is getting
people engaged enough to respond and to comment?
(The surprise in this situation: this second person is a bestselling author on the subject of social media marketing!)
“Facebook and Twitter are completely different tools, with
their own unique tool sets, communities and etiquette,”
says Heather Mansfield, a different author, who wrote the
book Social Media for Social Good.
To positively impact your insurance agency, here are five
Facebook best practices that Mansfield recommends:
1) Find Your Facebook Voice
Most fans won’t hang out on your Facebook Page, browsing through photos and videos. 90 percent of their experience with your Facebook Page will occur through status
updates in their newsfeeds. Your number one priority is
to find out what kind of content your agency fans want to
read and engage with, and then to provide it to them.
2) Mix It Up!
If you only share your own content, you’ll cross that thin
line between community building and over marketing.
Share breaking news, trending posts, and popular videos
from YouTube.
By Ted Janusz
More Zero Budget and
Low Budget Marketing Ideas
Be Visible
• Place brochures at Chamber office
• Place brochures in realtor relocation packages
• Create a logo or tag line that is image building
Marketing Materials
• Use new product stuffers in all your mailings
• Use e-mail and website wisely to market new
products
• Include quick quote fax back fact sheets in with
direct mail
• Always include postage-paid envelopes with surveys
and questionnaires
• Always use e-mail signatures
3) Post No More Than One or Two Status Updates
Per Day
Less is so much more! The law of diminishing returns sets
in if you post multiple status updates every day. However,
an occasional status update posted in the evening or
on a Saturday or Sunday tends to produce high levels of
engagement.
4) Promote Your Facebook Page to Get More Fans
For your fan base to grow, promote your page on your
website, e-newsletters, blog, printed materials, and email
signature lines. Just imagine if every email leaving your
agency had at the bottom a link to your Facebook page!
5) Do Not Automate Content and Sync Facebook
With Other Social Networking Sites
Community building comes first and marketing second.
Your Facebook community wants to know there is a real
human being behind those status updates and not a bot.
Your followers want authenticity.
Always remember that the power of social media is not in
the tools themselves; rather it’s in the human being using
them.
The Best Content for Facebook
Finally, you may ask, “What kinds of status updates on
Facebook will get the best response from my fans?”
Continued on page 46
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
41
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Facebook Advertising:
Take Control
Facebook is one of the greatest success stories of our
generation. What began as a project to make a social network site called HarvardConnections, solely for Harvard
students back in 2003 is, according to Forbes as of May
2015, worth $231.6 billion. How did a site designed only
for one college turn into a global juggernaut? The answer
is simply word of mouth.
Facebook advertising is now the
best method for businesses to connect
with the 864 million daily active
Facebook users.
Word of Mouth Marketing
Facebook succeeded because of how it got many people to
talk positively about it with their friends and build interest among the public. So how does this relate to Facebook
advertising? Now that Facebook is THE social media site
it has made word of mouth marketing significantly easier
through built-in tools for posts, like “Shares” and “Likes.” It
makes it easy for complete strangers and friends of friends
to learn more about you and your agency.
After realizing the power it was holding, Facebook has
made some major changes to its News Feed algorithm
that heavily impacted the outreach of business pages on
Facebook and boosted the value of Facebook advertising.
Facebook’s Algorithm Changes
In December 2013, Facebook released a News Feed algorithm change that significantly punished brand pages.
On average, this caused the organic reach (advertisingfree views) of business pages to decline by 44%. This was
not a one-time change. In January 2015, Facebook made
another algorithm change that has further dropped the
outreach of business pages.
How Do Businesses Regain Their Reach?
These changes to Facebook, while stated to benefit their
members, has provided a big boost to their advertising
revenue. That is because Facebook advertising is now the
best method for businesses to connect with the 864 million daily active Facebook users. Through the robust tools
made available by Facebook, businesses are able to reach
thousands of users and potential consumers on Facebook
and turn them into profit.
Facebook has forced many businesses to adopt their
advertising platform into their marketing strategy with
42
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Spencer Langrock
the algorithm changes. But this has actually boosted the
profit margins of many businesses that would have otherwise not given Facebook advertising a chance. They’re
now targeting look-a-like individuals who share very
similar interests to people that currently “Like” their page
as well as people who share an interest in their industry.
Their outreach is much larger than ever before and the
cost is significantly lower than other marketing mediums.
For example, the cost to reach 1000 people using Facebook ads averages $0.25, whereas the cost for a newspaper ad averages $32.00. That is the power of Facebook’s
targeted word of mouth marketing.
Beginning an Effective Facebook Ad Campaign
Hopefully, learning some of the history of Facebook has
helped explain why Facebook’s advertising platform is so
important nowadays. While it is not the only advertising
technique you should be employing, it should be a major
contributor to your marketing.
There are many advanced techniques that can be used
in Facebook ads to increase your outreach, including dayparting, ad-refreshing and front-loading budgeting. But
we’re going to focus on the fundamentals because it is
important to get your feet wet before you dive right in.
Facebook’s algorithm changes have
actually boosted the profit margins
of many businesses that would
have otherwise not given Facebook
advertising a chance.
The Basics
Before you can create an ad you must first have a Facebook Page. You can create a Facebook Page by visiting
www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Once a page
has been created and updated it is time to start your
ad campaign. You can begin your campaign by visiting
www.facebook.com/advertising. After clicking “Create
Ad” on the top-right, you will want to select “Clicks to
Website.” There are many options available, but the true
goal is to get people to your agency’s homepage to contact you. Sending people to your Facebook Page does not
share the same impact as getting people to your website.
Continued on page 60
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Are You an Informer or
Meformer?
On social media sites, about 80 percent of us share a
common characteristic. According to researchers at
Rutgers University, the vast majority of us use Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn and other popular sites
to talk about ourselves (in other words, we are “meformers”). Only about one-fifth of users take advantage of
these tools to primarily share information that could
benefit someone else (‘informers”). Which are you?
An example of a post an informer might send would
begin, “Time-saving detour through town around the
new construction.” A meformer might begin a tweet with
“me now” information such as “Stressed and depressed.”
Here is the takeaway: Informers have twice as many followers as meformers.
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Here’s another idea: it helps to be upbeat. According to
social media scientist Dan Zarrella, “Negative remarks
include things like sadness, aggression, negative emotions and feelings, and morbid comments. Nobody likes
to follow a Debbie Downer. Accounts with lots of followers don’t tend to make many negative remarks. If you
want more followers, cheer up!”
Other Things Not to Do on Twitter
The following list of no-no’s comes from Alice Martin,
president of Shroomsocial:
•#TUI — tweeting under the influence. Need I say
more? #LOL
•Never give your password when prompted to after
opening a link. Your account will be hacked, sending
spamming messages to the last people you followed.
•Don’t send several tweets to people that don’t follow
you back, or you risk suspension.
•Sending the same link or tweet out within a 24-hour
time is considered spam.
•Don’t be a bully.
•Don’t ask inappropriate questions publicly or send
private direct messages to those who don’t follow you.
•#Don’t #over-do #your #use #of #hashtags.
I’m Outta Here!
Why might someone decide to unfollow a Twitter account?
An interesting study was conducted by a group of Korean
researchers. After looking at 1.2 million Twitter accounts,
they determined it was for one of these top six reasons:
•Too many updates all at once
•Uninteresting topics
•Mundane details of daily life (“meformer”)
By Ted Janusz
•Politics
•Advertisement
•Automatically generated tweet
Like Clockwork
The use of schedulers for your social media updates can
be helpful, especially since your followers are unlikely to
be engaged with Twitter at all times and tend to read
tweets mostly in real-time. But digital strategist Charles
Cunningham warns, “Automation of your digital networks
is incredibly tempting but you aren’t going to see the
results you would from an organic approach. Schedulers
are incredibly helpful and effective when used correctly,
but don’t forget your followers, they like you.”
So be a person, not a robot.
To Be an Effective Informer, Give People What They
Want
Formulate a social media policy for your agency, bearing in mind research conducted recently for Twitter UK
by Nielson, which discovered the top eight reasons why
people follow brands:
•55% — They like the brand
•52% — To be notified of special offers / promotions
•51% — Staying up to date with brand news
•44% — Learning about new products and services
•38% — Current customers
•38% — To take part in competitions
•34% — They tweet interesting / entertaining content
•33% — To get freebies
Kevan Lee of BufferSocial sums it up this way, “Twitter
users love discounts and freebies, and they are likely to
follow a brand to get some goods. If you can add value in
this way — you might see your followers grow.”
More Posts Equal More Followers
Interpreting data from social media analytics company
Beevolve, which analyzed 36 million Twitter profiles and
28 billion tweets, Kevan Lee gives us these insights:
•Lots of tweets equals lots of activity. And the more
active you are on social media, the more likely you
are to gain followers, make connections, and build
relationships.
•Lots of tweets equals lots of experience. As you
tweet more, you get better at tweeting.
•Lots of tweets equals longevity. The longer you’re
around on social media, the more time and
Continued on page 47
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
43
COMMERCIAL LINES
The Voice of Your Small
CL Customer
These are your customers speaking. Many are longtime
customers. They trust you. You know them well. You’ve
taken care of their needs for many years.
Others are new customers. Perhaps new businesses or
businesses changing ownership, either in your own community or areas you’ve chosen to expand into. They may
be clients brought in by new producers.
So, since you already know them and they are your
customers, what more is there to learn? But when they
call and you find that they have been browsing insurance
websites, or you lose their business to an online direct
provider of small commercial lines insurance, don’t you
wonder what they’re thinking? Why are they looking
around and why would they leave with all you have to
offer compared to online insurance?
If these are questions you’re asking, you’re not alone. This
is why PIA National, through its ongoing agent/company
cooperative program, The PIA Partnership, has undertaken
groundbreaking consumer research to hear what your
customers are not only thinking but also saying with
regard to small commercial insurance and the Internet.
The focus group portion of the research involved group
discussions moderated by research professionals — held
in both Midwest and East Coast locations. Participating small business owners and decision makers ran the
gamut from contractors and architects to manufacturers
and zip line tour installation consultants. A diverse group
with diverse opinions.
The PIA Partnership has undertaken
groundbreaking consumer research
to hear what your customers are not
only thinking but also saying with
regard to small commercial insurance
and the Internet.
Areas of Concern
When our small business panelists were asked about
buying insurance online, we first heard from a few Internet zealots, who focused on the transformational / disruptive aspects of change that the Internet has brought.
Here are a few examples:
“I was able to do it online when I was shopping for
insurance. What I wish I didn’t have to do again is
44
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Bill Jenkins
speak to an agent or multiple agents. It just feels like
sometimes they’re not getting back to me fast enough
or I’m getting the runaround or I’m not getting accurate information.”
“If Amazon sold insurance we might buy it. Why?
Because they research what they’re doing. They make
sure the vendors are reputable and honest. They don’t
want a bad reputation. They don’t want negative
feedback.”
“I think today middlemen are on their way out. I think
agencies or agents are becoming middlemen and I
think middlemen are getting squeezed.”
“Eventually it’ll be the one-stop-shop anyway. The
Amazons will take over.”
“If I just go from place to place on
the Internet comparing, maybe I
would be comparing apples to apples
to apples. But I wouldn’t know for
sure on some things.”
Focus group participant
While the preceding comments represent a viewpoint
often expressed with loud voices, many of the more moderate comments about using the Internet were centered
on positive impressions of online capabilities. Here are
what some had to say:
“Everything that we do in our daily life, we’re always
using the internet, whether it be banking, looking for a
car, looking for a product or service, a toy for a child. You
can find the information. It is available on the Internet.”
“I think it’s the wave of the future. I think my own generation is very used to that one-on-one but I think with
my children, I think they have a different view. They’ll
be shopping more online, I think it’s just the future. I
don’t have a problem with the internet.”
“I’m very comfortable with that. You can buy everything online today. Everything is returnable and
cancelable.”
“It’s a pretty simple self-explanatory form. You punch in
the numbers, adjust all the different categories — how
much you want to be covered for. Then it gives you a
summation of how much it will cost you for the entire
year. A couple other things are optional. You see it all
before you commit yourself. And if the price is right,
then you hit ‘go.’”
out on an application? That’s why you need someone
that understands what you’re doing, what your risk
may or may not be, and have someone with an independent opinion of what you should or should not do.”
So what’s not to like? Business insurance made simple —
just use the Internet. Right? But, as we all know, things
are not always as simple as they seem. There are many
reasons small businesses turn to professional independent agents for their protection and peace of mind.
“One reason I chose my broker is that they’re reading
the exclusions … to let you know, there’s an exclusion
here and an exclusion there. Can I live with it or we
can get a separate policy? Now that’s my choice. On
the internet, it’s not even going to be fine print, it’s just
going to be scroll down and click here.”
The Agent Advantage
Perhaps the most important challenge in purchasing
insurance online is getting the right coverage. Here is
how some small business owners express this:
“If I just go from place to place on the Internet comparing, maybe I would be comparing apples to apples to
apples. But I wouldn’t know for sure on some things.”
There is also a perception that buying small business
insurance online can save time but many of the panelists
saw it differently:
“I don’t feel like the internet can provide me with all
the options. I’m not an insurance expert. These people
are. They’re doing that and telling me what I need.”
“If I’m going online and trying to fill out just an application, all they’re going to do is say do you have this?
Do you have that? What about all the intricacies of
your business that you’re not going to be able to fill
Looking for
“Could I find that info online? Either you’re going to
hunt through the internet, hundreds of pages of stuff,
or you call your agent.”
“If I’m going to spend a half hour on the computer or a
half hour on the phone, I would rather talk to a human
being. That’s just me.”
“I like being able to condense all the information into
Continued on page 61
INCOMING CALLS
HOME
2
UNCLE BOB
WORK
0
47
new clients?
If you are, then advertising in the
INDEPENDENT AGENT STATE HANDBOOKS
is the answer for you!
Our handbooks and insuranceagentsandbrokers.com have been helping agencies
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
45
Continued from page 12
Automated Marketing With a Little Pepper
By Alexi Papandon, CAE
other types of coverages that Tim’s agency doesn’t already
write for the individual. Just as often, however, recipients
receive emails wishing them a happy birthday or recognizing a holiday. Only as the expiration date draws near do the
emails become more sales oriented.
It is this education-oriented, friendly approach that Tim
credits for his low 2% unsubscribe rate. Equally impressive are the number of referrals the agency receives from
email recipients who have not yet become clients of the
agency, but feel comfortable enough to refer Tim’s agency
to a friend or family member.
Should a person contact the agency by phone or email,
maybe as a result of seeing the agency’s online advertising with the Better Business Bureau, which also ranks
highly in local search, they are emailed a link so that
they can enter their own information into Tim’s online
system, reducing the amount of effort required to collect their data and ensuring that they not only receive
a quote, but are included in the agency’s automated
marketing system going forward. If necessary, but surprisingly infrequent, Tim’s staff will enter contact data
into the system. The key is to ensure that everyone who
contacts the agency—or is already doing business with
the agency—is entered into the system so they can hear
regularly from the agency.
Email isn’t the only form of digital marketing employed
by Tim Shaw Insurance. The LED sign shown above is seen
by as many as 65,000 cars every day! The message varies
regularly, rotating between sales-oriented messages,
branding messages, quotations and holiday greetings. It
also shows the time and temperature, providing real value
to passing motorists.
Is creating a system like this a lot of work? Well, it does
take a bit of time to set up and Tim does write his own
emails. Plus, it can take a few years for the collection of
email addresses to result in a critical mass. But for the
agency looking to reach the modern insurance buyer on
their turf, and use technology efficiently, it is well worth
the effort and a good lesson learned.
Alexi Papandon is senior vice president of products and services for PIA National. Email Alexi at [email protected].
Continued from page 41
Not Another Email From Uncle Harry!
Mansfield places successful status updates into three
categories:
1) Success Stories
Your fans want to see how your agency is making progress, especially in the community.
2) Photos
People love photos that tell a story. Your fans want to see
the people who make up your agency. More than just
words, a photo on Facebook (with just a short caption)
tends to attract both attention and a response.
3) Videos
Share well-produced, emotionally powerful videos, especially videos that have been created by others.
46
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Ted Janusz
You can create a fast, free video for your agency by checking out www.animoto.com. As the site says, you can “turn
your photos and music into stunning video slideshows.
You provide the photos, you pick the song, and we’ll add
the magic. Give it a try — it’s fast, free and shockingly easy.”
Ted Janusz has been honored to contribute articles to all six
annual PIA Agency Marketing Guides and has conducted
multiple webinars for PIA on marketing. Because Baby Boomers learn about and use social media differently from other
generations, Ted conducts his “Social Media for Baby Boomers”
workshops for insurance agents and insurance companies
who want to use social media to produce a bottom-line
impact for their agencies and companies.
Continued from page 14
Maximizing Mobile: From Good Idea
to Must-Do
Mobile apps are smartphone or tablet applications that
are downloaded and installed. While they function much
like mobile websites, mobile apps give agencies the
advantage of having their own corner on a client’s mobile
device. Because users must download and install the app,
agencies have greater control over their presence on a
device than with a mobile website. How so? Even a closed or inactive mobile app can work in
the background, sending out push notifications tied to location. This could let agencies send advance warning to clients
in a specific area when a hurricane or tornado approaches.
This value-add helps clients see us in a different light. An agency app also empowers clients to pay their insurance bill whenever they want with a single touch of a button. Payment goes directly to the carrier, saving agencies
money and time. Other app features include the ability to
view insurance cards, one-touch agency contact, and more. Google’s decision to show app content more prominently
in search results will require that its search bots — little
programs that gather info — see what’s offered. If a developer has enabled app indexing, the bots will use the info
to deliver and enhance search results. In my mind, this is
reason enough for any agency to build and deploy an app.
Next Steps
If your website is mobile-friendly, great. If not, find a professional web designer and get it updated and mobile-ready.
Next, find an agency app and consider asking your top
carrier to cover some or all of its cost. My research shows
the following elements are most important:
•Apps must be powerful enough to really service
By Chris Paradiso, CPIA
clients. Our agency app, from goinsuranceagent.com,
lets clients report claims 24/7 with a single touch
and pay bills directly. It lets me deliver around-theclock service the national companies tell consumers
to expect. •The app shouldn’t store important content on the clients’ phones. With all of the data breaches and theft
of information, it’s wise to have our information
stored in the cloud, not on the phone, and password
protected. •Make sure the app can send push notifications, which
have a very high open rate. This functionality lets me
talk with clients through the app, which is extremely
powerful.
•The app should be able to store insurance cards.
•You should be able to track information and activity
— such as downloads — through the app. There’s power in the agency apps and mobile-friendly
websites. Customer satisfaction and engagement top the
list. The benefits alone are worth the effort. In addition to these benefits, there are downsides to not acting now: Google will penalize your website if it’s not mobilefriendly. Plus, you’ll miss out on potential ranking gains by
not having a solid app. So what are you waiting for?
Chris Paradiso, CPIA, is president of Paradiso Financial &
Insurance Services, headquartered on Main Street in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. His agency won PIA National’s
Excellence in Social Media Award in 2013. He also heads up
Paradiso Presents, LLC, which provides social media consulting, seminars and workshops to help agencies thrive
in the online marketing world. Contact Chris via email at
[email protected].
Continued from page 43
Are You an Informer or Meformer?
opportunity you’ll have to grow your followers.
Lee summarizes by saying, “Post to social media often, as
part of a consistent, dependable strategy. You’re bound to
get better as you go, and people are going to notice and
appreciate that you’re sticking around to stay connected.”
By Ted Janusz
annual PIA Agency Marketing Guides and has conducted
multiple webinars for PIA on marketing. Because Baby Boomers learn about and use social media differently from other
generations, Ted conducts his “Social Media for Baby Boomers”
workshops for insurance agents and insurance companies who
want to use social media to produce a bottom-line impact for
their agencies and companies.
Ted Janusz has been honored to contribute articles to all six
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
47
Continued from page 16
Why Online Reviews Matter
to make sure you’re obtaining an updated, valid email
from your customers.
If the customer, gives you a poor rating (a 1 out of 5 for
example), you can follow up with the customer to try
and remedy the issue and address it before the customer
posts a bad review of your agency online. If the customer
gives you a positive rating (say 4 or 5 stars), the system
will follow up and ask them to write a review for you
on the platform of their choice. You can program in a
number of review options including Facebook, Google My
Business and Yelp. Providing options is important because
some of your customers may be more comfortable giving
their review in Facebook, while others may prefer Yelp.
But as you would imagine, getting people to post on your
Google My Business page is also important given the
search engine implications.
This process is important because it helps you to catch
negative feedback before it snowballs, allowing you to
address it with the customer before it can become a
negative review. It also allows you to solicit for positive
reviews. One negative review won’t crush you, but how
you handle it is very important. Research shows that negative reviews can outweigh the impact of your positive
reviews, so preventing negative posts is vitally important.
Reviews continue to grow in
importance as a ranking factor for
local search.
Here are some tips to consider:
•Find a process for obtaining updated and relevant
email addresses from your customers: Find a way to
bake it into your process. Try to get both business and
personal emails from customers. Customers are likely
spending more time in their work email during the
day than their personal accounts. Agents that have
the most success have around 400-500 emails in the
system and continue to build upon that number as
they add new customers.
•Build slowly and naturally: It’s not good to go from
0-30 reviews in a day. The speed at which you gain
reviews is monitored and review sites could penalize
48
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Paul Kerrigan
you if they think you’re gaming the system or posting
fake reviews. Also, don’t post reviews from a computer in your agency.
Feedback helps you know how your
customers are feeling about their
experiences with you.
•Keep an eye on your competition: Monitor the sites
where your competitors are getting their reviews.
Are there any industry specific sites that can be
leveraged? Remember not all reviews are created or
weighted equally, so being strategic in your approach
can help with success.
•Don’t just post 5 star reviews: While it’s important to
try and prevent negative reviews, not all need to be 5
stars. Shoppers may not believe what they’re reading
because no one is perfect. If you do receive negative feedback from a customer, follow up with them
immediately.
•Incentivizing (or paying) for reviews is frowned
upon: Facebook, for example, has policies to safeguard against that.
•Diversify the sites you are leveraging for reviews:
This can help to minimize the impact of accidental removal of reviews due to filters or algorithm
changes on a specific site or search engine. This is
also a valuable tactic because reviews are often syndicated to other sites allowing them to have greater
visibility and the increased coverage may be counted
multiple times in ranking algorithms.
•You may need to follow up with customers more
than once: Set up your systems to email customers
right after an interaction and then again at day 30, if
they don’t respond.
•Share the positive feedback you receive with your
staff: Everyone enjoys a pat on the back and it’s a
great way to boost office moral. You may also use the
negative feedback as a learning experience for your
staff. Anonymize it and share it with the team so you
can avoid replicating mistakes.
Paul Kerrigan is marketing services manager for Progressive. For more information about Progressive’s services and
marketing tools, visit ForAgentsOnly.com.
Continued from page 18
Here’s What’s Looking at You!
Visual Content Is King in 2015
to fill this role is at a community college where students
are working to pay their way through. These young people
grew up in the social era, they understand how to create
visual content, and they’re motivated.
Hire a professional photographer. Buying stock photos
just doesn’t work. Get a pro to take photos of your staff in
the office and working with clients and of you and other
agency leaders in the community. You can never have
too many photos that support and promote your agency
brand.
Look at picmonkey.com. This is a great photo-editing
website that will help you to take your photos and add
content to them. When creating these content-rich visuals, remember to include your agency logo. Best of all,
picmonkey.com is a free tool!
Tag or describe your photos. Although images and visuals
don’t contain words, it’s possible to attach words to them
when you blog. Mark them with “alt tags” and descriptions. This allows search engines to find them and can
contribute to better search placement results for your
agency.
By Chris Paradiso, CPIA
Then check performance. To find out which posts are
most successful and how your content marketing strategy is working, check your bounce rate. Google Analytics,
another free tool, shows what visitors do after they’ve
clicked through one of your posts. It shows how long they
stayed, what other pages they visited on your site, and
when and where they left. This information shows how
well visual content is working and where you need to
tweak. Lowering your bounce rate boosts your ROI!
Despite all of the attention on visual content, the written
word is still extremely important in building success. Pay
attention to visual and written content. A good marriage
of the two will lead to ongoing marketing success and,
more important, ongoing agency success. Chris Paradiso, CPIA, is president of Paradiso Financial &
Insurance Services, headquartered on Main Street in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. His agency won PIA National’s
Excellence in Social Media Award in 2013. He also heads up
Paradiso Presents, LLC, which provides social media consulting, seminars and workshops to help agencies thrive
in the online marketing world. Contact Chris via email at
[email protected].
Continued from page 39
Pressing the Facebook Flesh: an Agent’s Social Media
Marketing Success
By PIA Staff
show up, Bravo has a terrific chance to network. Arguably, free pastry can entice an audience easier than cold
calling.
But what’s the bottom line? Has Bravo’s adoption of
social and her investment of time paid off?
The answer to both questions is yes. Facebook measures success by various metrics (you can find them on
your page). One is called the engagement rate, which is
the number of people who have interacted with a post
— for instance, saw it, liked it, commented, or shared
it. Between October 2014 and March 2015, Bravo has
achieved a staggering engagement rate. While the
industry standard is between .08 – 1, Bravo scored three
times this, at 3.1. And on a longer term basis, Bravo puts
her yearly business growth at 10%, and attributes this to
social media marketing.
Another bottom line that’s applicable to everyone: social
media isn’t going away any time soon. Agents who
embrace it as another tool in their marketing kit will have
another avenue to reach customers. Crafting the perfect
post takes practice, and there’s a general learning curve.
Begin by following Denisse Bravo’s example. Be yourself
and be real. Engage with people as you would face to
face. It’s all about making connections. And that starts
with having conversations.
View Denisse Bravo’s Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/BravoInsuranceSolutions
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
49
Continued from page 24
Independent Agent Marketing: as Unique as the
By Laura Mazzuca Toops
Agencies Themselves
ture is on BW’s top five list of lines of business because
of customer loyalty and product consistency across the
industry, “so we have put an extra effort in trying to capture more of this market.”
Baril suggests that in order to determine the best ways to
market, agencies must first pinpoint what they’re good
at, and how to best reach that audience. “Insurance is
all about relationships,” she adds. “We encourage our
employees to be involved in their communities because
those connections and word of mouth referrals are
invaluable to us.”
Although they have not built any measurables around
the campaign, it’s evident from the number of YouTube
views that the Ricky Joe campaign is much more successful than the “talking head” videos of the past — with 20
times the views of the old videos, Stolly says.
Video Makeover
The marketing firm also developed other videos for the
Stolly agency. Several feature local restaurants, and tie
into contests on Facebook where visitors can vote on the
best pizza, hot wings or burgers in the area — a strategic
move, considering that many are Stolly customers.
That sentiment of “know your audience” is pivotal for
another NetVU agency that takes a completely different
approach to reaching its clients and prospects: through
video and social media.
Stolly also writes lots of school business, so the Ricky Joe
campaign is a good fit — as is their radio advertising on
high school sports broadcasts.
Stolly Insurance Group, based in Lima, Ohio, is the
quintessential generalist independent insurance agency:
family owned and operated for more than 100 years, with
five locations, 55 employees, and $5.5 million in annual
revenue. Four of its five offices are located in small communities, and the agency just opened a new office in
suburban Columbus.
Stolly uses the outside marketing firm not just for video
production, but for all of its marketing and communication needs. The mix includes TV and radio commercials
(high school sports), Internet/social media, Website
design and upkeep, and direct marketing for niche business to the local community. Stolly pays them annually
on retainer for their services, which continue to vary and
expand year to year.
Stolly has always used videos for marketing, but these
have basically been instructional discussions on lines of
business like personal lines umbrella and business insurance by earnest guys in suits, says agency principal Mark
E. Stolly. The next round of Stolly’s YouTube videos, set to launch
in the next month, will feature the agency’s “Bond Girls”
— two staffers who will drive around in a sports car a la
James Bond and discuss the basics of bonding insurance.
However, with the emergence of Millennial-age management and employees, a different approach was warranted. The new generation had other ideas for videos
that had nothing to do with talking heads. Instead, they came up with an idea for an office
“mascot,” played by one of the producers: a bumbling but well-meaning and mysterious (and fictional) member of the family named Ricky Joe Stolly
(https://youtu.be/4oRUDVwZVxo).
The Ricky Joe video series, shot in Stolly offices and featuring clips of the owners and staffers speculating on who
Ricky Joe is and what he does, was conceptualized by
Stolly staffers and executed by an area marketing firm,
which shot and edited the video, says Mark Stolly. The
result is a series of funny but professionally executed
videos that play on the “hustle” of the Stolly staff. 50
The object was to engage customers and prospects, and
so far, Ricky Joe has been a big success.
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
Stolly gets a pretty big bang for its marketing buck. Its
annual marketing budget, including all aspects, is well
below 3 percent of revenues, Stolly says.
He admits that getting name recognition in the Columbus market will be more challenging. Although the
agency is well known in smaller communities, there is a
lot of competition in Columbus. “We plan to take a waitand-see approach” and let the young producers at the
Columbus location become involved in the community
for a year or so before determining the most effective
ways to present the Stolly brand in the more competitive
Columbus market.
Laura Mazzuca Toops is an independent writer, editor and communications consultant with more than 30
years experience in the insurance industry. Contact her at
[email protected].
Continued from page 26
Begin With a Question
“We bring the Risk Watch process to
our top clients — each producer’s top
revenue producing clients,” Ken notes.
He says Peoples First provides its Risk
Watch process to commercial clients
whose accounts generate $10,000
in revenue, although some accounts
generating only $5,000 in revenue
qualify. He adds that there are elements of the process that apply to
small commercial accounts and high
net worth personal accounts.
By Dennis H. Pillsbury and Nancy Doucette
Ken says the agency is also offering Lunch-n-Learns,
focusing on lowering workers comp costs. He notes that
the agency’s youngest producer, Brandon Berger, CWCA,
recently closed an account generating $5,000 in revenue
as a result of a lead that he cultivated from a seminar on
workers comp and experience mods.
Ken Cushman,
vice president,
commercial risk
advisor of Peoples
First Insurance,
Rock Hill, South
Carolina
All the agency’s producers recently obtained the Certified WorkComp Advisor (CWCA) designation through the
Institute of WorkComp Professionals. “A focus on comp
brings another element to the Risk Watch process that
we are very pleased with,” Ken says. “It’s a new initiative
— approaching prospects from the standpoint of work
comp and then pivoting off that into the other coverages.”
When Peoples First appeared on the October 2013 cover of
Rough Notes one of its manufacturing clients was celebrating five years without an accident, thanks to the Risk Watch
process. In May 2015 another Risk Watch manufacturing
client was celebrating 1,000 days with no lost time. The
agency hosted a lunch for all 250 of the client’s employees.
The process works and brings in referrals, Ken says.
He points to one recent referral — a steel erection business — which came to Peoples First by way of another
client that was part of the Risk Watch process. “The company was beyond being frustrated because of a workers
comp situation,” Ken says. Keith Richardson, CIC, CWCA,
the agency’s Risk Watch leader, met with the business’s
safety manager and Ken says while the work comp issue
isn’t resolved, Keith is “on track to impact the experience
mod of the client.”
Peoples First uses several approaches to develop leads,
Ken points out. One is Business Digest — a newsletter
which addresses the business-related challenges business owners face: personnel, marketing, management,
and communications — but not insurance. The agency
provides its preferred SICs to Business Digest and the
faxed newsletters are branded with the agency’s logo.
Peoples First has 150 regularly sent out to build name
recognition and trust.
Producers ask existing clients for referrals in addition to
meeting with CPA groups, showing them the Risk Watch
process — specifically how it relates to the workers comp
element — in an effort to develop new centers of influence. And each quarter Jimmy Galloway meets with his
centers of influence to go over a list of their clients the
agency would like to meet. “When we work off referrals,
it’s basically a 100% hit ratio,” Ken states.
“We don’t talk about price or coverages initially. We offer
to do an assessment. If the prospect will engage with
us, and we go forward with the Risk Watch process, it’s
usually a solid sell,” Ken says. “They may trust us with only
one of their coverages at first, but once they engage with
us and buy into the process, it’s a long-term relationship.
Our retention is in the high 90s, year after year.”
Dennis H. Pillsbury is Executive Editor for Rough Notes magazine. Nancy Doucette is Managing Editor for Rough Notes
magazine.
For More Information:
Beyond Insurance Global Network
Website: www.beyondinsurance.com
Business Digest
Website: www.businessdigestcompany.com
Charlebois-Trepanier
Website: www.charleboistrepanier.com
Institute of WorkComp Professionals
Website: workcompprofessionals.com
MarshBerry
Website: www.marshberry.com
Peoples First Insurance
Website: peoplesfirstinsurance.com
The Greenwich Group
Website: www.greenwichgroup.com
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
51
Continued from page 30
Is It Possible to “Insure” the Success of
New Producers?
producer. The easiest, and least costly, answer for owners
hiring producers is to simply say, “It’s your job to fill your
pipeline.” Of course this statement refers back to our top
ten responsibility list, specifically #1 and #2: Identify InProfile Target Suspects and Prospect these Suspects.
The success of every new producer
begins with prospecting.
Many insurance agencies expect their producers to cold
call, network, attend business functions, community
events and charity events to build their own pipeline and
fill the top of the sales funnel. They may even be required
to build their own list of target suspects. In these cases,
the insurance agency marketing, or a better description might be insurance agency lead generation, is really
being done by the producer. Unless the new producer is
a highly skilled prospector, able to identify suspects and
qualify these into prospects, this approach is a probable
path to failure. Prospecting is a numbers game, and many
new producers do not have the skills to accomplish this
mundane but critical task. Though a producer may be
articulate, intelligent and knowledgeable about insurance, and proficient at closing, they may not be good at
prospecting.
Prospecting also represents a moving target, now migrating away from face to face networking, toward a more
digital approach. New digital tools include email marketing, social media marketing, blogging, SEO, video marketing and web seminar marketing to mention just a few
digital lead generation techniques. Thus, an agency can
hire a potentially excellent insurance sales professional,
yet this producer can fail, because they are a weak prospector. Conversely, it’s likely easier for agencies which hire
producers that are outstanding prospectors, because the
agency can initially supplement them with the balance
of the sales process. Think of it this way, which would be
easier for your agency: helping a new producer who set
up a meeting with a hot prospect, or helping them with
the 2,000 phone calls and the digital prospecting they
need to accomplish to build their pipeline? Of course the
best prospectors might not be the best long term insurance sales professionals.
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Alan Blume
Lead Generation as an “Insurance” Policy
If your agency has excelled at new producer hires and
retention, you need only to ask yourself if your paradigm
needs updates or refinements. If your agency has experienced challenges with new producers, determine if the
cause was insufficient prospects, and then implement
an insurance lead generation program in conjunction
with their tenure. It can help “insure” the success of new
producers, especially those who are strong at selling and
weaker at prospecting. Not all lead programs are created
equally; try to ensure the lead generation is exclusive to
your agency and producer, and provided by insurance
marketing experts. If you attempt to staff up marketing
internally, do a cost and predicted success analysis before
hiring a dedicated marketer or marketing team.
An agency can hire a potentially
excellent insurance sales professional,
yet this producer can fail, because they
are a weak prospector.
If your agency lacks sufficient budget to hire a new producer and concurrently implement an effective insurance
lead generation program, consider discussing a lower
new producer salary or draw while offering an exclusive
insurance lead program to help “insure” their success.
This can improve the likelihood of a successful short term
tenure while increasing their long-term earning potential.
Alan Blume is the founder and CEO of StartUpSelling,
Inc. (http://startupselling.com) and the author of two
books, Sell More & Work Less, and Your Virtual Success
(http://startupselling.com/web-marketing-books). StartUpSelling provides expert insurance marketing services, including insurance web marketing, insurance email marketing,
insurance video, search engine optimization and insurance
telemarketing and lead generation services to select insurance
agencies, brokers and wholesalers. StartUpSelling provides
all aspects of web marketing and lead generation including
email marketing, webinar marketing, social media marketing, whiteboard video and insurance SEO. Blume has been
awarded Inc 500 status twice in his career and now runs all
of his operations virtually, with a seasoned team of U.S. based
insurance marketing professionals.
Continued from page 32
The Right Stuff: Hiring “A” Players for Your Agency
By David Connolly
Finding Talent
tion of an A Player:
They are always stretching goals that you set for
them, and they hate to lose. They take personal
responsibility and ownership for everything. They push
people around them to set higher bars, to compete, to
put in the necessary time. A-players thrive on start up
energy, they love how fast things can get done, they
hate bureaucracy, they expect excellence, and they
want to make a real difference. Ultimately, they care,
and they treat your business like it is their business.
How do agency principals find,
recruit, hire, train and grow successful
production talent? They start with the
right stuff, high quality raw material
with potential, and build a finished
product that is exceptional.
Steve Jobs described the process of building Apple around
A Players like this:
For most things in life, the range between best
and average is 30% or so. The best airplane flight,
the best meal, they may be 30% better than your
average one. What I saw with Woz (Steve Wozniak)
was somebody who was fifty times better than the
average engineer. The Mac team was an attempt to
build a whole team like that, A players. At Pixar, it
was a whole company of A players. When I got back
to Apple, that’s what I decided to try to do.
Finding A Players for Your A-Position
The Harvard business review posted an interesting article
entitled “A players or A positions?” which theorizes looking
for one without defining the other is short sighted. I suggest you conduct your own research on A Players and create the A-Position: the requirements and job description
for the producer position in your agency. This will allow
you to compare candidates to the expected performance
standards.
Next, employ a strategy to position yourself for the greatest chance of success.
Always be looking for producers (and
CSR’s) and hire them when you find
them, not when you need them.
The second mistake we make is that we look for producers
(and CSR’s) and hire them when we need them. Necessity
never makes a good bargain or hiring choice. My constant
mantra is, “Always be looking for them and hire them when
you find them, not when you need them.” Where you find
your production talent is dependent upon your local talent
pool and whether your location is a draw for talent from
other areas of your state or the country. Regardless of your
location, the primary goal when searching for production
talent should be to find A Players.
You must use every resource around you to find great
young talent. What you will find is that A Players associate with other A Players. I suggest you look to your clients,
your best producers, your staff, friends, venders and
fellow business owners for introductions to people in
their circle. Treat prospecting for new talent exactly the
same as prospecting for new business. Keep your pipelines full. Once you find them, court them. Stay in touch,
invite them to agency events. When they want to make a
change, you will be the first call they make.
The primary goal when searching for
production talent should be to find
A Players.
Hiring and Compensating Talent
Once you find talent you feel is worth hiring, you must
engage them in a multiple interview process involving
more than on person. I like to involve both male and
female interviewers to gain different perspectives. You
also must have a list of set interview questions designed
to measure specific traits. The most important traits I
look for are:
• Intelligence. You can’t fix stupid.
• Energy level. Energy typically translates into activity.
I don’t know many lazy high-energy types.
• Quick witted or ability to process information and
respond quickly.
• A sense of humor is also one of my key traits.
Laughter is good for business.
• Competiveness: I’ll hire a poor loser over a good
winner every time.
• Work ethic. You can’t fix lazy.
Ask lots of questions that start with: “Tell me about a
Continued on page 54
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
53
Continued from page 53
time when” or “How would you” and “Tell me a story
about.” See how they verbalize and communicate life
experiences and challenges. Strive to uncover motivation
factors. Have your trusted producers take them out to
dinner or to an event to see how they interact in public
social settings. I also recommend dinner out together
with their spouse or significant other to gauge the level
of support displayed for the job and to evaluate the quality of their most important relationship. It’s very important that their partner understand this is not a 9-5 job.
Once all of the interviews are complete, all interviewers
need to get together to share notes and determine if we
move to the next level, which is testing. There are several
profile tests out there, take your choice, but make sure
the testing company provides interpretation of results
and consultation. It costs a bit more, but I’d rather spend
a little to avoid an expensive mistake.
The key items I look for in testing are:
• intelligence
• call reluctance
• drive
• competitiveness
• energy level
• Also, is this a career, or just a job?
Ask them to produce a list of 20 people they talked to
who said they would give them an opportunity. This
accomplishes three things:
1. It determines if they are willing to work for and
earn the job.
2. It establishes the ability to prospect.
3. It fills their pipeline before they are hired and gives
them a potentially strong start out of the gate.
Treat prospecting for new talent
exactly the same as prospecting for
new business.
Compensation
I have seen dozens of models and hundreds of variations.
There is too much ground to cover on compensation, but,
I have a few comments.
The base or draw should cover their expenses, but not
much more . You don’t want to pay newer commissioned
agents a large base until it is earned or supported by a
commensurate book.
You don’t want to pay too little either. Desperate people
will do or say things to earn a commission that properly
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
paid people will not.
You want validation in 2-4 years and 4 years only if they
are showing progress.
You want a compensation model that has both a carrot and a stick: bonus and increases in commission for
exceptional performance, decreases if they underperform
or fall short of their goals.
The goal is above average production. The industry average for P&C new business production is $50,000 in new
business commissions.
You want them to validate, so start them with a strong
commission-based compensation package that converts
to your standard model after they validate.
Create a job description and short and
long term performance expectations.
Keep it simple and transparent. Complex, convoluted
commission structures that are difficult to calculate have
the unintended consequence of creating mistrust and
conflicts over money, which is never a good thing. Find a
clean compensation structure that works and stick with
it. Commissioned personnel have financial obligations.
Changing commission levels and compensation structures creates uncertainty and again, mistrust.
Grooming and Growing Talent
Start with the end in mind. Create a job description and
short and long term performance expectations. Build a
training and grooming schedule that builds the knowledge base, skill sets and experience that produces the
outcomes you want. Next build a business plan and
defined schedule for every new producer for the first 90
days, the next 90 days, and so on for the entire first year.
Conduct weekly informal progress meetings and monthly
benchmarking meetings to compare schedules and goals
with results. It is important to establish an onboarding
team of experienced CRS’s and producers to help you
grow your new talent.
The difference between the agencies that are great at
onboarding is they have a process and a schedule and
it is not optional. There is not a time where the young
producer is wondering, “What should I do?” They know
exactly what they are doing every day for the first 90 days,
and the entire first year is structured to build the skills
and get the education they need to succeed.
Mentorship is huge, and you can’t have just one mentor.
Choose mentors for their strengths. Assign responsibilities to three or four mentors to teach the young producer
goal setting, organization, prospecting skills, interview
skills, gathering information, applications, submissions,
proposals, customer service and retention. The mentoring
sessions should be scheduled at the same time and same
day of week and should not be optional. They should
continue until the mentor is satisfied that the producer
has mastered the topic or skill.
In addition to mentoring, the new producer needs to
attend.
•licensing class
•producer schools for coverage
•producer schools for sales and success training
•CIC or other education enrollment
It is also important to engage your young producers with
three to four underwriters who are willing to take them
under their wing and help them write business. These
relationships will be critical for their success.
When you start putting all the time, effort and activity
required to grow new talent on paper, it becomes clear
why so many fail. This is why it is critical to hire selfdirected, self-motivated people and make sure several
people within the agency are invested in their success.
It is important to establish an
onboarding team of experienced CRS’s
and producers to help you grow your
new talent.
Retaining Talent
If you hired right, and you successfully groomed and grew
your new producer through validation, now you begin
to set your sights on ROI, and significant profits as your
producer begins to build a significant book of business, if
you can keep them. Far too often, we invest a ton of time
and money growing production and service talent only to
have them become our competitors. The key to retaining
production talent, I think, is two-fold:
First, understand what motivates your producer and
strive to provide that opportunity or environment. People
are motivated by different factors. Most fall into one or
more the following categories:
•money
•recognition
•competition
•fear of failure
•freedom/independence
•relationships
What really turns their motor on and creates happiness
for them? Find creative ways to give it to them. This will
translate into loyalty.
Second, understand most of your highly successful
producers are self-directed and entrepreneurial at heart.
They want to be part of a face paced, streamlined organization where they can thrive and have a positive impact.
If you have A Players who are committed to your organization, the best way to keep them is to use them. Involve
them in projects. Run ideas and initiatives by them and
ask for their opinion. Involve them in hiring decisions
(especially their own CSR’s.) Involve them in mentoring.
Give them additional responsibilities.
It is also important to engage your
young producers with three to four
underwriters who are willing to take
them under their wing and help them
write business.
Additional Factors for Retaining Talent
Book Optimization: To keep your best production talent
humming along, you must engage them in book optimization where small clients are removed from their books
on a consistent basis and serviced by a servicing team.
Service: In addition, highly successful producers who are
running fast and growing significant books should never,
never be slowed down by the agency’s inability to hire
and retain good service talent. That’s our job, and is what
we get paid our split for, and we should be as good at
providing support as our producers are at selling.
Compensation and Ownership for Retention: This is a
choice that is specific to each agency and is dependent
upon your philosophy and your company structure. Keep
in mind that your best producers all fall into one of the
above motivation categories, but most are entrepreneurial and want control, influence and ownership eventually.
Here’s the point: Whether it’s book ownership, shadow
stock, profit sharing, true ownership, or a seat at the big
boy’s and girl’s table, doesn’t matter. What matters is that
the opportunity is clearly defined, and communicated,
along with the hoops they need to jump through.
It’s a lot to do, but it’s worth doing and creates significant
prosperity and peace of mind for everyone.
David Connolly is the founder of iQ Consulting and is a
recognized industry leader in helping agencies and carriers
accelerate and perpetuate growth and retention. David delivers performance-based seminars, keynotes, and workshops
throughout North America. For more information about
iQ Consulting visit www.iqsalescoach.com or contact David
directly at [email protected] or 612-414-5618.
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
55
Continued from page 34
Speaking the Language of Your Insureds —
By Alexi Papandon, CAE
a Rewarding Strategy
realized that many of his carriers couldn’t communicate
effectively with his clients, who would rely heavily on
his staff. This increased his need to employ multi-lingual
staff, increase the service he provided to these clients and
prospects, and build stronger relationships with them.
Making Connections
In order to make connections into these communities,
Bob employs a number of techniques. Yes, he advertises
in the various nationalities’ newspapers prevalent in
these communities and for years had a very prominent
billboard in Washington, DC’s Chinatown. However,
because forming relationships with these community
members is so important, he makes a point of getting to
know community leaders and the people who own and
operate the various service businesses that his clients
and prospects do business with, for example, their lenders, business brokers, commercial realtors, attorneys and
accountants. Because the niches have both a cultural and
industry dimension to them, Bob has also formed important relationships
with trade association leaders and regularly attends trade
shows focused on
his niches. Bob finds
out who is in his
prospects’ spheres of
influence and gets to
know these people. If
applicable, he sells them a policy, so that others members
of the community will see that Bob can be trusted.
In small, insular communities, words spreads very quickly,
both good and bad, so sincerity and good service are
paramount to Klinger Insurance Group’s success and
helps to ensure that people spread the good word about
the agency. Bob’s clients and prospects can spread the
word about the things his company is involved with in
the community including scholarships for both the Asian
community and local high schools, internships, projects
with veterans, helping Mann (the local food bank), donating to the local animal shelter, involvement in charity
events and much more.
As a combat veteran, you can understand why Bob and
his company are very involved in helping the veterans.
Over the years they have teamed up with various organizations as well as done things independently for our U.S.
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
veterans. They have donated to the Wounded Warriors
Project and Hiring Our Heroes as well as helped find local
housing for wounded soldier’s families while their loved
ones were being treated at Walter Reed Hospital. They are
currently helping one of their carriers find veterans who
would like free training in the insurance industry, to help
veterans ease back into civilian life. Bob tries to stay active
within the community, supporting what he can.
While in the military
during Operation
Enduring Freedom
(Iraqi), Bob was
trained to speak
Arabic and to understand the customs
of the people he
would encounter in
Iraq. Bob has found this mentality to be just as important
selling insurance in the numerous diverse communities he serves. Yes, it is important to communicate with
clients and prospects in their native tongue, but it is also
important to understand the nuances and customs of
each culture and to acknowledge and respect them. For
example, most people coming from India generally prefer
to speak English — one reason Bob’s staff codes their
agency management system noting each client’s language preference.
Understanding these cultures can be demonstrated by
simple gestures, such as recognizing their native holidays,
like the date of their New Year’s celebration. This cultural
understanding not only ensures agents can relate to
these clients and prospects, it also helps them provide
useful advice. For example, after a string of Chinese
restaurant robberies, during which thieves preyed upon
these cash businesses, Bob wrote a letter in the local
Chinese newspaper advising restaurant owners on safeguarding their money.
There are also differences within cultural groups that
agents must be aware of. For example, the way Bob and
his staff interact with Korean elders, who were born in
Korea, differs from the way they interact with the younger
generation born in the United States. Those young people
often have a more American understanding of insurance
and its role in protecting individuals and businesses.
Continued on page 57
Continued from page 56
What else has Bob learned? Many of the communities
he serves have an incredibly high retention rate (97-98%)
and a very low loss rate. Many of the businesses are
family run and thus have very few workers compensation claims. Bob also believes that before you can build
a niche, you must build a brand. We all know about the
carriers that will get you a quote in “15 minutes or less”
or “name your price.” Each of these companies spends
millions of dollars on advertising because that is the
audience they want to attract. At Klinger Insurance Group
the brand they are most proud of is that they are an
independent agent who represents numerous carriers
that are financially strong. They are not forced to sell only
one carrier or product because they are not limited to one
carrier. They can match up the best carrier and product to
their client’s specific needs. They believe in doing business within the community. As you now know, the Washington Metropolitan area is extremely multi-cultural and
Bob believes his multi-cultural agency is a great fit for the
area. Klinger Insurance Group has been successful for the
last 21 years because the staff represents the local multilingual community and they understand the challenges
that small businesses face every day and can relate to
their clients on an individual basis.
Bob believes that every agency wants to give service,
but Bob doesn’t feel that is good enough. Klinger Insurance Group strives to give amazing service. They are not
a 1-800 call center. Each of their clients gets assigned to
their own CSR — this is really important when you are
dealing with a client whose first language is not English.
The CSR builds a personal relationship with each client and learns what is important to them. The agency
doesn’t just sell insurance, they sell relationships. This is
very important in the multi-cultural community. While
some carriers want to give you a quote quickly, Bob’s staff
is more concerned with giving the client the right coverage for their needs and to make sure they are adequately
covered in case of a claim. Bob believes it takes more than
15 minutes to understand the client’s needs, wants and
concerns to ensure that they are properly covered. Klinger
Insurance Group doesn’t want to be known for “name
your price;” they want to be an agency that the client can
trust to take care of them. They don’t just sell insurance;
they sell a relationship based on trust.
Does this appeal to you? Bob urges you to, “Take the time
to learn at least the basics of the languages of your prospects. Understand their unique cultures and demonstrate
this through your actions and words. Trust is paramount,
especially when language can be a barrier. At the end
of the day, insurance agents sell a piece of paper and a
promise. If they don’t keep their promise then they are
just selling a piece of paper.”
Alexi Papandon is senior vice president of products and services for PIA National. Email Alexi at [email protected].
Continued from page 22
Keeping It Personal
By Brenda Mann Harrison
were received through a newly implemented program
designed to bring in customer feedback.
The process is easy — after a meeting or phone call with Joe Peterson
Insurance, customers are asked to fill
out a quick email survey. To the initial
surprise of Joe Peterson, president of
the agency in Kennewick, Washington,
most are willing to. His tip: ask them
personally.
In addition to the obvious benefit of being able to make
improvements to the customer’s experience, Peterson
says that listening to and acting on customer feedback
creates fans of your agency and improves your retention.
Joe Peterson
“I’ve found that when you ask customers personally for
feedback, instead of just sending an email survey, most
will respond,” Peterson says.
While 80% to 90% of feedback is positive — like the testimonials Peterson posts to the website — it’s the negative
that he finds most actionable.
“I like hearing the good and the bad,” says Peterson. “If
someone has a concern, it gives us the opportunity to get
in touch with them before they start shopping.”
“I believe that when you can get someone to personally say
something positive about you and your business,” Peterson
says, “they become more than a client, they become a fan
— and that’s great for growth and retention.”
Brenda Mann Harrison is a communications manager for
Safeco Insurance, where she primarily focuses on helping
agents tell their stories, and managing Safeco’s charitable contributions on their behalf. Safeco’s home, auto and specialty
products are sold exclusively through independent agents.
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
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Continued from page 36
Logan Lavelle Hunt’s Associations
together to form an association, it allows people with
similar concerns and issues to really leverage their
unity. Association meetings, conferences, research,
newsletters, marketing support, and so many other
things are of great benefit. We understand associations and provide association members with unique
insurance and risk management programs.
For the specifics of the programs of the associations we work with — just click on the association
name on the left. If you are a member of an association and we are not currently working with
your association, please contact Stan Logan, Jr. at
[email protected] or 502-499-6880. For
example, we have health insurance programs that
can provide significant cost savings and ease of compliance with the new Health Care Reform.
Listed there are links to 20 different associations, each of
which have some connection with LLH.
The Future
Stan’s answer as to what he sees as the future of the
independent agency: “Insurance companies want more
By George Nordhaus
business and they want to do it with fewer partners.
Technology is rapidly changing our business model but
relationships and the role of the agent are still most
important. Investing in the future, whether from technology, younger blood, business structure, service, education,
and company partners is critical. But it has to start with
convincing ourselves and the people who work for us that
this is a great business with a bright future.”
Using its association business as a motivator, LLH seems
to be succeeding in that goal.
George Nordhaus is chairman of AgenciesOnline. For many
years he has been considered one of the leading professionals in insurance agency marketing. He is a former EVP of two
agents’ associations, creator of Insurance Marketing and
Management Services, author of eight books on marketing,
and is the host of “Monday Morning”, a weekly-recorded miniwebinar. Mr. Nordhaus has earned numerous awards and honors from a wide array of insurance bodies and was inducted
into the Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame. He and his firm,
AgenciesOnline, work as providers of complete marketing
systems for agencies. AgenciesOnline can be found online at
www.agenciesonline.biz.
Continued from page 38
Sales Opportunity for Savvy Flood Agents
•A good flood partner offers a dedicated regional sales
manager as a local resource to every agency, continuing education credits in flood topics, marketing support and strategies to build their business.
•In addition the agent should count on timely communications about NFIP flood reforms and benefit
from evolving transaction tools to keep pace with
flood reform changes and to retain flood policies that
serve their clients’ needs.
•And, finally, the informed flood agent should be able
to access the agent-only section of the NFIP website,
FloodSmart.gov, to find the planned map revision
schedule while keeping in touch with the local floodplain manager or community officials to stay current
with dynamic map change schedules.
Selling and buying flood insurance is about evaluating
flood risks and understanding the coverage offered by
the flood insurance policy; this happens best through a
strong relationship among the property owner, the agent,
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
By Dolores D. Glass, ANFI
the flood company, the NFIP and the community officials.
The NFIP’s new procedure, Newly Mapped into the SFHA
(high risk flood zone), has opened two new windows of
marketing opportunity for flood insurance agents to sell a
discounted flood insurance policy when FEMA flood maps
change. Knowledgeable flood agents can build the right
relationships to serve clients and build business.
More information about FEMA flood reforms and flood
zone map changes is available to both consumers and
agents at FloodSmart.gov, the website of the National
Flood Insurance Program.
With 25 years’ flood experience, Dolores Glass, Senior Communications Manager, communicates flood insurance issues
for Wright Flood, the nation’s largest flood insurance company.
Wright Flood is the industry leader with flood insurance as the
core product and is dedicated to helping both agents and their
clients understand flood risk and the federal flood insurance
policy. Visit us at wrightflood.com.
Continued from page 40
For Social Media and the Smartphone,
Half Measures Don’t Cut It
and generates more than 70% of its activity on mobile.”
The world has gone mobile and agents must get in the
game to stay alive. Consumers’ reliance on smartphones
is not hard to understand — they’re portable, save time,
easy-to-use and put the world in reach with one or two
clicks. Consumers will naturally gravitate to those agents
who make it easier to do business with them — to file
claims, pay bills, and access policy details. But more than
The world has gone mobile and agents
must get in the game to stay alive.
that, it’s about competing for consumers’ attention. So
companies of every description are developing apps
because they offer the perfect captive environment... a ‘you
don’t have to look anywhere else because we’ve got it all
neatly packaged for you right here.’ Insurers, too, are developing apps, but agents need to develop their own branded
app — otherwise they’re just conditioning policyholders to
bypass the agent and go direct to their carrier.
Consider the latest example of our push-button society.
Amazon has introduced a physical button that customers can press to reorder a product. The physical button
attaches to a household surface and allows a user to
reorder consumable goods, such as detergent, paper
towels and trash bags from Amazon with a single push
of the button. And to take it one step further, Amazon’s
platform also enables the Dash Replenishment Service
(DRS) in which machines can also reorder products on
their own.
My point is this: Mobile technology has been embraced
by industries of all kinds — not just airlines and retailers but also banking, healthcare and others with more
“complex” products and services. Insurance may not be
as easy as buying a loaf of bread, however why would
anyone think the insurance industry was exempt from
this phenomenon?
Some agents believe that because their best customers
will always need personalized, detailed guidance, they
need not be that concerned with online competitors,
including Walmart and Overstock and comparison tools
offered by GEICO, Esurance and now Google Compare.
That line of reasoning is valid only if agents embrace
digital tools fully and immediately to grab insurance buy-
By Tom Wetzel
Agents need to develop their own
branded app — otherwise they’re just
conditioning policyholders to bypass
the agent and go direct to their carrier.
ers’ attention. Clients of all kinds, including personal and
commercial lines, want to do business with agents who
make it as easy as possible to do so. That means casting
a wide net with a personalized social media program,
making sure buyers understand the value of the PIA
agent and then providing access to key services via the
smartphone.
Winning With Social Media and the Smartphone —
Best Practices
•Develop a social media plan. Know what’s truly different about your agency and what separates it from
competitors. Hint: It’s not “we have the best people,
carriers and service.” Choose the social networking
sites where your clients and prospects gather.
Some agents believe that because
their best customers will always need
personalized, detailed guidance, they
need not be that concerned with online
competitors.
•Mobile-optimize the agency website immediately so
it can be read on a smartphone. Review content and
layout for easy navigation (no more than two clicks)
and readability.
•Create a mobile app branded to the agency that
bundles all carrier connections and offers key services,
including inventory creation, premium payments, the
ability to file claims and access policy details, and notifies the agent when it’s used to facilitate follow-up.
•Social media is not a silo. Give everyone in the office
the opportunity to make contributions to your social
media program — more employee-buy-in generates
more good content and more enthusiasm, cooperation, and results.
•Plan your posts — understand what content you
want to create and who you want to reach. Develop a
Continued on page 60
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
59
Continued from page 42
Facebook Advertising: Take Control
Design an Ad
Facebook ads should include a simple, but eye-catching
image to go along with the text. It is always better to use
professional photography over stock photos, as they can
appear “fake.” PIA member Chris Paradiso recommended
during a recent PIA-hosted marketing webinar to contact
local community colleges or photography schools to get
photography done. They need to complete projects to graduate and will often work with you for free or at a low cost.
The text should appear as though it is something you
would naturally write. It is off-putting to consumers when
the text reads like an advertisement. Here are some tips for
what you will want to write or select in certain sections:
•Connect to the Facebook Page you created.
•Headline: Always include the word “free.” You might
only be offering free tips, but this draws people’s
attention.
•Text: Provide a reason for the reader to care about
what you’re offering. Keep it brief.
•Call-to-Action: Select “Learn More.”
•News Feed Link Description: This is under the
“Advanced Options” section. Here you should write a
short call-to-action that provides even more detail. The
idea is to not have too much text in any specific section.
•Remove the right column ad. Doing so will cause
your ads to appear more frequently in the body of
the page, rather than in the less seen right column.
Determine Your Market
Facebook will allow you to select broad interest categories to send your ad to. DO NOT select any of these
categories. Facebook’s goal is to make money off of you
By Spencer Langrock
by sending your ad to whomever is most likely to click it,
but that often does not correlate to the best conversion
rate. Instead, you should spend time researching your
own agency and competitors’ pages to determine your
target audience by age, gender, location and interests.
You want to have a target audience of less than 10,000
when you’re starting off so that everyone that sees your
ad and clicks it should be more likely to also purchase a
policy from you.
Determine Your Budget
When starting your first campaign it is important to
start small. It is recommended to set a daily budget of
$3.33 per day and “bid for clicks” at a maximum bid of
$0.75. The high maximum bid per click is just to get your
ad started and can be lowered later in the process. This
creates a low risk first attempt at a Facebook Ad campaign where you can easily monitor how successful your
campaign was.
Get Started
The sheer amount of people that can be reached through
Facebook makes it a valuable and affordable marketing tactic for independent agencies. Consumers will see
friends of theirs that have liked your page and will be
more likely to visit your website or ask their friends about
you. Take advantage of this social, non-invasive advertising platform. Facebook is here to stay and growing strong
— it’s time to jump on board!
Spencer Langrock is communications coordinator/IT manager
for PIA National and a contributor to PIA’s publications on a
variety of topics with an emphasis on social media.
Continued from page 59
routine that fits your schedule and that you can stick
to. Make content conversational, not scripted.
•Use canned content sparingly. Bland, generic content
equals a bland generic image. Post consistently and
frequently.
•Be visual. Use photos, videos, infographics and plenty
of color.
•Monitor what your competitors and insurers are doing
on social media as well as your own activity. Use free/
low-cost tools such as Google Alerts (free), SocialMention (also free), Hootsuite, Tweetdeck and Buffer.
•Be patient. Make changes and be flexible, but also be
consistent.
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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
Tom Wetzel is CEO of Thomas H. Wetzel & Associates, an
insurance marketing communications firm whose signature
service is the Social Media Content Roadmap© for independent
agents. An insurance communicator for over 30 years, he has
conducted presentations and workshops to thousands of
insurance professionals across the country, served as the social
media columnist for Rough Notes and now writes an agents
column, “Tech Talk” for Insurance Journal. He can be reached
at [email protected], writes a blog called
“The Good Risk” at www.wetzelandasssociates.com and can be
found on Facebook at “Social Media Management for Insurance,” Twitter and LinkedIn.
Continued from page 45
The Voice of Your Small CL Customer
a phone call instead of sitting in front of the computer
for hours and hours and hours starting from scratch,
trying to weed it out on my own. So it saves me time.
Because, honestly, my time is money and that’s only
if I’m with a client and not when I’m on the insurance
end of the telephone call.”
The Internet also has a reputation for personalization. But
we know from our own personal experience that the true
personalization involves people. Most customers agree:
By Bill Jenkins
The PIA Partnership
Through The PIA Partnership, PIA National staff and
volunteer agent leaders work together with insurance
company participants to identify areas of opportunity and
develop tools and resources to help enhance the success of
professional independent insurance agents.
PIA recognizes and appreciates the support of the
following Partnership companies:
“If something happens, I have someone I can call. I’m
not talking to someone who doesn’t know me. I call
them, I just say my first name and who I’m with and
they know exactly who I want to talk to. ‘Let me get
Lisa on the phone for you.’ I don’t have to sit there and
try and wait for somebody I don’t know. It’s that personal touch. I don’t have to log in. I don’t have to give
them passwords and IDs. It’s fast, whatever’s needed,
everything’s handled quickly.”
• Encompass Insurance
“I was confused and she helped me a lot. She calmed
me down - which the internet probably wouldn’t be
able to do. She was very soothing. She took time out to
explain everything to me and it helped.”
• The Central Insurance Companies
“I always call Cheryl, my agent. What happens if
Cheryl’s on vacation? Then it gets routed to somebody
else. But if I were to call whatever company I’m with,
who knows who I’m going to talk to. I’m going to have
to explain what I do and what I need and whatever.
No, Cheryl knows this. I can call from my cell phone. I
have the internet on my phone too but it’s just easier
to call somebody. I can explain my need and there we
go. It’s just easier.”
Don’t Take It for Granted
So the question is, “How can people in the same situation
as small business owners needing insurance have such
diverse opinions about purchasing online.” As Yogi Berra
famously said, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” All
too often agents take small business owners for granted.
Just sell the policy and the rest will take care of itself.
Information and Tools for Agents
As a result of this research, PIA National and The PIA
Partnership have developed “The Voice of the Customer
• Erie Insurance
• Harleysville Insurance
• Liberty Mutual Insurance
• MetLife Auto & Home
• Progressive Insurance
• Selective Insurance Group
• State Auto Group
• The Hanover Insurance Group
• The Hartford
• The Motorists Insurance Group
– Commercial Lines,” with information and tools to help
you better communicate the total value you provide —
beyond mere Internet transactions. And an important
part of doing this involves agents turning the tables on
the Internet and using it as a valuable tool to reach customers and enhance customer satisfaction.
These are your customers speaking. They appreciate the
value you provide. It is up to us to hear what they have to
say and take it to heart.
Check with PIA and The PIA Partnership for more information and tools to help you increase your stake and expand
your CL market.
Bill Jenkins works with The PIA Partnership and has been
involved in the insurance industry for more than 20 years
in areas of marketing, advertising, communication and
technology.
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
61
PIA’s Agency Marketing Guide Is Brought
to You by the PIA Branding Program
It is the sincere hope of everyone at PIA that you and your
colleagues have found great value in this, the sixth installment of the PIA Agency Marketing Guide.
AC
L E PAR
TN
ER
P I NN
PIA’s Agency Marketing Guide is made possible by our many
wonderful 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 association with a variety of
marketing materials. These include print and radio ads in
both English and Spanish as well as social media and other
digital marketing support.
Funding for the PIA Branding Program is provided in part
by PIA’s Pinnacle Partners. Pinnacle Partners are highly
regarded insurance companies that demonstrate their
commitment to the independent agency distribution
system and financially support the development of new
marketing tools which are made available to PIA members
through the PIA Branding Program.
2015 PIA National Pinnacle Partners
Bankers Insurance Group
Encompass Insurance
Erie Insurance
Harleysville Insurance
Progressive Insurance
State Auto Group
The Hartford
The Motorists
Insurance Group
Wright Flood
PIA Agency Marketing Guide
Editor-in-Chief/Advertising Director
Alexi Papandon, CAE
[email protected]
703-518-1353
Publisher
Ted Besesparis
[email protected]
703-518-1352
The PIA Agency Marketing Guide is
published by the National Association of
Professional Insurance Agents.
400 North Washington Street,
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-836-9340
[email protected]
©2015 All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a database or retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise except as expressly
permitted by the publisher.
The information in this publication is general in nature
and is not intended to serve as legal, accounting,
financial, insurance, investment advisory or other
professional advice as to any reader’s particular situation.
Users are encouraged to consult with competent legal,
financial, insurance, investment advisory and or other
professional advisors concerning specific matters before
making any decisions and we disclaim any responsibility
for any decisions or actions by readers.
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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PIA Agency Marketing Guide
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