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According to Barry Seigerman
A producer for Hartford, Connecticut’s People’s United Insurance Agency, who established a multimillion dollar agency from the ground up, being innovative and receptive to new ideas is one of the “secrets” to growth. Consider any chance you come across, he advises. “Everyone is a possible business partner, employee, or insurance prospect.”
1. Constantly hire the right employees
The hiring and retention of top staff is the first stage in an agency’s growth strategy. So, how do you locate them? How can you draw young people into a field that has a bad image of being stuffy and dull?
Seigerman recommends
“Seek people who can accomplish what you can’t do. “Get someone with underwriting and technical capabilities if you’re good at sales.” Professional titles, in his opinion, are not strictly necessary. He says, “What’s your experience?” instead. And “What do you have to offer the table?”
The ideal hire for an insurance agency
A mid-career professional with prior experience in a sector other than insurance is frequently the ideal hire for an insurance agency. Burch points out that every day, his business hires numerous professionals who have been let go by non-insurance firms. The positions may be contract, permanent, or temporary.
Veterans of the military are another source of skill
Everyone is drawing from the same well, claims Seigerman. “You need to search in several locations.” He exhorts employers to take advantage of the numerous organizations devoted to assisting recently separated service members in finding employment by hiring veterans. He considers the leadership and teamwork qualities the military instills to be priceless.
Agents should also talk to folks who are interested in flexible employment
options like job sharing or working from home. With his first company on Long Island, Seigerman invented the concept of flextime more than 25 years ago, first due to his inability to pay full-time staff. Many who began working part-time, with flexible hours, or in shared jobs later transitioned to full-time employment or partnered relationships. He claims that he wouldn’t have achieved his level of professional achievement without them.
To network and hire new staff, Seigerman attends as many conferences, conventions, and meetings of insurance organizations as he can. It’s one of the best places, he claims, to find competent individuals. 25 years ago, he met one of his future business partners at a symposium on insurance technology.
2. Upgrade your agency's tech tools
Steve Anderson, president of The Anderson Network, Inc., a Franklin, Tennessee-based agency technology, productivity, and profitability consulting organization, believes that while new business gives growth, operations bring profitability.
One of the most expensive technological investments in an agency budget, agency management systems (AMS) are significantly more resilient and dynamic than in the past. Because of this, producers—regardless of vendor—must make the most of their systems, which may include proposals and templates, carrier communication and downloads, and configurable reports.
However, is only as good as the data you enter. An agency’s failure to “use the data in its system to identify consumers, establish marketing campaigns, and target existing customers, prospects, and lost customers” is one of the key problems impeding sales and growth.
Fill in as many data fields as you can with information that goes beyond the norm (name, address, and type of coverage, for example). Does a policyholder for personal lines also operate a business, and if so, what types of insurance would be necessary? What are the names and ages of the family members of the policyholder? What are the hobbies and interests of the policyholder?
Allow communication and downloads between your carrier and your AMS
(which take place when a carrier releases a policy and electronically adds that data to your system). Let your AMS, for instance, highlight a policy’s renewal date and notify you a month or two beforehand based on carrier download statistics. Have your AMS also record whether the policyholder can anticipate a difference in coverage or cost. Contact your client in this situation well in advance of the renewal date. According to Anderson, “retention is one of the finest ways to expand over the long term” if you are proactive in telling the client about the changes they might anticipate before renewal.
Use your AMS for marketing automation
Create triggers for your marketing campaigns based on the information you have on each policyholder, such as their birthdays, holidays, renewal dates, claims, new prospects, cross-sell opportunities, prospects, and quotations, as well as lost and gained customers.
It is advised that marketing efforts include the following information and limit the frequency of emails, postcards, and newsletters to once per month:
- Policies that are additionally applicable based on the policyholder’s interests and pastimes
- Alerts to update policies when circumstances change (such as marriage or the birth of a child)
- Links to certain topical agency blogs
- Helpful advice that can be used by policyholders to safeguard their loved ones, homes, or assets in the event of inclement weather, including winter storms or tornado season.
3. Get serious about social media marketing
Social media and online word-of-mouth marketing efforts have a significant impact on how consumers assess their existing and potential insurance brokers. According to Accenture’s paper, “The digital insurer: Unleashing the promise of social media in insurance,” millennials in particular trust the opinions of strangers, acquaintances, and family members on social media when evaluating insurance products and providers.
But given that your customers and prospects frequent a variety of social media platforms, creating and sustaining a social media presence that is customized for each platform can seem difficult—and it is, in fact, difficult. Nonetheless, the obstacle is not insurmountable.
In Stafford Springs, Connecticut, Paradiso Insurance began using social media in 2008. To manage its Facebook (3,170 followers), Twitter (2,700 followers), LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest sites, the organization has three employees—two full-time and one part-time.
The agency earns around $24 million in premiums yearly,
but over the last four years, it has expanded by 50%. As a result, Chris Paradiso, the agency’s owner, is knowledgeable about the subject and has experience using social media strategies to increase agency growth.
No matter which networks you decide to create a presence on, Paradiso thinks it’s crucial to have the proper people paying attention to you. “I share many pictures of my kids on social media. Why do I act that way? Since I provide family insurance.
Paradiso’s strategy is supported by Rick Morgan, senior vice president of Aartrijk, a boutique communications agency, and social media experts for the insurance sector with headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. He advises, “Know and know who your consumer is, and make sure that your social engagement both targets and reflects that customer. When a consumer or potential customer finds you [on social media], you want to have previously demonstrated your expertise.
By adding links to blog entries, providing safety advice, and informing policyholders of any changes to coverage forms, you may establish yourself as a reliable and important resource. A client’s praise for the agency’s service should be highlighted, along with pictures of the staff (and their pets!). Those who order coverage from you want to know that your agency is staffed by actual people and isn’t just a corporation.
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