Duct Tape Marketing blogger Jim Jantsch recently presented a handy matrix for understanding the pros and cons of various lead generation methods.
The three methods he talks about are advertising, public relations and referrals. Each of these, he says, is essential to any business, although the three approaches have their own strengths when looked at in terms of cost, credibility and control–what he calls “the three Cs.”
There are two huge, stubborn and expensive problems that plague our health care system.
1. Patient records are not (for the most part) electronic, making managing and transferring those records laborious and ridiculously costly. (Paperwork makes up 21 percent of total health care costs.)
2. Lacking information and resources, consumers cannot easily make their own choices when it comes to getting (or forgoing) care. This is why consumer-driven health plans, such as health savings accounts, haven’t been the health care panacea they were supposed to be.
Maybe, just maybe, The Google can solve these two huge, stubborn and expensive problems that plague our health care system.
Their solution (well, I’m unsure if their stated aim is to solve these problems, but I do know that Google likes to think big) is Google Health, a free online tool that enables you to upload your health records and share them with health care providers.
Yes, it’s scary, but we may as well give in to the reality: Google already knows almost everything about us. Why not just fill in the remaining gaps (if there are any)?
Bankrate, our new parent company, recently ran a poll question on their web site that asked consumers if they had previously bought an auto insurance policy online.
The results reveal a population that is very comfortable using the internet to shop for auto insurance. A plurality of respondents, 143 people, have purchased a policy online, finding that they could “compare prices with ease.”
Nonetheless, about a quarter of those polled (23 percent) still want a more personal, human-powered transaction, choosing the “No. I want a real agent by my side” option. About 28 percent selected “No, but I’ve shopped online.” (The no is in reference to whether they’d purchased a policy online.)
[Insert shameless plug for online lead generation here]
In all seriousness, I will say that the poll shows that online leads are an important arrow in your prospecting quiver. People are going online more than ever–if not to buy, then at the very least to compare prices.
This post on driver distraction, from the Insurance Information Institute’s blog, made me think of all of the multi-tasking agents out there, who doubtless talk while driving and maybe–yikes!–compose text messages behind the wheel.
Nationwide finished their second annual report on driver distraction, and the results are sobering. “Almost all Americans believe they are safe drivers, yet almost three-quarters guilty of distracted driving,” says Nationwide. Distracted driving includes (but is not limitied to) talking on a cell phone, writing text messages, fiddling with the stereo, and eating. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that driver distraction is the culprit behind nearly 80 percent of all traffic accidents.
Worse still, 90 percent of respondents to the Nationwide survey say that DWD (driving while distracted) will become a bigger problem with advancing technology (as in gadgetry).
And if you don’t think talking on a cell phone is a hazard, consider this study from the University of Utah, which found that talking impaired driving ability as much as drinking alcohol.
Every company has tiny glitches that keep it from running like a well-oiled machine. Streamlining your business not only makes your job easier but makes it simpler for customers to do business with you. So what can you do today to eliminate some of the hoops your future customers may not care to jump through.
Get a web site.
If you don’t already have one, it may be time to invest in a simple, but user-friendly web site for your clientele. Each year more people turn to the internet to make purchasing decisions. Being present on the web lends you a little credibility in a cut throat industry. Try Word Press or Website Baker to create your own. Or hire someone to help you get started and then train someone in your agency to handle the updates.
Web site layout should be simple, clean and easy to navigate. Company information and information articles about your products and services should be easily reached and helpful.
Read Anatomy of a Successful Web site Parts One and Two
For years doctors who made mistakes got this advice from insurers and lawyers: “Deny and defend.” Admitting mistakes, it was thought, would embolden patients and encourage lawsuits.
Indeed, that’s the advice that insurers and lawyers still give doctors. And guess what? It doesn’t work.
Recently doctors have begun saying–gasp!–sorry when they screw up. The result, according to anecdotal evidence presented in this article in the New York Times, is that malpractice lawsuits have dropped–significantly.
The reason? Sorry diffuses anger. It doesn’t, except in rare cases, arouse greater ire. However, not saying sorry usually will, at the very least, inspire litigious thoughts.
The success of the new approach reveals that anger–not actual injury–is a huge motivator behind lawsuits. Diffuse anger, and you’re more likely to escape the courtroom.
The same holds for every other service–insurance included. Say you’re sorry, and you’ll most likely be rewarded for your candor. This shouldn’t be a novel idea–we’re taught to own up to our mistakes and apologize in pre-school. Somewhere along the way we got sidetracked.
Progressive formed a case study for a Harvard Business Review article about being a successful (read: profitable) services company.
Frog Design called attention to two of their, um, progressive (lower-case p) strategies, which seem altruistic on first glance. In fact, they are shrewd policies that end up saving the company money while generating great PR.
1. Speedy on-site claims processing.
Progressive is known for quickly dispatching its white vans to accident locations.
How it makes Progressive look good: Swift attention gives Progressive the ability to legitimately boast that it makes high priority of its policyholders’ safety and convenience.
How it saves them money: Cuts down on fraud. Ethically challenged policyholders are less likely to come up with a whopper if they know a claims adjuster is en route.
2. Ticker-tape display of rivals’ quotes.
On its home page, Progressive shows competitors’ rates, which are not always lower than theirs.
How it makes Progressive look good: Not only does it make them look confident that they offer the best value, it makes them look transparent and noble when they don’t have the lowest rate.
How it saves them money: They are so confident in their underwriting formula that if another competitor offers a lower price, they can rest assured that they (the other company) screwed up and will be saddled with a policyholder who is a liability.
So is Progressive brilliant or what?
The subject of today’s post comes from the pages of the Harvard Business Review, by way of Frog Design (and a tip of the hat to my former colleague Megan for pointing me to Frog Design, whose site I have since added to my RSS reader).
We’re featuring a new article (written by yours truly) over at the Agent Resource Center on how to procrastinate less. (Note that it’s not about how to stop procrastinating altogether. That would be an unreasonable proposition.)
But I’m sure you don’t need to read it. I mean, people who read blogs aren’t the procrastinating type, right?
There are two huge, stubborn and expensive problems that plague our health care system.
