Daily sales & marketing tips for insurance professionals

This Friday blog is a bit late. I actually thought the weekend economic and political events might change the world dramatically, but alas and alack, they didn’t. We are on the same course we have been for about 2 weeks, uncertain but holding steady. At least we have a rescue bill agreed to on Capitol Hill.

Given that the world didn’t change all that much, in this blog, I’d like to highlight an inspiring lecture I attended by Joe Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of the Willis Group, a global insurance company, headquartered in London. Mr. Plumeri spoke at the eInsurance symposium recently in Dallas. Willis is recognized as a leading global insurance broker, handling risk management and reinsurance across a wide range of service areas and industries. But what was inspiring was the energy and dedication to the customer that Plumeri exuded.

The conference was held the infamous week of September 15th, so there were many economic distractions, especially as issues like AIG’s emerged. Plumeri addressed the economic and industry issues directly. He said, in times like these, companies start to do desperate things. Selling goes out the window and businesses start dropping prices. Selling skills die and what you are selling becomes a commodity. He said that price can become an issue because there is no innovation.

He said self esteem is low in the insurance business right now. He really thinks we should be proud. He said look around you, look out the window; everything you see is insured! That is our business and it is a great one. He said on September 11th, the US was attacked, but not the insurance business. The destroyed buildings were insured and the owners reimbursed.

Then he urged us to provide a ‘Value Gap’. Value is the gap between what clients can do for themselves and what you can do for them. And the value gap (the size of it) determines how much you can charge for your product.

So think about what you can do for the customer, that they can’t do themselves, or that they don’t want to do themselves. Plumeri said it isn’t enough to just get insurance for your customers, or even to make sure they get paid, it is to make sure they are covered correctly and that they get paid quickly.

It just doesn’t sound the same in a blog, but he was so inspiring to listen to, we were all ready to jump out of our seats and go take care of our customers.