Daily sales & marketing tips for insurance professionals

Have you ever noticed that everyone in the insurance industry blames the holidays for slow sales?  When I started as an agent, I was told that starting in November things were going to slow down and not to expect much to happen.  Sure enough, I noticed that business did slow down.  Things started to pick up again at the end of January, but that was a long two and a half months of slow business, and I wondered why this was so. 

 I believe expecting slow business during the holidays is a self fulfilling prophecy.  I found I was taking it easy during the last three months of the year.  I did not push myself very hard to do better because I was assuming I was not going to sell much because it was the holiday season. 

 The next year, I decided I was going to ramp up my marketing efforts during the holiday season, something most of my fellow agents did not do.  That year I had a record November, a good December, and a record January.  Business was still pretty slow during the week of Christmas, but the rest of the time I did well.  I know that we are dealing with tougher times this year because of the current state of the economy, but people still need insurance.  I challenge you to do what some other agents are not willing to do at this time of the year.  Do not sit on the sidelines and watch other agents get the business.  Ramp up your marketing and you will see results.

 How do you rate yourself as an insurance agent? What measurements do you use to obtain feedback from your customers? How do you know if you are meeting customer expectations? Some organizations use postcards/surveys or online marketing tools to solicit feedback. Some call the consumer after a certain amount of time to obtain feedback. For example, I have received calls from car dealerships after a completed service and do take the time to answer their questions.

InsureMe obtains feedback in a number of ways. We’ve created surveys, and yes, we do read them; we conduct follow up calls to hear feedback; and we also obtain great feedback through daily conversations with our agents. We value your feedback, as without it, we cannot continually improve our products and services.

Whichever marketing feedback tool works for you is best – the key is doing what it takes to obtain instrumental feedback either for you or your organization. Consumer feedback allows an organization or an individual agent to see what they are doing right or what they need to improve, not only from an individual/agency standpoint but also for competitive advantage reasons.