The New York Times has a cool calculator that lets you compare costs between buying and renting. I imagine this could also come in handy if you're thinking of renting or buying space for your agency.
At any rate, check it out here. (Registration is free.)
[Hat tip]: The Consumerist
As you know, InsureMe was at the annual AMSUG conference in Orlando last week. Having been back for a couple days now, I've been able to reflect on our experiences there—pinpointing what worked, what failed miserably, and how we can do better at the next trade show.
So for all you insurance folks who are going to be manning the exhibit hall at future events, this post is for you.
1. Make sure your team is on the same page. I'm all about personal accountability, but it's a good idea to get your conference team together beforehand to make sure everyone's clear on exhibit hours and guidelines, hotel check-in/check-out times, etc. I realize this seems to be a no-brainer, but I assure you it is a necessary step.
2. Get some extraordinary swag. If you're heading to a big industry function such as AMSUG, you can bet at least one of your competitors will be on hand. Accordingly, your goal is probably to divert attention from their booth to yours. And let's face it: people love their free stuff. If you can give attendees something fun and different, you'll stand out. We learned that with the InsureMe stress balls; they've been a hit at every convention we've taken them to.
Tip: Look for promotional items that are action-oriented. They'll catch the eye. And don't forget to print your company's web site and phone number on the goods. We totally dropped the [stress] ball there. Doh.
Continue reading "Lessons from AMS: How to Ensure Trade Show Success" »
You're about to embark on part two of Revamping Your Web Site: Dog Food, Welcome Mats, and More, as published in the January issue of the TAAR Report. To read part one, just click here.
Improvement #1: Content
Content is quickly becoming the staple of a reputable insurance site, and for good reason. Well-written, topic-focused content allows insurance shoppers to answer their questions quickly and independently, while simultaneously positioning you as an insurance expert.
High-quality, relevant content is important to search engines like Google, too. When Jane Consumer enters a search term like “health quotes,” search engines like Google scour those 8 billion web pages in search of content that is relevant to Jane’s search request.
Adding great content to your site is one way to gain recognition from search engines and position your site in front of prospects that are looking for what you have to offer. And with more than three out of five people using the web to find information, this is one area in which you don’t want to be lacking.
Standing in the inert line at Kinko's, the woman in front of me started making what I thought was idle conversation, finally saying, "You have great skin. What do you use on it?"
What a compliment! So I spilled my daily skin regimen—product names, everything.
Then, as she was pouring over my pores, she said:
Interesting spot by Springwise today about PairUp—an online networking service matches business travelers with others traveling to any destination.
How it works:
Here's a great example from Springwise:
For example, if a member is flying out to Houston, PairUp will display people that he or she might want to meet face-to-face. Either existing contacts that will be in the city at the same time, or people who work in the same industry or are attending the same event. PairUp also makes it easy to share travel plans with colleagues and coordinate meetings with new contacts. A memory-jogging trip history feature keeps tabs on past business trips, meetings and contacts made at trade shows, conferences, etc.
Like any social networking site, it's going to take a little time to build up members. But I could see PairUp enjoying similar success as MeetUp.com, which helps people with similar interests get together in the same town.
Maybe we should give it a go to connect with agents heading to the AMS conference later this month. I'll give it a shot and let you know what I think. And stay tuned for more details concerning InsureMe at AMS!
Happy networking!
Last week, Aaron asked us about any other insurance-related blogs that we agent bloggers frequently visit. Since I know the three of us have a love affair with our [RSS] feed readers on a daily basis, I thought it would be beneficial if we compiled a list of our current favorite insurance/sales/marketing-related blogs for your perusing pleasure. (Presented in no particular order.)
Next up, Jeb's Top 5!
Continue reading "You Ask, We Answer: Our Favorite Business Blogs" »
How do you make it up to your customers when making a boo-boo?
Yesterday morning at Caribou Coffee, the happy, highly-caffeinated employees gave my drink to the wrong person. Ultimately, I ended up waiting for 10-plus minutes (in a quite empty coffee house) and was late for work.
"We're so sorry," one of the employees said. "Please come in tomorrow and drink coffee on us."
Sure, I thought as I walked out. They're not even going to remember who I am if I come in tomorrow.
But then I realized this could be good fodder for a blog post, so I went back in this morning. To say they remembered me was an understatement.
Say you walk into a Mexican restaurant to order lunch. You get to the front of the line and order the chicken tacos, easy on the guac. In turn, they hand you a veggie burrito.
“I didn’t order a burrito,” you would likely say. “I ordered the chicken tacos.”
Instead of amending your order, the employee says, “Yeah, we heard what you said. But the burrito is actually easier for us to make and we earn $.50 more. We’re pretty sure you want the burrito anyway.”
I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and say if this happened to you, you’d be pretty miffed. In fact, you probably wouldn't be keen on buying anything from that establishment again, regardless of how tasty the veggie burrito was.
And yet, some of you insurance professionals do this to prospects every day: they request one thing; you give them another and call it good.
Continue reading "Tacos, Burritos & The Importance of Listening to Prospects" »
Maribeth alerted me to a nifty new online resource called Vitalist. It’s a free platform for organizing your life.
According to their site, “Vitalist, is a web-based application designed to work with the ‘Getting Things Done’ system.” The Getting Things Done system is a time/task management approach that emphasizes recording necessary tasks as means to completing them. At the most basic level, it means writing something down to prevent it from falling down the memory hole. (Because it’s hard to complete a task if you don’t remember what it is. And if you’re at all like me [memory of a goldfish], you need to be reminded on occasion.)
Think of Vitalist as a tricked-out To Do list. Or an interactive day planner—one that sends you a text message or e-mail when something is due.
I signed up for a free account today (you can also pay to get more bells and whistles), and I can already tell that it’s going to be a huge help. Now, I know that the time-saving promise of technology often turns out to be a sham. But so far I have reason to think differently about this application. For starters, it’s really easy to use. The interface is clean and intuitive, and best of all, it can incorporate iCal and Google Calendar, and has RSS capability.
OK, by now you probably think I’m on Vitalist’s payroll (not so). So I’ll stop shilling and let you decide for yourself. Check it out.
Disclaimer: RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is famously hard to explain. I took on the subject today with no small amount of anxiety. If you have any questions after reading this, please leave a comment or write me an email at jfoster[at]insureme.com.
In starting this post about the benefits of RSS, I will not offer a definition. I will instead present a scenario. A scenario that may reflect your daily experience...
Let’s say there are six web sites that you really enjoy. And you check them every day for new content.
After you visit site number one, you go to your bookmarks folder and navigate to number two. Or maybe you just type the address for each successive site into your browser. Either way, you access your favorite content by hopping from site to site to site to site. From the Insurance Journal to the InsureMe Agent Blog; from there to the Wall Street Journal; and from the Journal to the … you get the idea.
RSS makes it so you don’t have to hop. You can access all of your favorite content from multiple sites in one place.
Great post over at Landing the Deal today about breaking bad news. I think this can be especially applicable to the insurance industry, namely for health, life and long-term care insurance agents. As we all know, situations arise where, because of a health condition, a prospect becomes uninsurable. And telling a prospect, "Sorry pal, that heart attack screwed up more than your internal interstate" isn't exactly advisable.
Which is why I really liked the post at Landing the Deal, which borrowed a quote from Richard Branson's interview in Business 2.0 magazine:
I turn people down with extreme difficulty sometimes, because the people I'm saying no to are people I don't want to discourage. And it should be difficult. Saying no shouldn't be an easy thing to do, and you have to be good at it. I often used to dodge doing it myself, and hide behind other people and delegate it, but if you're the boss, that isn't the right thing to do.
I pulled a couple of important points out of that quote. When it comes to saying no:
Being respectful and encouraging are pretty darn important I think, when it comes to telling someone "No, we can't insure you" or "We have to reject your claim." If you can give a rejected prospect some guidance—shift their emotions from hurt and embarrassed to a more positive, "Let's find a solution" attitude—you have a better chance at earning that sale (if possible) at a later date, or at the very least, earning some positive word of mouth...maybe even a referral or two.
In case you've missed the news in the last 48 hours, we're having some pretty crazy weather here in Denver. There's about two and a half feet of snow outside my window here, which even has my cat a little awestruck. As a result, InsureMe has been closed for two days.
Nonetheless, I've been snuffing out some interesting articles and headlines for your surfing pleasure. Some may call this blog dedication. Others may call it cabin fever. I'll let you decide.
Now for the links!
Grok Me, Baby (or, Marketing to Introverts) MarketingProfs Daily Fix
The One That Didn't Get Away: Maine Man Trapped By Lobsters (Insurance Journal) Ew.
Managing the Insurance Cycle (Specialty Insurance Blog)
Complaints Happen (Seeds of Growth)
I'll be out of the office tomorrow, so here's wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday. We'll see you back here on Tuesday with more insurance news and tips.
This morning I received a phone call from the InsureMe National Director of Corporate Development, the wonderful John Calvin.
"Megan, do we have any articles or tips for agents when it comes to writing their personal marketing message?"
The marketing message in question is a 300-character advertisement that we display to a lead as they're presented with their insurance matches. This customized message allows each of our clients to send a personalized message to the lead and remain competitive against the other agents on our service.
Looking through our Agent Resource Center, I concluded that we had no such articles. And what better place to address this issue than on the blog!
So whether you receive InsureMe leads and need help with your 300-character message, or are faced with marketing your agency with limited print space, make sure your ad covers the following four items:
1. Who you are
2. What you sell
3. Where you're located
4. Why you're different
Continue reading "What Should Your Marketing Message Say?" »
Things have been a little nutty around here today, so I thought I'd highlight some informative (and fun) links for your viewing pleasure.
Marketing to Boomers [Advertising to Baby Boomers]
PCI Not Cool with Supreme Court Ruling* [Insurance Journal]
*My headline, not IJ's. :)
How to Get Referrals and Classic [Seth Godin's Blog]
Enjoying the Sale [Landing the Deal]
That last link from Landing the Deal is a goody. It reminds sales professionals to have fun while they're selling. It seems simple, but it always helps to be reminded that you're foremost in the people business rather than the insurance business.
And, in the spirit of having fun, don't forget to check out our latest Insurance Blog Wrap-Up. This week we had fun with a giant pair of underpants, as well as a spur-of-the-moment trip to Ohio.
Have a great weekend, everyone. We'll see you back here on Monday.
We have thousands of insurance professionals across the country that work with InsureMe to find hot prospects. We even have a few agents who've been with InsureMe since the very beginning. And that made our article, Tips for Success: How Good Agents Become Great, pretty cool to write.
Take a look and let us know what you think...and don't hesitate to share your success stories in insurance sales. We love to hear them.
So, the Insurance Journal is selling its new publication, Insurance Journal's Top 100 Property-Casualty Agencies for 2006. They're selling it for $35. They should be selling it for $0.
Now, I'm not some crazy writer person who doesn't understand that companies need to make money. I don't write for free (though I've been known to barter) and I certainly don't expect InsureMe to start giving away insurance leads because it's the nice thing to do.
But we do a lot of stuff for a lot of people we don't do direct business with. We've put together two informational resource centers (one for agents, one for consumers) and three blogs: one for agents, one for consumers and one for affiliates. And there's absolutely no guarantee that the people who use these free resources will decide to partner with InsureMe.
And we're cool with that.
Because being giving and forthright with people is one of the many ways we show love to our industry and demonstrate that we're a great organization to work with. But I digress.
So IJ wants $35 for this publication that ranks independent agencies based on their 2005 volume. And they don't want you to share it with anyone. Rooted in industry's truly old-school frame of mind, this publication is "not for multiple distribution." Talk about taking two steps forward and one step back.
If the insurance industry is going to turn a new page, it will need to recognize the value in sharing information and co-creating with others—maybe even with competitors. (See Laura's latest post and our Tips for Agents category for more on this.)
Take the Web Marketing Association, for instance. They sponsor an annual Web Award competition and after the winners have been announced, the WMA publishes a list of the winners and their respective web URLs on the WMA site for everyone to see. They understand that learning from each other and gleaning best practices is what it's all about.
And that's why, on premise alone, organizations like the WMA get it right...and today, the Insurance Journal is getting it wrong.
[Bonus reading]:
Spark: Be More Innovative Through Co-Creation by John Winsor (Amazon)
John Winsor's blog
Routines are a necessity in my life. The thought of trying to get through my morning with no schedule seriously frightens me. I wake up at the same time each morning and complete each task required to leave the house at almost the exact same time every day. I find extreme comfort in this.
The same is true for my first fifteen minutes at work. I always arrive at the same time. I take my stuff to my desk, I get coffee, I log in to my computer, I settle in for a day of routines. I often struggle with change so I welcome the predictability and at the same time I find my anxiety level increasing, at least until recently.
Last week, Greg commented on our post, Marketing is Like Dating, in which he expressed that people don't care about insurance:
With insurance, people don't want to think about it at all. They just want to know that they have it. Unfortunately there is nothing exciting about insurance. It won't be able to make my commute easier. It won't be able to cure my headache.
Greg has a point. But so does Seth Godin. In his recent post, Do People Care?, he points out that people didn't used to care about a lot of stuff:
People didn't used to care enough about coffee, or gas mileage or ski bindings or Darfur. The challenge of marketing is to get people to care enough... because deep down, most people care. Just not high enough on their (your) priority list of life problems.
I totally agree. Do I spend my spare time thinking about insurance? Of course not. But I care whether or not I'm getting a good deal, whether my agent spends more time playing with random wildlife than sending my policy through underwriting (yes, it happened last year), and whether I'll have enough money to take care of myself when I'm old, retired and decrepit. And chances are good that other people care about this stuff, too. But, as Godin says, it's a matter of making them care enough.
How? Education. Personality. Low-pressure sales tactics. Great customer service. You can find more ideas and tips in our resource center. Of course, if you've got ideas, thoughts or opinions on the subject, please don't hesitate to post your comments. :)
Do you remember Herb from WKRP in Cincinnati? No, I wasn't around for the original episodes but I did grow up watching the re-runs. He was more than a little shady, right? Keep him in mind. I was reading a post about re-branding on The Sales Blog and I was reminded of a challenge I ran across shortly after I started working at InsureMe.
I have, on several occasions, had agents ask me, "How do I get customers to buy their insurance policies from me?" A year ago I would have drawn a blank. These agents needed sales advice and I was extremely intimidated about trying to sell anything. I realized quickly what a huge weakness this was for me and it was something that needed to be remedied if I was going to be effective at doing my job. So, I started doing all I could to improve my sales skills, which included taking some classes and receiving some additional training.
The best advice I took from any of the training I received was to just be yourself and not try to take on characteristics that you think a salesperson should have. If you are genuine and focus your attention on helping the customer instead of hitting the numbers, the sales will follow. This is where we bring back Herb. He was sleazy and sneaky and unfortunately he (or what he embodies) is how we envision salespeople. That used car salesman that you dread...Herb. That vacuum cleaner guy that shows up at your door...Herb. The point I'm trying to make is this: you don't have to be Herb to be successful in sales.
Customers today don't want to be sold, they want to be helped. They respond well when they feel that the person they are dealing with is genuinely trying to help them and is not just concerned with making a buck. They are going to see through your sales pitch or your script. Listen to what they have to say and then just talk to them, naturally. They will respect you for that and you will have started a good working relationship.
Whether you are a new agent just starting out or a veteran who needs to "re-brand", don't worry so much about making that sale, just be you!
"To be yourself is all that you can do." Chris Cornell
[RELATED ARTICLE]: Building Solid Client Relationships
I attended a class last week titled "Telephone Imagery: Improving Your Customer Service through Excellent Telephone Skills", which was taught from a communications perspective. So, not only did I learn how to improve my telephone skills, I learned how improve the way that I communicate overall. And since I spend my day providing service over the phone it's imperative that my communication skills are top notch.
One thing that I learned that will always stand out in my mind was this: You have 15 seconds or less to make a good first impression over the phone and only 40 percent of your ability to make that impression. At first I was shocked and then I started to think about all of the advantages there are to make that great impression when you are face to face with another person. You are able to present yourself in a professional manner by the way that you dress and act. You are able to shake the person's hand and make eye contact. You are able to express through your posture and body language that you are genuinely glad to meet them. Now try doing all of that with your voice.
The key is putting a smile in your voice. Hang a mirror next to your phone or put up a funny picture so you can smile each time you answer the phone. Sit up straight and make sure that after greeting the caller, you offer them assistance with their matter. Put away what you might be working on at the time so that you can give your full attention. This may seem like somewhat of an inconvenience if the phone ringing interrupts something else you are doing, but remember, you are representing your company or business when you answer the phone. A good experience with you could lead to a new client, which in turn could lead to a good referral and so on and so forth.
So, I ask all you agents out there, whether you do most of your business face to face or over the phone, how are your communication skills? Next time the phone rings try putting a smile in your voice and see if it makes a difference to the person on the other end.
"First impressions are indelibly marked on the fabric of the mind." - John J. Tarrant
[RELATED ARTICLE]: Winning Conversations: How to Make a Positive First Impression on the Phone
Alright, so maybe the Bureau of Labor didn't say "where it's at" verbatim, but the Bureau did report an insurance industry employment surge of over 10,000 in April, bringing the total number of insurance jobs to over 2.3 million. We've reported similar growth spurts in the past (here and here), and according to experts, the insurance industry is going to enjoy some stability for some time to come.
Think a career as an insurance agent is a good move for you? Learn all you need to know by browsing our articles on how to become an insurance agent:
Things are looking good for the insurance industry in 2006. Might be a good time to get on board.
Source: Insurance News Net
Good tip today from April H., one of our customer relations managers (and future Affiliate department team member), regarding www.zip-codes.com.
Zip-codes.com is, as the URL suggests, is a database that you can use to pull local zips from your area—allowing you to target areas you might not have been aware of. This is also a great tool for those of you receiving insurance leads from InsureMe, as it can enable you to locate take advantage of new zip codes in your area before your competitors.
Check it out and let me know what you think. Of course, if you have questions about receiving insurance leads via the web, be sure to check out the InsureMe agent page, or call 800 INSURE-ME to speak to one of our awesome CRM's.
Enjoy!
Case of the Mondays? Try Case of the Fridays. The rainy, cold Fridays.
Not much happening here in the office...come to think of it, I haven't heard a phone ring since before lunch. Yes, it's a dull day and unfortunately I don't have any crazier than average news to report. So instead I thought I'd just toss out some links that I enjoyed this week and hope you enjoy them, too.
So without further ado, here are the Friday Links:
Back with more insurance happenings on Monday. Have a great weekend!
I just noticed that yesterday marked the 100th post here on the InsureMe Agent Blog. This makes me happy for a lot of reasons, which I will present to you in a short outline:
1. Blogs are awesome.
a. I'm stoked I get to author one at work.
b. I get excited to see other people blogging about insurance.
c. InsureMe is a pioneer in insurance-related companies that blog and it's very cool to be part of that.
2. I learn something new almost every day.
a. I'm starting to better understand when blogs like InsuranceScrawl discuss insurance law—which makes me a better insurance blogger.
b. I'm better able to see issues though the eyes of an agent
c. Commenters often help me to see views opposite from my own.
3. The future of the InsureMe Agent Blog looks bright.
a. I have high hopes that the Agent Blog will help foster a community in the insurance industry.
b. Sharing ideas, best practices and even a good story will continue to be shared and welcomed here.
I've been doing the blogging thing for two and a half years but posting to the Agent Blog has been more rewarding than I anticipated. I hope you all have gotten some value out of it too—whether you picked up a new sales tip or found a new way to set yourself apart from your competitor—I hope you've found something in the last 100 posts that made you say, "Hmm..." And, if not, I'm always up for suggestions. :)
Here's to the next 100 posts. Happy blogging, y'all!
There's a brief post over at the Specialty Insurance Blog about starting up an insurance business, citing this Forbes article about reducing your start-up expenses.
If you're thinking about starting your own business or know someone who is, be sure to have them check it out. And, for good measure, here are a couple of our articles on starting up an insurance agency:
Recently, S. Anthony Iannarino over at The Sales Blog posted about LinkedIn (a Web service that facilitates business-oriented connections) and how it can help improve efficiency and thus boost sales. Since then, he's discovered some LinkedIn tools that he's been able to beneficially integrate into Outlook and Internet Explorer.
According to Iannarino, the latest upgrade for Outlook is an impressive one. Upon loading the software, it searches all of your archives (including .pst files, etc.) and looks for contacts to add to your database. Iannarino found almost 2,000 contacts and ended up adding a couple hundred of those to his contact database, which he then uploaded to his LinkedIn profile for later contact.
The new Dashboard also notifies you when you've been out of contact with someone for over 60 days; of course it can store anniversaries, birthdays and other events to remind you when to send a card or make that phone call.
It's interesting stuff. Check out LinkedIn for more information (account sign-up is free) and check out The Sales Blog's recent LinkedIn-related posts here and here.
Let us know how it works!
If you're a life insurance agent, EFinancial's got the solution to all your life insurance sales woes. Maybe.
In a press release picked up by Insurance News Net, the company announced the launch of a new version of its Web-based life insurance sales software—EFinancial's Automated Life Insurance Sales System (ALISS) promises to offer life insurance agents a faster and more effective method of matching customers to the best possible policies, speeding the overall process and improving agent service.
Continue reading "A Life Insurance Agent's Dream Come True?" »
With more and more consumers turning to the Internet to shop for and buy insurance, more and more insurers are realizing the importance of incorporating quality content into their Web sites.
As some of you might know, the Insurance Journal unveiled a great new
resource in 2005 to help agents meet these changing needs: the "How to Write" seminar series.
The seminars consist of live, interactive broadcasts and are focused on helping insurance professionals evolve with the times and grow their businesses accordingly.
Because the '05 seminars were so popular, the Insurance Journal is bringing them back for 2006. The new lineup is set to come out sometime next month (March) so click here to register—and check back for the '06 seminar schedule. Oh, did I mention registration is completely FREE for insurance professionals?
And, to help fill the void the Insurance Journal has temporarily left, check out our article, "Writing Web Articles: The New Key to Success". It's sure to bring out the Hemmingway in you—and grab the attention of Web users looking for what you have to offer.
And remember, my fellow Agent Blogger, Penny and I are here for you! We're full-time copywriters, so if you have any questions as you start writing your Web articles, don't hesitate to ask. We'd be happy to help, and not because it'll impress the boss. We actually like it. A lot.
Happy writing!
Today the Insurance Journal reports that the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) will host a joint marketing and underwriting seminar next month in Las Vegas.
According to the Insurance Journal, the seminar (entitled, "Calculated Risk: It's the Name of the Game" ) will address some of the following topics:
According to PCI's assistant vice president of membership, the seminar will be a chance for marketers and underwriters to learn from each other and discuss strategies to implement back in their respective offices. Furthermore, the PCI seminar will offer seperate tracks for marketing and underwriting, allowing attendees to "customize" their seminar experience.
The joint seminar, which will be held March 26th-28th in Las Vegas, Nev., is designed for mid- to senior-level insurance markers and underwriters. You can learn more about the seminar by visiting PCI's Web site here.
I don't know about you, but I'll be waiting with baited breath for those seminar photos.
