“How,” you may ask yourself, “am I demonstrating such great generosity?” Chances are, you may not even realize your agency is doing this. In this three-part blog series, we’ll take you through the different ways you could be giving your leads away to your competition. Let’s start with your email marketing efforts.
Your email marketing initiative is a newsletter
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with newsletters. The problem is that newsletters are largely impersonal (even if your email marketing vendor offers a merge function to insert recipient names). Consider adding more personal and relevant messaging to your repertoire. This will significantly differentiate you as a real relationship-based agency. At the risk of shameless self-promotion, here are a few of the types of emails Zywave helps our clients send:
Personal Lines X-Date Marketing:
If you aren’t targeting unsold prospects or lost customers (that you want back) prior to renewal, you’re opening your wallet and donating cash to your competition. While our system automates the process of sending and tracking emails several months prior to a scheduled renewal date, you can, with a little more time and elbow grease, manually manage this process. We recommend starting an email series 90 days prior to each prospect’s renewal date. Segment your leads into groups based on their renewal date, and other relevant factors, so you can still achieve economy of scale. Consider using a system that tracks opens and clicks, so you can prioritize outbound calls to prospects who don’t reply to the emails.
Round-Out Marketing:
If you aren’t actively rounding out your customers, you’re giving up easy money, leaving yourself open to the risk of unnecessary client attrition and missing referral opportunities. While our system automates the process of engaging clients prior to renewal with educational messaging relevant to their coverage gaps, you can manage this process with email software that offers contact segmentation.
For example, create a report in your management system of customers without umbrella insurance. Upload that list into your email software, further segment it by renewal month, and send a series of educational messages to warm them up prior to their annual coverage review. It’s best practice to start this process early, for example, 90 days prior to renewal, as any potential increases in existing coverage costs may cause them to be less receptive and likely result in a missed opportunity. Finally, once you’ve sold the customer the additional policy, be sure to remove them from that distribution segment, so that you don’t look silly sending them calls to action regarding a coverage they’ve already purchased.
Birthday Messages:
Who doesn’t like getting recognized on their birthday? This one is admittedly a little tougher without some sort of automation, but make it a point to connect with your clients on their birthday. They’ll be impressed.
Commercial Lead Nurturing:
Say you’re doing a great job generating referrals, networking, and cold calling to build a pipeline of commercial x-date marketing opportunities. What are you doing to keep that seat warm between now and when they’re up for renewal? When you ask for the loss runs, alert the incumbent agent, and go to war, how have you positioned yourself as the superior expert that deserves their business? If you aren’t actively connecting with these opportunities, you, like many others, may often find yourself in the position of General Custer who tragically underestimated the resolve and resources of his enemy.
Serious commercial agencies set themselves up for success by continually educating their prospects with helpful information specifically related to their industry. This may include information about common commercial coverage gaps, or more information about key coverages that may not have been adequately explained. This accomplishes three goals:
- Positions you as an expert that cares about their needs
- Plants seeds of doubt in the prospects head about the expertise of their existing agent
- Keeps you top of mind prior to underwriting and sale.
Don’t make life easy for your competition. Aggressively and efficiently pursue new sales opportunities by showcasing your experience and knowledge online.