Archives for Agencies

Is Your Agency’s Web Site Updated Regularly?

September 30, 2010

No one enjoys things that are out of date.

Sour cream past its expiration date.Prospective insureds coming to your agency’s web site are looking for reassurance, rapport – a reason to trust you with their business. Having no web site is terrible – you’ll never even be considered. Having a web site with no information is really bad – they won’t see the reasons to trust and want to be in business with you. But having a little info that is very old is just as bad – and may be worse.

This is why online marketing experts strongly suggest having a blog. A blog is the easiest way possible to add fresh new content to your web site on a regular basis.

Adding fresh content via a blog causes a helpful cycle to start:

  1. One of the ranking items from search engines is how recently a page or site has been updated. Having fresh content means that when someone searches for words that are found on your site the link to you will come up higher than it would have if you had not had recent updates.
  2. That higher ranking causes more people to come to your site.
  3. When those people come to your site they see that you’re active, that you care about providing relevant information, and that your information is not old and stale. This increases their confidence in you and therefore will increase your conversion ratio (the percentage of those people who will call, email or otherwise contact you to proceed through the sales process.

Doing a blog takes effort. You may not feel up to the challenge. In all likelihood you already get more than enough good ideas from your current customers and their insurance questions to fill hundreds of posts. At iMGA we get great ideas from our agents constantly, and we use those to make sure we produce at least one new post each week. It’s not setting the world on fire, but it is consistent, and after a year or so we’ll have 100 posts. That’s 100 pages of content on our web site, 100 updates to Google and the other search engines, and 100 pieces, some of which will have value to each visitor who finds us, especially if they’re Texas Independent Insurance Agents looking for a great personal property market. 🙂

Last, but not least, it keeps our web site fresh.

Categories: Agencies, Marketing Tags: , , ,

Keep Your Eyes (and Ears) Open

August 5, 2010

Nice park in Lubbock, TX.

While out visiting agents in west Texas yesterday I stumbled upon this lovely scene in Lubbock. I don’t know what preconceived notions you may have about the home of Texas Tech, but I could easily imagine that many people wouldn’t picture this.

It just goes to show that if we keep our eyes open there are pleasant surprises – and good opportunities all around.

The same is true in business, though at iMGA we’ve found that it’s not only important to keep our eyes open (looking at things like what impacts retention and what products and coverages are selling best or worst), it’s even more important to keep our ears open.

Our independent agents give us great ideas every day. Some we aren’t able to implement, some we haven’t been able to implement yet, but many we have, and thanks to them we’re seeing growth in spite of the economy.

How about you? What opportunities have you seized lately? If it feels like there aren’t any, or that there aren’t enough, maybe you just need to look – or listen – more intently. You might be surprised by what you find. I was.

Closeup of tree in park in Lubbock, Texas

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Are You Watching The Details?

June 25, 2010

I wonder how much it costs for 8. More importantly, I wonder what the dish they are actually selling looks like.

Details matter. Are you watching the details in your business?

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More on Social Media for Insurance Agencies

April 20, 2010

More information is released daily on social media in general and social media in insurance specifically every day. The day after our last post about the topic large research firm Celent announced the results of their study on the topic, titled Leveraging Social Networks: An In-Depth View for Insurers.

In that report they note that nine of the top 10 of the top 10 P&C U.S. insurers have at least one Twitter account, and eight have at least one Facebook page.

Also noted is that in March 2010 Facebook received more visits than Google for the first time.

So, in short, social media is big, getting bigger, and being supported by major insurers. If you, as an insurance agent, haven’t started already, why not?

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Social Media for Insurance Agencies

April 13, 2010

If you’re like most independent insurance agents you may be getting irritated about all the talk about “Social Media” these days. Every week, it seems, there’s another reference to the latest darling, whether it be Foursquare or Gowalla or Google Buzz.

Personally you may already be using Facebook. If you follow news or entertainment you can’t help but have heard of Twitter.

But what does all this mean for your agency? Is this all just a way for you and your staff to waste time playing the latest farming or mafia game or is there something more to it?

Social Media is Word of Mouth only Easier

If your agency is like most, word of mouth is your top new lead source. Your current customers are pleased with what you have done for them. The subject of insurance somehow comes up and they tell their friends what you did. Social Media makes that whole great cycle happen faster. Being connected with clients and friends on Facebook, Twitter and other sites means:

  1. The subject of insurance, and the fact that you’re an insurance agent, comes up more often. It’s in your profile, you can’t help but talk about it occasionally (not in a “salesy” way, but in a “you won’t believe what happened” or “this sure was interesting” or “watch out for this” way).
  2. You, as an insurance expert, are an easy click away for current and prospective customers. A friend of a client doesn’t even have to say “who’s your insurance agent?” They only have to look at the “friends list” or “following list” and see you there. You’ve just eliminated a huge step between you and someone looking for an insurance agent.
  3. Your information, and several easy ways for them to contact you, are at their fingertips whenever they’re ready to shop for insurance. Or, if they do get asked by someone not connected online, your information – and a great snapshot of your personality – is at a link they can easily find and forward.

Social Media is the Ultimate Soft Sell

Social Media done well is not just word-of-mouth made easier, though. You’re there. They’ve seen you. They’ve interacted with you and seen you interact with others. They’ve come to like and trust you as a result. It’s the ultimate soft-sell. For this reason, independent insurance agents we’ve worked with often have over 75% close rates on leads that come to them via Social Media.

Are You Using Social Media Already?

If so, what have your experiences been? If not, why not? What other reasons are there that insurance agents should be active in Social Media? Why or why not?

Please add your comments below (or by clicking on the “comments” button on the top right of this post) and share your thoughts, suggestions and experiences.

Categories: Agencies, Marketing Tags: , , , , , ,

What Argument Can You Turn On Its Head?

February 8, 2010

This display at the side of the road definitely caught my eye.

A photo of a wrecked plane with the saying, 'There's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane' at a skydiving business in Texas.

My initial reaction was, “Why in the world would a skydiving company show a picture of a wrecked plane? Why would they remind people of the danger that exists even before you jump out of the plane?”

Looking more closely at what they said, it becomes very obvious why they did it.

Clearly they’ve heard too many times the old saying, “Why would anyone be crazy enough to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?”

In fact, they probably realize that this joke was costing them a significant amount of business. More importantly this joke – like most good humor – included an element of truth and was revealing a more basic, more serious limiting factor to their business: fear.

To them this was not just a joke and it most certainly was not funny. It was a meaningful limiting factor on their business’ potential. So they attacked it head-on. They didn’t go halfway. They made a statement that is impossible to miss – one that’s worth remarking about.

What about you?
What is keeping your prospects from using your service?
What does “everyone” “know” in your market?
Are you willing to attack it head-on? If not, it may forever be a limiting factor.

If you are willing to tackle it, though, you may not only make it over the hurdle – you may become remarkable in the bargain.

It’s worth thinking about.

Categories: Agencies, Marketing Tags: , ,

Hidden Gems

February 4, 2010

Rob and I are visiting agents all around the state today. My travels took me by Carl’s Corner, TX, home of Willie’s Place, which is basically a themed truck stop, and from the outside looks pretty much like any one of the dozens of other truck stops on the state’s highways.

Then, though – IF you go inside – you’re surprised first by a large collection of great memorabilia spanning Willie Nelson’s long and illustrious (if checkered) career:

And surprised yet again by a full-sized concert venue that, according to flyers posted nearby, features significant and well-regarded musical acts with some frequency.

The most interesting and engaging parts of this business weren’t promoted anywhere that I could see. The signs leading to their location looked exactly like other truck stop signs except for the photo of Willie.

What hidden gems are you keeping all too secret in your agency? What should you be highlighting that you’re not? You may be missing out both on a lot of business and a chance to let your true self show through if you don’t take the time to think about that and share it with the public.

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