First, let's take a look at what we consider the modern outlook for the insurance industry.
We see the immediate future for insurance broken down into 3 stages:
Creating Organic Personal Leads
Up To Date Competitive Rates & Benefits
Override Commission Share
These 3 stages are causing a shift in the industry and we want to talk about how to stay ahead of the shift and continue to grow your own book of business.
CREATING ORGANIC PERSONAL LEADS
If you are in or have ever working in insurance then you know that your leads mean everything. The better the lead the better higher the probability of binding the policy. So, we wanted to take a moment and discuss how to generate more leads and how to target specific demographics for your leads.
This is no way intended to be a training blog but hopefully you find some value in what we are talking about. If you have any questions about the blog or about the EIA platform you can CLICK HERE to schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with us.
There are a few ways in 2021 to generate insurance leads. You can use social media to increase your leads. We did an entire training seminar on this topic back in December. This seminar will be published in an upcoming blog. But, in general here are the key points:
Figure out what carriers target the demographic you relate to the most
Create content for that specific demographic
Create content relevant to your local audience (weather related posts, job postings, or traffic updates)
Use 20% of your social posting to directly ask for a sell
Challenge your audience to engage with your content using give-a-ways or challenges that are relevant to your targeted demographic.
An example of direct sell targeting on social media would be:
"Enjoy an extra date night tonight with the money I could save you. Message me right now for a quote"
An example of relevant content would be simply sharing weather and news updates from your local news outlet social media pages or participating in discussions about the local economy and offering helpful suggestions. Keep yourself relevant on topics your targeted demographic cares about.
An example of challenging your audience for engagement would be:
"If I cannot beat your current price by more than 10% I will buy you lunch tomorrow anywhere in town."
Using the "Challenge" method you create a ABC (always be closing) situation from the beginning. If you win the challenge and beat their price they do not get free lunch - and the ball is in their court to save money or walk away with nothing.
There are other ways to help your personal lead generation efforts as well; such as purchasing quality leads. We are not talking about bulk spreadsheets where you have to cold call. The EIA platform has a relationship with a reputable warm-lead source who offers up to 50% off to our members.
You could also implement technology for email campaigns, autonomations, and Facebook ads for personal clients. But these concepts are far more complex and require you to actually study marketing and understand what you are doing. Recently we have seen success with USPS EDDM when combined with signs and social media ads. Subscribe to our blog as we will probably release a training video on this process in the next 60 days.
COMPETITIVE RATES
Insurance in 2021 is simple: Offer advanced consulting, competitive pricing, and be a face in your local community. Simple does not mean easy - but simple does mean it is possible.
Captive agents like State Farm & Farmers & Geico are limited to only their products and services. Traditionally this was a great model; State Farm or Allstate had multiple offices in each city and town allowing clients to make payments, file claims, and handle insurance work in the comfort of a professional office.
Then, GEICO decided to change the business model and preach SAVE SAVE SAVE and make insurance about the all mighty dollar. Now, clients in 2021 are less concerned with walking into their agent's office and more concerned about about how much money they can save via a phone call or text message.
The only way to get ahead of this is to ride the wave. Independent carriers who limit their advertising efforts, rely heavily on agents to do servicing work, and are specific about demographics they target have come together to create independent agencies that are more competitive with event the largest "money saving" companies such as GEICO or Progressive.
Learn about our EIA platform here and visit our FAQ and see the available carriers in your state and ask yourself:
"How many times have I lost a sale to that carrier?"
BUT IF I SELL MORE THERE WILL BE MORE SERVICING WORK
Correct, but not for you. Part of being on the EIA Platform™ is the fact that included in your agreement WE handle all of the servicing work for you. We do the servicing, endorsements, and even RE-BROKER™ your clients each year to ensure they have the most competitive rates for the policy you sold them at every renewal - thus increasing retention.
Sell as many policies as you want, even non-standard, because our service team (located in the USA) will handle everything for you. We are bi-lingual and include 400+ licensed agents to care for your clients.
GETTING PAID
Let's cut to the end. As an insurance producer you want to get paid. So, how do you get paid on the EIA platform? Simple, you get commission at a rate based on which plan you sign up for. We have a simplified commission structure and a no-hassle payment process that pays out on most policies using a net-30 time frame.
In order to understand how you get paid it is important to look at our plan options.
Our bronze plan is for non-licensed sales professionals so this will not apply to ANYONE with a P&C / Personal Lines license.
The GOLD plan is designed for licensed producers who are looking to build their own brand name and use the EIA Platform™ to skip them years ahead of their competition. The gold plan includes appointments with our carriers so you can quote AND bind instantly, access to our comparative rater software, E&O insurance, a customizable website, and social media management tools. This plan also includes the highest new business and renewal payouts. Keep in mind that for referring other agents to the platform you will also collect an override on their sales (paid from the EIA profits).
What if you currently are working for an agency and you cannot be appointed with another carrier? Well, good news, we have the SILVER PLAN and it is designed for active producers in the industry. The silver plan is designed to give active producers the ability to quote using our comparative rater technology but NOT bind. You get E&O coverage and the override commission share benefits also. But, at its core this plan is for agents who produce and want to remain employed full time at their current agency or in another industry.
How does silver work? You sign up for silver and within 2 business days you will have access to our comparative rater. When a potential client / lead calls your current office and you cannot help them, for whatever reason, you STOP REFERRING THEM TO YOUR COMPETITION DOWN THE STREET!
Let's address this right now. If you are trying to be helpful and send leads to your competition because you "don't want to just hang up with them and you want to be helpful" then you are not only losing that account; you are also losing any referrals and reviews that client would have handed over. STOP doing this. We designed the SILVER PLAN just for this.
Once you have quoted that client in your current agency and it has been denied, isn't competitive, or whatever else; you can then quote them in our comparative rating software. You know instantly if you are competitive and can help the client BEFORE you refer them anywhere. Is Safeco Cheaper? Maybe progressive? Maybe it is a fit for State Auto? Either way you know instantly and then you simply place the client on hold transfer the call to one of our servicing agents.
Our servicing agents then pull the exact quote with all the work you did and they bind the policy for you. You are done with the client (you can wait on the phone or just transfer them). The servicing agent handles all the e-sign and new business paperwork, gets their app setup, and you collect a new business commission share + renewal share for the referral. SIMPLE | EASY and you retain the client for their referrals and follow ups including Facebook or Google reviews.
SUMMARY
The insurance landscape is changing. EIA has built a platform with different plan levels that help you as a licensed producer reach your full poitrinal; even if you are currently working in another agency.
For agency owners, it would is naïve to think that "referring clients to the competition" is helping them. Stop letting agency owners, generational wealth, captive carriers, and fear stand in your way.