Over at his blog Ask Tim, independent insurance agent Tim Dodge provides his view on the price versus coverage debate.

This is a popular topic for most insurance professionals. In our “Closing The Deal” webinar, HometownQuotes co-founder and CEO Hunter Ingram encourages insurance agents to ask prospects, “What’s most important to you? Price or coverage?”

If the prospect responds that coverage is most important, Ingram encourages insurance pros to deliver the best coverage options available, regardless of cost. If the prospect indicates that price is most important, Ingram recommends building a customized insurance policy based on what the prospect says is most important to him or her.

All prospects are different, so providing coverage options for both types of consumers is key to growing your business.

If you’re looking for a way to connect with qualified prospects in your coverage area, we can help! Click here to get more information.

I’ve mentioned Seth Godin on this blog several times. With short, concise and thought-provoking blog posts, Seth shares daily insight valuable to any business owner, employee, marketer or entrepreneur – regardless of industry.

One of his recent posts covered monotony and giving less than your best. It can be so easy to settle into a routine. Insurance quote after insurance quote. Insurance policy after insurance policy. Day after day. As Seth illustrates, however, this isn’t the way to live. We’re constantly looking for what’s “next” versus focusing on what’s in front of us or preparing for what’s next.

My favorite line of this particular post is the closing sentences:

‘Perhaps the alternative is instead of thinking, “next!”, we can think, “last!”

This might be the last time I get to do this.

If I do it that way, it increases the chances that it won’t.’

Well put Seth. What are you going to implement in your insurance business today to break the routine and make every interaction count?

If you’ve ever shoe-shopped online, chances are good that you’ve seen a Zappos ad, read an article about Zappos or perhaps even purchased shoes from them. Zappos is known for its stellar customer service – which includes super-helpful customer loyalty representatives, free shipping both ways and overnight upgraded delivery.

Zappos focuses on creating a superb customer experience and every single day, Zappos employees live out their mission of “delivering happiness”. The company’s CEO Tony Hsieh has even released a book titled “Delivering Happiness” that covers how his company does just that.

Do you deliver happiness with your customers and prospects? Do you genuinely go out of your way to help others have a better day? What details do you focus on to make ensure your customers enjoy working with you? What would your customers say about you?

How do you respond when an insurance prospect or customer asks what makes you or your company different from the other insurance agents or insurance companies out there?

Do you go into defensive mode? Do you instantly begin touting what puts you above the rest? Do you break into a cold sweat?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, let’s rethink a few things.

Most prospects are simply looking for unbiased guidance to help them make the best insurance decisions.  If you know the strengths of the competition, share it. The simple fact that you’ll have a calm conversation about the other coverage options is enough to impress most prospects.

As Dale Carnegie has told us, people like to do business with people they know, like and trust. Bashing, degrading or providing false information about the competition does not accomplish any of those things.

By respectfully and objectively providing the information your prospect seeks, you will earn their trust and will be that much closer to earning their business.

One of my favorite blogs of all time is by Seth Godin. You’re probably familiar with his books – “Purple Cow“, “The Dip“, “Tribes” and his newest work “Linchpin“.

You can count on Seth to post a morsel of marketing goodness and/or business wisdom on his blog daily. With short, easy to digest, yet incredibly thought-provoking posts, Godin’s blog is a must-have-bookmarked site for any businessperson, whether you’re an insurance professional or not.

A few weeks ago, Seth posted some valuable insight about finding referrals. We know that referrals are a lifeline in the insurance business. The key point of his post is: To get referrals, you must be a remarkable person. I’m including this line directly: “The only thing that will make you remarkable is being worth remarking about.”

Let that settle in for a moment.

What does it mean to be remarkable?

Have you ever had one of those days where you only felt like doing “just enough”? We’ve all been there.

Unfortunately “just enough” is never good for our customers and it’s certainly not good for our bottom line.

If you truly want to see your insurance business flourish and grow, the mindset you need to master is “more than expected”.

Always go the extra mile for your customers and insurance leads. Dig deep and ask probing questions to find out what they want or need. Don’t just tell them you understand. Show them you understand their needs by going above and beyond to address their concerns.

People can tell when you genuinely care about them. And they can spot a fake from a mile away. So make it a point to be real and provide top-notch customer service. Even if they don’t sign the insurance policy immediately, there’s a good chance you may have a future customer or a few great referrals.

Vow today to do way more than “just enough”. Commit to continually doing “more than expected” and watch your insurance sales skyrocket.

If you’re an insurance professional, chances are pretty good that you’ve heard the word “no” at least a few times during your career.  How do you let “no” affect you? Do you hang up the phone in anger? Delete or throw away the insurance prospect’s file in frustration? I sure hope not.

How you respond after being told “no” will determine your success. (And the previous responses are not the proper or appropriate actions of a successful insurance agent!)

Just because someone tells you “no” on the front-end, that does not mean they are completely shutting down on you. A major component of business is building relationships. Here are a few tips for bonding with prospects and working toward a yes or a referral:

Be intentional. Go out of your way to help your prospects. Learn about their profession and what they’re passionate about. Try to refer business to them. When you refer business to someone else, typically the law of reciprocity comes into play. Invite them to networking events with you. Call them on their birthday. Set a date in your calendar to follow up with them and give an updated insurance quote.

Stay in front of them. Create a monthly email newsletter that includes money-saving tips, interesting articles, etc. and ask if it’s okay to email it to them. Get involved with your local community. Offer to write a column for your local newspaper about insurance and finance. Find ways like this to stay top-of-mind.

Remember that “the fruit is in the follow-up”. Even if you’ve been told “no”, setup follow-up calls in your calendar. Call back in a few months for a check-in to see how things are going. Are they happy with the service/coverage/price they’ve received? According to a Leads360 whitepaper, 6 calls equals success when it comes to lead conversion. Don’t give up!

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In the February issue of Rough Notes magazine, there’s a fantastic article titled “Transforming your sales culture” by Gary Abram. In the article, he introduces two fictitious insurance agencies – the Stuck Agency and the HiGro Agency.

As the box above clearly illustrates, the ideal agency is the HiGro Agency – an insurance business that is strong, competitive and strategic. The Stuck Agency has a weak sales culture due to lack of overall vision and planning.

What about your insurance agency? Do you have a superstar sales culture like HiGro? Or a weak, haphazard sales culture like the Stuck Agency?

To learn more about creating a vision for your insurance business, click here.

If your insurance sales need a jumpstart, give us a call so we can customize a sales solution just for you. You can reach our team by calling 615-599-5506 ext. 2.

To read Abram’s full article, head over to Rough Notes by clicking here.

Sales are the lifeblood of any business. As an insurance agent, what are you doing to keep the lifeblood of your insurance agency pumping? There are multiple ways you can keep your sales funnel full of new insurance prospects. Here are a few tips:

1) Become a Chamber of Commerce member. Chamber members enjoy a multitude of benefits, including networking opportunities, training classes/seminars, member directory listing and more.

2) Ask for referrals. Just do it. You’ll write some of your BEST business through referrals. Don’t be afraid to tell your current customers that your business is built on referrals and that you’d be honored to help any friends or family members who have insurance questions. (We talk about asking for referrals here.)

3) Ask your local media to help you publicize a “Dissect your insurance policy” day. There are SO many people who have no clue what is and what is not covered by their current insurance policies. Have a day where you encourage people to bring in their policies and let you explain, in plain English, what is and is not covered. HIGHLY unlikely the agent down the street is offering that. You may close some sales on the spot.

3) Generate online leads through your very own insurance agency website. If you have not yet created a website for your insurance business, what are you waiting for? The Internet is where many people go first when making a purchase decision. (Click here to read what you’re missing if you don’t have a website for your insurance business.)

4) Let HometownQuotes bring prospects to you! Okay, a shameless plug – but it’s true! HometownQuotes insurance leads are one more way to maintain a steady stream of prospects. Call to learn more: 1-800-820-2981.

May your funnel be full!

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“I just wanted to pass along some positive feedback. I thought it was a great call that was worth my time. I got a lot of useful information that I’ll try. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a webinar that I actually walked away with some useful information. So thanks!” – insurance agent in Nebraska

“Thanks for pointing out that insurance agents need to sound like human beings. It’s really good to hear that you made a good living without having to can a fake-sounding, corny speech. I’m encouraged.” - insurance agent in Texas

“I only attended the Q&A session at the end of the presentation but I enjoyed and benefited from it very much. Please let me know about any and all educational opportunities you have available. Thanks!” - insurance agent in Colorado

“Thanks for being up front and honest with no hype.” - insurance agent in Ohio

On December 2, we had a record-breaking webinar. More insurance professionals participated than ever before AND it was our longest-running webinar at 2 HOURS. Our CEO Hunter Ingram answered dozens of wonderful, thought-provoking questions supplied by the participating insurance agents. Here are a few of them:

Question from an insurance pro: How do you attract consumers to your site?

Hunter Ingram: Let’s start by discussing what we DON’T do. We do not attract consumers by incentivising them. No free poker chips. No free trips to Maui or new iPods. That is not in the best interest of the consumer NOR you, the insurance professional. If a consumer is incentivised to complete an insurance lead form, that is not a legitimate lead and you shouldn’t be paying for it. We attract the highest-quality leads by thinking like consumers and spending our marketing dollars with Google and other search engines.

Question from an insurance pro: What do you think about text messaging prospects?

Hunter Ingram: That’s a great question. I think it’s an interesting way to do business. We haven’t had any agents share their experiences with text messaging to prospects. When I ran my insurance agency, text messaging wasn’t really even in the realm of possibilities. I think it’s great to be cutting-edge with technology, but I don’t have any personal insight since I haven’t used text messaging in that regard. I’d like to get feedback from anyone who has used it in this manner. If any of you are texting consumers, how are they responding? (If you have feedback, please share at the bottom of this blog post!)

Question from an insurance pro: What type of prospects look for online insurance quotes?

Hunter Ingram: There is a wide variety of consumers who use the Internet to shop for insurance. From my experience with the YellowPages and other methods of advertising, the ROI was not good, the lead tracking was not effective and I was reaching a small segment of consumers. With Internet leads, insurance professionals have access to a vast pool of consumers, the return on investment is great and the tracking is easy.

Question from an insurance pro: What advice can you offer regarding followup emails?

Hunter Ingram: Following up with prospects is very important and I highly believe in email. It’s a good way to stay in front of the customer, but it’s not the only communication method you should be using. Pick up the phone and call the consumer. Just because the prospect searched for insurance online does not mean online communication should be the primary mode of contact. Make sure you balance the two mediums.

Question from an insurance pro: What is the best way to handle leads that come in after hours?

Hunter Ingram: For the online insurance leads you receive after hours, I recommend using an auto-responder indicating that you will call first thing in the morning. I don’t know about all the federal/state do not call laws, but I’m sure they vary per state. Most agents do not make calls after hours or on weekends, so your close ratio should really increase if you work the leads at these times.

Stay tuned for more great questions and make sure you email Krista (krista at hometownquotes dot com) if you’re interested in attending our next webinar about closing Internet leads!