"Tips Appreciated"



You might think twice before hanging this in the office...



There are many laws that dictate what you are, and what you are not, allowed to do as an insurance agent. One of those laws involves giving and receiving kick backs or gifts. If you've forgotten the fact since you passed your licensing test, they're not allowed.

However you are allowed to receive referrals. In a way, a referral is your gratuity. A referral is your client's way of saying you did a great job and they enjoyed your service. When you receive great service in other industries, you reward that person with a tip.  When you get a referral as an agent, you're getting a tip.

Getting referrals is easy. Just exceed all of your client's expectations of service, or in other words do for your customers everything you want your agent to do for you. Trust me, they will tell others about you.

Or you could just ask! When you get your bill at the restaurant they put a nice little convenient line right under your total for you to write in the tip. Why not add a page to your document with a few extra lines and ask for a few names of friends or family that would appreciate the same service and savings that you just provided them?

There are several easy tips that you can incorporate into your sales technique that will have your clients volunteering names and numbers of friends. For one of these tips just email me at nextgenagent@gmail.com and I will share one with you.

Close Only Counts In Horseshoes

Getting closest to the peg in horseshoes will win you the game, but just getting close to reaching your customers in advertising will waste a lot of your money. 

I speak with a great deal of agents who go through “slow times”; when the phone just isn’t ringing.  Sure they find tasks to fill their day with servicing, but new business production takes a plunge.  Believe me, nothing makes you feel worse as an agent than to work your tail off but at the end of the week your score card is blank.

In a recent conversation one of my agents told me that he was “waiting on the phone to ring.”  If I wanted to be mean I could have told him that the definition of waiting is “to remain inactive or in a state of repose until something expected happens.” 

Promoting your agency and yourself takes action.  If you sit and wait on the phone to ring, you might as well lock your doors, hang the closed sign, and go golfing for the day.  In fact, I would recommend that.  You would actually have a better chance at making a sale. 

What do you do during the slow times?  Do you wait or do you make things happen? 

For example, I was watching television the other day when a commercial for a local trial attorney came on and his jingle was “call Star Star Law” (**LAW).  It was sung lyrically and repeated about 15 times during the ad at which point I was ready to turn it.  I grabbed the remote thinking why would you waste your time making that?! Right after turning the channel, my little two year old niece was playing in the floor, not paying me any attention, singing “call Star Star Law.”  I cannot tell you the phone number to any other lawyers in town but I know his by heart.

I know one agent who took the money he would have spent on a Yellow Page ad and bought one of those traveling food vending trailers.  He strategically placed his agency logo on it and he donates it for free to civic groups to use to have bake sells out of.  Not only is he providing a community service and a good deed, he’s getting “miles” of promotion out of it for his agency.

You don’t have to have a marketing degree or access to expensive ad departments like the show Mad Men.  My grandfather used to say you “gotta fish where the fish are.”  Sometimes all you need to do is get out from behind your desk and go meet people.  They’re out there!  They’re at Starbucks getting coffee or the local diner eating lunch.  They’re at fairs and community events.  But the one place you won’t find them is in your office.

Tomorrow, if you’re setting in your office and no one calls before 11:00 am for a piece of new business, grab a stack of your business cards and hit the pavement.  Don’t return until you’ve talked to at least three new people. 

Has Your Agency Caught A Case of "Mono"?

On the couch, thermometer in my mouth, cold sprite by my side, and hot chicken noodle soup to soothe my aching throat.  Sick for a few weeks, way longer than I should have been, a visit to my family physician was in store.  Symptoms were:  sore throat, low grade fever, and the worst part crippling lethargy.  Diagnosis:  Mononucleosis.  (Aka, the kissing disease but in reality contracted from sharing a water bottle while playing softball)

The worst part was the apathy.  I didn't want to do anything!  At least any more than I had to.  Go to work; come home.  Eat dinner; go to bed.   No hanging out with buddies, no hot dates with my wife, and no more sports.  Just lots of bed and lots of reality TV.    

Which makes me think what if there were an Insurance Agency rescue show?

(Read this next bit in deep "promo guy" voice) This week on Agency 911 the Next Generation Agent team visits ABC Insurance Associates in Columbus OH, where owner John Smith is having trouble with producer passivity. It seems his team has their lines crossed when it comes to cross selling! (Ok, you can stop the creepy voice now)

Could I have just as easily substituted your agency's name?  Has your staff become indifferent, doing only the bare minimum?  If you did an agency book profile what percentage of it would be mono-line? Think about your last ten pieces of new business, how many were packages?  How many may lead to packages?  If you didn't say at least seven you may need a visit from Agency 911. 

All kidding aside, your preferred customers likely own other assets.  Writing their auto policy was just your foot in the door.  When completing your DNA checklist (read my previous post!) you better be asking things like "Do you own a home? And if so who is it currently insured with?"; "Do you own a boat or any recreational vehicles like ATV's?"; "Any rental property or seasonal dwellings?" 

These questions are designed to help you cross sell, the easiest way to build agency revenue.  But it also paints a more accurate picture of their insurance needs and more importantly it builds personal rapport and trust, all leading to greater volume, increased retention, and referrals. 

In conclusion, Next Generation Agents are immune to mono-line sickness!  Their mantra is "A package a day keeps the doctor away."