Clients Sister Knows Best

C'mon Bob

Get involved in her life, beyond insurance, and know more about her. Send her e-mails that might be of interest. Make her aware of upcoming events in her area, that has to do with something she is involved in, or a volunteer organization she may be interested in joining, or sharing.

Are you telling me that I should do this for all of my clients?.......

It might be resonable if I had 100 or less. But, realisticaly when you have clients that you don't even know you have (because your agency is doing their job and prospecting, filling the pipe with new names and running like a well oiled machine) this is impossible.

I can't tell you the last time I received an email from my dentist, doctor, attorney or CPA on the joys of fatherhood or how to fret a Gmin6 chord in the fourth position. Never happens - never will.

The only thing that you can do as an insurance professional is - recomend what you would do (based on their circumstances) knowing what you know.

Let me ask you: If you, HONESTLY, did not represent a line of coverage, and it had the best plan currently for her, would you recommend she take it?

Ahh this separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls and the insurance professionals from the guy that sells insurance. Not sure where this is coming from...... But, absolutely.

If a client is going to shop your agency for price - they will eventually leave your agency for price. If a client is looking for a blue widget and you have every color under the rainbow but blue (I hate it when that happens) they will eventually find the agency with the blue widget.

Being a professional in this industry means that you always conduct yourself as a professional..... and I'll bet you that the client that bought the blue widget from the other agency would have no problem referring you to every person she knows (that needs a magenta colored widget).
 
I'm not saying you do it for all your clients. It is absolutely impossible to do so. I was just addressing this one client. There are some clients I am closer to than the others, and yes, we do socialize, and I do hear from my dentist, and my auto insurance guy regarding other things, including my children's involvement in Marching Band, etc.

You know, if you don't want feedback, don't ask for it.

While others were talking about face amounts and deductibles, I was under the impression that you were interested in how to be "on the inside" with your client. Obviously, I was wrong.

Please retract my post from this discussion, since it holds no weight with you.

It was not meant as a stab, it was just my two cents worth. I had no idea how many clients you have. And, no, I don't get involved in the lives of each of my clients, but there are a handful (80/20 Rule) that I am. I see them at Kroger. I see them at the movies. I send them information I come across that has to do with an interest they have.

Obviously you need the advice from someone of more esteem in your eyes.

Sorry.
 
How to get people to raise their liability limits....

First, realize that most won't. Most want to balance premium with coverage. Having 100/300 is still pretty decent and having 250/500 doesn't prevent blowing through the limits.

Second, you'll never push a client into higher limits, but you can offer the option. You quote it with the normal limits, so offer a quote with 100/300 and 250/500. If they ask about the 250/500 then the door is open to....

Third, have a list of recent jury awards available. You can get these through juryverdicts.com, but there is a subscription fee. Otherwise, collect them through news sources. When they ask about higher limits, start out by talking about how fast something can go wrong when you are driving, a blink of an eye... Have you ever been driving and looked away for just a second and almost hit someone??? Let me show you what happened in some cases where they actually hit someone... in just that brief second... Review a couple of the cases... Then mention 'I never want one of my clients to have to pay these bills out of their pocket'. Proceed to write the app.

Of course, start with increasing their property damage limits. I quoted against another carrier where the prospect had 100/300 but only 10K in property damage.... Talk about an imbalance!!!!

Personal stories, which you collect over time, work very well.

Selling higher limits isn't always easy. People don't want to be insurance rich and financially poor. Unless they have a young driver, having the higher limits rarely costs them that much though, which is why I quote them initially, then try to sell them.

Dan
 
I just got off the phone with an 8 year customer. She called in and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Thanks for calling....."

Her: "Hey this is xxxxxxxxx, I need to bump up my coverage to $250/$500"

Me: "Great I can do that for you right now, what made you think about this?" (I was thinking to myself great she just had an accident and wants to raise her limits)

Her: "My sister from TX just called and told me I need to have those limits, is she right?"

Me: "blah blah liability blah blah assets blah blah protection"

Her: "I'd also like to get an umbrella policy"

Me: "(after regaining consciencouness) I will work up a quote and call you right back"


I just posted this long comment because I am excited and frustrated at the same time. How do we create that kind of trust with our clients? How do we portray ourselves as experts so they will listen to us and accept our advice as easily and readily as they do the advice of their sister or brother who works at McDonalds?

What do you do in your agency to build loyalty and earn the trust of your clients?

Maybe I misunderstood your question. Do you want to build loyalty or do you want to provide security and sell more larger policies? You keep doing annual reviews and I'm sure your loyalty will increase. Also, if you sell some a home, car, and umbrella policy and you create real insurance understanding, you'll have a hard time losing them.

If you want to sell larger policies for your benefit, their benefit, and the insurance company's benefit...

Have you tried presenting a standard, a gold and a platinum package?

Standard package maybe you quote the 100/300 limits. Gold quote $500CSL with $1000 deductibles. Platinum package quote $500CSL, $500 deductibles, $45 lou, towing, etc.

Dell has a few base computers. When you call them you pick the base model you want, then they tweak it for your needs. Why not do that with car insurance?
 
Standard package maybe you quote the 100/300 limits. Gold quote $500CSL with $1000 deductibles. Platinum package quote $500CSL, $500 deductibles, $45 lou, towing, etc.

Dell has a few base computers. When you call them you pick the base model you want, then they tweak it for your needs. Why not do that with car insurance?

Because thats hokey and is what the online direct writers do. Why not just be a good agent and write the coverages your client needs and can afford?
 
Maybe I misunderstood your question. Do you want to build loyalty or do you want to provide security and sell more larger policies? You keep doing annual reviews and I'm sure your loyalty will increase. Also, if you sell some a home, car, and umbrella policy and you create real insurance understanding, you'll have a hard time losing them.

If you want to sell larger policies for your benefit, their benefit, and the insurance company's benefit...

Have you tried presenting a standard, a gold and a platinum package?

Standard package maybe you quote the 100/300 limits. Gold quote $500CSL with $1000 deductibles. Platinum package quote $500CSL, $500 deductibles, $45 lou, towing, etc.

Dell has a few base computers. When you call them you pick the base model you want, then they tweak it for your needs. Why not do that with car insurance?

I have only owned this agency for 1 year so I understand it will take time to build those relationships, it was just frustrating. I tell clients all the time that they need higher coverage limits and sometimes they listen sometimes not. Her sister told her she needs higher limits and she didn't even think twice about it.

I'm not looking to sell bigger policies (I won't complain about it either though) I just want them to trust me the way they trust family. Think about it, when your doctor tells you to get a test done or to take a pill you don't question him. He is the professional and you take his advice.

How do I become the insurance professional to my clients? What are some practices you guys use in your agency to set yourself apart as an expert/professional rather than a salesman?
 
Because thats hokey and is what the online direct writers do. Why not just be a good agent and write the coverages your client needs and can afford?


I don't think anything Dell does is hokey. They seem to sell a lot of computers.

Who decides what a client needs and what a client can afford? Shouldn't the client? Most people don't understand their insurance. This is one good way to help increase insurance understanding.
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I have only owned this agency for 1 year so I understand it will take time to build those relationships, it was just frustrating. I tell clients all the time that they need higher coverage limits and sometimes they listen sometimes not. Her sister told her she needs higher limits and she didn't even think twice about it.

I'm not looking to sell bigger policies (I won't complain about it either though) I just want them to trust me the way they trust family. Think about it, when your doctor tells you to get a test done or to take a pill you don't question him. He is the professional and you take his advice.

How do I become the insurance professional to my clients? What are some practices you guys use in your agency to set yourself apart as an expert/professional rather than a salesman?

I know of a great life insurance agent that says "Own what you recommend. And keep dec pages easily availible so you can show your insureds you believe in what you are selling."

He keeps all his life insurance, DI insurance, and annuity dec pages handy so if someone balks he can says this is what I do.

I've not done it for P&C but I bet it would work great.

Imagine sitting with a client and he asks what he should do and you can say, "Well I have maximum protection on my car insurance and I've supplemented that with this umbrella policy to increase my protection to $2,500,000. See." (you hold up your dec pages right now)
 
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Go ahead and shoe horn your clients into a standard, gold, or platinum package. I'm going to keep being a service to my clients and investigate their needs and budget and find the best mix of coverages for them.
 
"Go ahead and shoe horn your clients "

and you're the same person who posted...

"When I need a raise, I just increase everyones limits on my own"

That's what you consider great service? increase their costs until they complain?

I guess that's one way to do it. Good luck when "due dilligence" hit's the P&C business. That'll be a fun business model to explain in court.
 
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