Do you work your book of business?

[WinoBlues]

Draft a simple "check in" email that mentions increasing coverage, additional coverage, coverage review, etc.

"If its been over 10 years since your policy was purchased, it would be a good idea for us to review the benefit amount to ensure it is still adequate".

I have been running across a BRM card like that that I used to mail. The best lead card I have ever used. An email version sounds like a great idea.

Google Workspace email has options to create templets now so you dont even really need a CRM

Thanks for the tip. As I am moving into a maintenance, referrals mode I am thinking I may not need a CRM outside of Google.

Organized Gmail?!? Me?

 

[somarco]

Maybe I should start scanning some old files!

 

[WinoBlues]

Maybe I should start scanning some old files!

It has been a task. I'm not the one doing it so not bad for me. But as I start scrolling thru a file it is so much easier than my paper file.

Because I regularly write multiple policies in the same household my file can get pretty thick. Also a paper hoarder. My scanner will duplex one pass scan at about 30 pages per minute.

 

[bill3173]

I try to make sure to keep up with premium increases on the med supps and term expirations, but as far as "mining" the current clients, not as much and very carefully. I have done a little of this, but mostly when I knew there was nothing to lose. I found out the hard way to let sleeping dogs lie, or they'll get up and leave your book.

There are some people that appreciate the "insurance review", where the agent begs them to buy something, but a lot would get turned off by it. I have some clients on the U65 book that call me constantly for anything and everything. I don't hesitate to make sales pitches to them.

There's nothing much to lose there imo, and I get the feeling that I'm nicer to them than most people, so they're not going anywhere. I actually take their calls, and return them. They are probably aggravating the piss out of everyone, from the server at the restaurant to the plumber, painter, etc.

 

[Travis Price]

In Medicare, you have to do annual reviews, honestly. We have a whole season for it.. But I just shoot out an email and let them come to me.

 

[scagnt83]

I disagree with @scagent83 that blind e-mails work.. I mean, they do.. but like how a ringless VM works.

If done correctly, its not blind. Its targeted. You are not sending each email out to your entire BoB. You send targeted emails to specific demographics in your Book. Such as email to "extend your term coverage"... which would only be sent to term clients... preferably term clients with policies over 10 years old if your email/crm lets you filter to that extent.

15 years of insurance sales has taught me this method works very well for life insurance clients.

Wino is working a life book, which is different than a Medicare book. Medicare is a constantly changing landscape, where you have to convince your clients to renew coverage with you year after year... AND compete against the many agents trying to convince them to renew with them instead. Completely different paradigm than a life book of biz imo.

And if clients arent bombarded with communications from you, they are more likely to pay attention to the communications you do send. So for the agents who just contact clients once a year for an annual review this method works well because its not "just another" email from their agent.

 

[Travis Price]

Wino is working a life book, which is different than a Medicare book. Medicare is a constantly changing landscape, where you have to convince your clients to renew coverage with you year after year... AND compete against the many agents trying to convince them to renew with them instead. Completely different paradigm than a life book of biz imo

I understand what you're saying, and a Medicare book IS different than a life book. I also agree with term conversions being a standard to improve business.

I just don't agree that 10-15 years between contacts is as effective as you think. Working a book isn't just about re-upping current clients, it's about extracting referrals too.

You're leaving large gaps in contact time, diminishing the relationship, and reducing lead generation opportunities.

I also don't know is Wino is a life only person, as most people offer multiple products. He might not, but even if not, I strongly disagree that 1 contact every 15 or so years is an effective way to extract maximum value out of a BoB, regardless of the product line.

My 18 years (I'm purposely being obnoxious here because I think it's funny, not dick-measuring) in the insurance business, says otherwise.. (PS: Your 15 years are totally more cumulative time than my 18 largely pt years)

Also, "another email contact" only matters when you're bombarding them with stuff about insurance.

My mortgage broker sends out a newsletter once a month. It's brief and rarely has anything to do with mortgages. Over the last 12 years, I've bought 3 houses and did 1 refinance..

She did all of them. I've referred at least 5 people to her over the years.

1 monthly newsletter.

 

[scagnt83]

I have been running across a BRM card like that that I used to mail. The best lead card I have ever used. An email version sounds like a great idea.



Thanks for the tip. As I am moving into a maintenance, referrals mode I am thinking I may not need a CRM outside of Google.

Organized Gmail?!? Me?

Another suggestion, is to really work your annual reviews. Send an email asking about life changes, additional debt, and "how much longer do you want your coverage to last"... which is a great question to get the conversation started about additional coverage.

Ive thought about sending the "how much longer do you want your coverage to last?" question as an email to all my term clients. Say that I will compare their answer to their current policy to ensure their coverage is up to date.

---

Labels are how I stay "organized" in Gmail/Contacts, along with some folders.

But when sorting to find certain filters, such as "Term Policy" or "Term Client", you can easily do that by using Labels within your google Contacts. And you can add more than 1 label to a contact, so a 20 year term from MoO could have the labels:
"Term Policy"
"California"
"20 year Term Policy"
"Mutual of Omaha Client"
"Married"
"Male"
"Actively Employed"
"Owns Multiple Policies"
etc.

Its not perfect, but it works pretty well and its really easy to make new labels or add a label to a contact. And it lets you easily filter and do targeted emails.

 

[scagnt83]

I understand what you're saying, and a Medicare book IS different than a life book. I also agree with term conversions being a standard to improve business.

I just don't agree that 10-15 years between contacts is as effective as you think. Working a book isn't just about re-upping current clients, it's about extracting referrals too.

You're leaving large gaps in contact time, diminishing the relationship, and reducing lead generation opportunities.

I also don't know is Wino is a life only person, as most people offer multiple products. He might not, but even if not, I strongly disagree that 1 contact every 15 or so years is an effective way to extract maximum value out of a BoB, regardless of the product line.

Travis, I never said to send an email every 10-15 years. I gave an example of an email to send to clients with policies that are over 10 years old. That does not mean an agent should not contact them prior to the 10 year mark. It was an example of a targeted email that is easy for a long time life agent like Wino to send (because he probably has 500+ term policies on his book that are over 10 years old).

Life agents should be contacting clients on an annual basis to perform annual reviews. Just because the premium doesnt change does not mean other factors dont change. Ensuring coverage is still adequate, personal info is correct, Beneficiary is still correct, etc are all part of the annual review process that agents should ideally be providing to clients.

And I think newsletters are a great marketing / contact method, for any insurance client. I mean, its essentially just a fancy email. But that extra step is something some agents would rather avoid if possible.

 

[Travis Price]

Travis, I never said to send an email every 10-15 years. I gave an example of an email to send to clients with policies that are over 10 years old.

Fair enough, thank you for clarifying