How to Take Customers from Geico

[iiinycboi]

I do give the speech about claims center, 800 number, how agents can help you when claims come into play.

80% i get this response, well im a safe driver and i've never gotten into an accident so i rather save on price now and im sure geico isnt that bad their company is so big. I probably never have to call geico claims center.

i usually just tell them, ok well if you change your mind or need any help feel free to call me. I'll be happy to help you if you have a question on your policy or any other needs.

never see them again lol

Well allstate did the same thing in my area 3 years ago, they were the lowest of the low. Now they are raising all rates year by year like a 30% increase each year. Most of my auto policies come from angry allstate customers. I just go "****" when they say do you do geico rates too?

 

[Norwayguy]

Well allstate did the same thing in my area 3 years ago, they were the lowest of the low. Now they are raising all rates year by year like a 30% increase each year. Most of my auto policies come from angry allstate customers. I just go "****" when they say do you do geico rates too?

In that case you should say...do you want to come back in 2-3 years all pissed about geico because they are doing what Allstate did they are buying business now and will raise rates later on.

 

[marbella]

Geico tend to be cheaper on the lower coverages, but on the higher end, they tend to cost more, also they have been raising their rates. so I have been "taking plenty of their client"

 

[tjeyoyo]

[FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]Combating Geckonomics[/FONT][FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]So I was inthe Minneapolis airport on Sunday waiting for a return flight from the Big"I" Fall conference, reading the current edition of [FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]Business Week[/FONT] magazine andan ad caught my eye. The ad features a book cover titled "Geckonomics; ACase Study in Saving People Money on More Than Just Car Insurance." Ithought, [FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]there we go again;a direct writer reducing the insurance purchase decision to solely a functionof price and may the lowest price win[/FONT]. Then I was reminded of whatKen Branch, Sr Sales VP for Encompass said at the insurance company PresidentsPanel sponsored by the YoungAgents during the conference.

In a nutshell Branch made a passionate plea to agents not to allow themselvesto get caught up in competing on price for personal lines, and that if they do,they and the independent system will lose. "There is always someone outthere that will have a lower price," Branch said. "As agents you needto change the topic from price to coverage."

Branch asserts that as independents, we can earn our TrustedChoice® stripes and convince people that we are a trustedadvisor, then we can inoculate ourselves somewhat from the personal lines pricewars. We can do that by helping customers understand why our coverage offeringsare better than what they have, or even just better understand what they arebuying. If we do that, many customers will be less likely to shop and be morelikely to stay for that kind of added value.

Branch also emphasized the importance of agents doing everything possible toestablish and maintain a personal relationship with customers. He acknowledgedthe growing role social media tools are having on greatly enhancing thoserelationships. Think for instance about the impact on your customers if youcould Tweet a note on disaster preparedness a few days before the storm hits.Another tactic readily available is sending professionallydone but low-cost newsletters to your customers on a regular basis.

Neither Branch nor anyone else is naive to suggest that a focus on coverages,value, and investing resources in relationships can overcome wide differencesin price. On the flipside, neither should we as agents succumb to the "Ican't grow if I don't have the lowest price" mentality. However, abalanced approach to selling and servicing, where the education of ourcustomers on what it is they are buying combined with a proactive process ofconsistently nurturing a relationship with them, will enable us to win more battlesthan we lose when we come up against the direct writers.

Then maybe we could place an ad in [FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]BusinessWeek[/FONT] with a simulated book cover called [FONT="Arial","sans-serif"]Trustonomics[/FONT]. Just a thought![/FONT]

 

[djs]

Every carrier without the lowest price wants you to focus on coverage, but at the same time, they won't articulate why their policy provides better coverage than the company with the lowest premium. They want you to do it.

There are differences, but with any preferred company, its almost in the noise level, though they act like its the difference between a non-standard policy with triple deductibles and named driver only type of stuff to a real preferred policy. No, its the difference between how a comp claim is handled and what is covered, but not really easy to tell since the differences are subtle.

Yes, its easy to tell someone why $5K, $10K, even $25K isn't enough in property damage coverage. It's harder to tell them why they should have more than $100/$300 in liability since they feel they are decent, responsible drivers. This is true with every driver, every policy.

I always laugh when I hear things like 'sell value, not price'. In insurance (especially auto), I have to ask if they would like to sit in front of clients for a while and make that pitch. I might learn something!!!!

Yes, a DP-1 home policy is not a great value, regardless of the price. But when its the difference between a State Farm, Allstate, Safeco or Travelers HO-3 policies, its hard to have one present a lot more value than the other, since they are fundamentally the same policy with some small changes. At that point, its about price.

Dan

 

[CaptiveGuy]

Every carrier without the lowest price wants you to focus on coverage, but at the same time, they won't articulate why their policy provides better coverage than the company with the lowest premium. They want you to do it.

There are differences, but with any preferred company, its almost in the noise level, though they act like its the difference between a non-standard policy with triple deductibles and named driver only type of stuff to a real preferred policy. No, its the difference between how a comp claim is handled and what is covered, but not really easy to tell since the differences are subtle.

Yes, its easy to tell someone why $5K, $10K, even $25K isn't enough in property damage coverage. It's harder to tell them why they should have more than $100/$300 in liability since they feel they are decent, responsible drivers. This is true with every driver, every policy.

I always laugh when I hear things like 'sell value, not price'. In insurance (especially auto), I have to ask if they would like to sit in front of clients for a while and make that pitch. I might learn something!!!!

Yes, a DP-1 home policy is not a great value, regardless of the price. But when its the difference between a State Farm, Allstate, Safeco or Travelers HO-3 policies, its hard to have one present a lot more value than the other, since they are fundamentally the same policy with some small changes. At that point, its about price.

Dan

This is why I had to go independent that "sell the value" crap was getting old. If the client can get the same price and coverage at a better price what is the "value" of the higher priced company? Do they answer the phone better? Do they have a nicer logo?

GEICO is hit and miss with a lot of clients. They seem to cater towards the one car, under 30, renter. I can compete with them all day when I package the renters and auto. The OP may need additional markets.

In the meantime you can do what the carrier reps say and sell the value of being $500 more for the year...

 

[GeminiGroup]

Well, said, Dan & CapGuy

I to would love some suit to "articulate why their policy provides better coverage than the company with the lowest premium".

It's like some gas stations here on the Westside on L.A. some stations are within 5-15 cents of each other but one guy is always 70-90 cents higher, how the hell is he going to sell value with that large of gap in price, it just isn't there.

Now the 5-15 cents guys are within range, they can shake off their variances due to a) having "better" service b) a "better" gas product but when your "big company" 87 product is $4.89 a gallon and his "big company" 87 product is $3.99 you gotta help me explain that whole "value proposition" again.

* These are the real prices of two stations at either end of the block today in West LA. (Yesterday it was $3.91.....up 08cents in one night)

 

[OhioIA]

Geico has three levels of policies. Make sure you know what their specific policy covers. I have seen some of Geico's policies that barely meet the state minimum. It's hard to compete with Geico unless you know which policy they are on.

 

[Guest]

I always tell them what GEICO stands for, and they want nothing to do with it....

Government
Employees
Insurance
Company

 

[joshb]

We're still sales people at the end of the day, so you still need to point out the differences and harp on certain things with certain companies to make a sale. I specifically harp on claims service when in competition to Geico because in our region they have a bad reputation, and their preferred shops also have bad reps. I harp on that, and tell the consumer to just look at the number of complaints they have vs. all of the other carriers. I make quite a few sales by harping on things like that. Price isn't everything. Some companies do have differences in the level of service they provide, ease of billing (i.e. payment options etc), and reputation of claims service.