I Am Visiting All Banks and Captive Agencies for Network Assist

[cosanostra]

Tomorrow, I will be meeting with all captive agencies and banks. I am doing this in order to network and market our independent agency. We are a full service personal and commercial insurance agency. A year ago, I developed a relationship with an agency in town and had great results with referral business. They would send me clients with needs and risks that they could not handle.

My question is this.....what is the best way to market our agency? Do I need to laminate a flyer with our markets, types of risks and lines of business that we write? I feel that a business card and a small conversation may not be effective long-term and they will not have a constant reminder that there is someone in town that can help them.

 

[djs]

Re: I Am Visiting All Banks and Captive Agencies for Network Assi

This is always tough. You actually need to develop a relationship, not just introduce yourself. 90% of what you hand out will be in the trash before you get out the door. Most of the remainder will be there the next time the person cleans off his desk.

Sorry, but that is reality.

You'll need to start developing a relationship, show them why its to their advantage to work with you. For captives, you'll have to be clear that you will not market to their book of business to steal their business (and they will not believe you). They will want to know whats in it for them, you'll have to have a clear answer.

Banks are finicky.... they usually have an insurance department that writes anything that has a decent premium and cast off all of the low dollar stuff. I've never been successful with banks, though haven't pursued it much. Let me know how that goes.

I have no idea what your agency is or what makes it different. It appears you have some commercial markets that are a bit higher risk / non-standard (or else no captives will give you any referrals, they will write it themselves). You'll have to come up with a target market and why you can serve that market better than me (err, I mean the competition).

I assume you are pretty new in the business (let me know if I'm wrong). Agents, even independents, learn real quick what they will write and what they won't. I'll warn you that things that are spun off from other agents tend to be time sinks and hard to place. I had a referral from another agent (independent even) the other week, she couldn't place a commercial risk. Both of us thought it would be an easy risk to place, but as I talked with various underwriters, none of them would touch it. It wasn't a high risk business, but the underwriters saw it differently.

Funny business sometimes. You have to know your markets and you have to know when a risk won't work. Even if you have a market, if the premium is going to kill the client, it doesn't work.

Dan

 

[insuranceexec]

Re: I Am Visiting All Banks and Captive Agencies for Network Assi

This is good for you sometimes you have to make a strong relationships with some agencies to get more referral this had been very effective for me

While I appreciate your efforts to contribute.

Will you please make an effort to at least use spell check, punctuate correctly, and keep your words in the same tense. You are giving me a head ache!

You have set a new record. 32 posts in 1 hour.

 

[cosanostra]

Re: I Am Visiting All Banks and Captive Agencies for Network Assi

thanks for the support, janice. Is that your real name?
I'm only 31 and in the business (again) for two years since grad school. I have 100% confedence in my prospects in the industry.
You can do it too.

Hope to see you again very soon!