Running an Agency Without a Marketing Plan
I recently presented at a National Alliance Dynamic of Personal Insurance event in Chicago. As I was on the plane home, I was thinking how few agencies seem to have a marketing plan. My portion of this program talked about the changing consumer and how insurance agents can generate a flow of prospects.
An essential element of success has a plan. There are at least three problems when trying to grow an agency without a plan.
Problem #1: Too much to do – too little time.
Insurance agents work hard (at least many of them). A common question is, “How can I get everything done that you suggest I need to do?”
Part of the answer is to use available technology tools. People were surprised when I described how I can post three status updates on five different social sites every day by spending 30 minutes once a week. I have tools I use that help me leverage my time.
Problem #2: Leaving money buried in your existing book.
Based on the best numbers I have been able to acquire, the average insurance agency has 1.4 to 1.6 policies per personal lines account. Agency owners know they need to round out accounts, but the numbers show they do not do it.
An internal marketing plan for upgrading current coverage and rounding out accounts is a solution. It is not an easy solution. It takes work to set up and maintain. Once the initial work is done, it will pay off by building a better quality book of business.
Problem #3: Wasting hours of time.
As an agency owner, you do not have time to waste. Every minute counts, especially if your goal is to spend less time working and more time doing what you love.
An agency marketing plan is a way to leverage your time as well as your staff’s time. Without a plan, every new idea is the “next best thing.” It is called the shiny object syndrome. Every new marketing trick takes precedence.
A marketing plan is a plan for a reason. It lets you know what you want to accomplish. It tells you the steps you are going to take to achieve your goals. At the same time, it allows for flexibility and changes. Finding and using technology resources to help you implement your plan certainly can save you time. However, the tools will not help if you do not know what you want to achieve.
A marketing plan does not have to be fancy. You do not need to take days or weeks to create one. Just write down your goals and the three or four steps you can take to get started to make them happen.
What do you do for a marketing plan? Let me know.
Every year I set a Big Picture Goal. Then whatever that goal is I work backwards to figure out what needs to be done to achieve that goal. Then I put together a step by step process that can be tracked to achieve The Big Picture. For example: Let’s say I have a goal of increasing my product density with my current clients by .24 policies per household. If I have 1000 households then that means I need to cross sell a minimum of 240 policies to my existing book, or 20 policies/month, or 1 policy every working day. Then I look at what increases cross sell opportunities (client reviews, client focused email marketing, Thank You cards/calls) and focus on steps to use those methods to meet the one policy per day goal. With this kind of focus, the Shiny New Thing doesn’t distract unless I believe it will help achieve the Big Picture Goal!
Joseph, this is a great way to create a plan and move your organization forward. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Writing it down and creating the action steps to lead to your big goal will produce results. Congratulations.
Steve, what tool do you use to manage your social posts?
Hi Chris, I use BufferApp, works great. https://buffer.com/