Technology As A Marketing Tool
Jack Burke
The insurance industry is sitting between the proverbial rock and a hard spot -- despite rising commissions. Granted the hardening marketplace has increased premiums, which increases commission revenue -- BUT it's getting harder to find markets for your insured. Just take a look at umbrella liability coverages as an example. Plus, the economic downturn has our commercial insureds counting pennies, cutting costs and laying off personnel. So revenue may begin to diminish due to corporate cost-cutting, despite increased premiums.
So what does all this mean to the average independent insurance agent? Is it a time of doom and gloom, or a season of opportunity? I vote for opportunity if the agency is willing to communicate effectively with both existing and prospective clients. I won't even get into market access, because IMMS members are already there with Complete Markets.
The foundation of any business relationship is communication. In this article, I'll mention two innovative techniques for effective communication. Both of which have the distinct advantage of positioning you above the competition and utilizing media forms that increase the likelihood of having your message heard. One is relatively new....Quicktime Movies. The other has been around for a while...Audio Marketing programs. Both can be done in-house, or professionally.
Quicktime
This story starts with a PowerPoint Presentation from CompPartners in California, which offers a Health Care Organization network that can decrease workers' compensation premiums under a state law. Unlike most workers' comp programs, an HCO can provide the employer with medical control of a claim for up to a year. Keeping the lawyers at bay for that length of time dramatically decreases litigation and costs.
In this case, our company tweaked the slides in the presentation for a bit more marketing edge and scripted a narrative. That narrative was then recorded, imbedded into the PowerPoint slides and ultimately converted into a Quicktime Movie. The movie was then utilized in three different ways:
Not too long ago, a project like that would have cost over $10,000. CompPartners spent less that $3,000 and have a cutting edge, multi-faceted marketing piece that tells their story in detail. (This is also an excellent method for insurance companies and wholesalers to convey product and program information to the independent agency system.)
Audio Marketing Programs
Our company has been producing these for a number of years to the delight of our clients. Think talk radio! A number of interviews are conducted with both the client and the client's customers. These interviews are then woven together with a little music and little magic to create an extremely interesting and informative marketing piece that stresses the client testimonials. You present the facts, your clients provide the applause!
The new twist here is Audio CD. In the past, primarily due to cost constraints, these programs have been distributed in audio cassettes. Although tapes remain the preferred media for many of our clients, CDs are coming into vogue and pricing levels are coming much closer to tapes.
Another advantage to audio marketing programs is that you can use sound bytes from such programs to produce a truly unique phone-on-hold message with client testimonials, or compress them into MP3 and mount them on your web site.
So the opportunity exists for agents willing to take advantage of innovative ways, as well as the tried and true, to get their message out to both clients and prospects. Concern and information are the valued-added cornerstones of successful relationships.
Jack Burke is the president of Sound Marketing, Inc. and author of Relationship Aspect Marketing () and Creating Customer Connections. You can reach Jack at 1-800-451-8273 .