Daily blog entries, ideas, and strategies to improve Insurance Agency Marketing, Lead Generation, Social Media & SEO. Thank you for visiting! – John Scranton
Webinar on Wednesday February 8th at Noon ET – Filling the Sales Funnel with the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan
Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by John Scranton
Join us for this brief, educational and complimentary web seminar. Our expert panel will review the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan and discuss the critical elements required for a successful strategy in 2012. We will provide case study analysis of several agencies that have leveraged this integrated approach to gain access to prospects and provide their producers with qualified opportunities. Topics include:
* Building your prospect database and email list
* Reaching your target market through eMarketing
* Leveraging warm calls for quality appointments
* Expanding reach through Social Media Marketing
Date & Time: February 8th at Noon ET
What do you need to be successful in 2012?
Posted on February 1st, 2012 by John Scranton
Our webinar attendance and blog readership is up so far in 2012, and we have some very exciting topics in the queue. However, we are always interested in hearing from our readers and colleagues what information you would find most useful in your drive for success in 2012. Please leave a comment or send me an email if you have any specific needs we can help you address. Here are a few ideas:
- Insurance Agency SEO
- Insurance Agency eMarketing
- Insurance Agency Social Media Marketing
- Insurance Agency Marketing
- Sell More & Work Less Web Selling Tips
Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan – Step 2: Start Your Marketing Engine
Posted on January 31st, 2012 by John Scranton
Now that you have completed Step 1 of the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan by developing a quality prospect list, an effective website and hopefully some collateral material, you are ready to start the engine of your marketing machine. They primary driver of this engine will be your integrated eMarketing and web seminar campaign.
To begin your eMarketing and webinar series, you will need to perform an analysis of your target market. You will only attract prospects by determining what their needs are and what they are interested in learning about. For example, if you are selling to contractors who need information about new OSHA requirements, this could be an effective email and webinar topic – even though it is not directly related to the product you sell. Hint: Ask your current clients what their challenges are to learn more about what your prospects need.
Once you have found an effective topic or theme, it is time to create your message. Your email message should be professional, concise, and educational. The goal is to open a dialogue with your prospect, not make an instant sale. An effective message will drive significant web seminar attendance, a forum that should equally professional, concise and educational. Like your email message, the webinar is also designed to open a dialogue with your prospect – not make an instant sale.
When properly executed, eMarketing and webinar campaigns will become a powerful source of in-profile prospects. They have provided 40-50% of our business over the past two years. To learn more about how to achieve this level of results, please attend our upcoming web seminar:
Filling the Sales Funnel with the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan
Date & Time: February 8th at Noon ET
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/312132769
3 Reasons Why My Blog is Effective and Fulfilling
Posted on January 30th, 2012 by John Scranton
- Content Conveys our Expertise and Value Proposition – If you read 2 or 3 entries of this blog, you will learn what StartUpSelling provides, why we feel it is important and how we believe we are different. This sounds like information that would be included in a sales pitch, but in a blog it is woven into the fabric of useful and educational information. Blogging allows prospects to learn and glean valuable insights without commitment, and allows the writer to deliver their marketing message – at the same time.
- Its Another Venue to Interact with Clients and Prospects – Some prospects like to talk on the phone, some like to interact via email, some like to connect on LinkedIn. Others like to read your content for weeks or even months before they develop an interest in the source. We regularly have conversations with prospects who explain they have been following our blogs and over time realized that their needs exceeded what they can read about and implement internally – now they enter our pipeline.
- Blogging Allows me to Share What I Learn Expeditiously - When I am working with clients and colleagues or learning from other industry experts I pick up many useful insights and concepts. A B2B blog gives me the opportunity to quickly apply that insight and pass along the information. A few minutes ago I had a reminder of the value of a blog, now I am sharing that reminder with you.
We are Expecting Record Registration for our Upcoming Web Seminar
Posted on January 27th, 2012 by John Scranton
We are expecting record registration for our upcoming web seminar titled Filling the Sales Funnel with the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan. This webinar will be held on February 8th at Noon EST, and last approximately 25 minutes. During the presentation we will also unveil the reason why this draws such as extraordinary number of registrants.
To register, please use this link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/312132769
Ask the Hard Questions – You will Save Time, Money and Close More Business
Posted on January 26th, 2012 by John Scranton
In Sell More & Work Less, we talk about asking the “hard questions” during the sales process. These are questions that many businesspeople are reluctant to ask because they can be uncomfortable and seen as aggressive. They include questions like:
- Is there budget allocated for this project?
- How does your purchasing process work?
- Do you have a target date to implement this solution?
Those do not look like difficult questions to pose to a prospect. In fact, if you have established even a modest level of rapport, you should be able to inquire about these topics without apprehension, and you are likely to recieve honest answers.
Understanding if (budget), how (process) and when (target date) a prospect is going to purchase will allow you to focus on those who can buy. Allocating your time and resources effectively, based on the answers to these “hard questions”, will result in more business.
Sales & Marketing Help for $15 or Less
Posted on January 25th, 2012 by John Scranton
I speak with salespeople every day who are looking for sales and marketing assistance. Seeking greater exposure, more opportunities and improved sales processes. Some are not yet ready to invest in comprehensive solutions like we provide and are looking for a low cost alternative. Here are two tools, which cost less than $15 combined, that will help you get started:
Sell More & Work Less: Web Selling Techniques Everyone Should Use
The more virtual your business, the more flexible the hours, the lower the overhead, and the greater the profit potential. Sell More & Work Less will help sales professionals seeking to sell better and more efficiently, a cash-poor entrepreneur, a small business scrambling for expansion capital, an existing business seeking to improve profits, or an independent professional hoping to improve the top line.
Web based selling is the wave of the future – and available now – for all salespeople and businesses. Even a partially web based sales operation can be more efficient, more effective and more profitable that a traditional brick and mortar operation. Sell More & Work Less is a fast and easy read, offering quick tips, in depth reviews and real world scenarios to help existing or aspiring sales people to sell more… and work less.
The Prospect Scorecard
The Prospect Scorecard offers salespeople and businesses a simple and easy way to qualify, track and rank their best prospects. Salespeople, sales managers, entrepreneurs, sole proprietors, insurance agents, realtors and other business people often refer to prospects in vague terms such as: new, warm, hot, cold, likely, qualified, etc. These terms do little to better understand a sales pipeline or convey likelihood of purchase to other members of the team. The Prospect Scorecard resolves this issue, simply, quickly and easily for any salesperson or business.
What does your perfect client look like? Create a Prospect Scorecard to quantify your approach to prospecting and pipeline building. Some of the attributes of your ideal client might include revenue, growth rate, client type (business or consumer) and market niche. For example, are you targeting companies between $5 million and $10 million in revenue? Are your best prospects fast-growing firms like those found on the Inc. 500 list? Are you selling to consumers? If you’re selling to consumers, are they high net worth prospects, middle income, younger or older? Are your prospects in a specific niche market such as banking, insurance, biotech, plumbing, consulting, education, etc.? Create a Prospect Scorecard with your ideal attributes and a customized qualification abbreviation to help you determine if you are selling to an in-profile prospect.
Preparing for a Hard Market
Posted on January 24th, 2012 by John Scranton
I was watching CNBC this morning while I had breakfast in my virtual office. They ran a quick headline about Travelers. The anchor explained that Travelers missed earnings, but no need to worry, they have successfully increased rates across all divisions of the business. Another sign (possibly a flashing red sign) that we are moving toward a hard market. So how do you keep clients happy and impress new prospects when they are facing significant increases?
- Refine Your Value Proposition – “We have successfully served our clients for over 100 years” is a nice message, but how you can refine that to make your clients comfortable when their rates jump 15%? What value do you bring that makes you worth the increase?
- Evaluate Your Top Differentiators – Everybody preaches competitive markets and superior service, but what do you do and what will you do that is truly unique and different from the competition? What are the 3 bullet points in your proposal that your clients and prospects will not see anywhere else?
- Deliver Your Message – Once your value proposition has been refreshed and your differentiators are spit-shined, take them to the marketplace. Spread the word through email marketing and social media so that anyone who has become skeptical by their growing premium is reminded why they should do business with you.
A true hard market cycle will arrive eventually and there is no reason you shouldn’t spend some time working on the above items so you are prepared. They will begin paying dividends almost immediately.
Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan – Step 1: Building the Foundation
Posted on January 23rd, 2012 by John Scranton
Building a successful marketing program is akin to building a house. The end result is entirely dependent on the strength and integrity of the foundation. If the initial building blocks are weak, future development will be a challenge or a failure. Investing in the proper resources and processes will provide the groundwork for achieving your goals.
The Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan that will be unveiled during our upcoming webinar begins with a foundation of two important components: a quality prospect list and an effective website. We will break each area down in granular detail during the presentation, but here is quick overview:
Prospect List: After you have identified your target prospect profile, you need to develop a database of the suspects you wish to market to and eventually write/sell/sign. To accomplish this successfully, you will need to find a vendor who is able to locate the specific titles you need to speak with at the companies you are targeting. This list must also include email addresses and be delivered in a format that will easily upload to your contact management and email marketing platforms.
Website: The term “effective website” can be confusing. It is like “effective automobile.” It means very different things to different people. To distill the latter term, an effective automobile must safely transport you from Point A to Point B. An effective website must convey your value proposition and provide a clear call to action. In a sense, safely transporting your message and offering visitors a destination.
Check back soon or a synopsis of Step 2 of the Four Step Insurance Agency Marketing Plan…
