Earlier this week I speaking with our CEO about the status of our referral pipeline. We briefly discussed who we thought our best referral opportunities are and how we could best approach them. I spent a couple of hours planning, calling and emailing clients – then I went back to work on our primary marketing channels.
For reference, those primary marketing initiatives are: 1.) eMarketing and web seminars, 2.) blogging and social media. I invest approximately 80-90% of my marketing efforts cultivating those channels. Referral are the third component to our strategy and occupy only 10% or so of my marketing time. Athough important, they are third for a reason.
I believe that focusing on referrals as your primary source of new business will create limited opportunity. Prospecting your clients sphere of infulence will deliver incremental growth. Those of you interested in exponential growth will need to find your most effective and efficient lead generation solutions and focus on them.
For more detailed information about this theory and its specific application to the insurance business, please view this blog entry:
Focusing on Referral Selling puts a Governor on your Agency Growth
Referrals have traditionally been a premier source of new business for insurance agencies. When I was an agent, I loved referrals. It was an opportunity to build my business without actually selling. Just visiting with somebody who would likely buy. A great tool that all salespeople need to take advantage of and cultivate consistently…
Originally Posted on March 3rd, 2011 by John Scranton