1. Do Your Homework and Establish a Relationship with the Top Dog
Niche marketing is the cornerstone of many successful agencies. But how do you establish a footprint in a specific niche and get to the decision-makers to ultimately write the accounts?
Mohamad Momin, Principal and Commercial Insurance Producer of Starr Insurance Agency, says his approach in niche marketing is to play the long game by getting through to the person in charge and building a relationship.
"When it comes to commercial insurance, people don't purchase coverage based on products but on their relationship with an agent," said Momin. "When I go after a specific market, I try to find the insurance buyers and the activities and events in which they are involved to begin networking with them and establishing a relationship before speaking with them about their insurance programs."
For example, Momin targets C-stores and retail shopping centers. He uses Corporate Wiki to help determine who owns the properties and businesses as well as the key players in the company and what other corporations in which they may be involved.
"With Corporate Wiki, you can get the names of the partners and owners of a corporation. Additional investigation and research could lead you to the principal players of the different corporations for you to make contact," Momin continued. "This gives you the ability to go after all the shopping centers under the corporate umbrella, or to reach all the retailers within the shopping center."
The long game no doubt takes time, but the payoff can be greater — you could end up writing multiple accounts by establishing relationships with the principal players.
2. Don't Forget That Insurance is Flexible
The insurance sector is a flexible industry and has the ability to pivot when necessary. We saw this during the height of the pandemic, when most agencies were able to shift to work from home and continue to provide a high level of client servicing. In addition, technology advances in our industry accelerated during this period.
Stay open to more possibilities and opportunities in running your agency. That's the message from Patriotic Insurance Services founder Rob Bowen, who decided to go out on his own at age 50. The agility of the industry is evident in agents' demonstrated ability to choose for themselves what they want to do.
"Some agents may choose a specific niche and put everything they've got into it and do very well," said Bowen. "We, on the other hand, stumbled into our niches after meeting certain clients in an industry sector and decided to give it a shot. I felt comfortable with this approach as long as we were doing right by the client. The beauty of the insurance business is that you can do anything. You can decide every day what you want to be and go for it."
Bowen also stresses the importance of continuing to learn and surrounding yourself with good, smart people to get things done.
3. Rely On Others
To make things happen, you need to get people in the room. That's what works for Stephanie Beninati, broker and owner at Strategic Insurance Services, who specializes in insuring the construction sector. Yes, she employs email marketing, video campaigns and other methods to reach people, but Beninati finds that holding gatherings, events, lunches, happy hours and the like are what garners results.
But all of that costs time and money, especially for a small agency. So back in 2008, Beninati partnered with other business owners who were also targeting the construction industry and created a collective called the Construction Resource Group. The owners pooled their resources to get the group up and running and held Halloween happy hours, holiday parties with dinner and dancing and more. Occasionally, there were luncheons held with educational seminars about the challenges in the construction industry.
Each business owner would invite a set number of his or her clients to the events. While a no-sales zone, the events were and continue to be great networking tools, and each business owner in the group became a resource in their area of expertise.
"You have your fellow group members introducing you to their clients, promoting you and your expertise," says Beninati, "but in a palatable way."
With the pandemic, the Construction Resource Group scheduled outdoor events — picnics with old-school games, golf outing, car racing/car shows, etc. — to continue its networking strategy without missing a beat.
4. Recruiting and Onboarding New People, Pieces and Parts for Success
Running an agency takes a lot of time and resources, including onboarding and training staff on new technology and processes — from agency management systems to phone systems, quoting and rating systems, CRMs and more.
Eli Gillespie, owner of Gillespie Insurance Services, began focusing on outsourcing tasks for greater efficiencies for not only himself but also for his staff. For example, he hired a VA (virtual assistant who is self-employed) to do specific back-office tasks.
"I am looking to separate customer service from back-office functions, so our people are talking to clients and the VA will perform other work and is not involved with clients," explains Gillespie.
When it comes to hiring talent, Gillespie is looking at individuals who've already attended a trade school, know insurance and have received their CIC equivalent.
"It's amazing how many people don't know insurance," says Gillespie. By hiring people with insurance knowledge already under their belt, the onboarding process becomes smoother, allowing Gillespie to bring in new hires and get them up and running quicker and more easily on the unique processes of the agency.
Get ready to jumpstart your agency by rethinking, reimagining and focusing on new strategies you can employ for even greater success