Walt Kania   :Writer
Promoting your insurance agency:
 
How to get the phones ringing, get more clients in the door, and more deals on the table.
 
Even in these tough times.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Is it possible to grow an insurance business by leaps and bounds in a so-called soft market?  Should you even try?
 
Sure.  In fact, this may be the perfect time for forward-thinking agents and brokers to break out of the pack, attract new clients in droves, and win tons of business from dusty old competitors.
 
That’s because when times look uncertain -- or when people just think that way -- the agents and brokers who can offer fresh ideas and new approaches can get all sorts of attention.  (And uncover plenty of new opportunities .)
 
If you’re looking to ratchet up your business to the next level, perhaps we should talk.  I might have some ideas you’ll find interesting.
 
Want ideas?  Let’s talk.
 
Just so you know, I’m a marketing and promotional writer.  I do a lot of work with agents and brokers who are looking for better ways to get noticed by prospects turn up the flow of new business.
 
  1. Example.  A growing personal lines brokerage wanted to attract more affluent, high-net-worth clients.
  2.  
  3. Problem:  Those affluent prospects have virtually zero interest in insurance, and even less desire to spend time on it.   So we crafted a message to hit that reality head on and turn it to the broker’s advantage.   (It’s sort of anti-insurance.)  Now rich clients seek them out.
  4.  
  5. Another.   A commercial lines wholesale broker had done well for years selling their ‘expertise’ and ‘access to markets’ in their specialty lines.  But every other wholesaler sang the exact same tune.   So we conceived an agency presentation that changed the game entirely.  They now talk about something dearer to the retail agent’s pocketbook:  net revenue.  When they call on agencies they’re received with open arms, while competitors wait in the lobby.  (And they didn’t change anything about their service -- just the way they talked about it.)
 
Fact is, you can achieve remarkable results with some surprisingly simple strategies.  Mainly because the agents and brokers you’re competing with probably aren’t doing anything especially innovative or effective.
 
It doesn’t take a million-dollar budget, either.  You can pull off a major marketing coup for the commission on a small business P&C package, or just one new personal lines client.  Or less.
 
If you’d like to explore a few ideas for your agency or brokerage, I’d be happy to talk with you.  No sales pitch, no pressure.
 
Call and tell me what you’re thinking about, where you’d like to be.  And I’ll suggest how I might approach the problem.  Chances are you’ll find it interesting.  If not, no problem.
 
Anyway, it’s worth a brief conversation.  Call me at (908) 464-5192 and tell me what you’d like to figure out.  Or send me an e-mail.  
 
And thanks for asking.
 
-  Walt Kania
(908) 464-5192
walt@waltkania.com
 
 
*  Not that it matters, but I do understand the technicalities of insurance.  Like joint and several liability and ‘barratry of the master and mariners’.  I know what ‘sitting excess’ means, difference-in-conditions, subrogation.  I’ve worked with everything from Boiler and Machinery to homeowners, valuable articles floaters, EPLI, D&O, Fidelity, K&R, commercial auto -- for big carriers like Chubb and Crum & Forster as well as small brokerages, intermediaries and risk management consultants.
 
But I have to tell you, it’s not really about the insurance.  What counts is how you talk about it.
 
(908) 464-5192
walt@waltkania.com
New Providence, New Jersey USA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Walt Kania is a marketing and promotional writer known for his innovative and sometimes unconventional approach to insurance marketing.  He routinely handles promotional projects for agents and brokers, wholesalers and intermediaries, and smajor carriers like Chubb and Crum & Forster,
 
He’s based in New Jersey.
Email:  walt@waltkania.com
(908) 464-5192
 
“The insurance agency business is ripe for a few free thinkers and innovators to change the game entirely -- and run rings around their competitors.”
 
The latest projects:
 
Marketing materials and web site for Professional Risk Solutions, specialty brokerage
 
Agency promotion, web content for Madison Insurance Group
 
E-mail promotion on sales tactics for hard markets
 
Web content for Cyber and IT E&O.
 
Video for agent promotion, on EPLI for Chubb Group
 
Cable commercial for affluent-market homeowners
 
Video introduction to fidelity training, Chubb Group
 
 
Get good answers, good ideas for the The Top Ten agency marketing and promotion questions
  1. •How do we avoid sounding like every other agent and broker out there?  What would make us distinctive and fascinating?
  2. •Are there fresh, non-boring ways to talk about insurance?  Or should we be talking about insurance at all?
  3. •What’s the fastest way to gain credibility with demanding corporate clients?  And get invited in on bigger deals?
  4. •How can we persuade more accountants, lawyers, and financial advisors to refer clients to us?
  5. •How do we out-market, out-promote, out-smart older and bigger brokerages?  Oust the incumbents?
  6. •How can we attract younger clients who don’t read  the yellow pages, don’t ‘get’ insurance, and hate sales calls?
  7. •How do we stay in touch with prospects until renewal time, without pestering or intruding?
  8. •What’s the most compelling, most attractive way to portray the agency on the web?  How do we make people want do business with us?  
  9. •Should we try to appeal to the broadest possible market?  (Answer: No, no.)  Or aim for a very specific type of client, situation, or mindset?  (Yes.)
  10. •How can I best promote a new line of business? A specific type of client or company?