Client Education

Are you an insurance agent, or are you an insurance educator? If you don’t know the answer, chances are pretty good that you are an agent. Anyone who has sold insurance for even a short period knows that the world is full of insurance agents. And unless you bring added value to the table, your clients may always think of you as their agent-and nothing more.

But to be perceived as an insurance educator is a much more valuable image. When your clients and your community perceive you as more than just a home-and-car person, you may be able to build a loyal client base that will be extremely difficult for your competition to reach.

How do you build your image as an insurance educator? By harnessing the power of seminars.

Teach first, then sell

In 2002, I left a nine-year career in the insurance industry to work for an innovative company that creates marketing materials for financial professionals. Our core product line is a series of financial education seminars. During my tenure, I’ve seen financial professionals use our seminars in ways that I wish I had known more about when I was selling insurance.

Our clients are able to attract large numbers of qualified prospects to their seminars, convince a high percentage to come to the office for a personal consultation, and convert a similarly high percentage to new clients.

This seminar-based model also offers the presenter tremendous opportunities to generate repeat sales and referrals, build loyalty, and position himself or herself as an insurance expert who has information to help clients make the best possible decisions.

The key to a successful seminar presentation is to emphasize the educational aspect. Be honest and sincere, and keep the mood low-key. Let your audience know that your overriding concern is to teach them about your area of expertise. Don’t try to sell product. Sell yourself and you’ll find that sales will follow.

Add value

We all know that price is among the most important considerations when someone is shopping for insurance. Insurance is perceived as a commodity in today’s marketplace. To stand out, you have to provide more than a low price-you must sell value.

Picture this: Twice a year, you present a seminar for new drivers in your office conference room or, better yet, at a local restaurant. The new drivers and, in some cases, their parents come listen to you speak about the limits of liability and how to reduce exposure to risk.

It’s likely that the kids in your audience will have already heard about this topic from their parents, but now you can help the parents drive home this important message. Hearing it from a third party may help reinforce in the minds of the new drivers the serious responsibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle.

Parents will come away from this process with the impression that you are not only an insurance expert, but someone who actually cares about helping them protect against loss. Or invite your existing clients to a “Client Appreciation Meeting.” Advertise that you will be talking about “What You Don’t Know About Homeowners Insurance Could Cost You Your Home.”

Stop repeating yourself

Have you ever had a day, a week, or a month when you found yourself repeating the same sales message over and over? My experience in financial services has taught me that it’s almost always better to deliver your message to a room full of people rather than one person at a time. Certainly, it may take some effort and expense to fill a room with qualified prospects, but you could find that making the extra effort will add something to your message that is lacking when delivered in the more traditional one-on-one fashion. Seminars help demonstrate your expertise, build rapport, and persuade your clients to act. They are also a great place to network and ask for referrals.

Tap your client base

If you sell commercial insurance, you know business owners tend to gravitate toward each other. Almost every business owner I know has friends who are also business owners. Your relationships with your business-owner clients and friends can pay incredible dividends.

For example, invite a group of business owners to a Saturday seminar on business liability. They will appreciate the opportunity to meet other business owners, and, if they have been to any of your other presentations, they may bring their friends to hear you.

Another way to capitalize on your client base is to ask business-owner clients if you can make a presentation to their employees. Offer lunch-time classes on any number of insurance-related topics. You may get business and referrals from individuals who learned in your seminar that they have the wrong or inadequate coverage.

Make a winning presentation

Whether you create your own seminar or purchase one developed by a professional agency, make sure it will disturb and motivate your clients. When the emphasis is on teaching rather than selling, people relax and absorb more of the material. Once you teach people what they need to know about insurance, it will become obvious to some that they need more or better coverage. And it will become obvious to every prospect in the room that the service they are receiving from their current agent is inferior to the service your clients receive. Seminars can quickly establish you as an insurance expert and help you stand out in a very crowded field.

Paul Peterson is president of Emerald Publications in San Diego, California. Emerald Publications offers the most complete range of seminar selling systems available to financial professionals. He can be reached at (800) 233-2834.

Topics Agencies Training Development