Take Advantage of Bad Times by Hiring a Marketing Major

Enhance Your Survival by Finding Light Within the Darkness

The economic landscape is mired in darkness. Bankruptcies and foreclosures have risen to frightening levels, while the stock market languishes in despair. The high rate of unemployment has a dreadful impact on downsized employees and their families, particularly those who have no immediate prospects. It also makes the world appear bleak for recent college graduates who seek to enter the workforce for the first time. And in our industry, an increasing number of once proud insurers are being bailed out by the American taxpayer — or asking to be.

But as Leonard Cohen, the venerable poet and songwriter notes, “…There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” And the light, in our context, is the ability of insurance agencies to use aspects of this economy to their business advantage.

Insurance as a Fallback

In times of unemployment, selling insurance looks more appealing than ever. Agencies find a seemingly endless supply of producer wannabes. But the potential problem here is that by the time a new agent is fully trained and approaches profitability, they quit, returning to their previous career, once times get better. In other words, you’re just the rebound boyfriend and not the groom. You can gamble by hiring these folks to sell for you, or you can hire some new college grads as short-timers to enhance your long-term survivability.

Hire a Marketing Major

Un- or under-employed college grads, with fresh business degrees in marketing, are anxious to apply their lessons to the real world. Agency offices can offer them this opportunity at far less cost to them than they could in better times. It’s a win-win arrangement that may last no longer than the recession, but it’s still well worth the hire. Here are just a few ways that they can help.

1. These nascent experts can develop recognizable local brands that are not entirely dependent on company representation. It’s important for your long-term survival. Accept representation as a privilege, but not as your business identity. Look at the 3,400 or so car dealers who were recently fired by Chrysler and GM. Something similar could happen in the agency business as well.
2. Trained marketers understand the concept of the unique selling proposition (USP). Essentially, the USP convincingly differentiates one seller’s offerings from another’s, motivating a buyer to switch. This classic theory originated in the 1940s, while print and radio were the dominant ad media. Today, there are endless ways to grab a prospect’s attention and to communicate with them, both online and off. Young grads are familiar with them all, on both business and social levels.
3. Too many commercial producers are disorganized in their new business solicitation processes. Marketing majors can help agents and their CSRs to logically identify and professionally solicit and follow-up on their most salable leads. These efforts might include sales planning and tracking, marketing material modification or development, direct marketing test campaigns, etc.
4. A large selection of agency Web sites are screaming for a redesign. Many haven’t been seriously modified since the 1990s. Some, but not all, marketing grads can help agents to update theirs, while concurrently performing other much needed in-office services.
5. Ideally, this individual will bring real value to your office and want to make insurance his or her career — but you can’t count on it. It is wiser to presume that the recent grad will accept your job while simultaneously seeking a better-paying position elsewhere. So make certain that they invest a healthy portion of their time with you training others in the agency and leaving systematic marketing breadcrumbs for staffers to follow after their departure.

Survival Time

Agency survival depends on more than raw selling skills; it demands smart marketing as well. A full-time marketing professional is a desirable addition to any P/C insurance office. These professionals provide a sense of purpose and order to an agency’s promotional efforts, much like an IT pro manages your computer systems. Hiring an out-of-work grad is an affordable way to test the waters, without investing big dollars. Many are glad to work for modest pay because it gives them resume-quality job experience that they can use once the economy kicks back into gear. But if the fit is right, the young expert you hired may elect to stay on and become a permanent and indispensable part of your team.

Topics Agencies Talent