Consumers today are smarter than ever before. Obtaining new information is easy and fast. These new, savvy consumers aren’t interested in your company’s history, features or sales pitch. So what do they want? And how can you really help?
Attention insurance agents: Your prospects and customers don’t care about a website or brochure filled with your company and product information.
Consumers today are smarter than ever before. Obtaining new information is easy and fast: In seconds, they can pull out their smartphone and find the answer to any question. These new, savvy consumers aren’t interested in your company’s history, features or sales pitch.
So what do they want? And how can you really help?
The amount of information consumers digest daily is overwhelming. Recent studies suggest the average consumer receives 300-700 marketing message per day. But while today’s consumers may not need your information, they desperately need your advice. Just because information is readily available at your prospects’ or customers’ fingertips doesn’t mean it’s always relevant, applicable or even correct.
How can you cut through all the marketing chaos and establish yourself as a trusted resource when consumers are making insurance buying decisions? As an insurance agent, your job is no longer to simply sell a policy. Your job is to teach how this insurance policy will make your customer’s life better.
Focusing on teaching may seem obvious, but far too often, agents overlook it. The Internet is a noisy place, but if you can become a resource to your ideal customers, your voice will stand out from the crowd. You have the opportunity to deliver a value-first message on your website, social networks and any other online platform where your buyers may be listening. You can deliver content in the form of blog posts, emails, video tutorials and testimonials from other customers.
When you do this, you become more than just an insurance agent—you become a resource.
It all starts with a mind-shift from “How do I sell this policy to someone?” to “How can I teach/show/demonstrate how this policy makes the customer’s life better?” It may be subtle, but this shift is vital if you want to reach today’s consumers.
How can you start teaching? First, determine what advice your customers are seeking. Here are three questions to ask yourself to get started on the right track:
- What questions to potential customers have before they buy from me? This could include coverage options, unique features, cost and social proof from other customers. One quick and easy way to determine what important questions your customers have is to compile a list of frequently asked questions. You probably receive certain questions multiple times from your prospects and customers. If one or two of your customers have similar questions, other potential buyers are likely to have the same ones.
- How can I address those concerns? Consider starting an email series, writing a white paper, adding videos or pursuing another avenue that helps your customers answer important questions.
- Where can I address those concerns? Once you figure out what concerns you need to address, you need to determine where is the best location for answering them. Consider tools like blog posts on your website, social media or an email newsletter.
To be a successful insurance agent moving forward, a great product or service isn’t enough, nor is a shiny brochure or website that’s all about you and your agency. Your prospects and customers want answers to questions that are important to them. You need to learn how to answer these questions for your ideal customers so they can find you, like you and trust you.
Stop pitching. Start solving problems.
Brent Kelly is the CEO of BizzGrizz and helps independent insurance agencies with marketing and sales solutions.
