"Pull out the latest piece of collateral produced by your marketing organization. Does it equip your salespeople to teach customers about their company or about yours?" - The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson Pulling ideas from the The Challenger Sale, Dixon and Adamson specifically address how marketing and sales can better work together. I don't see the need for insurance agencies to necessarily work better with marketing since it's largely been non-existent in agencies, but instead for agencies to embrace marketing as a valuable way for influencing agency revenue. Marketing activities should be used to set producers…

Your company brand is not what you think it is or would like it to be, but rather it's the set of ideas and feelings that a prospect or client has when they think about and interact with your company. And that interaction can often be with only one or two people in your organization. And because of that one-on-one interaction, that one singular person who interacts with your clients IS your business in their eyes - regardless of what your overall company intentions are. A recent experience at a local company brought this whole idea home to me, and…

If you follow me at all, you probably know that I’m a big fan of LinkedIn for the professional. I’ve written about it a time or two, offering some specific ideas on how to properly fill in your profile. Plus, there is a lot of good advice peppered throughout many publications and blog articles on tackling it.  I’m not here to add to those details; I want to give you something to think about regarding the messaging on your profile. First rule: Think like a client People who are looking at your profile are usually doing so because they have…

Election season is chock full of opportunities to talk about candidates, parties, platforms, and issues. Unlike anything else, politics stimulates emotionally charged responses and debates. People like to jump on board and support their party and their favorite issues, which is part of our great American system. Politics requires us to review the issues, form an opinion, and take a stand for what we believe. The same goes for being a consultant. Being able to review multiple options, make an informed decision, and offer an opinion and advice is a critical part of being an advisor to clients. It's definitely…

I had the great opportunity to attend, and speak at, the recent Employee Benefit Adviser Summit in Phoenix. For those of you who may not be familiar with this event, you really are missing out on a great opportunity. Not only do they bring together the agency/brokerage/consulting side of the industry, there is also a conference track for HR professionals. Many of the benefits of attending these types of conferences are obvious: education, networking with your peers, realizing you're not alone in your challenges, personal/professional growth, gaining new perspectives, and bringing home actionable ideas. However, many of the most compelling…

Do you have an idea of the type of client you want to work with? Do you have them so well defined that everyone in your agency knows what they look like and everyone in your network knows what they look like?If you don’t know and/or haven’t clearly communicated it to everyone, then you’re missing out on opportunities to find and connect with those potential clients. Let’s take a quick look at what that profile should look like You might know the size of business, have a targeted area in which they’re located, and possibly identified an industry or two…

I have no choice is a common sentiment among businesses: “The competition is doing it, so we have to do it.” The insurance industry is ripe with traditions that agencies feel they must follow because “it’s always been done that way and really, how can we effectively compete if we’re doing something different?”If you believe that you must follow suit with things your competitors are doing or offering, then you’re letting your competitors determine your business model and shape your company values.Following the competition puts a limit on creative thinking and implementing any innovative practices in your business. If you…

Sometimes we just start digging. We get dirty. And we're up to our knees or even our head before we stop and ask "What are we doing? And why?!" And that's when it's time to talk about tactics and strategy.I see a lot of confusion about the difference between the two. And most of the time it’s not because people don’t understand the difference, it’s because they’re not even aware there are differences.Strategies are defined plans you put in place to achieve a major company goal. Tactics are the specific actions you take to fulfill that plan. Example: Goal -…

I’m concerned about the social media activity I see from so many benefits and insurance agencies. In the quest to say “we’ve gone social!”, unfortunately many have gotten off on the wrong path because they got started without really understanding what they were getting started doing. Social media: It is like a relationship – two people have to actively participate and be interested in one another in order to make it work.It isn’t a one-way marketing activity where we just put our promotional information out for others to see and hear. Have you ever been in a meeting or maybe…

We’ve talked about where you focus your attention – on your business or on competitive businesses. We've challenged you to ask yourself if you’re trying to stay ahead of the competition, or if you’re thinking about how to fill your clients’ needs regardless of what the competition is doing.This idea goes beyond just the business model. Let’s also do a similar comparison on marketing activities. As you define and develop your marketing programs, are you looking at what your competitors are doing for your inspiration? Are you watching their websites and programs for a comparison of what you need to…