Marketing Matters

Partnering for marketing success

Keep the lines of communication open with industry partners to make the most of opportunities

By Nanci Evarts

In our September column we examined some of the challenges in successfully branding and marketing to the client—commercial insureds, corporate risk managers, small to mid-sized business owners, associations and nonprofits.

Within the industry, another critical level of marketing takes place: agents, brokers and providers (carriers and wholesalers) marketing to and with each other.

Some tips for agencies

Agents and brokers don’t always think about it, but providers, as well as clients, need to be “sold” on the agency’s capabilities and market presence. Agents need to be proactive about keeping the communication lines open with their underwriters, making certain that they and their staff understand underwriters’ focus and appetite.

Centralize this process so that not every producer is re-creating the wheel and information can be shared across the agency. Information and background materials on providers are only as useful as they are easily accessible. Many agents and brokers today are finding an intranet ideal for this purpose. Such an internal Web site—one that isn’t accessed by the public—serves as a hub for reference material organized and searchable by coverage line, by carrier, by wholesaler, etc.

Work with your carriers and wholesalers to create such a database and encourage your providers to keep information up to date.

The only way for carriers and wholesale partners to give you what you want and need to market their products and services is to let them know how you are using the marketing information that they provide you. Once you’ve used it, tell providers if it worked well. If it didn’t work well, be sure to tell them what could be improved or re-packaged. It’s not fair, though, to criticize the provider if the literature that it sent you is gathering dust in your storeroom.

If your providers are jamming up your inbox with their e-newsletters or e-blasts, let them know that too. Sending you information that you don’t have time to look at is almost worse than sending no information at all.

However, there is only so much business—and trust—that can be established through mailings, e-mails and newsletters. Arrange for periodic presentations from key providers to help update your perspectives and freshen the information from standard information kits. This task is easily accomplished either face-to-face, as part of industry gatherings, or packaged as a Web meeting or Webcast.

Go beyond the typical product presentation to probe more deeply into account appetites, ideal account profiles, and the larger context of the providers’ underwriting approach and philosophy. This will provide the agency staff with the big picture to judge where the “fit” is with the agency, its clients and its market partners.

The way you present your agency to the marketplace makes a strong impression on your carrier and wholesale partners. An agency that looks “top drawer” and provides professional service is likely to get top service in return.

You can achieve this by occasionally sending your underwriting contacts your agency sales kit, brochures, newsletters, etc. You might also send your underwriting contact and/or agency representative announcements of expanded staff, new producers or CSRs. Don’t overlook the impact of sharing your success stories on a periodic basis. And, if you are a public company, send your carrier or wholesale partners your annual financial reports.

Co-marketing

Insurance agencies can enhance their marketing plans and results by teaming up with their insurance company and wholesale partners.

Such an effort begins with focused annual planning sessions. Discuss your marketing plans for the next year and options for joint direct mail, telemarketing and other similar campaigns to boost interest, receptivity and sales. Hold quarterly update meetings to outline production goals, customer targets and marketing tactics. This also includes internal presentations and training so that the entire production force understands the purpose and goals of the agency/underwriting partnership.

This can also take the form of joint programs for researching client sales leads or actual client prospecting. With a swiftly changing market environment and customer base, market research can be a valuable tool for understanding the buying culture and capitalizing on opportunities, particularly in emerging industries. However, when research costs are shared by a company and its agency partners, the cost becomes much more manageable and the “learnings” can create exponential returns when applied across the marketplace.

Look for ways to partner with carrier and wholesale partners in producing customized sales support that you can use with your customers. For instance:

• product literature (hard copy and/or electronic), customized by industry; customized and co-branded with partner

• strategic direct mail programs (hard copy and/or electronic)

• coverage and product comparison matrix

• joint sales calls on key clients

Work with providers to produce value-added seminars and workshops for existing and prospective clients, bringing in both your own experts and those of providers to inform and educate your clients. Whether done in person or broadcast via the Web, such presentations help cement client relationships.

Another highly successful joint effort where marketing dollars are shared involves joint appearances at trade shows, which can include both exhibiting and perhaps hosting a customer event at the show. Such appearances solidify the commitment of both the agency and the provider to a given marketplace and allow you valuable face time in front of potential clients.

The carrier perspective

Insurance companies find them-selves—especially in this soft market—competing for attention and shelf space among retail agents, brokers and wholesalers. Agents and brokers like to remain loyal to carriers, but they must still be constantly “sold” on the products and capabilities offered by those companies.

Here are six ways for carriers and wholesalers to “get through” to agents and brokers:

1. Provide “refreshed” information about what you do. Keep it relevant and to the point. Don’t assume agents know—or remember—what you do, and what you do best. The agent and broker need this information packaged within the context of what’s happening in the current marketplace and what the agent’s clients need in order to protect themselves. Introduce your internal marketing staff, copywriters and designers to your agents and brokers so that they can see where “the rubber meets the road.”

2. Provide information that helps agents “close the deal.” According to several of the agents and brokers who recently attended a workshop, they want information they can use with their clients. Providers that stand out from the pack are able to provide information that helps explain the potential exposure and the specific provider’s (or wholesaler’s) ability to address that exposure with both coverage and post-sale support.

3. Agents and brokers suffer from information overload from providers. Ask your agents and brokers what type and format of marketing information works best for them. Some agents prefer print materials—especially those they can pass along to their customers. Others find electronic communica-tions more efficient and effective. Whatever the medium, the marketing message and text should be as simple and straightforward as possible, with emphasis on the solution you provide and the benefit to the buyer.

4. E-blasts and newsletters have come into vogue in the last couple of years. But use discretion in how often you distribute e-blasts and newsletters so as to not contribute to the “overload” problem. Ask your agents or brokers which is the best day and even time of day for viewing electronic messages. Use intriguing—but focused—subject lines to attract interest. And keep e-newsletters short.

5. Obviously your Web site is a critical means of providing information and service to agents and brokers. Re-evaluate your Web site each year to assess its ability to make it easy for agents and brokers to find and get what they need at your site.

6. There have been some recent advances in electronic communica-tions that come under the title “rich media.” These combine text, graphics, charts, Web site screens and, most important, a human voice. These have been found to be more effective than text alone, since the addition of “audio” enhances people’s ability to retain the message. *

The author
Nanci Evarts is president of Marketing Strategies Group, a marketing firm focused solely on the insurance and financial services industries. A speaker and marketing workshop leader at industry events, Nanci has 20 years of experience in the insurance marketplace, working with underwriters, brokerage firms, intermediaries, and ancillary services. Prior to the establishment of Marketing Strategies Group, she was a managing director with Aon Corporation, driving marketing for more than 40 business units, including Aon’s wholesalers, MGUs, retail and reinsurance brokerage, and claims operations. For more information, e-mail Nanci at: nevarts@verizon.net.