This thing on?

Ping-o-lisciois Insurance Marketing

A quick referral lesson for your consideration.
Referrals …  my favorite form of insurance marketing.

One of my networking partners drops me an email the other day and wants to go to lunch. He is going to introduce me to a fellow Independent Insurance broker who he thinks would be a strong Strategic Partner for my firm and I. Odd thing is, I know this firm, and they are good … AND a competitor of sorts. I eagerly agreed to a meet over at one of my fav’s – Yard House in Irvine Spectrum. Crunchy AHI Salad mmmmmm.

Cutting to the chase – the lunch meeting went well [ imho ] and we’re poised to circle back next week and brainstorm on how we will "pro-actively" NOT passively incorporate each others businesses into our insurance marketing plans for the remainder of the year.

I bring this lunch meeting up for two reasons. Sometimes we get so focused on asking [ or is it BEGGING / IMPOSING ON ] our clients for referrals that we develop Tunnel Vision.  Here’s what I mean by this.

Does this resemble how some of your Asking for Referral experiences go?

To Self: How did that Referral Gurus world famous referral asking script go again?

Was it….

..Joe, I get compensated in two ways … blah blah blah …

..Bob, I have a list here of some firms in your industry I’ve been trying to meet can you look here and see if you know any of them …? Blah …

??????????????

Dang – thats so uncomfortable – thats not me … oh forget about it ….

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Shameless Plug:

The Most Powerful Referral System for Agents Ever Developed – No More Begging!
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Frankly, Im of the mindset that ASKING clients for referrals directly – face to face is not the most effective way to obtain quality introductions. Blasphemy you must be thinking … I understand – but hear me out.

Is putting your relationship with your current client into an unbalanced status really the most effective insurance marketing S-Y-S-T-E-M you can come up with for referrals? Unbalanced you say – whatever do I mean? Its now unbalanced. You originally proposed a solution to the clients needs. They reviewed and decided to hire you based upon that solution. They paid you for that solution, you delivered. They are happy. Relationship is IN BALANCE.

Now, you come along and put it OUT OF BALANCE. You are now asking them to do more than they originally bargained for. You are now asking them to effectively put their reputation on the line. Yet, there is little to No Value you can provide to them in return that would put the relationship Back Into Balance if they complied with your request. That is why you get uncomfortable and they get even more uncomfortable [ more times than not ].

Point of these last 3 paragraphs – there is other, more productive approaches to systematically generate high quality referrals. Get out of the box a little bit and think strategically – not just Old School Mantra …

The is another insurance marketing lesson to be learned from this lunch meeting and why it was a significant example. I no longer just look for 1:1 referrals from people. I spend time articulating to my Strategic Referral relationships the type of business people that are great strategic alliances for me and my business. They not only know the types of clients I like to insure but they also know [ because I automatically keep them aprised with a system ] who would make a good Referral Partner.  Someone who is not just a referral – but a continuous Referral Source. 

Don’t just hunt for referrals to sell an insurance policy to. Strategically hunt for other hunters as well. You need to develop a LARGE network of business people who KNOW you, LIKE you, and KNOW WHAT YOU DO. The key to this, is maintaining those relationships effectively over time. I say the only way to "effectively: manage all those relationships is with a S-Y-S-T-E-M.

I had the pleasure to meet one of the most connected businessmen on the planet at one of his talks.  Dr. Ivan Misner – Founder/CEO of Internationally famous BNI / Business Network International. He told us all in his talk, the S-Y-S-T-E-M he uses to manage his enormously vast network.  It’s also in his book "Truth or Delusion" on page 148.  Some of the most prominent authorities on Referral Marketing like Tom Hopkins, Bob Berg, and Bill Cates among others also use this system.  

CLICK HERE to see the system they use.

To your success,

Steve

Shared by Steve
Interesting read from Seth Godin. With all the hoopla surrounding viral YouTube videos, and other such ads, which frankly I can’t see they get a lot of real traction. Traction in this context, meaning people actually taking an action that generates revenue for the viral ad creator … Here’s some examples of viral "products" and "services" that went ballistic because the viral component was built in by design.

Enjoy,

Steve

Viral marketing is an idea that spreads–and an idea that while it is spreading actually helps market your business or cause.

Two kinds of viral marketing: The original classic sort in which the marketingisthe product and which a self-amplifying cycle occurs. Hotmail, for example, or YouTube. The more people use them, the more people see them. The more people see them, the more people use them. The product or service must be something that improves once more people use it.

A second kind has evolved over the last few years, and that’s a marketing campaign that spreads but isn’t the product itself.Shepard Fairey’s poster of Barack Obama was everywhere, because people chose to spread it. It was viral (it spread) and it was marketing (because it made an argument–a visual one–for a candidate.)

Something being viral is not, in an of itself, viral marketing. Who cares that 32,000,000 people saw your stupid video? It didn’t market you or your business in a tangible, useful way.

Marketers are obsessed with free media, and, as is often the case, we blow it in our rush to get our share. We create content that is hampered or selfish or boring. Or we create something completely viral that doesn’t do any marketing at all.

I wrote the first mainstream book about viral marketing. It’s free (still) eight years (and millions of downloads) later.

Download 2000Ideavirus.pdf

I haven’t updated it or made it pretty, but I think the core ideas stand up pretty well. (I even talk about the Zipf’s Law and the long tail, but didn’t realize it at the time).

Here’s how the book itself is an example of viral marketing:

1. I posted the PDF for free. Three thousand people downloaded it on day one.

2. The file is small enough to email to your friends. I encouraged people to do just that.

3. Some people mailed it to fifty or a hundred people. It spread.

4. That’s just viral. The marketing part? I released a $40 souvenir hardcover edition. People knew the idea but didn’t like the format or my design skills. So they paid a lot for a book they had already read. It went to #5 on Amazon (#4 in Japan). We sold the rights in dozens of languages. And thepaperbackrights. And it helped me get speaking gigs.

BUT! 5. That’s not why I did it. If I had done it as a clever way to sell books, it would have failed. It would have failed because I would have somehow tried to track it, or added friction, or tried to profit in some way from the idea. I was way too dumb at the time to have done it right if my goal was to do it ‘right’.

The critical element of viral marketing is this: it’s built in. It was built into Hotmail and built into YouTube. The more people used the camera on their cell phones, the more the idea spread, the more people wanted a camera.

If you want to do viral marketing, you can try to come up with a viral ad, but you’ll probably fail. You’re better off building the viral right into the product, creating a product that spreads because you designed it that way.

Viral marketing only works well when you plan for it, when you build it in, when you organize your offering to be spreadable, interesting and to work better for everyone involved when it spreads. If I don’t benefit from spreading it, why should I spread it? I won’t. If you don’t benefit from your users spreading the idea, it might spread, but it won’t help you much. So both elements have to be present.

The reason for this post is that viral marketing is getting a bad name, largely from clueless marketing agencies and clueless marketers. Here’s what they do: they get a lame product, or a semi-lame product, and they don’t have enough time or money to run a nationwide ad campaign. So, instead, they slap some goofy viral thing on top of it and wait for it to spread. And if it doesn’t spread, they create a faux controversy or engage a PR firm or some bloggers and then it still doesn’t work.

Being viral isn’t the hard part. The hard part is making that viral element actually produce something of value, not just entertainment for the client or your boss.

Be sure to visit Seth’s Blog for more insightful info – great blog !

This is simply a fantastic idea … Simple & Fantastic!

Sometimes is the simple and easy things that generate the best R O I for your marketing time and expense.  Rad this little system and marvel at its simplicity and effectiveness.

This would take about half an hr to implement in the Ultimate Referral Marketing System.

Enjoy!

Steve

Here is a simple postcard to get them buying

This is a sample postcard for an art gallery (it doesn’t matter that this is not your business – it only matters that you take the idea and MAKE it fit your business).

This was a whopping $100 investment – and made them a healthy $3,000 profit in 5 days (mailed out to 120 people). These numbers may seem small to you – but to this business it was huge … their biggest EVER. And after they implement the follow-up campaigns and lead generation sequences, they will see 10 times these numbers.

The postcards were done with a gold foil invitation look … and went out to their existing customers (and NO, you cannot use e-mail postcards to replace this – invest the money and do it properly! My offline marketing returns many times better response than online only (by 400% and more).

=================== Front of postcard ===================

A FREE $50.00 Gift Certificate has been gifted to YOU

By at

I was just reflecting, as most of us do with the _____ (insert your holiday or reason why here) _____ upon us, about people, and especially my most loyal and appreciated customers. I thought about some ideas of how I could say thank-you … What’s better than giving away money?

Come see us in the next 2 weeks with this $50 gift certificate. I will have some new help around the store to take care of your projects. Finally get that picture framed that’s been under your bed or in the attic.

It’s my way of saying Thank-You for your loyal patronage!

================== Back of postcard ==================

Welcome to the Michelangelo Club. You will be the first to hear of (and benefit from) all the new offers for our Michelangelo members … Look for them in the mail … Enjoy your FREE GIFT.

See you this week …

PS … Come see me in the next 3 days and I will add an extra $5.00 to your gift certificate!!

Thank-you for your loyalty over the years and welcome to the Michelangelo Club.

What to do with your $50? (make that $55 if you come in soon)

• use it for custom framing
• use it as a down payment
• please allow up to 4 weeks to complete the project

When you come in – let me know your e-mail address for future Michelangelo specials coming up this year!!!

******

That was VERY simple – they wrote it up in half an hour – had it printed and mailed in the next 48 hours. There is nothing difficult about that – and yes, there are ample ways you could improve the offer. The point is – IT WORKED. The point is not for you to critique it or poke holes in it – rather to find a way to make it work for your business.

There are undoubtedly more ways you can get your existing clients back to buy – to buy more often – and to become more devoted purchasers (through clubs like this).

So … what offer can you make to your clients?

The ideas are endless if you put some thought into it and find ways to get them back to buy.

Find a few ways to make these lessons work for your business …

http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/troy-white/balancing-life-and-business-while-building-your-fortune.html#more-376

From – Troy White Editor, Small Business Mastery Supplement to THE TOTAL PACKAGE

I will be working on some new campaigns for the Ultimate Referral Marketing System and wanted to see if any of you folks had a urgent need or pressing desire for a specific campaign.  Lets all discuss it here … would love to hear your feedback. Here’s some of the one’s I’m looking to finish up and convert over to the new editor.

- Lost Client Win Back – Personal Lines and Commercial Lines

- Quoted but Closed lead warming campaign – contact at next renewal

– X-Dated, but not ready for our appointment 3, 6, 9 ,12 months from now

- PL Cross Sell to Commercial Clients

- Commercial Lines Cross Sell to PL Business Owners

– Home Ins X-Sell to Auto policyholders

- Auto X-Sell to Home Policyholders

– Work Comp X-Sell to PKG Clients

- Group Benefits X-Sell Card to any Commercial client

- Did you know we Do … Umbrella / Health / Life

Ok folks – theres some of the ideas I have on the burner to either re create or create from scratch.  Votes?  Assistance?  Ideas … Contributions of successful content?  Let it rip!

Shared by Steve
So – with this gem in mind – it’s obvious where to focus our referral marketing rewards and customer service satisfaction efforts – no?

The more I read from this guy’s blog - the more I like it. Hope you all enjoy.

All the best,

Women are responsible for countless purchases, but they need help to create efficiency in their buying decisions. So what they tend to do is find a person who they can really trust, and then use that person as a filter when making specific decisions.

Take for example, someone with a legal issue. If they have someone who’s been doing great legal work for them, they will go to that person every time for legal issues, either for direct help or trusted referrals.

So you need to not only understand the core services you provide, but the appropriate referrals around your industry – how people find you, who they ask first for help, why people trust others in the professional world. This is especially important to do with women, because they have been found to refer business services at twice the rate of men.

On average, a woman will refer a person that she is pleased with 26 times, while men only refer about 13 times. It might take longer to get a woman as a client because she does two things more than men. First, she will rely on more peer and expert recommendations. Second, she’s going to ask around more and do research on the Web about your business.

The good thing is, once a woman finds the right candidate to serve her needs, she tends to stay loyal longer because she’s already invested a lot of time in finding the right one. And was mentioned, she’ll refer your business twice as much as a man.

These numbers should also encourage you to take extra good care of your female customers. Because if you don’t, then that means they’re handing off a negative message about your business at least 26 times.

Original Article link back here

Next in this series: What women want

This post is the second in a series of excerpts from OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Lisa Johnson, CEO of ReachGroup, formerly ReachWomen, an international marketing consultancy. She also co-authored: Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy and How to Increase Your Share of this Crucial Market.
By OneCoach CEO John Assaraf’s interview with Lisa Johnson, CEO of ReachGroup)