Astonish Results Insurance Blog

By Tim Sawyer, President, Co-Founder, & Director of Client Services for Astonish

In the first blog post of this series, I discussed the first dysfunction of a team, the absence of trust. Read up on it, then continue here to learn about the second dysfunction of a team: the fear of conflict. As a business owner, you should already know that  conflict is an essential part of growth. Growth requires change and the need to do things differently, which will inevitably create conflict.

By Adam DeGraide, CEO & Founder of Astonish Results

It’s a common misconception among insurance agents that sales skills are all you need for success. There’s no doubt these skills are important to close deals, but if you’re focused solely on honing your sales skills, you will never be a successful insurance agent. It’s not just about the sale. It’s about nurturing leads and moving them through the sales funnel.

Your sales leads are flighty, finicky, tricky prospective clients that need to be drawn in with the shiny light of your agency benefits. Leading them through your benefits, products, and choices is a process that you can’t rush through overnight. If you can’t close the deal with a lead today, there’s always tomorrow. But you won’t get that opportunity if you don’t stay in contact, keep your lead informed, and focus on progressing them through the sales process.  If you’re not keeping your name in front of prospects and nurturing your relationship with them, you might as well open up the door to your competitor’s office and shoo them in. If you give up on leads that aren’t ready to buy, you’ll never grow.

By Tim Sawyer, President, Co-Founder, & Director of Client Services for Astonish 

My new role as Director of Client Services has required me to consider my company and team in a different light. I’ve realized how much I rely on the staff around me to be unified and on task, make clients happy, and share my vision of company success.  As a company, we’re exploring a book called “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni to weed out any debilitating dysfunctions and make our team a strong and productive one. As an agency principal, the employees of your agency—sales, service, and marketing—are your keys to success. You need healthy relationships and clearly defined goals to achieve growth and maintain an atmosphere that keeps your employees inspired.

By: Tim Sawyer, President & Co-Founder of Astonish Results

Remember when the Yellow Pages was the Holy Grail of local company listings? Now you can find it on a dusty shelf or in your recycle bin. Sites like LinkedIn are the new way consumers find information on local businesses. And now, modern consumers demand much more information than a phone number. They want reviews, product descriptions, and a general feel for the brand. If you’re not representing your agency with consistent branding on LinkedIn, you’re missing out on interaction with loyal clients, prospects, referrals, and business opportunities. It’s the best social media site to gain exposure for your agency because that’s just what it’s designed to do. Here are the steps to maximizing brand power on LinkedIn.

By Adam DeGraide, CEO & Founder of Astonish Results

I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times: The only thing constant in this world is change. The way people shop for insurance, expectations for customer service, the information people find most important: these are all constantly changing and they affect the success of your agency. As an agency owner, how do you respond to the changes around you? If you’re a successful agency, you’re receptive to changes. Good leaders never have a problem changing the direction of their business. If you keep the same procedures, technology and methods of your business throughout the years, you will never survive in this changing industry. Darwin’s model makes for a good business strategy: those who adapt, survive. Figure out what needs to change so you can keep up, develop a plan for change, then stand up and be that change.

 

“How can I get my site to appear on the first page of Google?”

This is one of the most common questions that business owners are asking in today’s Internet-based marketplace. According to the research, over 85% of people will research insurance options online before they buy their next policy. Do you know what it takes to get your agency’s website shows up at the top of Google, Yahoo, or Bing?

 

Contrary to popular belief, just having a website that contains the right keyword phrases isn’t enough. Insurance keyword phrases are among the most competitive on the Internet. In order to rank on major search engines, your agency website needs to be supported by a comprehensive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. This strategy will help search engines find your site, move you to the top of the search pages, keep you at the top, and focus on keywords that will turn visitors into new customers.

 

As a veteran Internet marketer, my team has spent the past 15 years focused on the best SEO practices. The best advice I can give to anyone interested in dominating on the search engines has nothing to do with keyword analysis, back-linking, blogging, or social media. It’s much simpler than that.

No matter how full my daily agenda seems to be, I am a firm believer in setting aside quiet growth time to read and to deliberate on how things are being done, rather than simply executing task after task. As I was recently rereading a company favorite, Ken Blanchard’s Raving Fans, a basic truth of marketing came to mind again: One of the best things you can do for your agency is to turn your silent clients into “raving fans.” Raving fans are clients that are so in love with your service and systems that they want to shout your praises from the rooftops of every major city. Raving fans will outsell your best marketing tactics and lead to a great reputation and numerous referrals. How do you turn your clients and leads into these awesome walking billboards for your agency? One of the best ways is through giving.

 In 2012, do you think your customers are becoming more or less loyal to your agency? The simple truth is—less. Why? Because the Internet has made it so much easier to shop.

In a nutshell, you need to make your customers’ relationship with you so great, that they have no reason to shop around. In fact, they should know that if they are looking for better rates, the first person they should check with is YOU!

So what does creating a superior and consistent experience look like, and how do you get started?

By Tim Sawyer, President & Co-Founder of Astonish Results

 

Are you self-disciplined?

 

One of the main ingredients in the life of every successful person is self-discipline. It can be simply defined as the ability to pursue what is right despite the temptation to abandon it. In essence, self-disciplined people are more effective at accomplishing major tasks and leading others because they know how to lead themselves, first. You may have plenty of natural ability, but if you don’t develop self-discipline, you are holding yourself and those around you back from greater achievement.

by Adam DeGraide, CEO & Founder of Astonish Results

Last week I had the opportunity to interview 30 of my top clients for the Insurance Journal E-Marketing Minute. While listening to their stories of success, growth, and profitability using the Internet, I was reminded that there are still too many agencies holding themselves back from achieving the same results. While my 700+ clients are growing their revenue by 50%, 100%, 200%, and even 500%, there are still tens of thousands of agencies that are timid about fully embracing the Internet in their business.

 

If your agency has been hesitant to catch up with the Internet age, I understand. Over the past 15 years as a digital marketing expert, I’ve learned that there are 3 main reasons that business owners hesitate to make this necessary change: (1) lack of belief, (2) unsuccessfully attempts in the past, and/or (3) lack of understanding about how to achieve success online. To address these fears, I’ve put together these 5 simple steps to making the Internet profitable in your agency.