At the core of our relationship selling program, the Asset Protection Model (APM), is the concept that you must ESTABLISH a trust relationship with all new prospects and work at MAINTAINING strong relationships with existing clients in order to accomplish a) strong new business sales, b) strong retention of existing clients and c) exceptional cross selling and referral opportunities to strengthen agency income.
We developed a 15 Step Marketing Program that gives agents five relationship strengthening opportunities with each prospect every year for three years. The marketing program for prospective clients gives the producer a reason for physically seeing his prospects several times each year to show the prospect the primary reasons that the prospect should be using the APM Agency instead of his existing insurance agent. The chances are very good that the prospect hasn’t seen his current agent for years (if he ever met him). Although carriers, coverage and pricing may be similar, the greatest value that we can provide our insureds is a TRUST RELATIONSHIP between the client and the agency. How do we define that value unless we actually “see” the client and become friends during the familiarization process. The greatest difference that we can illustrate is that we will be there when the client needs us and each subsequent visit permits us to strengthen the relationship until the insured is comfortable and trusts our judgement to provide him insurance protection.
This continuous marketing to familiarize prospects with the producer and the agency does work and works quite well as long as the producer devotes the time needed to visit his valued prospects four to five times every year until the prospects converts into a client. However, agents make a fatal mistake if they stop marketing to clients once they have purchased insurance from the agency.
The second key to retention, account rounding and referral generation is the conduct of a Client Marketing Program beginning after the sale.
Visiting the client several times each year (not just prior to renewal) provides a structured approach to another principal of the Asset Protection Model. The principal provides that once the APM agent has sold the client his first policy, the responsibility of the agency (and the Relationship Manager) is to review every type of asset protection exposure that the client may have and either confirming that the client has the appropriate insurance program to protect those assets – or – offer ideas to properly protect those personal, physical or business assets (whether they require new or additional insurance products or not). The Client Marketing Program is a rotating review of one insurable exposure at a time with the goal of the visit being the full analysis of the exposure and whatever protective devices the client has purchased to minimize the risk of loss. So if we have sold a client his business Package Policy, during the next few years we will visit the client to review and offer recommendations on any other commercial exposures, and on his auto, homeowners, umbrella, life, health, long term care and any other exposure that may risk the client’s assets. For our agency purposes we maintain our file notes on each of the client’s asset risks and what the client has decided to do with our recommendations for minimizing asset risks.
We don’t necessarily offer to sell product to the clients. If he has existing products, we may suggest changes to his existing coverages, limits or deductibles or the addition of needed endorsements. But we have become the client’s personal risk manager and insurance consultant and our job is to make certain that the client’s assets are properly protected – or that he understands any gaps that exist (if he should decide not to purchase coverage for those risks. The notes we have in our files cover our E&O exposure by documenting our conversations with the client. More importantly, every visit is an opportunity to enhance the clients risk protective devices AND allows him to provide referrals for other people he knows to gain the same benefit that our agency provides our clients. Whether you use the relationship selling methods of the Asset Protection Model or not, there is no harm and a great deal of good that can come from maintaining a strong personal relationship with the clients that you need to keep your agency strong. The 15 Step Marketing Program for prospects and the Client Marketing Program keeps you producers fully involved with your customers, keeps them out of the office productively and will generate maximum revenues from each client and multiply the client base by generating referrals. Remember, your producers are hired to grow your agency and help retain your existing customers. If you use the producers as processors or service staff, you are not using these staff members to their best efforts.