In a previous article, I talked about how buyer expectations are completely changing the marketing and selling playing field for insurance agencies. In order to be in the game and to continue playing, agencies have to learn the new rules. This new world starts by having a very clear idea of your Purpose or your Why as Kevin explains very well in his article "Why Would I Want To Buy From You?" If you're not familiar with this idea, then I highly recommend you take a few minutes to get caught up. Trust me - it's worth the extra time!
Your Purpose/Why ultimately drives every decision you make in the organization: What you think about, what you talk about, what processes you create, the people you hire, and even the education you choose to pursue.
Every business has a reason for being in business, whether you've consciously thought about it or not, and it's driving your behaviors. Most businesses haven't really thought through this at a deep enough level for it to be meaningful, and instead end up with a pretty scattered message.
Many will say that their reason for being in business is to make money, but as Simon Sinek points out, making money is simply a result. Or it should be anyway. But that doesn't stop many people from using that as their primary focus.
Looking to make money?
If your focus is to make money, then you're thinking about yourself, your products, your carriers, and how to get those products in the hands of new clients as quickly as possible. This usually results in a lot of "free" quotes.
In this situation, there just isn't much to talk about in your messaging. It's really product/features/benefits – a type of marketing which has been largely pushed aside to make way for education around actual business issues.
Or do you want to help clients build businesses?
However, if your focus is instead to help clients build better businesses, become attractive to employees, or create safe, thriving organizations, then your thoughts, discussions, and activities are completely different. Now you're thinking about things like strategic, long-term plan designs; financing strategies; effective communication; compliance issues; and developing strong HR/risk management programs.
In this situation, you've now got a wealth of educational information you can begin sharing through marketing activities in order to make connections with potential clients.
- Now, you can write articles and blog posts about the benefits of creating a strategic, long-term plan for their insurance/benefits.
- Explain what types of financing options are available and what the possible implications for their business could be when they look at alternative scenarios.
- Describe what it looks like to communicate a benefits or a safety program effectively. Explain what the business implications may be of an effective program vs. an ineffective one, or having no program at all.
- Explain the implications of various compliance issues and why businesses need to seek out help to address them.
- Share examples of what effective HR/risk management programs look like and how you help structure them.
When you have a clear idea in your mind about what your Purpose/Why is, you have the power to completely change the conversation with your prospective buyers. Instead of prospects glancing at the first page of your site and moving on, you can now draw them in with your ideas. And you can keep them there by challenging the way they look at their business and the decisions they're making.
Take a look in the mirror
The content you create and share reflects what you think about, what you care about, where you place value, and how clear you are with those thoughts. It also shows your readers a sample of what they can expect to get from you when they hire you to be their advisor.
Show them that you are in the business of thinking about their business.
Creating your Purpose/Why statement isn't necessarily easy. I'm not going to pretend it is. But in another blog post I will give you some guidelines for uncovering the ideas and creating your purpose statement.
Photo by Carnie Lewis
