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8 Simple Ways to Get More (and Better) Client Referrals

I know some people who hate asking for referrals from their clients for fear of disturbing them or asking for “too much.” I understand the mentality, but I believe it is wrong.

When you get your clients to promote your agency in a simple and uncompromising way, it’s doing them a favor. Why? Referrals are what we might call social currency. We all like to recommend companies and quality products because it is a way to help each other.

Unfortunately, many insurance agents never properly prepare and train on how to request referrals in an effective and convenient way for both parties. This can lead to interactions like the following:

Agent: “If you are satisfied, could you maybe give me the names of three people who could also benefit from my excellent service?”

Customer: [uncomfortable pause] “Oh ... um ... well ... I guess you could call my ... I really don’t have phone numbers with me now ...”

Agent: “Sorry, but can you think a little harder about a few people before we end our meeting?”

I do not want your clients to lose the opportunity to make referrals, but at the same time, you shouldn’t have awkward conversations.

Here are eight ideas for generating great referrals:

1. You must change your mentality. Stop believing that you are “asking for referrals” and imagine this instead:

“I am helping my clients increase their social status by facilitating the recommendation of an agency that is easy to work with, cares about clients and can save money for their friends.”

If you do not convince yourself of this, your problem may be more complex than simply needing referrals.

2. A referral bonus program is a system whose goal is to give value to clients who refer your agency. You can include different ideas, but the most important thing is that it must be a standard procedure, replicable and easy to implement. Having this program offers many advantages.

» It will be easy to explain and replicate for your clients.

» You are less likely to have an unwanted referral.

» You can develop promotional material for your products (brochures, etc.).

» Your clients will have an extra motivation to refer you and will be more willing to do so.

3. If your clients do not have your contact information with them, they will be unlikely to refer you to their acquaintances. Initially, be sure to be among your clients’ telephone contacts. Then meet their family members and also have them in your phone. Work on this until each member knows you.

Explain to your client the benefits of having their family members know your contact information in case of an emergency. This can even be done as early as the first sale.

To the client, it will appear that you will be available to them at all times. For example, if you sell a policy to the mother of the family and she experiences an emergency, it’s important for other family members to have your contact info.

4. Make business cards with additional space to place “Referred by ___________.”

In the blank space, write the name of your client and give it to them to pass to their contacts.

5. One reason why your customers hesitate to refer you is because they do not want to look bad if they recommend your services and you are not the right fit for that person.

Eliminate that risk by explaining the types of clients you serve and what you can offer them.

Be careful about describing your clients with a profile different from theirs, as it will make them doubt if they are with the right agency.

Here are two exercises that illustrate my point.

Exercise 1 — Ask your client: Excluding your co-workers or family, think of someone you know who would be happy to make sure their loved ones are protected, or to have a financial plan for their retirement. Take time until you have thought of someone.

Exercise 2 — Now think of a neighbor who would be happy to have those same services. The first question is more difficult to answer because the client will not know whom to refer.

The second question has fewer options, and I bet you yourself imagined your neighbor thanking you for helping them.

The point is, when you ask for referrals from your clients, ask them to think about a specific group of people from which it is easier to choose.

6. The email signature is a block of text that automatically appears at the bottom of your messages. Most agents have their contact information and maybe a link to their website.

This block of text is a good place to request referrals, because your client will be reading the email and can forward the information to their contacts.

Use “Fwd my contact information” as your action message to remind the reader how to recommend you and above all, invite them to do so.

7. When you receive referrals from a client, post it on your social networks for everyone to see while you thank the person who gave it to you.

This accomplishes many things. It shows how much you appreciate their confidence in you. This will increase your chances of getting more contacts, and your social media followers will be able to see this.

It also reinforces to your existing clients that other people are so happy with your services that they are inviting their friends to get to know you. This social test will improve customer perception and retention.

8. LinkedIn has an interesting tool that can help you identify referrals. When you look at the profile of someone you do not have in your network and you are connected by a third person, LinkedIn will show you who that third person is.

This means that you can send a casual message to the person you’re connected by to request to be introduced.

Obviously, a lot depends on your relationship with that third person, but you never know what you can achieve by trying. Now it is my turn …

If any of the ideas presented in this article are useful and you know someone who might appreciate it, please share it.

You will be helping two people with a minimum of effort. Happy hunting. 

Source: http://www.insurancenewsnetmagazine.com/article/8-simple-ways-to-get-more-and-better-client-referrals-3355#.WbbtJ9J4eHs

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Hispanic Market of Growing Interest to Insurance Agents

Not only are Hispanics the fastest-growing young demographic in the U.S., but they have the longest life expectancy at birth, facts that might interest insurance agents looking to build their books of business.

Underwriters of life insurance policies might also want to take note as the nation becomes more ethnically and racially diverse and as Hispanics continued to be underrepresented in life insurance coverage.

The data are the latest findings published by the National Center for Health Statistics in “Health, United States 2016.”

“By 2015, just over one-half of the child and adolescent population was non-Hispanic white and one-quarter was Hispanic,” study authors wrote in the 488-page report.

The NCHS is the principal data collection agency of the Centers for Disease Control within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There were about 321 million people in the U.S. in 2015, compared with 216 million in 1975.

Fastest-Growing Segment

In 2015, nearly a quarter (24.6 percent) of the population ages 0 to 17 years old was Hispanic, an increase from 17.1 percent in 2000, as that age segment grew fastest.

Hispanics ages 18 to 64 years old made up 17.3 percent of the population, an increase from 12.2 percent in 2000, the report found.

Hispanics 65 years and older made up 7.9 percent of the population in 2015, an increase from 5 percent in 2000, the health data found.

By comparison, in 2015 whites made up 51.5 percent of the population age 0 to 17 years old compared with 61.3 percent in 2000.

In 2015 whites 18 to 64 years old made up 61.5 percent of the population, compared with 70 percent in 2000. Whites 65 years and older made up 77.8 percent compared with 83.8 percent in 2000, the data show.

Life Expectancy Highest Among Hispanics

That the nation’s population is moving toward racial and ethnic diversity isn’t exactly new, but the latest mortality data about Hispanics might be.

During 1975-2015, average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. rose from 68.8 years to 76.3 years for men and from 76.6 years to 81.2 years for women.

In 2015, Hispanic men had a life expectancy at birth, on average, of 79.3 years and Hispanic women had an expectancy of 84.3 years.

Non-Hispanic black men, with a life expectancy at birth of 71.8 years and non-Hispanic black women, with a life expectancy of 78.1 years, had the shortest, according to the data.

Life expectancy at birth was 7.5 years longer for Hispanic men than for non-Hispanic black men and 6.2 years longer for Hispanic women than for non-Hispanic black women.

The leading cause of death in 2015 was heart disease, which claimed 23.4 percent of all deaths, the data show.

Heart disease was followed by cancer (22 percent), CLRD, or chronic lower respiratory disease, (5.7 percent), unintentional injuries (5.4 percent), stroke (5.2 percent), Alzheimer’s (4.1 percent), diabetes (2.9 percent), influenza and pneumonia (2.1 percent), nephritis and nephrosis, or kidney disease (1.8 percent), and suicide (1.6 percent).

From 2011 to 2014, diabetes, a condition in which the body is deprived of insulin, affected 12 percent of adults age 20 and older.

From 1988 to 1994, diabetes affected 8.8 percent of adults 20 and older, the data show.

Between 2011 to 2014, the prevalence of diabetes among blacks and Hispanics of Mexican origin was almost twice as high than for non-Hispanic whites, the data found.

Source: http://advisornews.com/innarticle/hispanic-market-growing-interest-advisors

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5 Prospecting Methods That
Really Work

It’s no surprise that prospecting is the No. 1 challenge advisors face, year after year. When, as part of National Underwriter’s recent Independent Producer Study, we asked about the most challenging aspects of selling insurance products, 55 percent of respondents named prospecting as their top trial. It was a landslide winner, in fact, beating such formidable obstacles as clients’ lack of understanding around the need for insurance (34%), negative opinions of insurance products (25%) and product affordability (22%).

As you look to overcome this challenge in the year ahead, keep these five techniques in mind. While there’s no silver bullet to make prospecting a breeze, these are the methods your peers know from experience to really work.

1. REFERRALS

A steady stream of qualified referrals is the lifeblood of any agency. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents cited referrals as the most effective way to prospect for new business, and for good reason: No other method will provide greater bang for your buck, so to speak. Having a solid referral-generating process in place will ensure not only that you are constantly introduced to new prospects, but that you are constantly introduced to the right prospects — the ones that meet your Ideal Client profile.

Referral expert Bill Cates suggests growing your referral network by being careful to keep referral sources informed about how you are following up on their help. This communicates that you value their insight and advice. Says Cates: “When someone gives you a referral, there are three things you MUST do to keep the referrals coming from that source: a) Follow up on every referral you get as soon as possible; b) Let your source know that you are following up on their help; c) Thank your referral source with a handwritten note and a small gift.”

2. PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY GROUPS, ASSOCIATIONS OR ACTIVITIES

At 34 percent, community involvement was named the second most effective prospecting technique. It’s Branding 101: The more people who associate your name with a positive message, the more clients you will have. Jim Brogan, president and founder of Brogan Financial in Knoxville, Tenn., makes community involvement a cornerstone of his practice, and has seen a boom in business as a result – not to mention a greater satisfaction and sense of fulfillment in the work he does each day. He encourages financial advisors to ask these questions as they consider how to get involved in their community: How many people in your community know who you are and what you do? If they hear the name of your business, what is the brand they associate with it? Is your brand different than any other financial advisor in town? Do you have a unique message and marketing initiative that helps you stand out from the crowded field of financial advisory firms?

3. LOCAL EVENTS OR SEMINARS

Leading a seminar serves two important purposes: First, it establishes you as a thought leader in your area of specialty; second, it puts you in front of a group of prospects that have already expressed interest in your product line. Twenty percent of our survey respondents cited this as an effective prospecting technique – and while it may be tried-and-true, there are plenty of ways to tailor your seminar approach for today’s buyers.  Industry coach Kerry Johnson suggests shunning the somewhat dated dinner seminar and instead holding a Social Security seminar designed purely to educate prospects. The overhead will be lower and, in many cases, the conversion of prospects to clients will be higher.  Johnson notes: “Since you have taken away the motivation to get a free meal, the attendees are left with solving retirement problems. This is your retirement planning sweet spot.”

4. COLD CALLING

It may sound old-school, but cold calling can still work according to 15 percent of our advisors. In fact, picking up the phone beat out sexier methods such as social media (7%) and advertising on the radio or television (5%). Coach Kelley Robertson acknowledges that cold calling is tough, but asserts emphatically that it is not dead. To see results, you must put in the time you would with any other prospecting technique — and, of course, have thick skin. Robertson’s advice to agents: “You need to make a lot of dials. You need to target the right companies. You need a compelling opening. And you need to speak to the right people.”

5. DIRECT MAIL

Just under 15 percent of respondents cited direct mail as an effective prospecting technique — and J. Ryan Parker, general manager of Element Financial Group thinks the number of agents that prospect this way may actually be much higher, while also noting that it should not be a stand-alone prospecting method. Says Parker: “I think a lot of prospecting still revolves around direct mail — more so than people realize [because] seminars are powered by direct mail. This is obviously not the most cost-effective way of marketing yourself; you can probably spend a lot less money doing this on the Internet. But the clients producers are looking to reach, the seniors and the boomers, just aren’t as prone to go to Google and look something up. This is why more of your successful planners are still using direct mail. That said, online needs to be part of every producer’s prospecting strategy because it streamlines the business process.  If I get a lead from the Internet, it automatically enters into my CRM, and we can follow-up from there. Internet is absolutely critical for today’s producers.”

Source - http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2013/11/06/5-prospecting-methods-that-really-work?page_all=1

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