101 Sales, Marketing & Management Ideas

1. 101 Sales, Marketing &
Management Ideas
by Andrea Wells
Insurance Journal

2. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 2
1 - Hold Producers Accountable
To increase profitable sales agency owners
have to execute their producer management
plans. This means absolutely holding producers
accountable to make new quality sales. If the
business model bypasses producers, then make
sure producers are truly bypassed and your sym-
pathy does not result in paying them anyway. —
Chris Burand, Burand & Associates LLC
2 - Name Change
Change your agency’s name to something
modern. Or better yet, use different names
depending on the target audience.
3 - Snappy Tags
Reconsider your agency’s tagline. Make it
snappy and unusual, not boring. Then use it
everywhere.
4 - Survey Customers
Conduct immediate follow-up surveys
with customers. Send an email to any
customer who visits the agency or
meets with an associate thanking them
and asking for feedback in a survey.
5 - Dig Deeper
Don’t just understand risk itself. Understand
risk in the full context of your clients’ businesses.
Think of it like an iceberg, just as 90 percent of
an iceberg’s mass lurks below the water, so does
business risk — and it takes relentless focus and
concentration to uncover these hidden risks.
Delve into your clients’ businesses and examine
101 Sales,
Marketing &
Management
Ideas

3. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 3
their current insurance policies line by line so
you can develop tailored insurance programs to
both fit their needs and deliver a positive finan-
cial impact. — Michael Tiagwad, Conner Strong
& Buckelew
6 - Videography
Create a video introducing newcomers in your
town to its amenities and services.
7 - Welcome Committee
Serve as welcomers to newcomers who move
into your town or region. Organize a welcome
“party” with information and introductory offers
from various services including your own, other
businesses, recreational activities, etc. Do not
hold it in your agency — do it on neutral ground.
8 - Meet and Greet
Organize an informational workshop and
networking meeting for new businesses in your
community or in a sector of the regional econo-
my that your agency targets.
9 - Special Needs
Every industry has special needs when it
comes to managing risk. Understand those
needs and provide unique solutions for your cli-
ents. This approach will deepen your client rela-
tionships, strengthen retention and produce an
increased flow of referral business. — Leonard
Scioscia, Cook Maran & Associates
10 - Avoid Clutter
Focus your ads on one simple message and
one only. Avoid a clutter of competing ideas and
images.
11 - Survey Results
Conduct a substantive survey
on topics of interest to your target
market or community and share
the results in a special report
to customers and prospects,
website articles, press releases,
media interviews, contributed
columns and wherever you
can.
12 - Be an Expert
Become an expert on
your community’s econo-
my, growth opportunities,
business services and/or on a
target market. Share your knowledge with others
on your website, in speeches and with the media.
13 - Sponsor a Charity Event
Sponsoring a charity event is a win-win-win.
The key is to get VIP clients and prospects
involved. This ensures success and promotes
interest from others. The charity clearly benefits
from the fundraiser, while the agency and the VIP
guests get some recognition. — Catherine Oak,
Oak & Associates
14 - Befriend Leaders
Befriend the most successful local business
owners and ask them to share secrets of their
success. They will be flattered you asked. They
may even introduce you to others.
15 - Best Employees
Be proactive to retain your best employees by
raising their salaries and providing extra perks
and educational opportunities.
16 - Education
Be proactive in providing educational opportu-
nities for employees. You will learn which employ-
ees are career-minded and want to be true pro-
fessionals.
17 - Go Retro
There are 72 million U.S. baby boomers, all
of whom are old enough to recall the everyday
objects of bygone decades. Feature 1950s imag-
es of these items and individuals to evoke warm
feelings for the past. Build them into
“Time Capsule” marketing campaigns
that contrast the relatively modest
insurance limits of the ‘50s to the
much higher numbers of today. —
Alan Shulman, www.agencyideas.
com
18 - Bring Associates
Whenever you go to an indus-
try or business luncheon or semi-
nar, bring along an associate. Two
people can work a room better than
one.
19 - White Papers and Reports
Include objective white
papers and research reports on

4. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 4
your website to help consumers educate them-
selves and send out links to them on occasion to
customers.
20 - Promotional Giveaways
When selecting promotional giveaways, get
creative. Move beyond pens and mouse pads.
How about colorful rain slickers, pens that
record conversations, cutting edge knives, etc.
21 - Social Media Q&As
Visit LinkedIn groups and answer questions
others ask about insurance. Keep your replies
informative and low key; sell your expertise, not
your products or services.
22 - List on MyNewMarkets.com
List your company with mynewmarkets.com.
This is a website that is powered by Insurance
Journal. The website is designed to match the
needs and wants of client companies, agents,
brokers, and insurance carriers. New companies
are listed on an email to all of their subscribers.
I listed my company and our website received
over 200 page views ... for free! We received
about 10 quality leads from client companies
and agencies looking to utilize our specific niche
of workers’ comp and payroll solutions for con-
tractors. — Mike Smith, Eagle Employer Services
23 - Leverage News Events
Position your agency as the authority when
news events break that are related to insur-
ance. For example, when Russians recently were
accused of the largest data breach in history,
we were talking about cyber coverage and how
to protect your data. We also promoted our
upcoming cyber security seminar to give cus-
tomers and prospects practical guidance on this
critical topic. — Tony Payne, Clark Insurance
24 - Custom Logo Cookies for Clients
They never fail! Find a good vendor — some-
one who makes the cookies fresh. Have an SEO
audit done for your website. It’s well worth the
money to find out how you can enhance your
website with some very simple, yet very effective
changes. You’ll see a noticeable difference in vis-
itors almost immediately. — Lynn Mason-Small,
Rogers & Gray Insurance
25 - Create Positive Interaction
How a person feels when interacting with you,
your website, and your products and services
are extremely important to your brand, and even
more important to your sales and marketing
efforts. Design, usability, accessibility, marketing
and performance all affect user experience, and
are there for the perception of your company. An
overall positive user experience implies a respon-
sive company, enabling the company to attract
new clients. — Ashley Thorpe, WEBCBG
26 - Focus on a Niche
It differentiates your agency, defines you as an
expert, and is the most efficient marketing meth-
od to drive organic new business growth. Niche
marketing allows you to develop a highly focused
prospecting process that generates significantly
higher hits ratios. Once you begin to establish
yourself in a niche, you’ll get more and better
quality referrals that will generate a consistent
flow of new organic new business. –– John K.
Tiene, Agency Network Exchange (ANE)
27 - Be Pinteresting
Have you tried to be Pinteresting? Pinterest has
been an incredible marketing tool in my social
media team’s arsenal. We have more ROI from
Pinterest than from any other social media plat-
form. Pinterest has more than 70 million users
who spend an average of 98 minutes on the site.
The major users are hyper-engaged ladies in
their prime buying years. What better way to get
to them than to be where they already
are? The Ash Brokerage
boards cover differ-
ent lines of business:
life insurance; disability
income; long-term care
insurance and annuities;
as well as ancillary topics
such as social media, retire-
ment, thought-leadership and
underwriting. We reach out and
introduce ourselves as people, not as a business,
and foster a relationship that is more personal.
We are able to develop new partnerships with
professionals who we may not have necessarily
been able to meet otherwise. — Sheryl Brown,
Ash Brokerage Corp.
28 - 5 Calls at 5:00
Having trouble reaching the decision maker?
Make five phone calls at 5:00. Why? Because the
gatekeeper is gone and the decision maker is

5. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 5
carriers and employees. –– Lisa Doherty and
Linda Boborodea, Business Risk Partners
33 - Be Persistent
Persistency is not a bad thing. If you “drip” your
prospects with credible and timely information
they will eventually pick up the phone and call
you with an opportunity or take your call. There
are many ways to “drip” a prospective client. If
you are not their broker, you need to be right
there at the ready to pick up the ball when the
current broker drops it. It is all about timing
and you never know which drip will trigger your
opportunity! — Janette L’Heureux
34 - Customize Introductory Letters
Take the extra time to learn about your
prospects before sending a boilerplate letter.
Complimenting them on a recent accomplish-
ment or demonstrating that you’ve researched
their organization will separate your letter from
the numerous solicitations they receive on a
daily basis. — Matt Hammer, Baldwin Krystyn
Sherman Partners
35 - Management/Leadership
An insurance agency’s E&O culture starts with
its management. Is management clearly and fre-
quently showing its E&O commitment by “walking
the walk” and “talking the talk?” Without this
commitment from leadership, it is highly ques-
tionable whether the staff will embrace a strong
E&O culture and achieve the desired level of com-
mitment. — Curtis Pearsall, Pearsall Associates
Inc.
36 - Think Successful, Be Successful
Think successful, act successful and you will be
successful! Believe in yourself and your firm at all
times, and back up that belief with great tools and
information. — Florence Conlan, Baldwin Krystyn
Sherman Partners
37 - Plan for New Hires
Have a strategic plan in place prior to begin-
ning your search for a new producer. Determine if
you are going to hire an insurance veteran or hire
a good salesperson from another industry. Based
on this, develop a complete training plan before
you even interview anyone. Develop and verify
that you have a quality producer contract ready
to go before beginning your search. Finally, devel-
op your producer management plan. Even good
likely to pick up thinking it is a personal call. In
addition, they will be more relaxed. — Patrice
Winovich, Insurance U
29 - A Thank You Is Always Right
We always send a thank you letter, including a
$10 Target gift card to the referral party, whether
or not we write the business. We are rewarding
the behavior, which we want repeated. Then
those names go into a basket and one time per
month we send a $50 restaurant gift certificate
to one of our insured restaurants, and don’t pay
for those until they are turned in! — Tom Larsen,
Larsen Insurance Agency
30 - Use Prezi, not PowerPoint
We’ve all heard of death by PowerPoint; don’t
let it catch your audience too! To better grasp
your audience’s attention, use Prezi to bring the
audience on a ride. With Prezi, the content can
be simultaneously edited from multiple com-
puters. No longer will only one user be allowed
to edit the PowerPoint, with other team mem-
bers waiting for access. Also, a Prezi link can be
shared that will enable you to present remotely
with a group. This can be helpful if you are trying
to present the material to an employer before-
hand. — Meret Steves
31 - Market in Person
Nowadays, most mailed solicitations are
viewed as junk mail. The person who answers
the phone (the gatekeeper) usually views you
as a cut-rate telemarketer. Many social media
avenues can create brand awareness, but don’t
seem to motivate people to call/email for insur-
ance. I feel that business owners appreciate
meeting you face-to-face and I prefer to market
myself in person. Yes, it takes time and energy,
that is why we are selective about whom we
approach. Many brokers and agents are not
doing this — it seems to work for us. — Steve
Shockley, Shockley Insurance Solutions
32 - Client’s Position
Make it a win/win. Try to
put yourself in your client’s/
insured’s/agent’s position
by asking questions
and understanding the
uniqueness of their
needs. We talk about
partnering with our clients/

6. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 6
be thankful for it in the long run. — JS Gagnon,
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners
44 - Road to Perpetuation
As an agency principal approaches retirement
and wants to perpetuate the agency, he or she
needs to think strategically to build agency value
and consider key people
who can step in to help
grow the business and ulti-
mately make the transition
to keep your legacy alive.
Agency owners must invest
time and resources in
hiring, training and devel-
oping the right producers
soon rather than later!
— Robert Pettinicchi,
InsurBanc
45 - Car Washes
I like to work out deals
with local car washes that I have commercial
policies on to provide free car washes at their
locations for getting an insurance quote. During
the summer sending an agent over to the location
and asking for minor information, we can usually
hammer out an auto quote before they get out
of the drive. There is little out of pocket, I’m sup-
porting an existing client’s business and it’s an
easy way to get some business. — Shawn King,
The Assurance Center
46 - ‘Never Count the Other Guys’ Money’
This is an old poker players tip that also car-
ries weight in the insurance world. I have seen
otherwise professional and experienced brokers
lamenting over the 10 or 20 percent split they
sent to a referral source. Our objective is to build
a vast and powerful internal referral network that
allows us the opportunity to serve our clients at
every turn. The referral may be a benefits advisor
wrangling a commercial prospect, or a private risk
management advisor asking the right question
and generating a client for our wellness or loss
control teams. — Scott Robertson, The Villages
Insurance
47 - Remote Work
About one in five American workers works
at home, according to the U.S. Department of
Labor. Each year more and more agency staff and
producers work remotely, thanks to mobile tech-
producers need overt management. — Chris
Burand, Burand & Associates LLC
38 - Prospect New Business Daily
We all get very busy but we also should always
be thinking of the future, so it is a great idea to
block out a certain amount of time to prospect
for new business each day. This could be as little
as 15 minutes but it should be done on a daily
basis. — Craig Rice, Baldwin Krystyn Sherman
Partners
39 - Empathy
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes so you
can truly understand what they are feeling. —
Craig Rice, Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners
40 - Solicit Micro Businesses
Micros are smaller than the traditional small
business and consist mainly of digital-only oper-
ations along with a variety of incubated start-
ups. Some are financed through crowd-funding,
others by cities and venture capitalists. The best
of these firms can grow rapidly along with their
insurance needs. — Alan Shulman, www.agen-
cyideas.com
41 - Be Social on Social Media
Social networks offer an excellent opportunity
to inform and interact with your customers. The
goal is to get them to think about you when they
think insurance, not for them to feel like they are
constantly being sold. — Kevin Obrien, Willis
Personal Lines
42 - Think From Client’s Perspective
Approach your responsibilities as if you were
an owner/partner in your client’s operations.
Identify what your questions, concerns and
expectations would be and
then set your plan accordingly.
— Shane Finley
43 - Make It Easy to
Understand
Too often in the
insurance world we
tend to use big words and
overcomplicate things for our
clients. This can create a major
disconnect between you and your
client, or prospect. Go out of your
way to keep it simple, and your clients will

7. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 7
51 - Get Engaged
By engaging the client on a personal level
about their passions or hobbies, they know you
care about them as an individual, you are acting
in their best interest and they are much more
likely to be a raving fan. — Laura Sherman,
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners
52 - Virtual Platforms for Conversation
Get into the habit of treating social media sites
such as Twitter and Facebook
as platforms for conversa-
tion rather than advertising.
Try to make followers feel
as though they can pull up a
chair and connect with you in
a virtual context. — Tammy
Southin
53 - Eye-Catching
Infographics
Use an infographic to get your
message across. It’s perfect for post-
ing on social media and is eye-catch-
ing. — Anonymous
54- ‘Then and Now’ Photos
If you’ve been in business a
long time, a “then and now” photo
side-by-side is cool, preferably if the
photos are taken in roughly the same place/back-
ground. — Anonymous
55 - Handwritten Thank You’s
Send a handwritten thank you card to clients
when they send referrals and let them know that
the sincerest form of flattery to us is a referral
nology and progressive management. Remote
work offers key business benefits: Reduced costs;
Improved recruitment and retention; Increased
productivity; Improved customer service and
employee health; Improved business continuity
during natural disasters; and Reduced envi-
ronmental footprint. — Sharon Emek, Work At
Home Vintage Employees
48 - Communicate Proactively
All too often clients only hear from their insur-
ance agents at renewal. Your clients need to
hear from you on a regular basis — that’s partly
what social media is about. Don’t try to mas-
ter all channels, but be active on one or two of
them. Use email to deliver a monthly or quarterly
newsletter. Offer tips, reviews and some fresh
ideas. Regular communication cements your
relationship with a client. — Doug Coombs, SIAA
49 - Go Mobile
Convenience is a critical factor that potential
policyholders consider which agency to get their
insurance through. Policyholders need to know
that if an emergency occurs, they will have easy
access to their information at a moment’s notice.
A mobile app is an excellent way to provide that
level of convenience to clients. Mobile apps can
provide policyholders with access to look
up an electronic proof
of insurance, contact
an agent, file a claim,
review their policy
information, pay a bill,
and find close repair
shops. — Jake Oliversen,
Myriad Mobile
50 - Power of Positivity
Poll agents or customers to
learn one positive thing you’ve
done for them. Can be as simple
as one line or a story about how
you helped. Turn those into a
jar of positivity to show your
staff they’re doing a good job. (As
opposed to nitpicking on the negatives.) If you’re
a large company it could be set up as a com-
pany-wide email blast weekly or daily. Also use
select replies to market to customers and agents
on product flyers or specially designed promos
like notepads, pens, etc. — Kristy Mabe

8. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 8
Tamulski
61 - Be Yourself
Instead of trying to be someone you think the
client wants, be yourself. People instinctively rec-
ognize when others are genuine, and this allows
relationships and trust to develop more easily. —
Brad Tamulski
62 - Have Fun
Sounds easy, but too often we focus on the
little things. Sales is a transfer of emotion, and if
you can have fun at what you’re doing it’s much
easier to transfer that enthusiasm to others. —
Brad Tamulski
63 - Analyzing Banking Relationships
Well-managed agencies analyze many different
facets of their operations on a continual basis
including their producer team, agency man-
agement system, carrier contracts and book of
business. What many agency owners overlook is
an analytical, dispassionate look at their banking
relationship and its cash management program.
They need to understand the importance of carry-
ing operating balances effectively every month to
not only offset service charges, but also to man-
age both the unique liquidity and rate of return
on the dollars. A proper combination of operating
accounts and investment accounts, coupled with
a state-of-the-art online banking and reporting
system — can help the agency enhance revenues,
reduce expenses and streamline efficiencies. —
Anthony Arsenault, InsurBanc
64 - Small Commercial Value
Consider creating your own small commercial
department rather than using company service
centers. Three keys exist to developing a small
commercial department successfully. First is a
good workflow and compliance with procedures.
Second is to staff it with high quality people and
do not cut corners. Third, accounts that are
commonly considered small commercial are
often small because the agency has not sold or
written them properly. Agencies are leaving a lot
of money on the table by not writing small com-
mercial correctly. Why let the companies get your
profit? — Chris Burand, Burand & Associates LLC
65 - Bring in New Blood
Hire recent college graduates who can learn the
industry by processing endorsements and shad-
from them! Remember to enclose a few of your
business cards. — Rhonda Kinley
56 - You Never Walk Alone
Clients need to know who is going to take
care of them. Sell the value of the team from
the start. In a presentation, have the team suc-
cinctly articulate what each member will do for
the client. Follow that up with why they are best
qualified to fill that role. — Elizabeth Krystyn,
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners
57 - Prospect’s Expectation
When meeting with a prospect and con-
ducting a formal broker presentation, go around
the room and ask each prospective client
attendee what their expectations are for the
meeting. Take notes and then after the meeting
circle back with each one and utilize information
in the meeting to confirm you met their expec-
tations. This can be very powerful and you can
refer to the expectations throughout the presen-
tation. This shows that you care about their team
and what each person is interested in hearing
about and it helps to gain knowledge about their
role in the organization. — Janette L’Heureux
58 - Value Proposition
Develop a unique selling proposition or what
we call a “value proposition.” I find this to be
especially important when there are so many
similar firms offering the same product. Make
it exciting and set yourself apart from the com-
petition. You will be surprised at how well the
clients/prospects will remember you! — Rhonda
Kinley
59 - Follow 3 A’s
To improve client relationships, follow these
three A’s. Ask – Always ask your clients how you
can improve your service, not what you can do
better. Action – Take action on their sugges-
tions and keep them informed on your progress.
Accept – Accept that perfection isn’t valued as
much as continual improvement and the desire
to get better. — Elizabeth Krystyn, Baldwin
Krystyn Sherman Partners
60 - Have a Plan/Work the Plan
Know exactly what you need to do to reach
your objectives, and continually evaluate how
you’re progressing on that plan. Having goals
by themselves won’t get you there. — Brad

9. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 9
try something, commit to it for an adequate trial
period. A direct mail campaign is not one mailing;
it’s a series of mailings over a period of time. If
you send email, don’t think one blast will do it.
Thoughtful repetition is often a good thing. —
Doug Coombs, SIAA
71 - Pay Well
Pay your employees well and, using industry
salary surveys, let them see how much better
than their peers they are doing.
72 - Become a Problem Solver
Think of yourself as a problem solver and this
will prevent you as coming across like you are just
pitching a product. And ask open-ended ques-
tions that cannot be answered with a simple yes
or no answer. This will make the customer think
and set you apart from the competition. — Craig
Rice, Baldwin Krystyn
Sherman Partners
73 - Advertise Internally
Cross-sell and upsell selected policies and
endorsements to existing insureds by employing
your agency’s existing media. “Free” digital adver-
tising venues include staff email signatures, pro-
motional emails, ads on your own website/blog,
and creative social media postings with enticing
links back to you. — Alan Shulman, www.agen-
cyideas.com
74 - Start a Mini-Department
“Promote” producers who focus on particular
industries or policies to the head of that depart-
ment. This unit may consist only of them, but it’s
good for their ego, business card, and LinkedIn
profile. Send news releases announcing its forma-
tion to regional business and trade publications,
blogs, websites, relevant social media influencers,
etc. — Alan Shulman, www.agencyideas.com
75 - Colorize
Pick a color for your agency’s brand and stick
to it.
76 - Cross-Functional
Set up a cross-functional agency team to
design, implement and oversee your digital mar-
keting plan. — Rick Morgan, Aartrijk
77 - Be Content
What is content marketing? It’s you provid-
ing insights about what you know: risk and how
owing more experienced colleagues. While it
may take longer to train them, you will be build-
ing the next generation of insurance profession-
als! Hire passionate, intelligent employees! Their
passion will make a simple transactional call
into a memorable experience for your clients.
— Laura Sherman, Baldwin Krystyn Sherman
Partners
66 - Right Work, Right Person
Agency staff gets frustrated when the work
that they’re paid to do (and is important to
them, their boss and their clients) is postponed
because they have to process paperwork or
clean up back-office tasks. Looking at the work-
flow for the agency and assigning it to the right
people using the right system is the solution.
Producers and other highly paid staff then can
invest their time in the value-added work of cus-
tomer contact. — Sharon Emek, Ph.D., Work At
Home Vintage Employees (WAHVE)
67 - What’s the Attraction?
U.S. workers value compensation, health
benefits, stability and work-life balance, in that
order, when considering an employer, according
to the CEB (Corporate Executive Board) 2013 Q3
Global Labor Market Survey. Those rank ahead of
the rest of the top 10 factors: location, respect,
retirement benefits, ethics/integrity, future
career opportunity, and vacation. — Sharon
Emek, Ph.D., Work At Home Vintage Employees
(WAHVE.com)
68 - Employee Referral Bonus
Great people are generally friends with
like-minded individuals. If your firm has an
employee referral bonus in place, your employ-
ees are incentivized to help you find more great
employees! — Laura Sherman, Baldwin Krystyn
Sherman Partners
69 - Be Adapters
Insurance agents need to change with tech-
nology or become obsolete. Embrace change as
a challenge to become more customer-centric.
Your systems and processes should be focused
on meeting needs in the manner your clients
choose: in-person, on the phone or online. —
Matt Masiello, SIAA
70 - Do It Again
Marketing tactics are not one-and-done. If you

10. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 10
to manage it. You can do that on your agency
website (e.g., blog and/or video) and then link
to those places from your social media outposts
(Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+). Plus,
mix in some of what makes you and your
agency tick as people. If people buy from
people they know, they’ve got to know
you. — Charles Wasilewski, Aartrijk
78 - Facebook Rewards
Reward new employees with $5.00 for
each new follow they get to the agency’s
Facebook Page (for the first 30 days). —
Rick Morgan, Aartrijk
79 - LinkedIn Required
Require all employees (especially pro-
ducers) to have a fully completed and
well-written LinkedIn profile. Make sure
they “follow” your agency LinkedIn Page.
— Rick Morgan, Aartrijk
80 - Charitable Efforts
Find out what charity the
CEO of a prospect supports and
consider supporting that same chari-
ty.
81 - T-Shirt Marketing
Design a t-shirt with a creative, clever or bold
slogan to give to employees and customers.
82 - Sharability
Use photos to increase interest and “sharabili-
ty” of blog and social site posts. — Rick Morgan,
Aartrijk
83 - Talk about ‘The Why’
Stop reciting the litany of services you provide
and start telling prospects “why” they should
care about them. — Nick Kormos, MarshBerry
84 - Agency Know-How
There is intellectual capital (e.g., knowledge)
tied up in you, your producers and your staff. All
of those people know things that help people,
their families, their businesses and their commu-
nities. Why hide that intellectual capital under
the proverbial bushel basket? Let it out. Sit down
for a couple hours with a capable writer and
come up with a couple dozen topics that you can
write about over the next year. Then, use your
blog, website and social networking outposts
to share what you know. — Charles Wasilewski,
Aartrijk
85 - Keep Hashtags Short
Keep your hashtags short and relevant.
#LongHashtagsAreFunButNotVeryEffective
86 - 2% Investment
If you’re not spending at least 2 percent of
annual commission/fee revenue on customer
and prospect marketing, you are under-investing
in your agency’s future. — Peter van Aartrijk,
Aartrijk
87 - Communications Plan
You must have a written customer and pros-
pect communications plan that has the following
components: your brand strategy, audience sets,
key messaging, media selections, timeline of
activity, funding levels, responsible parties, and
metrics. — Peter van Aartrijk, Aartrijk
88 - Reach Out
Consistently reach out to current customers. It
is more important to reach the people who count
than to count the people you reach. And custom-
ers count for a lot. — Peter van Aartrijk, Aartrijk
89 - Goal Setting
Stop making resolutions to “do more” of some-
thing. Drill down into the numbers and get specif-
ic. — Nick Kormos, MarshBerry
90 - Proactive Renewal Process
Build a proactive renewal process for your high
net worth personal insurance clients that include
risk management counsel to help clients prevent
losses before they occur. Include additional ways
for clients to reduce premiums, offer additional
coverage options and insurer services. Treat them
like a commercial client. — Laura Sherman,
Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners
91 - Care for Your Leads
You can care for your leads in groups (i.e., fol-
low up with, communicate with, learn from, and
then serve). These “groups” can even be as small
as one person or company. Marketing automation
makes it possible — even simple — to create
campaigns to send the right messages to the right
people. — Michael Jans, AgencyRevolution.com
92 - Prospecting Diversification

11. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 11
95 - Think Like Betty Crocker
When the industry’s products are commod-
itized, who you are can be your best marketing
advantage. At the turn of the 20th century,
scores of companies sold wheat flour. Then
Betty Crocker came along. She wasn’t born.
She was invented to surround the commodity
(wheat flour) with words of leadership, advice,
guidance and advocacy. She wrote newspaper
articles, published a monthly recipe magazine,
and created the first cooking radio show in his-
tory. Housewives wrote to this imaginary person
asking for advice. People follow thought leaders.
And thought leaders de-commoditize the com-
moditized. — Michael Jans, AgencyRevolution.
com
96 - 1:5
One in five people now access the internet
through their smartphones. Make sure your web-
site is mobile friendly.
97 - Referral Mining
Producers and agencies will always state that
referrals are their primary
source for new leads, but
few are proactive in try-
ing to find more of them.
Identify your sources of
referrals and put lists of leads
in front of them to see if they
can introduce you. — Nick Kormos,
MarshBerry
98 - Create Referral Groups
Create a referral group that
has the same “ideal client.” Then,
develop a joint educational based
marketing campaign. Each member of
the group will invite several clients and
prospects to a workshop where one or more
members puts on a presentation. The referral
group members will then have access to a room
Stop looking for the magical prospecting
method that will “make it rain.” Diversify and
rotate your efforts amongst multiple methods
and strategies to keep yourself engaged and see-
ing results. — Nick Kormos, MarshBerry
93 - Who Are You?
The question of “message” — who you are,
what you stand for, your values, and your story
— always has been important. But the social
marketing age makes it more so now for two rea-
sons: 1. You are less in control of your message,
so you must be more vigilant to it. If your agency
doesn’t know what it stands for and can’t artic-
ulate that, the marketplace will be confused or
apathetic about you. 2. A newcomer, disrupter
or aggressive competitor can storm social media
with a compelling message — which takes
attention away from yours. Make sure yours is
well-defined, known to your team, and put forth
consistently in online and offline conversations.
Defining your message in your social channels
combats these problems. — Michael Jans,
AgencyRevolution.com
94 - 1-2-3
Go beyond the traditional
“call the client” method of
communication. Think about
a three-step process that
feeds clients and gives the
impression that you are
there for them when
their needs change: 1.
Add value by provid-
ing information and
perspective. 2. Craft
your message with
care. 3. Communicate
with enough frequency to create
an authentic conversation. — Michael Jans,
AgencyRevolution.com

12. INSURANCE JOURNAL PAGE 12
Further Reading
Here are the landmark ideas - both comtem-
porary and classic - that have established
Insurance Journal as required reading for
businesspeople around the globe.
Each feature includes leading articles on a
particular business topic. The series includes
over thirty different titles, including the
following:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/maga-
zines/insurance-journal-west-2014-07-07/
http://www.insurancejournal.com/maga-
zines/insurance-journal-west-2014-08-04/
full of warm leads. — Catherine Oak, Oak &
Associates
99 - Systemize Client Contact
Create a schedule for regular clients contact.
This can include newsletters, birthdays, anniver-
sary days, mid-term policy review, and especially
notes related to items of personal interest. Keep
track of hobbies, interests and family news.
Think of how special it would be to send a note
to a client when their alma mater wins a bowl
game. — Catherine Oak, Oak & Associates
100 - Be Upbeat
Talk to everyone in a positive and upbeat
approach.
101 - Listen