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Top 10 Reasons to Stay in Touch – Are You?

Posted on September 19, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Recently spent almost 3 hours with two of the brighter minds in the insurance industry and I am blown away how far behind some agencies are in today’s marketplace. Don’t risk being one of the casualties. This business is NOT rocket science. Little known secret – a close friend of mine is a rocket scientist. I consulted with Ron a couple of years ago, took his photo and keep it on my phone to share with anyone I am teaching because my friend, the rocket scientist, confirmed this fact – This business is NOT rocket science

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS – ALL OF THE TIME

Here are the Top 10 Reasons to stay in touch and thoughts from the author:

1. Most businesses lose 10-17% of their business every year.
Thought: While I realize this likely does not apply to most of you, you are still losing business. Why? Do you have a relationship with your clients, prospects and COI’s that will stand the test of time and any other forces that might interfere? The easiest money you’ll ever make is the money you are already making (your clients and past clients)

2. 62% of your clients aren’t taking advantage of all of your products or services.

Thought: Again – The easiest money you’ll ever make is the money you are already making (your clients)

3. 91% of our customers say they would give us a referral, but 80% haven’t been encouraged to do so!
Thought: This I do not understand…I am sure everyone on your team is scripted to ask for referrals every time they communicate with someone, don’t they? Each outbound contact includes a “motivator” in every email, outgoing envelope, etc. Everyone on your team is also motivated monetarily to act. Right?

4. Simply saying “thank you” to your customer will increase your business by 17%.

Thought: This one is easy. Every time your team speaks with someone, this is automatic. Isn’t it? And they are writing a minimum of FIVE thank you notes a week. Right?

5. You lose 10% of your influence for every month that you don’t have contact with your client.

Thought: Another no brainer….true? We communicate with our marketplace at least one to two or more times a month (email, newsletter, faxes etc)….don’t we?

6. A 5% increase in customer loyalty could yield 20-80% to your bottom line.

Thought: Ah the Pareto Principle. We build loyalty consistently, especially with our VIP clients, don’t we? For example, we send a special VIP package every month, right?

7. Studies show that an average prospect won’t do business with you until they’ve seen or heard from you
or your message at least 7 times.

Thought: Finally, an easier question…..we have an automated, automatic follow-up system that contacts our prospects a minimum of SEVEN times, in different ways (email, snail mail, fax, voice broadcast, video landing page). Don’t we?

8. 79% of all trade show leads aren’t followed up with. Most business from a trade show comes from the vendor following up with the prospect.

Thought: Ok. Maybe you don’t do trade shows, what about networking events or other social gatherings. We always send a hand-written note saying “good to meet you” etc including credibility boosters….right?

9. 66% of your business within the next year will come from your sphere of influence.

Thought: Opportunity knocking? Well, if we are executing on 1 through 8 above, then maybe this applies.

10. Only 3% of the mail we receive is personal.

Thought: Dare to be different and STAND OUT from the crowd!! If you want to be like everyone else, do what everyone else is doing and get the same ol same ol results.

YOU are in complete control of your destiny.
What is working for you? Why or why not? As marketers, we test. Are you testing consistently?

The above thoughts and comment did attempt to be a bit humorous until I really started thinking about my own team in the “Living Agency Laboratory”….. gotta run, we have work to do!

Last thought: The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary!!

If you have questions regarding this article or if you would like to learn more about the Unstoppable Profit Producer Program, Call 800-770-9984 or Email info@unstoppableprofitproducer.com.

P.S. Be UNSTOPPABLE!

There’s NO time like the present… Time Management

Posted on August 16, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Time… It can be hurtful. But, in all seriousness, time is something that certainly can be controlled, and it is something that you MUST control.

One of the things we’ve identified in our studies is, everybody’s got the same 24 hours. It’s not like somebody has an advantage over somebody else. We’ve all got the same 24 hours, and the last time I checked, we all need sleep, and we all need to have downtime, and frankly time is another four letter word.

HOW are you controlling your time right now?

You need to identify this, it’s tedious and meticulous, and it’s a pretty uncomfortable process. It involves sitting down daily for a couple of days and writing down everything that you do.

It’s good to identify the things that you do well, and to spend the majority of your time doing the things that you do well, because that’s where you’re going to get your biggest bang for your buck.

It’s not easy, but once you get it under control… imagine when you walk down the hall and you have a little extra air under your step. This can happen to YOU!

Your business life will be better, which will in turn make your personal life better, which will in turn allow you to be just better at everything you do. You can give back to your community more, and it’s just a much more pleasant experience.

“Procrastination is the thief of time.” –Joseph Heller

What are you waiting for?

To get all of the details about HOW You Can Take Total CONTROL of Your Time TODAY, call 800-770-9984.

Affinity Marketing – It’s a Natural Fit for You

Posted on August 12, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Niches to riches…..if this sounds good to you, then read on!

Affinity marketing is kind of a sub-segment of a niche marketing program, but it can make your niche marketing campaign and your entire agency machine more powerful than ever.

Read my own story below, it’s an example of how your “affinity” can positively affect a niche marketing campaign:

“I started working in my dad’s restaurant when I was 12. He hired me with one condition. He made me agree that I would work harder than anyone else or I would be fired. I agreed. I started making pizzas. I’d stand next to the girls and they’d show me what to do. They would say, “Crimp the edge a little bit more here, don’t put so much pepperoni on it, and if you do this – don’t put too much sauce.” They taught me the ins and outs. After awhile I was making the pizza dough. In fact, I still have the pizza dough recipe at my house, because I use it from time to time. There was a long stretch there when I had it memorized. It was who I was.”

“Nowadays, when I’m working in the agency business, I can walk the walk, I can talk the talk, and when I walk into a restaurant, I understand everything that’s going on in the kitchen. I understand – to boot, I also ran a restaurant for three years as well. So I understand why the mats need to be cleaned every night. Why they need to take the filters down and run those through the dishwasher, maybe every couple of nights, or maybe once a week is good enough. I understand why their Ansul system needs to be up to date. I understand the heat concerns, and the food-borne illness concerns, and what the implications are of someone getting sick off your food, and what the potential liabilities are, and how to talk to your people about serving liquor, and everything that’s involved with that, because it’s who I was and what I did for a number of years. I was emotionally involved from the deepest part of my soul.”

By having a history deeply entrenched in an affinity market you can tip the marketplace in your favor… What is your affinity market?

Does Your Team Stand Out When ALL of the Chips Are On The Line?

Posted on July 22, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Our claims service report series is one of our most requested by agents…..so what the heck is a claims service report?

Claims service reports are a custom document that we sent out to our customers a certain number of days after a claim occurs, because in our agency, we monitor all claims activity. We don’t wait for the document or the notification to come in; we go out and get it. We proactively hunt for it on carrier websites, we look at things that come in, and once we see that we proactively contact our clients, and make sure the claims process gets started. In addition to that, we talk to them about the claims process, and make sure the companies are standing up to their end of the bargain and are taking care of our customers in the manner that they should be taken care of. We really feel good about that. At the end of the process, we send them out a claims service report, and we ask for feedback on how the claim went. Our claims service report have a lot of different questions on them, which kind of lead up to the final question, which is, “Tell us about your claims experience,” and those claims service reports just time after time bring great feedback, and a lot of the responses are GREAT testimonials. “Thank you, your agency just took great care of us. We appreciate you being there for us always,” so forth and so on. So keep in mind that that also is a positive emotional situation. In other words, it’s not anything negative, it’s positive, and they’re feeling good about the situation. We also forward all claims service reports to the carriers, good and bad. Carrier claims reps need to hear the good reports too. Our carriers LOVE this. We also market to the CLAIMANTS. You got it. If we are provided a name and contact information, we start a separate campaign to the CLAIMANTS. Here’s a situation that happened just last night:

I was in the office and it was late, a client walked in, I said, “Hey, how can I help you?” And he goes, “Something great happened, and I just had to come by and tell you guys, and in addition to that I want to find my agent, because I feel like I want to give him a hug. I’m that jazzed about the claims experience I just had” and I said, “Tell me more,” and he told me about the situation. What had happened was, the agent in our office had gone the extra mile. He had gone way out of his way to help him out, to make sure that a situation was resolved. It was a situation we didn’t make any money on, but he went the extra mile anyway, and got the situation resolved for our customer, and our customer was, so happy they couldn’t stand it, so they drove down here to tell him. And that particular agent was on the phone, so it was a great opportunity, that positive emotional situation was at its very highest at that point. So, fortunately, we were in an area of the office which is right near our marketing room, and our marketing gal, who’s always on it, she just kind of handed me the camera, and I didn’t even have to think about it. So I said, “Mr. Client, would you mind if we helped other people with just a few words about what just happened to you?” And he said, “Yeah, no problem, what do you need me to do.” I said, “I’d just like to record how you were taken care of by our agent, so I can share this with other people who might ask about our services.” He said, “I’d be happy to.” And right there on the spot, full of emotion, he recorded the testimonial. So, that’s a perfect example of a positive emotional situation, which is the time that you always want to ask for a testimonial, because that’s when you’re going to get your very best testimonials.

“No one cares how much you know until they know you care.” Be UNSTOPPABLE!

If you would like to know more about the Claims Service Report Card or the hundreds of other documents we have available through the Unstoppable Profit Producer Program™, contact Andrea at 800-770-9984 or email info@unstoppableprofitproducer.com today!

Niches to Riches…

Posted on July 7, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Niche marketing can be a lot of different things… It could be that you are a restaurant insurance agency, a work comp insurance agency, etc…

What you’re nicheing in doesn’t really matter, but the fact that you are doing mostly the same thing, or have large segments of business in a particular niche, not only gives you more authority with your underwriters in your companies, it puts you in a position of leadership and authority within the industry to jump from one carrier to another.

In addition to that think of how this affects your agency team. When they are dealing with the same type of mentality day in and day out, time after time, they tend to keep talking the same talk, walking the same walk. It becomes much less likely they will make a mistake. In the same breath, their confidence in their voice to the marketplace becomes that much greater, because they know what they are talking about.

And don’t lose sight of this, it’s absolutely true, I’ve verified time and time and time again: these people talk to each other. If you go to seminars or conventions on an annual basis, your marketplace is ALL there, they’re all talking to each other, and they’re all trying to pick each other’s brains on who’s the best at what, including insurance. I’ve done trade shows for years in particular niche markets.

When you’re the go-to person, you’re the one they’re talking about, and you’re the only one that they’re talking about, and all of a sudden, as Michael Gladwell, the author, so aptly put it in his book The Tipping Point, “Pretty soon, the paradigm has shifted in your favor.” You become the one, you become the ONLY ONE, and all of a sudden that entire marketplace wants to do business with nobody else but YOU.

Now let me warn you, this does not happen overnight, it takes a lot of persistence.

You must know the marketplace… What keeps them up at night?

Good luck, make a difference and be unstoppable!

Claim your 3 Free Gifts today at www.UnstoppableProfitProducer.com. If you are ready to take charge of your future, call us today. 800-770-9984 or email us at info@unstoppableprofitproducer.com . Don’t wait… Limited Space Available!!!

The URGENCY of Nurturing Your Herd

Posted on May 19, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

You never get a second chance to make a great first impression. This saying applies to so many situations – dating, interviews, writing, reading and the list goes on.

First impressions set the tone and are often impossible to reverse. This is true in almost every aspect of life, and it is especially true in email nurturing. The initial impression of your marketing campaign can make or break the future decisions made by your prospect and/or client and the ongoing relationship you create. Connecting with (and being CONNECTED) with and nurturing anyone, how do you avoid having the door slammed in your face? How do you drive real engagement?

By bringing VALUE and sharing the UNEDITED truth about you and your business..… the MORE you give, the will come back to you. Email nurturing is just what it says it is NURTURING, Not Selling. You want to build the Relationship because when it comes down to it, it’s ALL About The Relationship!!!

It’s amazing how things come back around, when you least expect them. Our agency recently sent out an email to our existing clients, subject line read Hot Weather Survival… What you need to know… I received a reply email from one of our clients that said, “Hey Mike, thanks for the great information. By the way, Do you have general liability, property, casualty, etc. for churches – represent Brotherhood Mutual or similar? I am now treasurer at my church.”

Just goes to show, that helping people –even when there’s nothing in it for you– can lead to great rewards in the future. Be good to others, share with them and nurture them, can’t think of anything more ‘social’ than that. Bring your prospects and clients valuable information right when they need it!

IMHO, the ONLY time you should ever approach selling in your nurture email, is on the PS…and is very situational.

The Unstoppable Profit Producer Program™ includes numerous template (‘done for you’) nurture emails for every month of the year and more. If you would like to take your agency to a whole new level and put truck loads of cash into your bottom line – TAKE ACTION and CALL 800-770-9984 TODAY for Your FREE 29 Minute, In-Depth Agency Analysis. There’s NO RISK – I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE IT!!!!

You have 21 days to WOW your clients!

Posted on April 21, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

People that buy insurance buy insurance somewhere. People hope they’re never going to use it. People spend a lot of money for insurance. It’s a paper contract that they hope they’re never going to have to use. But when you change the paradigm and you turn around and recognize them for something they don’t really want to do to make them feel better about their buying decision, it just shifts. People love to be recognized. They love to be shown gratitude. They love to be thanked for spending their hard earned money with you.

When somebody starts their insurance with your agency, they’re a brand new customer. Now is a GOLDEN opportunity, a unique, one-time 21 day window to truly earn their trust. So, do you immediately take this type of action…

Day 0 Thank You Card. Day 0 means the intention is that you get that thing out immediately. In our agency we use a customized thank you card with our team picture on the front, blank inside except for a couple of words. We place some business cards in there of their CSR, and handwrite a note inside thanking them for their business.

Day 4 Welcome Package. This is a large envelope, preprinted on both sides. It has a lot of neat things printed on the envelope itself. Safety tips on the back and a big message on the front that says, “Welcome to our agency.” This is always hand address and inside is four to five systematic pieces of paper messages that are sent to the client.

Day 14 Mega Package. This envelope is Huge and it’s RED! The intention of this particular envelope is to wow the customer. Day 14 has just tons of stuff in it. Now keep in mind they’ve already received the thank you card. They’ve already received the Day 4 envelope, and they might be thinking to themselves, “Wow this is pretty neat. This agency really cares about their customers. They really care about our relationship and I’m feeling pretty good about things right now,” and then Bam… about ten days later comes this huge envelope with all of this cool stuff in it. It really WOWs their socks off!

Remember, the average lifetime value of a customer is eight to ten years. So take the revenue for that client and multiply it by the number of years. Is it worth it? I think you’re going to find that it’s a YES!

And that’s not all…….AAA new clients also get the Super Secret “OCT Gift”.

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

To get all of the details about HOW you can implement this in your agency TODAY, Call 800-770-9984.

We have 1 more slot open for the month of April. Don’t miss out!

Are You Feeling LUCKY This Month?

Posted on March 1, 2011June 12, 2019 by Mike Stromsoe

Today our team decided to share with our clients just how lucky we feel to have their business. Take a look at what we came up with…

Gas prices continue to soar. The Stromsoe Insurance Agency Total Protection Team is doing everything possible to help you in this time of need. For the month of March 2011, Refer a Friend or Anyone to our team, if your referral receives a free quote, YOU receive a $25 Gas Card in addition to all of the other 2011 Referral Program rewards!!!

PS There is NO LIMIT to the number of times you can WIN… Good Luck

Wishing you all the best,

Mike Stromsoe and the
Stromsoe Insurance Agency Total Protection Team

P. 951-600-5751 or 877-994-6787
F. 951-677-6265
Email – insure@siaonline.com
www.SIAonline.com

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