There are two types of insurance agents: the memorable ones who get calls from prospects looking for assistance and the easily forgotten who prospects never call back.
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If you’re wondering how you can catch the attention of more prospects, we’ve got five marketing tips to help you set yourself apart from other agents in an unforgettable way!
1. Give Your Business Card Some Flair
Every insurance agent should have a business card, but your business card shouldn’t look like every other agent’s! It should definitely communicate the basics about you and your business — your name, title, cell phone number, email address, website, and office address (if applicable) — just as your competitors’ card will do for them. However, there’s more to business cards than that. You can make yours catch more clients’ attention by changing certain design elements to make them more memorable or stick out!
Consider all of your options:
- Format: Is it a paper card or a magnet? You could also go the non-traditional route of something like a backscratcher, fly swatter, soft plastic key tag, pens, etc. to give your clients a useful item with your contact info that they won’t just put on their pile of papers. Get creative! Consider how something like a backscratcher could be a great way to say “We’ve Got Your Back!” and convey your name, number, and email.
- Shape: Is it a rectangle, square, or shaped like something more iconic related to health insurance? Does it have rounded corners or edges? A card or magnet shaped like a pill bottle could easily remind your client why they should call you.
- Color: White is the standard background, but that doesn’t pop. Liven it up with something from the color wheel or incorporate colors from your logo! Did you know that people tend to keep a colorful business card 10 times longer than a monochromatic one? Certain colors can also prime people to take action!
- Font: There’s more out there than just Helvetica or Arial. Choose something that aligns with your brand and audience for optimal results!
- Imagery: What images do you have on your card (your photo, your business’ logo, a local vista, icons)? Again, these should also align with your brand.
Be sure not to go overboard… you still want your card to look professional and be easily readable. You just don’t want it to get tossed to the wayside on someone’s table, or worse, in their trash can. If you can swing it, work with a professional graphic designer for assistance. Insurance is your specialty; designing eye-catching materials is theirs!
ShopRitterIM.com also has a lot of ways you can get your name out there, especially if you’re a Shop & Enroll agent. You must be registered with RitterIM.com and have an active carrier contract through Ritter to place orders through the shop. If you meet those qualifications, you can customize and order print materials from the site at your convenience!
2. Expand Your Credentials
Anyone can call themselves an insurance agent if they’re licensed to sell insurance plans; but, only certain agents can call themselves Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) or Certified Financial Planners (CFP). Adding special designations behind your name will only help build your credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of clients!
Possible health insurance designations for agents:
- Health Insurance Associate (HIA)
- Chartered Healthcare Consultant (ChHC)
- Registered Health Underwriter (RHU)
- Professional, Health Insurance Advanced Studies (FHIAS)
- Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC)
- Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
- Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU)
- Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF)
- Long-Term Care Professional (LTCP)
- Disability Income Associate (DIA)
- Employee Health Benefits Associate (EHBA)
You can usually find or take the courses needed to get designations like these, or others, through professional organizations like the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) — formerly the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), or America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). In fact, these organizations offer many learning tools and events to help agents expand their knowledge and grow professionally! If you’d like, you can also get full access to Knight School, Ritter Insurance Marketing’s proprietary multi-media training experience for insurance agents, for free just by registering with our website.
3. Learn a New Language
Not only is learning a new language great for your mind, but also your career! In the U.S., 67.3 million people speak a language other than English at home. To put it into perspective, that number has more than doubled over the last 30 years. You can expect around one in five of your fellow Americans to speak a different language!
If you’d really like to stand out from the crowd, take some lessons on how to speak foreign languages like Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, or Korean, depending on your local market. Anyone who provides customer service knows language barriers exist and can cause hurt and confusion to both sides. In insurance, they can be detrimental to understanding prospects’ true wants and needs and successful enrollments. Work to break these barriers down, and you’ll corner underserved markets and gain trust and business over your non-bilingual peers for sure!
The following states had the largest percentage of populations speaking foreign languages in 2018: California (45%) Texas (36%), New Mexico (34%), New Jersey (32%), New York (31%), Nevada (31%), Florida (30%), Arizona (28%), Hawaii (28%), and Massachusetts (24%). Some states even have search tools to help prospects find multilingual insurance agents!
4. Improve Your Writing & Grammar
Speaking of communication skills, how’s your writing and grammar? If you write like a five-year-old or tween texter, then you may be memorable, but for the wrong reasons! Spelling and grammar errors lack professionalism, and nobody wants to communicate with a poor communicator. That said, you don’t have to be a copywriter or editor to write well enough to get the job done. You just have to be able to say what you want and need to say in a professional manner.
Pro Tip: Google any spelling or grammar question you have, and you’ll likely find the answer!
If writing and grammar aren’t your strong suit, don’t worry! There are several blogs and online tools out there that can help. A few of our favorites are Grammarly and their blog, English Language & Usage, plain old Google, and spell checkers already built in to email platforms and Microsoft Word. Plus, we have a dedicated post covering best practices for writing emails to insurance clients that can help any agent improve their writing!
5. Get Involved in Your Community
If you want community members to come to you for help, then you need to make yourself visible as a resource to your community! The best way to do that is to serve your community in multiple ways, not just with insurance.
Do you go to a church? There are likely many community service opportunities you could partake in through your worship center. Alternatively, you could sponsor local events or sports leagues or volunteer at the community garden, library, thrift stop, etc. However you can expand your roots and meet new people, go for it! Community involvement is an excellent way for agents to build their brand without spending tons on marketing materials. It just takes time and a willing spirit.
Everyone receives a lot of emails, direct mailers, and advertisements in a day — not to mention in a week, month, or more! The trick is to find a way to rise above the noise and connect with your prospects on a deeper level — to give them a good reason you’re worth remembering! Do that, and you’ll be the type of agent who stands out and gets the calls.
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