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Our Most Recent Blogs
Become Commercial Lines Specialists
Finding the perfect commercial lines insurance for everyone who walks through your door can be cumbersome. There is a lot of work that goes into the process: You have to search through all of the carriers to find the right one, then you have to look through all of their lines of business to figure out what their guidelines are. There's a trick for cutting down on all of that work. If you become a specialist in one area of commercial insurance, you will free up a lot more of your time. A specialist is someone who focuses on one...
Referrals: It can’t hurt to ask
How can you use a working referral program to generate more business? Referrals are the most coveted way to gain business, and in an age where exposure means everything, they are one of the ways prospective clients determine your credibility. Honestly, the easiest (and cheapest) way to market your agency is by word of mouth, which is extremely effective. So what can you do to get more referrals? Firstly, you should rely on your existing clients to provide names and contact information for prospects. Even though you provide your clients with amazing service, it can still be challenging to have...
Get Your Website Noticed
Since Safeco started offering a website grader for insurance agents, many members of our network have started to reach out for suggestions on how to improve their Google standing and overall web traffic. We created a list of the most common things independent agents can update that can not only improve your Safeco score, but the quality of your customers experiences as well. Experiment with new content Start regularly updating the content on your website. Content freshness is an trick to improve your SEO and drive traffic to your website (Oberlo.com). What this means is you will need to remove...
Outstanding Commissions Guidelines
You keep hearing about Outstanding Commissions, but what exactly are they and why are they important to your business? The Outstanding Commission report identifies commissions that have been received, but cannot be reconciled due to the policies not being entered correctly in Epic or not entered at all. This is a report that is emailed to you monthly, and should be reviewed consistently to make sure you are getting paid for all the work you write! If you keep finding some of your policies in the Outstanding Commission report and don't know what's going wrong, don't stress! Below are...
Five Ways Events Help Business
If events seem like a waste of your time, you are probably not attending the right ones. The mark of a great event is leaving with memorable takeaways (i.e. more knowledge about profitable subjects, more connections to insurance experts, etc.). This is why it is important to know the purpose of the event you plan to attend and how it can help you grow your business. Here are five reasons you should attend events: Expand your knowledge Great events should provide you with exciting new information. For independent insurance agents, this could be new selling techniques, updates in Insuretech, and...
Incentives to Motivate Staff
One of the hardest parts about working as a team is motivating your fellow group members. I once had an agent ask me how he could convince his coworkers to cross sell business and upsell current clients. Without hesitation I responded, “With money and fame!” The tricky part was that his business plan could not involve many money incentives, so he needed other ideas to motivate his team. So, my search was to find other ways to compensate and motivate employees that would not break the agency’s budget. The answer I found was unexpected, and threw me for quite the...
Set Yourself Up for Success in 2021
The new year brings new goals, and it’s safe to assume that most of us are looking for a more prosperous turnout than what 2020 left us with. One way to measure your success and track your forward progress is by setting goals for your independent agency, but not just any goals. SMART goals are the best ways to measure your growth and success because they set specific deadlines and are unique to your individual company. “SMART” goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. If it seems a little complicated, don’t worry. Goal setting doesn’t have to be...
When are Life Settlements Needed?
In my previous article, I spoke about how both you and your clients can benefit from life settlements. Though the advantages seem too good to be true, there are real-life situations where your customers stand to gain more through life settlements than they would retaining an outdated life insurance policy. Here are a few examples of these conditions: Personal Circumstances When a lapse or surrender is contemplated, and examining all options is in your best interest When your client’s policy becomes too expensive, or if it hasn’t performed as illustrated or expected When the beneficiary predeceases the insured...
2021 Insurance Trends to Watch
Ok, I’ll say it: We are ALL glad 2020 is almost over! This year threw a lot at small businesses, and some of us are still trying to put our heads on straight. To get yourself a little more prepared for 2021, here are some trends to watch in the insurance industry. Data-driven insurance This probably doesn’t sound very new to you since insurance has always been a data-driven market, but new technology means that insurers can now take advantage of big data. Through the use of management systems and marketing automations, independent agents are able to learn more about...
Why You Should be Attached to Attachments
Have you heard staff ask questions like, “Where are the carrier documents?” or “Where are the quote sheets?” Do you find yourself spending a lot of time looking for declaration pages, client information, or the last ten signed applications the carriers ask for? Let’s be honest, it was easier to grab paper documents while working in the office. We went from having all of the office’s resources at our fingertips to frantically searching for everything Epic! Well I’ve got some news for you: Epic is only as good as the information you put in it. If you are not putting...
Who is ASNOA?
The Agent Support Network of America (ASNOA) is a fully integrated marketing and service network for independent insurance agents. We offer more than just carrier and market access, we support your entire business with our list of services, which includes accounting, licensing, marketing, training, and ongoing education. Contact us today to see how we can help you grow your agency.