Insurance brokers have a difficult job. They must manage selling insurance and manage agents, an agency, and make sure everyone is compliant with ever-changing laws. It is easy for brokers to forget why they got into the business in the first place. Instead, they can get so caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget to make the job fun for everyone involved.
Having fun is the most important key to success. If selling insurance is a forced event that simply pays the bills, many agents will be on the wrong end of success. However, when insurance brokers help agents and the agency find the fun in selling insurance, success will follow.
Think Outside the Box
Selling insurance does not have to consist of just numbers and contracts. Of course, closing is a contractual deal. However, getting to the closing can be a lot of fun if you think outside the box. Insurance brokers have several marketing options outside of cold calls and media advertising.
For instance, get involved in the local community. Sponsorships are a wonderful way to get your name out in the community. At the same time, your agents can go to a fun event to support your sponsorship and get to know people. As they continue to represent your company, they can obtain business by being a go-to person for insurance questions and concerns.
Some great sponsorships that will not break the bank may include:
- Little League Teams
- Local Youth Sports
- Youth Theater Productions
- Adult Recreational Sports
- Animal Parks
- Playgrounds
- Dance Troops
You may even choose to sponsor a series of one-time events, like a rotary comedy night, a school board fundraiser, or any other community event meant to raise money for a cause. Sponsorship may include buying tickets for ten agents, donating a fun basket in your company’s name, or taking part in some of the larger sponsorship opportunities most events provide.
Run Meaningful Competitions
Another way to bring fun back to insurance sales is to offer meaningful contests that agents will want to win. Insurance agents are hard workers. They want to make sales. However, many have lost the drive. In this marketplace, change is difficult for most people. And after hearing “no” numerous times, your agents may feel defeated.
Motivation can help them get over the rejection blues. One of the best motivators is appealing to the competitive side of your insurance agents. However, you cannot offer contests with unattainable goals or prizes no one wants to win. Instead, put yourself in your agents’ shoes. Think about what you would want to win.
Attainable goals may include:
- The first person to sell ten policies in a month
- The first person to sell a $1,000,000 policy
- The first agent to sell a Landscaping Business Policy
- The Agent with the highest sales for the month
As an insurance broker, you understand what is attainable in your business. Use that knowledge to put a goal in place. Then provide rewards that fit the goal. Offer money. Maybe you want to offer a weekend getaway. Making it exciting with a valuable prize will motivate your agents and make selling insurance fun.
Lighten Up
Insurance agents will take their lead from you, the insurance broker. If you appear serious at all times, the agents will always feel a need to be serious. Being extremely serious will not help sales. It will hurt your bottom line and bring the morale of your agency down.
Instead, make sure you, as a broker, have fun. Wear a smile every day. Teach your agents to relax. Insurance sales can be a lot of fun.
While it is very important work that helps businesses and people prepare for the worst, it does not have to be approached like a funeral director approaches a grieving family. As a matter of fact, if you take that approach, your agents will scare potential clients, losing sales and your agency’s reputation.
Instead, be lighthearted, flexible, and smart. Approach potential clients with the need for insurance without sounding dire. Appropriate jokes are perfectly acceptable. Clients will loosen up when your agents are lighthearted.
Teach your agents to be flexible. If people change their minds or need to worry about prices, agents should adapt. If your agents are not flexible, clients will go to someone who is.
However, be smart. Make sure your clients learn to listen to their clients. Then respond accordingly. In the end, when agents make sales, they have fun. Having fun when selling insurance will help boost sales. It is a revolving door that continues to help everyone.
