Nothing

Shutting Down

2008-11-26T12:59:00.001-05:00

As of right now...I will be shutting down the Insurance and More Blog. Please accept my appreciation for your time of reading and checking me out. Hope you all the best of luck.

Phone vs. Face to Face Leads

2008-11-07T14:05:00.006-05:00

There are many major differences when dealing with commercial accounts as opposed to personal. Initially it all starts with getting the lead. Now for personal this could be done by referral, advertising and the such. You really can't just go out and see people. You do have the advantage of lead generating lists. My experience is that they just don't work. For peronal...rely on referrals and push as much as possible. Commercial on the other hand is a different beast.

When dealing with Commercial accounts at the start, you need to qualify leads as well as find them. This is difficult because they will generally not call you, there really isn't much advertising for you to push the commercial and generally the referrals are sparse. What you need to do is start either making phone calls or visits. This is a personal opinion of which you prefer. Through my many years of sales (general & insurance) experience I find I get the best results by visiting the business.

When making the phone calls I really can't get anywhere with the potential customer because they always "have something else going on" or "too busy to talk right now." I might be able to get a very few qualifying questions in before they get off he phone. The other thing with a phone call is that you cannot see the business or employees, etc.

I love visiting businesses because you can tell so much by seeing it first hand. I can see how they take care of their business, themself, their customers and how they react to me. I believe I'm skilled at reading people to an extent and reacting to their actions. The first thing I do when walking into a business look at the atmosphere...pick out things that you like/dislike. I walked into a salon the other day and noticed the counter seemed to be falling apart...interesting. Next try to find out your contact...if your contact is "unavailable" then get as much info as possible from the one you are talking to as well as their name. This is your initial contact and your relationship builder. The way you act and treat them will come through when they talk to your main contact. If you are mean to this person then don't even attempt to go after this business anymore.

While in the business...take notice of things such as the type of customers this business gets, is it busy, is it professional, relaxed, did you get a good vibe when you walked in? Search out if they have a business card, if they allow other people to leave their business cards around, who has left their cards and others they do business with. These are all signs of the business and owners character. The other thing is that you might do business with people they do business with. Use this to your advantage. If you come out with a general vibe of the business and contact name then you had a successful visit. If you got more then that...maybe even a meeting. Then you hit the jackpot.

Out of all phone calls, expect 1 out of every 5 to give you some info and 1 out of every 30 to give you an appt. The thing is that you don't know anything else about this company and they don't know you. When you visit expect 1 out of every 3 give you some info and 1 out of 20 will give you an appt. The major advantage of visiting is that 1 out of every 1 you can at least find out some info about the business if you are observant.

Insurance Score I

2008-10-31T14:51:00.003-04:00

This is not simply your credit score. It is a little more in depth than that.

Insurance companies use financial history, along with a host of other factors, to properly classify insureds according to their potential for future losses. Studies have shown a strong correlation between a consumer’s financial history and his or her future insurance losspotential. Thus, insurance companies believe the use of credit information helps them to underwrite and rate applicants at a cost that reflects their anticipated chance of loss.

Insurance scores provide an objective tool that insurers use along with other applicant information to better predict the likelihood of a consumer filing claims. Scores also help to streamline the decision making process, so that policies can be issued more efficiently. By accurately predicting the likelihood of future claims, insurers can better control their risk, thus enabling them to offer insurance coverage to more consumers at a fair cost most specific to that consumer’s exposure.

Time is money

2008-10-30T11:56:00.003-04:00

I had two appointments set up for today with one being this morning and I have yet to see the customer or hear from him. I put off doing something this morning for this customer and now I shouldn't have. I hate to say this but my time is worth money. The extra time that I have is utilized making sales calls by phone and on the road. I would have been on the road today looking for new business. My other appointment is this afternooon and I believe he will show up. The bad thing is the customer that did not show up I've known for over two years now and this is the not the first time it has happened and most likely won't be the last. I wish I could be like a lawyer and charge for time. I would have charged him for the hour to two that has been wasted waiting for him. I'm done venting.

Sports minute

2008-10-28T14:28:00.002-04:00

Ok...I just want to make a brief statement about the World Series. There should have been something said during the game about what would happen if the game were to be suspended. The announcers should have been notified that the game would be played the full 9 innings no matter what happened with the rain. It seemed as if they were hoping the Rays would tie it up and once they did they decided to freeze the game. I'm all about them playing 9 especially because it is the Series but come on let us know what you're doing that way it doesn't look like you were hoping the Rays would tie it up and then send it into a delay/postponement.

Small Business

2008-10-22T15:38:00.002-04:00

I have been making calls to small businesses for about a month now and am not getting anywhere. I come from a sales background and have always been a face to face sales guy. I need to go out and see these people. I know the policy up and down of what we are selling and all the benefits as well as some pricing as most would have to be quoted but have been relegated to making phone calls. Most of the time I get the "I'm not interested" comment but they don't understand how much money we can save them. This upcoming week I am going and hitting the streets and I will sell if not interest some customers.

Claim advice

2008-10-15T16:35:00.004-04:00

Ok...just ran across this one. If you "run over something" might it be an animal, bottle, can, rock, etc. Make sure it doesn't do any damage. If it does that would be considered a collision and not a comprehensive claim. That would mean that you might be able to be surcharged for the claim dependending upon what company you are with. "Craig" just called in and ran over a bottle. Asked if it flew in front of him or was laying there. Said it was laying there and caused damage to the underside of his car. That would be classified as a collision because the bottle was not moving. just think of it as an inanimate object and to avoid it. Same goes if a deer is dead and laying in the road...it is a collision with an object but if the deer is moving and you swerve (hint hint) but still hit him...it is classified as a comprehensive claim. So take this to heart...Don't hit anything that is on the ground and not moving because it could cost you more hassle than it's worth.

Family loss writing policy

2008-10-07T16:11:00.002-04:00

A woman just signed a policy with me and her father passed over the weekend suddenly. How do you handle that on our end? I didn't know what to say so I apologized and did the normal sympathy thing while going over the signature pages and such. How would you handle that? It was awkward and she was a bit out of it so I gave her my card as usual and explained to her to contact me when everything is settled for any questions or anything at all.

New Office

2008-10-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

So I have been spending some time at our new office and man is there nothing going on. We have plenty of customers but in this new office...they don't come in. Most of our business is handled over the phone. I sat in the office most of the morning makeing sales calls which is good except when most of the time the don't lead anywhere. Ah. The life of an agent/salesman.

Customers that Lie

2008-10-03T11:31:00.004-04:00

So this is an ethical dilemma for some agents. I constantly get the customer (potential) that calls in for a quote or even someone I know and they have a "clean history." OK...just to let you know customer...I will be looking it up and find out the truth.
I only like to write preferred customers as many agents do and if a potential customer lies to me it makes me take a second thought. Ok...I see you had a minor violation two years ago or a minor fender bender 2 1/2 years ago. I still need to know this and if you tell me you haven't had a thing and then I see this...what would you think. Why can't customers just tell me the truth. I'm going to find out and it will change your rate.
Oh...by the way customer...if you lie to me and sign something even though I find out it wasn't true...I can cancel for misrepresentation. So the ethical dilemma is how do you handle it when you find something out and the potential didn't tell you. I bring it up...I don't know about you but I want to find out why they lied.

Been a bit

2008-07-01T12:49:00.002-04:00

I know it's been a while but things have gotten quite busy. Everyone is looking to save money because of the gas increase. They want to save but at the same time we need to help them understand they are saving but at a potential risk if they decide to decrease their limits. Many quotes coming in and it is getting complicated trying to keep up with all of them. We also just opened a new office and thus have moved some staff to that which makes it a bit short staffed at both locations. Help is on the way though. Ads are going good and bringing business in. Just have to keep in front of everyone. Keep checking for handy tips on the insurance business.

Trading in your auto

2008-06-17T10:38:00.002-04:00

So you are buying a new car and trading in your old one. Go for it. We only need to know about this after the fact. When you have insurance on your current vehicle it is transferred over to you new vehicle without calling us for a short period of time. After getting the new vehicle call us with your new vehicle identification number (VIN) and we can make the change on the policy. No big deal so don't worry about calling on Thur or Fri if you are getting a car over the weekend. You have coverage. Just get in touch with us that next week to let us know to change it over. See...very simple and we are here to try to make your life easier.

Rush quotes

2008-06-09T12:39:00.004-04:00

Ok, for those customers (potential) that may be reading this. Do all of us insurance agents a favor...don't call ten minutes before you are going to buy a new/used car not having insurance with us already requesting a quote and insurance within ten minutes. I'm not saying we can't do it but we have to get all your information (yes all because if you withhold something we will find out, aka accidents, violations), work up the quote, transfer it to an application (if you are happy) then we have to have you sign the paperwork and get payment. That's right...we are a business...we can't just take you on your word. The payment is our proof that you agree. You don't have insurance until you pay and sign. Being a new agent, I've had a couple of these come in and my first thought is that I don't want to sign you. First, you're not willing to give me all your info...(my thought(why not? what are you hiding? are you just using me against your current carrier if you even have one)). Second, you are rushing this process. In most cases it takes me, as a newer agent, a couple minutes to work everything up because I am still working out the gliches with the system we use. And third, are you going to be an issue for payment since this is a rush deal or are you going to take this new auto and get in trouble. Too many issues arise when we are in a rush situation. If you are a potential customer I want to make sure you are taken care of and sometimes that takes a little time. So...please don't rush me.

Insurance Fraud - Part V

2008-06-03T15:56:00.002-04:00

Examples of Homeowners’ Insurance Fraud:

Staging a phony burglary or vehicle break-in and faking a loss
Overstating the value of stolen items after an actual burglary of a home or vehicle
Lying about the extent, cause, date or location of legitimate damage
Intentionally damaging property
Making a second claim for a loss that was already paid for by another insurer or through a prior claim
Asking a repairman to "cover your deductible" within their estimate.
Fabricating supporting evidence — often in collusion with a crooked contractor, plumber, repairman or insurance adjuster.

Marketing - News Print II

2008-06-03T15:56:00.001-04:00

I came from the newspaper industry and worked many years in that industry. Everything is relative when working up a newspaper ad. Utilize white space as much as possible. I've seen many ads that have a lot of white space (blank area) and few print or pictures. These ads work great because the rest of the paper is made up of words and black print so something with blank area will be attractive the the readers eyes.

Another way to lay out an ad effectively is utilizing reverse (turning the background black). This will also make the ad stick out more because it is the only full black thing on the page hopefully. Be careful because many other advertisers might do the same thing.

These types of ads will only be effective if you have a decently sized ad as well. If you are putting in a small 1 to 5 column inch ad then you are not going to get enough out of it. To get the best bang for the buck with this type of layout you will need to something bigger.

For your layout put a header up top...no not your name. People are looking for something catchy. Put your slogan or a funny but short one-liner to feed into the ad. It must catch their attention. After that get boring if you want but remember to K.I.S.S. You must get them to pick up the phone to call you or come out to see you so make it attractive.

Insurance Fraud IV

2008-06-03T15:51:00.002-04:00

Examples of Health Insurance Fraud:

Doctors billing insurers for a more costly service than the one performed (also called "upcoding")
Providing services such as tests, surgeries or other procedures that are not medically necessary to get additional payment
Billing for services not actually rendered (often using genuine patient names to fabricate entire claims)
Billing each stage in a procedure as if it were a separate procedure (known as "unbundling")
Accepting kickbacks for referrals
Organized criminals setting up a phony clinic solely to generate fraudulent claims
Patients forging receipts to get unwarranted reimbursement from an insurance company
Patients embellishing, adding to or just plain lying about services received
Patients who ask their doctors to falsify a report to an insurer to cover a non-covered procedure
Patients who ask a doctor to waive their copayments

Insurance Part III

2008-06-03T15:49:00.001-04:00

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fraud include two sets of crimes:
Examples of claims fraud include a worker who:

Fakes an injury at work to get paid time off
Exaggerates the severity of a legitimate injury to extend time away from work
Claims an injury occurred on the job when it actually occurred elsewhere
An injured worker obtains another job and lies to the insurance company about being unable to return to work. In essence, he collects two paychecks.

Examples of premium fraud include an employer who:

Understates the amount of company payroll to reduce premium payments
Claims employees are independent contractors
Classifies employees with improper job codes that carry lower premiums
Fails to carry workers’ compensation insurance.

Insurance Fraud - part II

2008-06-03T15:47:00.000-04:00

Examples of Auto Insurance Fraud include:

Staged accidents, where one or more criminals cause intentional collisions in order to get undeserved payments for health care costs for alleged injuries or vehicle damage.
Providing false information to an insurance company about a car’s mileage or use.
Phony injury claims, when people lie about the injuries they have sustained in an accident.
Inflated damage claims, in which criminals falsify the extent of damage or the true cost of repairs to their vehicles.
Phony thefts, where the owner simply abandons a vehicle and then claims it was stolen (known as an "owner give-up").
Falsely claiming a one-car accident was a "hit and run."
Inventing injuries to people who were not in a vehicle at the time of the accident (people known as "jump-ins")
Driving and getting into an accident when you are uninsured. Then obtaining insurance and falsely stating the date and time of the accident in an effort to have the claim paid.

Insurance Fraud - part I

2008-06-03T15:45:00.002-04:00

Fraud occurs when someone knowingly lies to obtain some benefit or advantage to which they are not otherwise entitled or someone knowingly denies some benefit that is due and to which someone is entitled. Depending on the specific issues involved, an alleged wrongful act may be handled as an administrative action by the Department or the Fraud Division may handle it as a criminal matter.
In PA there are 4 type of Insurance Fraud; Auomotive, Workers' Compensation, Health Insurance and Homeowners'.Check back on 5/26 for more details on auto, 5/27 for Workers Compensation, 5/28 for Health and 5/29 for Homeowners.

Marketing - News Print

2008-06-03T15:45:00.001-04:00

So the first one that I will start with is Newspaper. It is widely read and has been the staple of the advertising world for many a generation. Will you get the leads want? Possible but don't base your entire budget on it.

First things first. Meet with your rep and get their help.This is what they do...just like you and insurance. To give you some insight...the larger the ad, the better but don't go anymore than 1/3 pg...it is a waste. If you can through in color at a reasonable cost...well worth it.

The demographic for newspaper varies dependent upon the region so make sure to match up your target market with the paper. Typically everyone reads headlines, guys read sports and auto, women read lifestyle and garden, both read classifieds and inserts (for another day). Local news is a good section. If you are looking for women...do Lifestyle 2 column by 5. For men do sports 3 column by 4.

The other would be to make sure you use a decent amount of white space. Don't clutter the ad with words...it won't get read. Use a nice big tag on top and something to catch there attention and make them call. Give them a "call to action" (a reason to call) might it be a better deal, a special or something you are running or just information you might have. They need a reason to call.

More input later...

Lately

2008-06-03T15:44:00.001-04:00

Due to recent office changes I have not been able to write lately. A little busier than usual. I have taken on a full book of business to service as well as attempting to grow my own book. I have gotten many leads from the mailers that have been sent out. Things are progressing smoothly.

Follow Ups

2008-06-03T15:43:00.002-04:00

As a new P&C Producer I need to do a lot of follow up to create flow. That is what I've been working on. I'm following up with commercial customers that have mailed an information packet. I'm getting a good response. A couple of appointments and good contacts. Following up on calls, mailings or just with former relationships is the best way to gain new business and renew relationships for future business and referrals.

Here Goes Nothing

2008-06-03T15:43:00.001-04:00

My first Personal Lines mailing is going out today. I have 100 names of personal contacts to start out with. I have many more but I figure I'll hit up my very close contact to start off with. I worked flyer type of letter with

my picture on it (what a handsome mug) and a brief introduction from me. Included was brief information about he company, logo, contact info and companies we are appointed. Added a bunch of color to try to catch attention as well as a magnet and business card. I'll let you all know how that worked once the results start coming in.

I did some cold calling for commercial yesterday and had a couple potentials that I need to grow. I went away from existing contact and went straight cold to see what I could get and it wasn't all bad. Got some business cards and contacts that I will later hit up with mailings and phone calls. It is all about follow up. That is what I'll do.

Marketing II

2008-06-03T15:42:00.000-04:00

Ok...so you have your slogan and you know where you need to market to. Now what do you do? How are you going to reach your demographic. Well....how are you? You have many to choose from and I'm not going to tell you which works the best because if it works for me,

it may not work for you. "One mans trash is another mans treasure" and that goes double for advertising. I hate to say this but you are just going to have to try something that fits your demographic.

The older the demographic, the more TV/Newspaper/Talk Radio. The younger the demographic, the more music radio/magazine/other. I hate to tell you but you need to look at a "media mix." That's right, you might have to spend in more than one outlet. If you want to take the simple route you can look at Direct Mail but then again you could be sending out to 10,000 and spending a bit of money for a 1% return or you might be lucky and get a 10% return (good luck with that). I know this seems like a tease but if you don't try you will never know. As many have said before me..."You gotta spend money to make money."

This statement holds very true when talking about advertising. If you want to know what the specific markets...check back and I'll give you a crash course on as many as a can think that are out there. Then we'll move on.

Experience

2008-06-03T15:41:00.000-04:00

So far I've been a licensed agent for 1.5 months. I've sent out commercial letters to a bunch or ex-commercial customers from a previous job. I've also sent out personal letters to potential personal customers. I made some phone calls to follow up but have not gotten anywhere. I'm going to concentrate more on the commercial P&C end and my background has been road work. I'm looking at going back to my strength this week.

With my previous advertising positions I'm used to driving and stopping out and seeing people on a whim. I enjoy and have been successful with that. I need to bring in business. I need to start utilizing what I have learned or I will start forgetting what I've learned. Keep checking back to see how it's going.

Marketing I

2008-06-03T15:38:00.001-04:00

So, I came from the advertising world into the Insurance Business. How? A former client has become my current employer. I now handle all of the Marketing for my company. Many of you already know, but as a refresher, you must get specific when figureing out how to market your company. I know...you don't like to or it takes too much time. Do it...it's worth it.

Figure out who you need to go after...not want. Who we need to go after is not who we want to go after. But as you get those needs and grow your business you can steadily grow those wants. When being specific...focus on age, gender, geographic, race (yes I said it), income level, career, even religion.

Now a slogan, your lead to your potential customer. What do you want to say to these people. Make it one line and to the point. One thing I learned a very long time ago...K.I.S.S. --> Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't get bogged down with details. Your main reason for any type of marketing is to draw interest and get them to call you.
Check back in a couple days to discuss more...

Stove Specifics

2008-05-06T16:36:00.003-04:00

If you are installing a stove in your home, might it be wood, coal, pellet, etc. There are specifics that need to be followed for some insurance companies. I know you don't want to hear this but before installing your stove contact your rep to find out if there are any stipulations that need to be followed when installing your stove. I ran into an issue today with a stove inspection where the height requirements for the coverage were not met. They now need to put fire/heat deflector between the stove and the wood beam above the stove. They also put a metal piece of flashing between the vent to the chimney and the ceiling above that. They are going to need to fire proof that section as well. Just a heads up to think of these things before moving forward with some of these projects. Let me know what you might have run into.

Quick Tip

2008-05-02T16:14:00.003-04:00

When you look to get an auto quote from an agent here are some things most agents would like to get from you to supply you with a fairly accurate quote;

- Your actual name, address, and phone number.
- Your actual date of birth.
- The automobile that you drive including year, model, style, and some other specifics (if you know the vin number that will make it all the more easier).
- Your actual Social Security Number (I know you are reluctant of giving this out...we won't use it for any other use than checking your insurance score (more on that later) and once it is used most agencies will shred this).
- What type of coverage you are looking for, ie; Body Injury limits, Property Damage limits, Comprehensive and Collision (if you don't know any of these your agent will be able to help).
- Driving history (don't try to tell us you have never had a speeding ticket or accident if you did...we will find out then we might be more reluctant of signing you because you weren't honest).
- Any other drivers in your residence and even non-drivers.

These are a few items that will make it quicker and easier. We can do a quote without these but it might not be as accurate as if you can supply as many as possible.