Finding Business Referral Partners By Using LinkedIn

Date: May 19, 2022

 

Author: Dr. Billy Williams

Use the month of June to build your base of Business Referral Partnerships with professionals that work with your target prospects.

 

I am going to use LinkedIn as the example tool, but you can work this process with Facebook, Instagram, twitter, or any social networking site that allows you to locate and connect with other people.

 

1. Sign in to LinkedIn

2. Search for the type of profession and city i.e., "Property Managers Dallas"

3. Once you find the people that you feel would be a good fit, Click on Connect

LinkedIn Tip = The more total connections you have, the more 2^nd connections you have and the more total opportunities for connections you will have.

If you only see a Follow Button, click on the 3 dots to the right and you should see a connect button.

4. Click on Add a note (If that option appears. It doesn't always give you an option)

5. Type a version of the wording below. Make sure you give them an option to schedule a meeting with you or at least leave your contact information

6. Click on Send.

 

To maximize the “Referral Partner Campaign” you should:

• 1.     send at least 100 Invites (25/day) before you decide the process isn't working.

• 2.     Quickly follow up with anyone that responds to your connection request with a DM that says “Thanks for connecting, here is a link to download my electronic business card”

• 3.     DO NOT write a long DM message trying to sell them on your products and services.

The 15 Best Insurance Agent Marketing Campaigns to Close Out the Sales Year

Here are some interesting facts you might not be aware of:

September through December is a critical time for insurance agencies and their marketing efforts.

AUTO INSURANCE

The two peak seasons for auto sales occur during the spring, from March through May and September through November.

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE

The end of the peak season for New Homeowner Sales is August and September, which means intelligent agencies should continue and possibly increase their homeowner insurance marketing since most other agencies are slowing down and coasting until the end of the year.

LIFE INSURANCE

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month.

CHILDBIRTHS

August through October have had the highest rate of childbirths for the last 16 years. Childbirths and a New Baby in the house are primary insurance shopping triggers.

MEDICARE AND MEDICARE ADVANTAGE

Does your agency sell Senior Products such as Medicare and Medicare Advantage? According to the AARP, 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, which is expected to continue into the 2030s. This means that nearly seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Does your agency offer health insurance? Here is a partial list of health awareness campaigns that run starting in September:

Pain Awareness Month

National Cholesterol Education Month

Blood Cancer Awareness Month

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

National Sickle Cell Awareness Month

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE

Does your agency sell Commercial Insurance? January is the primary month for new start-up businesses to incorporate. Based on the average commercial insurance sales cycle, those businesses will start shopping for their insurance three or four months out, September through December!

STAFF AND TEAM MEMBERS

What about agency staff and team members? Is September through November a productive time for them?

Task-management software company, Redbooth, announced intriguing new research in 2018. Compiled over four years, the data revealed that the average worker is more productive in autumn. The average worker is 20 percent more productive in autumn than in the winter (11 percent more productive during the same timeframe than in spring and 7 percent more productive than in summer). The study also found that the most productive months of the year are September, October, and November.

DON’T WAIT UNTIL JANUARY AND FEBRUARY TO RAMP UP MARKETING

Most agencies wait until January and February to ramp up the marketing, but if they just did a little research, they would see that January and February are literally the slowest insurance sales months of the year for almost every major type of insurance, whereas September through November rank first or second in sales in virtually every area of insurance.

(2021 Update) A FREE Individualized Insurance Agent Marketing Plan in under 3 Minutes

 

https://www.inspireanation.org/STORE

This Insurance Agency Marketing Plan Design Tool was developed by Billy R. Williams, PhD., President - Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring and the Williams Family Agency Investment Group.

This is an update to the original Marketing Plan Tool that was released in 2014.

In less than 3 minutes you will create a marketing plan that is individualized for your agency and that is based on your answers, the wisdom, and experience of the partner and member agencies of Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring, and the Williams Family Agency Investment Group.

 

https://www.inspireanation.org/STORE

 

 

Make sure you thoroughly read the provided mentoring points.

 

15 MARKETING CAMPAIGNS AND TASKS EVERY INSURANCE AGENT SHOULD DO TO CLOSE OUT THE LAST QUARTER OF THE SALES YEAR.

2 – Part Mini-Workshop. Thursday, September 2^nd and 16^th at 12:00 PM Central (1 PM Eastern, 11 AM Mountain, and 10 AM Pacific.

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2653914722947303691

September through December is a critical time for insurance agencies and their marketing efforts.

Here are some interesting facts you might not be aware of:

The two peak seasons for auto sales occur during the spring, from March through May and September through November.

The end of the peak season for New Homeowner Sales is August and September, which means intelligent agencies should continue and possibly increase their homeowner insurance marketing since most other agencies are slowing down and coasting until the end of the year.

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month.

August through October have had the highest rate of childbirths for the last 16 years. Childbirths and a New Baby in the house are primary insurance shopping triggers.

Does your agency sell Senior Products such as Medicare and Medicare Advantage? According to the AARP, 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, which is expected to continue into the 2030s. This means that nearly seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute.

Does your agency offer health insurance? Here is a partial list of health awareness campaigns that run starting in September:

Pain Awareness Month

National Cholesterol Education Month

Blood Cancer Awareness Month

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month: 

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

National Sickle Cell Awareness Month

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Does your agency sell Commercial Insurance? January is the primary month for new start-up businesses to incorporate. Based on the average commercial insurance sales cycle, those businesses will start shopping for their insurance three or four months out, September through December!

What about agency staff and team members? Is September through November a productive time for them?

Task-management software company, Redbooth, announced intriguing new research in 2018. Compiled over four years, the data revealed that the average worker is more productive in autumn. The average worker is 20 percent more productive in autumn than in the winter (11 percent more productive during the same timeframe than in spring and 7 percent more productive than in summer). The study also found that the most productive months of the year are September, October, and November.

Most agencies wait until January and February to ramp up the marketing, but if they just did a little research, they would see that January and February are literally the slowest insurance sales months of the year for almost every major type of insurance, whereas September through November rank first or second in sales in virtually every area of insurance.

Billy R. Williams, Ph.D., President of Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring and The Williams Family Investment Group (A group of 160+ Insurance Agencies that produce over a Billion dollars a year in new and renewal insurance premiums) has put together a list of 15 MARKETING CAMPAIGNS AND TASKS EVERY INSURANCE AGENT SHOULD DO TO CLOSE OUT THE LAST QUARTER OF THE SALES YEAR

Do you need detailed information and training on the 15 Marketing Campaigns and tasks? Register for our upcoming Webinars: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2653914722947303691)

15. Each Week, reach out by (P.E.T.S.) Phone, Email, Text Messages (with verified permission), and Social Networking to all contacts with an upcoming birthday that week.

 

 

14. Create an Agency Introduction Video, post it to YouTube and Social Networks, and Phone, Email, and Text (With verified permission) it to all your contacts.

 

 

13. Start a LinkedIn or Facebook Group specifically for your primary target prospect or niche and invite all former customers and quoted-not-sold prospects to join the group.

12. Contact each customer that reported a claim and offer them a Life Insurance Quote and Appointment

11. Purchase Real-Time Internet Leads if you have the technology and automation to effectively work Real-Time Internet Leads; if not, purchase aged internet leads up to 89 days old, or 300 – 360 days old;

10. Go through your current book and accurately identify your agency's top 3 sources of leads. If it is Business Referral Partners or Customers, send them a small "Thank You" gift, and do a Social Networking write-up about them, and ask them to comment on the post why they send referrals to your agency;

9. Send out a LinkedIn request to 25 potential Business Referral Partners each week for the remainder of the year;

8. Reach out to all current Business Referral Partners by PETS and ask them to write or update a previously written Google Review by adding the current day/month/year to the end of the review;

 

7. Select two specific policy weaknesses that are prominent in your current book of business, such as "Low Rental Car Coverage Limits" or "Homeowners with no additional Jewelry Coverage," and perform a P.E.T.S. Contact Blitz;

 

6. Create a short "Are we still competing for your insurance business?" video and send it out by email to all of your "quoted-not-sold" prospects;

5. Create a short "We want you back" video and send it out by email and a Facebook Custom Audience Ad to all of your Former Customers;

4. Thoroughly Update your Google My Business profile;

3. Pick One Major Coverage or Product you want to offer your Book of Business and Send an Electronic Signature Declined Coverage Form to Every Customer that does not currently have the coverage or product;

 

2. Contact the claims advocate at your top 3 carriers and find out what the top 3 reported claim types for the year so far, and build marketing campaigns around those reported claim types;

1. Block off two hours per day to perform Revenue-Generating Activities

 

Do you want more of this knowledge and wisdom-based insurance agent mentoring?

 

Visit the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring website at www.inspireanation.org  

One of our most popular training topics is back!

Join us for a game-changing conference call training session

"OBLITERATING INSURANCE SALES OBJECTIONS"

 

This was one of our most requested and best attended training sessions in 2020!

 

Thursday, August 5th, 2021, 12 PM Central (1 PM Eastern, 11 PM Mountain, 10 AM Pacific)

 

Join the conference call:

Dial-in number: (712) 770-4160 Access code: 619864

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/299951577262671118

With the industry-wide prediction that more current insurance customers will shop their insurance than ever before, it is imperative that your entire team understand how to obliterate insurance sales objections

Billy R. Williams Ph.D., president of Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring and the senior instructor of the "Fix My Insurance Agency - 10 Million Insurance Revenue Workshop" will teach attendees how to overcome the top 6 sales objections commonly heard in an insurance agency

1. The price is too high

2. I will have to think about it

3. I need to talk to my spouse/partner

4. I have it at work

5. I want to look around some more

6. Now is not a good time to talk about it

You can ignore or skip this free sales objection training, but why would you?

"If a person can walk down the street and get the same conversation, products, knowledge, wisdom, and experience that you bring to the table . . . at a lower price, they would be a fool not to do it!" - Billy R. Williams, Ph.D.

Dr. Billy R. Williams interviews Reid Holzworth the new CEO of IVANS

https://inspireanationbusinessmentoring.libsyn.com/dr-billy-williams-interviews-reid-holzworth-ceo-ivans

Ask any independent agent if they have heard of IVANS, and they will undoubtedly say yes.

In fact, most will tell you they have an IVANS account.

But, if you ask them how IVANS operates?

Where is the IVANS connectivity with carriers, agency management systems, and agencies headed in the next 12 months?

And, how can an agent maximize the growth of their book of business by leveraging IVANS data? You will often get a blank stare.

This interview between the two insurance industry powerhouses takes a deep dive into how IVANS is opening the customer data pipeline that many agents have craved for years.

Whether you are a carrier, agency management system provider, or function within an insurance agency, you will benefit from this interview.

If you are not signed up for the 3 - Part Mini-Workshop Series on the Best Lead Generation Campaigns for an Insurance Agency, look at a snippet of what you have missed so far:

Session One, Thursday June 3, 2021:

The Best Marketing Campaigns for an Insurance Agency

Session Two, Thursday, June 17, 2021:

The Best Lead Management Practices for an Insurance Agency

Session Three, Thursday July 1, 2021:  A Recap of Sessions One and two and "Onboarding New Insurance Customers - Best Practices"

REGISTER for the live workshop at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8073465808417065483

Active Mentoring Subscribers: All training is recorded and available to active members only inside the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring Video and Document Library.

REGISTER for the live workshop at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8073465808417065483

Listen to the audio!

Lack of calendar blocking tasks is a major weakness in most insurance agencies. This master class will teach you how to eliminate that weakness.

This master class will teach you:

How to determine the agency's most important KPI's and Tasks

Decide the who, what, when, and how to manage calendar blocking in an insurance agency

Review the actions that must be taken by staff when staff or team member does not stick to their calendar blocked schedule and tasks.

The Fix My Insurance Agency Podcast is listed as one of the top 15 insurance-focused podcasts in the world by Feedspot; https://blog.feedspot.com/insurance_podcasts/

Member Only: Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A Sessions (Getting Back to the Basics)

When: 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month 1:00 PM, CST

Where: Open Event to See Specific Topics

EVENT DETAILS:

Member Only: Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A Sessions. The 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month

Active Inspire a Nation Members - The registration information will be available starting the Thursday before the session.
  

1. Click on the Blue Mini-Workshop Registration Button (Note: The button will NOT be active until the Thursday before the Mini-Workshop)

2. The Mini-Workshop Button (When Active) will open a Go to Meeting Webinar Link that will require First Name, Last Name, Email Address and Agency Name

3. Go to Meeting will require each attendee to individually register (One person can not register multiple people)

January and February 2021 sessions are about establishing the foundation of operating an insurance agency!

Thursday, Jan 7, 2021 – Establishing Agency-Wide Minimum Coverage Recommendation Standards

 

Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 - Calendar Blocking The 14 Core Weekly Processes


Thursday, Feb 4, 2021: Core Agency Technology and Automation Every Insurance Agency Should Have in Place

Thursday, Feb 18, 2021: Marketing your agency - The First 8 Marketing Campaigns That Should Be Operating In an Agency

For active Inspire a Nation Members:


Billy and his team will be traveling to promote his new book, speaking at different insurance and small business events in and out of the country, and updating the mentoring lessons in the video library for much of 2021. Billy will only be available for a limited amount of one-on-one sessions.


To fill the void, Billy will provide, Biweekly Group Mini-Workshops and Q and A sessions.


Some of the mini-workshops will be recorded video and audio, some of them will be live webinars and conference calls, and some of them will be Q and A based sessions.


The sessions will be on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at 1:00 PM Central (2 PM Eastern, 12: PM Mountain, 11 AM Pacific).

The live sessions will be recorded and available in the Video and Document Library for all active members that can't make the live session.

The sessions are taught by Dr. Billy R. Williams, President - Williams Family Investment Group and Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring.

Best regards,
Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring

The Electronic Signature Declined Coverage Form 

An insurance agency's most important sales and retention tool for current customers.
 
By Billy R. Williams - President Williams Family Investment Group and Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring Svc.

www.inspireanation.org 

As an investor in numerous agencies and as a mentor to 100's more, I am often asked: "If there was only one marketing tool you could use in your agency, what would it be?"
 
 
Without hesitation, my answer is always the same; an E-Signature based Declined Coverage Form.
 
 
In 16+ years of working in the insurance industry as a captive agent, an independent agent, a mentor to 1000s of agencies, and an investor in over 150 agencies, I have never seen one document that served as many purposes or drove as many results as a finely crafted Declined Coverage Form.
 
 
To be completely transparent, even a poorly crafted Declined Coverage Form will yield some surprisingly good insurance agency results.
 
 
The evolution of the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring Declined Coverage Form
 
 
1. In 2004, when I opened my Allstate Insurance Agency, I started using a Permission to Contact/Optional Coverage Form (Here is a link to the P2C form that is still in use by many of the Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring member agencies - http://bit.ly/IANoptionalcoverageform)
 
 
2. While 10 - 15% of customers would complete the form, that still left up to 90% that didn't. Of course, before everything went mobile, I was sending a DocuSign link by email that people would open on their desktop computer.
 
 
3. In 2008, I sold my Allstate agency and partnered with a small independent agency. That agency used various declined coverage forms for products such as Flood, Jewelry Coverage, Inland Marine, Loss of Income, etc.
 
 
4. We were mainly using it to cover our butts from an E&O complaint. (E&O is still the main reason most agencies use a Declined Coverage Form.)
 
 
5. What I noticed right away (and started to track) was how many customers would call back and want to discuss the coverages after they received a Declined Coverage Form DocuSign from the agency. It didn't take long for me to see that the form wasn't just covering our butts, but generating revenue for the agency.
 
 
6. In 2010, I created the Declined Coverage Form that the Williams Family Investment Group partner agencies use today. Reducing it to one page and allowing the sales team, account managers, and retention team to list multiple items on one form made it more efficient for the agency and more comfortable for the customer to understand.
 
 
7. Active Inspire a Nation Members: Here is our current Declined Coverage Form: http://bit.ly/IANdeclinedcoverageform (Active members MUST log in to see the form)
 
 
We see the best response when we send the form:
• As soon as we sign up a new customer
• When we spot a policy weakness on an endorsement request
• When we conduct a Customer Policy Review
• When working a reported claim follow up call
• When conducting a Birthday Insurance Review
 
 
In summary, the Declined Coverage Form is a multi-faceted document that should be used to not only cover the agency's butt but to drive new premium, drive cross-sells and up-sells, increase retention, and show the agency's expertise as an insurance advisor.
 
 
Do you want to connect with Dr. Williams?

Click on the link below to add Dr. Williams' Electronic Business Card (.vcf) to your mobile device or computer address book
https://www.bit.ly/bw_e_bizcard
 
 
"People with a Wealth Mentality find the simple inside of complicated things; People with a Poor Person's Mentality make simple things unnecessarily complicated."
Billy R. Williams Ph.D.