It is crazy how many individuals and companies are misinterpreting the new FCC rules on auto-dialers, robo-calls, and text messaging, so let me clear some of this up for you!

 

The new rules:

 

1. Require prior express written consent for all auto-dialed or prerecorded telemarketing calls to wireless numbers and residential land lines even if you already have an established business relationship. (Telemarketing means a sales call).

 

2. A company can make a purely informational call (not sales) to a landline as long as the consumer's phone number is not DNC registered.

 

3. A company must have prior express written consent to make any business call, (telemarketing or purely informational) or send a text message to a consumer's wireless phone. (This is because consumers complained about unsolicited calls eating up their minutes, or they were being charged for the calls and text messages)

 

4. Express written consent can be received multiple ways including paper, e-signature, phone opt-in, and website submission.

 

Click below to see a form that we created and use in our partner and member agencies. This form can be emailed or used as a paper copy:

 

Click here to see our permission to contact form

 

5. Attend our free general public webinar where will explain even more info on the new 2012 FCC telemarketing rules. Click below to register

 

Register for the webinar by clicking on one of the dates below

 

Fri, Mar 16, 2012 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CDT https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/967873298

 

Tue, Mar 20, 2012 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CDT https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/504412106

The Annual Insurance Industry Vendors Review - Webinar/Conference Call

Thursday September 1, 2011 (1:00 PM EST, 12:00 PM CST, 11:00 AM MST, 10:00 AM PST)

Your agency has 3 months (September – November) to make the bulk of this year’s production!

On this free webinar/conference call we will walk through the list of recommended vendors that our research, real world use by our 23 partner agencies, and recommendations from our 100’s of member agents have revealed as the top vendors to use in over 17 different categories related to an insurance agency.

 

To attend the webinar: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/526075842

To only attend by conference call: (773) 945-1011 - Access Code: 690-207-528

 

While this webinar is focused on insurance agencies, most of these tools can work in any business or company.

This is not a sales pitch webinar, but a no B.S. look at many of the top tools and vendors an insurance agency should have in place. No vendors will present on this webinar.

This is an unbiased look at the vendors. We will look at 17 categories including: agency management systems, lead management tools, internet lead companies, lists providers, social networking tools, text messaging tools, email tools, and more.

Join Inspire a Nation Business Mentoring as we reinforce and remind our current members of the tools they should have in place, but may have let slip through the cracks, or stopped using effectively.

In addition this is our time to introduce to our non members some of the wisdom and insight that has propelled our company to become one the top insurance mentoring companies in the world.

There are a lot of great vendors in the insurance space and if you are using a tool or vendor that is not on our list it doesn’t mean that they might not work for you, it means that we have not been exposed to them or they have denied our request to research them using our research methods and questions.

To attend the webinar: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/526075842

To only attend by conference call: (773) 945-1011 - Access Code: 690-207-528

The Birthday Contact Process - 200 years of proven marketing success 

 

Every agent wishes they could find THE magic marketing process. The one process that will keep new prospects flowing into the agency and current customers happy and referring their friends.

 

Ever since postage stamps were commissioned in the early 1800's, birthday mailings have been used to keep in touch with customers and prospects.

 

Technology has made it much easier and more affordable than ever for businesses to reach out to their customers and prospects in a variety of ways, postal mailing is no longer the only option, yet less than 5% of all agencies have a consistent birthday contact process.

 

Technology is also increasing the overall effectiveness of a personalized birthday contact process, especially with younger customers. Many customers are using on-line technology to shop for insurance, pay their bills, and make changes to their policy. A call from a live person on an important day like their birthday could be the only real human interaction some customers have with an insurance professional for years at a time.

 

As we all know, the more assets you acquire the more detailed the conversation becomes with those that help support and protect your assets. Having the birthday wish conversation could be the very reason they call you or your agency when they are ready to talk versus calling someone else.

 

If you talk to the top sales people from the last 50 years you will hear one common conversation: their best sales year was also the year they worked their birthday process the best.

 

From Zig Ziegler, to Tom Hopkins, to Joe Gerard (According to the Guinness Book of World Records he was the world’s #1 salesperson for 12 straight years) they all give credit to a consistent birthday contact process as one of the major tools in their marketing arsenal.

 

A good captive agency closes somewhere around 20% of their qualified prospects. Without a good birthday contact process the 80% that they don't close will only hear from the agency when it is time to try and sell them a policy, and that is only if they have a good re-quote process

 

A good independent agency has a close rate somewhere around 40%.  60% of their prospects walk out the door without a product.

 

A good birthday contact process gives the agency another opportunity to put their name in front of not only their current customers, but the prospects that they did not close.

 

Here are just a few of the benefits of a good birthday contact process:

 

—  Keeps your  agency’s name in front of a large audience of customers, prospects, and contacts

—   It’s a proactive, value based, out bound campaign

—   Shows your agency takes a personal interest in it's customers, prospects, and contacts

—   Shows your agency is efficient and organized

—   Helps SEO – many people Google you or your agency after they receive a birthday message

—   Is a comfortable call for the agent and/or staff to make

—   Can give the agency an emotional lift

—  If properly automated it usually has a tremendous ROI

—  Often the conversation leads to a quote or sales opportunity

  

 Now is the time to get your agency's birthday contact process in order!

 

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Current Inspire a Nation Members -The Birthday Contact Process video with training aids and attachments is posted in the Video and Document Library - Biweekly Training 08/08/11.

 

Starting 08/01/2011 a complete table of contents and access to the the Video and Document Library can be located on our new www.inspireanation.org website.

 

 

Non Members - You can purchase the Birthday Contact Process as a Pay Per Training Video. This is a great way to access individual training videos, job aids, scripts, step by step checklists, and more. www.inspireanation.org

 

This comprehensive training video teaches you how to make the Birthday Contact Process a marketing tool with a tremendous ROI. It teaches you the: benefits of the process, how to automate the process, how to manage birthday data, the best automated tools to use, the contact time lines, what scripts produce the best results, how to use it with social networking tools, and step by step screen captures that show you how to setup of an auto-dialer campaign, predictive dialer campaign (live call campaign), auto responder – drip email campaign, text message campaign and more.

 

Click here to purchase 'The Birthday Contact Process"

 

Only 50 Non-Inspire a Nation members will be allowed to purchase the Birthday Contact Process training, so order right away!