NLIC.org

Nathaniel Said:

Have any awesome ideas for a Yellow Pages ad for an Insurance company?

We Answered:

do your client a service...DON'T design a big expensive ad for him. The yellow pages is a collosal waste of advertising money...and I mean ..COLLOSSAL !

You do not need to be in several categories.... you need to be listed in the main category, and in the white pages so you have an alphabetical listing....because most people actually look for there first if they already have an idea who to call...they aren't going to bother flipping through categories.

The yellowpages is NOT advertising..it is a directory and should be treated as such. It is a book that is closed 99.999% of the time..yet I'm willing to be it takes up at least 50+ % of the advertising budget.

direct your clients advertising budget into media that will actually cycle customer through their doors. you need to be focusing on being on the forefront of the consumers minds, so when they are in need of insurance....your name pops into their head...focus your money on "Being the Clear Choice" for the consumer. YOU DON"T WANT THEM EVER GOING TO THE YELLOWBOOK FOR HELP.....that is marketing death!

It is a book you need to be in...but not to be advertising in.

the return on your investment is nearly non-existent.

another tip....it has been proven that nearly all people who pick up the yellowpages to flip through the categories actually must hold it in a manner where they flip from back to front...and consequently...the ads in the back of the category get seen first...almost always !

Many ads get looked at in the YP and It has been proven that color does not outpull black and white copy in the yellow pages.

You need a very good one line headline...something that solves the need in one phrase...THAT is what outpulls all other ads.

here are some stats for ya...compliled by Simmons Research...

78% of adults havn't looked in the yellow pages in the last 30 days.

(how many radio ads or direct mail pieces can you receive in 30 days?)

76% of people going to the yellow pages are "price shopping" ...that means they are looking at and contacting a number of your competitors anyway regardless of how big your ad was.


in summation....I would encourage you to learn the best way to effectively use real advertising media to your marketing advantage.

Direct mail is outstanding when done professionaly and correctly. It is really, a more controllable and consistent mechanism than radio and TV....a mix of the three would be best.

good luck

Lynn Said:

I need to know if anybody knows a good transaction tracking to just in my insurance agency..?

We Answered:

Just about any agency management system will let you print or view employee transaction reports, and sort them by employee, transaction type, or just about any other factor.

Applied Systems is my absolute favorite agency management system - but I also like AMS Sagitta, and Ebix.

Kenneth Said:

Does anyonE have any tips when talking to the insurance agency about a fender bender?

We Answered:

You should never deal with the insurance company on your own. Never admit to guilt. They will try to make it seem like it was your fault, if it is the insurance company for the other vehicle assuming you were in an accident involving another car. I was in a similar situation. My car was his and I wasn't even in it at the time. My car was totaled and I only received half of what the car was worth because I told the opposite insurance company that the road was icy and the other driver was young in inexperienced. Be careful!

Anthony Said:

How do I get comfortable with selling Life Insurance?

We Answered:

If you want to be "comfortable" selling life insurance, you must first understand life insurance; and most people who sell it don't understand it. You're obviously a P&C agent, so that tells me that you operate on a sales mentality. That's not a bad thing in and of itself. There are plenty of reputable and competent salespeople in the insurance industry; they just don't sell life insurance - at least not properly. Life insurance, within the context of this discussion, is not an insurance product; it is a financial instrument, to be employed as part of a comprehensive financial strategy.

Team up or hire a life producer. Ideally, this person should be someone who offers comprehensive financial advice, or he's just a product peddler. As you know, to sell an intangible, you have to be a believer - you have to understand your product not only from a technical perspective, but from a philosophical one. You won't get this education from a manual, a course, or over the internet; you have to be carefully mentored by someone who gets it. If you don't, you'll just sell quick, easy cases; and you'll hurt far more than you help. There's no place for peddlers in the financial world.