Closing a sale getting your prospect to say “yes” can sometimes be as easy as asking for it. Once you’ve laid the groundwork by qualifying your prospect, uncovering their needs, and showing how your product or service satisfy those needs, it’s time to ask for the order. Here are five tips to make this procedure simple and successful.

No matter how hard you try, customers will find fault with you or your staff. How you handle those complaints will determine your account retention and customer satisfaction rate. Here are three key guidelines to help the cause.

I spent many years coaching high school football. Whenever a team was underperforming, we went back to basics: blocking and tackling. If your agency’s sales and retention are suffering from the current economy, or if you wish to enhance your performance, it’s time to reinforce the fundamentals of any sales organization: asking for referrals and developing accounts.

The sale of Life insurance to Personal Lines Property/Casualty customers has long been an issue with traditional independent insurance agents and brokers. There are very few agencies that haven’t tried, at one time or another, to develop a program to cross-sell Life, Health, or Disability to existing customers. Many agencies have even hired a “Life Person,” only to end up with a big expense and little income to show for the effort. This has only added to the frustration of the agency owners. So what’s the answer?

Websites are like business cards: Everybody has one. So, how can you get customers to find yours among millions of others? Most recommendations about marketing a website focus on guess what? Online tools. Send e-mails. Send thousands of e-mails. Post to other websites. Register with search engines. Buy or exchange ad banners with other sites.
However, because most people spend most of their time offline, it makes sense to market your website offline, too. How many of these proven offline marketing tools are you using?

“Moments of truth” occurs whenever CSRs and producers talk to a customer on the phone or in person. It’s important that each member of the agency be prepared for this contact. The impression left with the client or prospect will determine their future relationship with your agency. Because the ultimate goal of any business is to obtain and retain customers, it’s essential for you to create the proper image at the moment of truth. Some of the key factors in managing the moment of truth are:

What Is Customer Service? Customer service in an insurance agency consists of four specific functions: Processing, professional advice, production, and positive communication.

The Agency Profitability Audit consists of five stages:
• Analyze the Available Data
• Understand the Agency’s Objectives
• Determine the Agency’s Assets and Course of Action
• Inform All Personnel and Companies of the Course of Action
• Transact the Procedures and Practices Needed To Attain the Established Objectives

Nearly all agency systems and procedures revolve around the use of Agency Management Systems and other third-party software. Proper training and usage of these systems will result in reducing Errors and Omissions losses. There are nine steps that an agency should take.

Almost two years ago, after 10 years of consulting, I accepted a temporary assignment of managing an independent agency that generated 85% of its income from Property/Casualty Lines and 15% from Life, Health, and financial services products.