11/01/2021 Sector
Practical ideas for more sales
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At this year's DKM brokerage trade fair in Dortmund, sales experts explained how brokers can generate higher sales and win more new customers.
Insurance brokers are supposed to generate more income if they make an extra service fee agreement with their customers. In the opinion of lawyers, pools and associations, it is legally possible to have services that are not part of the agent's duties remunerated separately through an agreement. In contrast to brokerage commissions, these fees are then subject to sales tax. In commercial and industrial insurance, mixed models are unproblematic because the merchant can also be advised for a fee. In private business they are still controversial.
Too intensive care, not enough time
Nevertheless, the advisory processes working group published sample texts for “commercial” and “private” service contracts at the beginning of September 2021 (www.beratungsdienstleistungen.de). At the DKM intermediary trade fair, Jörg Laubrinus, sales coach and managing director of Mission Freiheit GmbH, presented a survey in which the customers of 400 insurance brokers rated the new fee model with school grades. Most of the grades were very good and good.
According to Laubrinus, insurance brokers have been overserving their customers for years. For example, questions about the external contract of Huk-Coburg would be answered. Such an extremely comprehensive service would put a lot of time pressure on insurance brokers with a portfolio of 300 customers or more. In many cases, new business would then be neglected and an attempt would be made to generate new contracts for existing dates in order to make the service economically worthwhile.
Three tier service model
The concept of Mission Service (www.missionservice.de), for which Laubrinus also works, envisages packing the obligation into a free basic agreement and offering two additional service levels that are subject to a fee. At level two, there is a charge for the annual appraisal, the review of the old-age provision, claims management, support for third-party contracts and a digital customer folder.
At level three, initial legal advice, a service through trade partners and emergency planning in the event of death could be offered. On average, the approximately 400 brokerage companies that have introduced such a service agreement would generate 40 euros per month for their customers. In the commercial sector it would even be 80 euros. There would be big fluctuations. Young brokers would sometimes only charge 25 euros per month, while special brokers in the commercial business also achieved extra monthly fees of 250 euros per customer.
Laubrinus described the case of a broker specializing in doctors who, after the introduction of the service fee, only lost two of 80 doctors. Laubrins advises insurance brokers to prepare comprehensively for the change in business model and only ever address a small part of the portfolio. Basically, he believes that brokers can create a service fee concept in around ten hours without any outside help. Mission Service offers extensive but expensive coaching for this revenue model for a period of two years.
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According to Pascal Feyh, founder of Mehr Business Business Coaching GmbH, more income from many new customers is possible through systematic lead generation on the Internet. In a presentation at the DKM, Feyh explained how he developed this concept using online cosmetics sales. "You have to offer customers a gift on your website that has a high utility value," says Feyh. To do this, you have to deal intensively with your target customer. Feyh had offered cosmetic salons a free audio book with tips on how to increase sales.
Special gimmick: The audio book was set to music by the voice actor of the actor George Clooney. “With the free audio book, we targeted around 45,000 beauty salons, 80,000 hairdressers and 15,000 nail salons,” says Feyh. With an overwhelming rate, the campaign was a success. "We got their e-mail addresses from all of them via the automatic form," says Feyh. It is important that the first gift - in this case the audio book - is completely free of advertising. It must only contain high-quality content for the respective target group.
At most 20 percent advertising
"To get leads, you have to deliver trust and security," the consultant explained. Only those who work like this at the beginning can get customers to give up their anonymity for help content. Only then should advertising start. And via automated emails. There are many tools on the market for this. Feyh: "But even then you shouldn't overdo the advertising, it should make up a maximum of 20 percent of every email."
Author(s): Uwe Schmidt-Kasparek
insurance magazine
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