Tips for Networking Insurance Agents: 8 Smart Ideas
Tips for Networking Insurance Agents: 8 Smart Ideas
1) Always Give Your Card Business cards are cheap. Ever find yourself thinking, “Should I give this man my card?” or “Does she want a card?” The clear answer is always yes. Give it to everyone 10 times.
2) Don't Have Big Handouts business-cards-too-bigI understand what this type of person thinking… “In place of handing out business cards I'm going to provide people a 5×7 postcard. It'll really stand out.” Here's what I'm thinking once you hand it to me: “Thanks a**hole. Now I need to retain this stupid thing until I will get a garbage can.” Don't be that guy. People may smile and take your postcard but annoying people is not good networking.
3) Do The Follow-Up Just like in sales, poor follow-up could make all of your networking efforts worthless. Do you think someone's going to purchase insurance from you or refer your agency after one meeting at a networking event? Obviously not&hellip ;.You need to develop strong relationships. Devise a follow-up plan that serves to deepen the connections you make at networking events. (Try to not creep anyone out.)
4) Use LinkedIn To Follow Up LinkedIn is really a perfect low-effort tool for forging stronger relationships with people you meet at networking events (or anywhere else). There's no social stigma against requesting a connection on LinkedIn from someone you met and had a discussion with. A LinkedIn connection isn't the end goal, in fact it's really just first but it is a superb first step toward developing a deeper professional experience of anyone.
5) Follow Their Business on Twitter and Facebook facebook-twitter-follow-upMost agents I understand think of Twitter and Facebook only as tools to reach out to current and prospective clients. It can be used very effectively as an expert networking and monitoring tool. Use your agency's twitter account and use Facebook as your agency page (not as yourself) and follow and like all the businesses who's owners you meet. Likes on Facebook are free so that it won't set you back a penny to “like” every business you meet and “like” every post they make. That's lots of potential free goodwill! While we're about them, click here to “like” My Facebook page and click “like” everything I post in the foreseeable future ;) I DO NOT recommend using Facebook to “friend” a person you meet professionally if you don't have an association with them that is deeper than business.
6) Follow Up Via Email After meeting someone you're feeling a strong connection with send them an email. You can create a template for emails such as this, however I strongly encourage one to customize each email to reference something you discussed with the individual. If there isn't anything specific to say to the person, have a peek at their website and mention something about it. Wouldn't it get your attention if someone mentioned something on your agency's website? (When I obtain a generic form email that I understand was also provided for everyone else at a networking event I usually report it as SPAM.)
7) Phone Call Follow Up Have an excellent networking connection you're trying to construct into a great one? Call them up out of the blue with a question about their business. You can just make it up if you want to… Say you're doing research for a client. Everyone loves being the expert and they'll think it may be a sales lead so they'll love it. If they're a vital connection, use it your calendar to touch base once a month.
8) Read “How exactly to Win Friends and Influence People” read-about-networkingIf you haven't heard about or read this book you should really check it out. It's been around for pretty much a century and the information it gives is fundamental, but powerful. I have an audio version on my phone that I listen to about once a year. (It also helps me get my kids to do what I them to. Not by much, but I'll take all the help I could possibly get!)
0 comments:
Post a Comment