How to Get More Insurance Referrals

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The referral is gold in the insurance world. You run a business that’s built on trust, even more so than other businesses. Your clients need to know that you understand your work and that you’ll be able to help them find the protection that they need. How can you change your insurance marketing to ensure that you maximize your referrals?

According to Rain Sales Training, many businesses unconsciously avoid spending time asking for referrals. “They either don’t want to appear “salesy” or desperate for the work.” If you are proud of your product, you don’t need to be shy. You can shift your insurance marketing focus to add in a focus on referrals and watch your business increase.

Before you ask for a referral, you need to make sure that you’re providing exceptional customer service. This means that you listen to your clients’ needs and try and educate and accommodate when possible. It also means that you’re clear and accurate about what you offer and let customers know what you can and can’t do for them. Get regular feedback from your customers so that you’ll know how you are doing.

You can enlighten your clients and perhaps even increase their commitment to you by letting them know about all of the services that you provide. For instance, if you provide both home and auto insurance but notice that many of your clients only come to you for one or the other, letting them know about the excellent deals and service that you provide could lead to them adding another insurance policy.

Partnerships can be fruitful when it comes to referrals. If you work with another business in town, you can refer to them, and they can refer to you. For instance, you could work with a local moving company to give them referrals to clients who need help with their move, and they could recommend you if their clients need a new insurance provider.

Social media and particularly online venues such as LinkedIn are a way to collect referrals by sharing your expertise with others. For instance, if you work with a business, you could look at their connections to see if you’re able to work in partnership with them to gather more referrals. This allows you to be more specific and educated with your ask. You can also use online forums such as Quora to answer questions about insurance. If your answer is good and is featured, then this could lead to referrals who will now see you as an authoritative and respected business.

Use diverse opportunities to ask for referrals, even if they seem small. For instance, you can ask in your email signature, and you can ask once people purchase a product on your website. You can ask on your receipts. This doesn’t mean that your referral requests need to be everywhere, but they at least need to be visible to your current customers.

Outbound Engine states that “happy customers are happy to help you grow your business; don’t be afraid to ask for their help.” Some customers aren’t keen to send your information to others, but they are happy to help in other ways. For instance, you could ask them for a note of recommendation that you can feature on your website. This acts as a referral by inspiring the trust of those who visit your site.

At the American Agents Alliance, we’re a group of independent insurance agents working together. Join our insurance agent association to get access to resources that you need to run and market your business. Contact us today.