It’s evident that to survive in today’s economy you must always find a way to grow your business. There needs to be an outlet for constant, consistent expansion—and the type of business growth that brings with it authentic, retainable consumers. However, besides digital marketing, word of mouth and strategic email campaigns, how else can you effectively grow your book of business? What else can you do to attract consumers and potential policyholders?
At Insurance Solutions we’ve turned to our neighboring community—using local vendors and businesses to act as the catalyst needed to spark curiosity amongst consumers state-wide. In what we like to call our Preferred Partners Program, our agency collaborates with local establishments to positively promote one another’s goods and services.
Local businesses can provide daily discounts and coupons via our agency website—allowing us to not only support our local California economy but also attract prospective consumers to our site with enticing digital deals. By working together simultaneously, to promote one another’s services, both we as an agency – alongside our Preferred Partners – are positioning ourselves at the forefront of our local customers’ minds.
Likewise, local business owners have the opportunity to learn more about how strategic social networking and Internet marketing can help grow their own business ventures. By harvesting the power of the Internet and social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, this continuous cycle of promotion and recommendation of one another’s products keeps current clients interested—while most importantly, drawing in fresh potential consumers. What it all boils down to is your agency’s ability to form mutually beneficial relationships with other local business owners. By forming strong bonds with local vendors and establishments you can work together to reinforce each other’s reputation within the local community, as well as dip into each other’s customer base where applicable and appropriate.
So where do you begin and how can you create a Partners Program of your own? Start by making a commitment to keep it genuine. Of course, building relationships with other local businesses is going to take a great deal of time and effort, but the strongest partnerships will rely heavily on trust and determining the best way you can help one another. Set a goal – or two – and stick to it. What do you hope to accomplish through this partnership? Does the other business owner or key players feel the same? Some partnerships may be based off of learning from one another while others are more strategic networking connections. Remember to keep your options open.
Although we pride ourselves on being a leading resource for CA Life and Health Insurance, we have to keep in mind that our clients come to us for a broader range of insurance products. In our effort to best meet their needs, as well as attract a more inclusive group of prospects, we have partnered with local businesses that span across multiple commercial industries. Y
Your community provides a wealth of marketing opportunities and networking with local business owners, like yourself, provides you with a unique outlet in which you can grow your business—so get creative, commit to being genuine and start leveraging strategic business partnerships for your agency.
About the Author: Tony Alessandra, CIC, CWCA, President of Insurance Solutions in Mission Viejo, California has been in the business since 1982. He leads a World Class team of Insurance Protection Specialists that assist business owners, families, and individuals by identifying “fatal coverage gaps” in their existing insurance programs.
