Successful insurance agents have learned that the key to increasing sales without running yourself ragged is to develop a robust referral program. After all, other than yourself, happy clients really are the best ambassadors for your insurance agency. However, it’s up to you to help your clients succeed by making the process second nature.
Here are a few referral marketing ideas to get an effective referral process rolling:
Social Media Recommendations
The best referrals come from clients that are 100 percent happy with your business and customer service. When they contact you to let you know how happy they are, ask them to post that recommendation on your agency’s LinkedIn profile. This recommendation not only shows up on your page but also on theirs. That means that their entire network of contacts see that they recommend you for insurance needs. This allows your clients to refer people without really trying. Similarly, if your agency has a Facebook page, enable the star rating system and encourage clients to rate you there as well.
Run a Referral Contest
While encouraging year-round referrals is a necessity, agents often get better results if they concentrate their efforts in a short time period. Consider running a referral contest for a single month. The rewards can be a dollar amount for each referral that results in business, or it can be a larger raffle-type prize. For example, for every referral that a client sends, they get an entry to win a new iPad.
Take it to Facebook
A modern twist on the referral contest is conducting it on Facebook. This can actually be more effective because you leverage not only your existing clients but their networks as well. All you have to do is get clients to like your referral contest page or repost it and Facebook will automatically show it to others as content that they may be interested in. Using Facebook apps, you can both collect lead information and run the contest giveaway at the same time.
Include Non-Clients
Sometimes, even a non-client can be a great source of referral businesses for your agency. Start networking and making friends with local real estate agents, mortgage brokers, car salesmen and even bankers. Tell them about the services you offer, your referral program and the rewards. Make sure that they have plenty of your business cards to hand out to their clients. You may even want to create a second referral program just for these high-profile clients with a larger reward.
Get Client Businesses Involved
Existing insurance clients who own businesses can be further leveraged to gain large numbers of referrals. When you run a referral contest, give out gift cards purchased from your existing clients who own businesses. Then, print up posters or flyers that these businesses can place in their own offices. This allows area restaurants, entertainment venues, even printers to promote your insurance company as a way to win a gift card from their business.
Source http://www.siaa.net/Blog/PostView/tabid/121/ArticleId/22/Want-to-strengthen-referral-business-in-your-insurance-agency-Maybe-you-need-a-fresh-approach.aspx | http://www.outboundengine.com/blog/email-marketing-for-insurance-agents-6-ways-to-grow-referrals/ | http://agencyupdates.com/creating-your-insurance-agency-referral-rewards-program/
