How should I market myself?

[jack3454]

Im part of a national IMO and I do medicare and life. I've always used their branding for everything, from business cards to shirts, etc. But more that I think about it, for the longer term, what happens down the road and I want an actual office where people can come see me, or what if something happens to the IMO, etc? Its not the end of the world or anything, but Id rather have an office with a sign thats not my IMOs name.

Im newer with medicare, and im worried if I make my own brand, people will have never heard of it before, and therefore might be wary about letting me handle their medicare. Of course I can explain that Im part of a big company, but even then I can see people being weird about it.

I have ideas for a brand for my company. How should I go about this? Continue to use the IMO brand for their name recognition, or change everything to my brand? Can I do this without losing business?

 

[DHK]

Unless you're selling a policy from that brand, I don't believe you have anything to worry about. For medicare, you should be representing as many companies as possible to help your clients get the best value for them.

This is common for many agents who create a marketing brand for their client services to sell insurance from other companies.

 

[goillini52]

Im part of a national IMO and I do medicare and life. I've always used their branding for everything, from business cards to shirts, etc. But more that I think about it, for the longer term, what happens down the road and I want an actual office where people can come see me, or what if something happens to the IMO, etc? Its not the end of the world or anything, but Id rather have an office with a sign thats not my IMOs name.

Im newer with medicare, and im worried if I make my own brand, people will have never heard of it before, and therefore might be wary about letting me handle their medicare. Of course I can explain that Im part of a big company, but even then I can see people being weird about it.

I have ideas for a brand for my company. How should I go about this? Continue to use the IMO brand for their name recognition, or change everything to my brand? Can I do this without losing business?

No problemo. You're Independent so you can do it however you want.

 

[Markthebroker]

Step 1 buy a cape.
Step 2 buy 17 cans of hair spray.
Step 3 kick ass.

When in doubt, go back to step 3.

 

[somarco]

Im part of a national IMO and I do medicare and life. I've always used their branding for everything, from business cards to shirts, etc. But more that I think about it, for the longer term, what happens down the road and I want an actual office where people can come see me, or what if something happens to the IMO, etc? Its not the end of the world or anything, but Id rather have an office with a sign thats not my IMOs name.

Im newer with medicare, and im worried if I make my own brand, people will have never heard of it before, and therefore might be wary about letting me handle their medicare. Of course I can explain that Im part of a big company, but even then I can see people being weird about it.

I have ideas for a brand for my company. How should I go about this? Continue to use the IMO brand for their name recognition, or change everything to my brand? Can I do this without losing business?

Why do you need an office and why do you think people will come to see you? That rarely happens unless you are in a high foot traffic area and something that grabs their attention.

People will buy from you if you give them a reason to. They buy from the carrier when they think they will get a better price (wrong), they won't be pressured to buy (wrong) and they won't be bugged every few months to buy something else (wrong again).

When you call just say "This is Jack, your Medicare guy" and leave it at that.

We used to have an agent on the forum and he was known as Bob the Insurance Guy. That's what people who gave him referrals said . . . "Just call Bob the insurance guy", he will help you.

What more do you need?

 

[goillini52]

Why do you need an office and why do you think people will come to see you? That rarely happens unless you are in a high foot traffic area and something that grabs their attention.

People will buy from you if you give them a reason to. They buy from the carrier when they think they will get a better price (wrong), they won't be pressured to buy (wrong) and they won't be bugged every few months to buy something else (wrong again).

When you call just say "This is Jack, your Medicare guy" and leave it at that.

We used to have an agent on the forum and he was known as Bob the Insurance Guy. That's what people who gave him referrals said . . . "Just call Bob the insurance guy", he will help you.

What more do you need?

I wonder if Bob's still with us? He was having some serious health problems.

 

[goillini52]

How should I market myself?

 

[somarco]

I wonder if Bob's still with us? He was having some serious health problems.

He contacted me a few months ago about a PDF printer (software) and said he is trying to get back in the business part time. He is single now

Nice guy.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

We used to have an agent on the forum and he was known as Bob the Insurance Guy. That's what people who gave him referrals said . . . "Just call Bob the insurance guy", he will help you.

When I call people I ask what number is showing on their caller ID. Assuming it's my direct line, I tell then to add that number and put in "Ray disability insurance" as the contact. In a few years, they may not remember my full name but they'll remember the "di guy"

Other agents do this too: [EXTERNAL LINK] - Stan The Annuity Man® | Brutally Honest Facts About Annuities

It works!

 

[jack3454]

Unless you're selling a policy from that brand, I don't believe you have anything to worry about. For medicare, you should be representing as many companies as possible to help your clients get the best value for them.

This is common for many agents who create a marketing brand for their client services to sell insurance from other companies.

I should have been more clear. I do offer multiple carriers for sales, but say I work for "Johnny Health IMO", and I have been using that name for everything. My question is if I wanted to build my own brand under that IMO but not use their name anymore, how do I do that? Ill be a completely "new" brand. People want to work with longer term "companies" and not brand new on the market ones. Like if a person researches company A (new) and doesnt find much of anything, and then researches Company B (old company, brand recognition) and finds a lot, wouldn't they just go with company B? That's what Im trying to figure out is how to start a new brand without losing new clients because im not using old company's name anymore. Thanks for the reply