Marketing to P&C Agents

[midwestbroker]

I am a senior market guy...supps, MA plans, etc. I would like to start working with P&C agents to do a referral base thing. I was doing this with one agency some time back (Nationwide) but they moved out of town. Humana has a $200 referral bonus that they could make for referring seniors. However, I am now an independent so I do not have the corporate referral program to offer.

If I were to walk into your office and present a referral type program (you scratch my back I scratch yours), what would you want?

I do this now with an American Family guy, but he is a friend so it was easy to do. I am looking for one agent per part town. So, if I am one part of town, I would refer all my clients to him/her since they are close.

Thanks!

 

[djs]

I can't really answer this. It doesn't come up that often, but then, I don't ask either.

Rule #1 is simple: Don't step on my business, let me know you know not to step on my business, and we're fine.

What does this mean? If I refer someone to you, and you find an annuity opportunity, well, that is mine! That is the only cost for the referral.

Rule #2: Treat my clients right! I want to know that you'll treat my clients with the utmost respect and concern, the same (or even better) than I would.

Beyond that, I'm not a big believer in charging people to refer business to them. I always feel that if you pay me for the referral, Rules 1 & 2 don't apply so much (not that you wouldn't treat the customer right anyway). I'm a control freak, I want to know my clients are extremely well taken care of.

Dan

 

[DenverINS]

Sometimes the referrals tend to go one way because thats how business works. For example, when a mortgage broker sends me someone for homeowner insurance. Usually the mortgage and real estate agents are 1st in the chain. Rarely would someone call me about new insurance before they check to make sure they can qualify for a loan. Thats why I feel the need to reward them for the referral.

Then again, if I get a mortgage broker 1 deal a year, that deal could be worth several thousand dollars. That would be worth 10-20 homeowner policies.

But back to the topic

1st is make sure you don't steal potential business. Market the med supp to the referral, but don't offer a FE plan if the original agent has that type of product.

2nd, you have to take the best care of those referrals. If you do something bad it reflects on the 1st agent.

3rd, in your case I think the referrals can be a 2 way street. It seems likely that someone doing med supp would get the chance to refer back for P/C.

I would actually make it a point to ask every client, "A friend of mine has good rates on car and home insurance, would you like him to call and see if he can get you a better value on your insurance?"

I would even ask that of the people who turn down your med supp after an appointment. You're already there and it only takes an extra 10 seconds. You'd be surprised how many extra referrals you get in the course of an entire year. Make sure your P/C guy is doing the same for you! If he doesn't then move on till you find the right "friend" to work with.

 

[PIIP]

I find using the internet is a way to go . While many of the big boys do it, the smaller guy can get in too. We have opened up ncinsurance.com online and some accompanying websites, nccarinsurance.com, nchomeownersinsurance.com, and ncrentersinsurance.com - all to market online like the big guys...While we are just starting, we are hoping for some good success. It is not too much to give it a try if you know the right people, and these days the Yellow pages absolutely suck...

 

[EugeneM]

With this type of relationship its always risk vs reward. What I have seen Agents work and actually get them really excited is a 2 for 1 deal.

If you could provide two referrals (not guaranteed sales) of your group health clients to a p&c agent who gets an honest chance to quote he he can introduce you to one of his P&C accounts to implement Health or BOR that shi**

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THey will never do a 1 for 1 because its not worth the risk of losing an account to gain another. Have to offer more reward then risk. Hope that helps. brokers are really protective of their book from donky agents. Hee haaa