During a recent visit with one of our agents I could not help but be impressed with the way they had marketed their business locally, seeking out business on their doorstep first before widening the arena in search of the ever elusive ‘golden fleece’.
Explaining this strategy he used the analogy of the diamond miner in the novel Acres of Diamonds. A true story about a man who sold his farm and subsequently spent years mining large areas of land across wide stretches of Africa.
Despite years of searching he came up empty, only for the farmer that purchased his land to discover that it was a ‘diamond heaven’. Proving that if the farmer had taken the time to explore what he already had on his doorstep he could have been successful.
Building your business on your doorstep might seem like an old fashioned strategy in today’s internet driven, highly connected business landscape but sometimes the old ideas are indeed the best ones. You really do not have to go to the ends of the earth to generate profitable business.
Here are a few tips on how to build your insurance broking book locally:
1) Contact local sports clubs and consider sponsorship of local teams – a few hundred pounds spent on kit will pay for itself in no time
2) Attend local groups fundraising and social events and mingle with potential customers in a relaxed environment
3) Build relationships with local businesses such as the local gym, hairdresser, newsagent, that may display your card or flyers in their shop window
4) Advertise in lower rate local publications such as parish news, local business directories, local free papers; all offer good value advertising and you would probably only need one piece of business to make the investment worthwhile.
Local newspapers may also be interested in including a regular financial advice column or blog from a broker for no charge. This would only take a hour or so of your time once a month but it would be an hour well spent to raise your profile and possibly generate some leads
5) Attend local business networking events – not just the BNI – keep an eye out for local gatherings
6) Referrals still hold a lot of weight. Keep it simple, keep it local and build your business through word of mouth. Customers ultimately want to trust their adviser and so getting a good recommendation will always reap rewards.
Whilst we are all guilty of trying to seek the ‘golden fleece’ you really do not need to spend a fortune of mass advertising on a national scale or huge promotional activities. Become a ‘local’ business person and you will soon see benefits.
