Case Study - Setting Yourself Up As The Expert

An insurance representative had just signed on as a broker for a national insurance company offering what was an outstanding new corporate product. After reviewing the corporate insurance product he could not see how any corporation with 5 - 50 employees could turn it down. It offered better employee benefits for a much lower cost and the same deductibles as other similar products.

PROBLEM:

Although he had the best product, he could not compete because he could not get in the doors! Others with similar - but not better - products had established contacts and years of experience.

The insurance representative decided to try a soft-sell approach - inform the prospects of the product and teach them about the advantages in a teacher-student setting rather than a high pressure 1-on-1 situation. This would set him up as the expert by default. The question now was how to accomplish this task.

SOLUTION:

He booked a meeting hall to hold a seminar and printed material regarding the insurance product. The seminar would be free to everyone and include breakfast and prizes for attendees.

In every communication he let it be know clearly that this was an invitation only event and seating was limited - no exceptions.

In order to promote the seminar he:

1. Created specific home and reservation pages for his website. The pages included links to the national insurance company website and PDF files of literature from both the national insurance company and his own company about the new product. Reservations could be made instantly online.

2. Ran ads with Google, Yahoo and MSN that were geographically specific. The ads began running in just a few short hours.

3. Contracted with a service bureau to bulk email an ad based on a guaranteed opening of 12,000 emails, which were expected to take up to 90 days because of the specific market he was attempting to reach. The email contained an image which linked the viewer to the seminar section of his website.

4. Since he had 90 days for the bulk email campaign to be completed he created a quick newsletter focusing on the seminar but also offering tips and advice - more informative than sales oriented. The newsletter was a simple self-mailer on card stock with a perforated return form for readers to make reservations for the seminar. He thought he would need to produce two newsletters, one per month for the first two months. A third could be produced if needed. He thought he would need at least two newsletters but he was wrong.

RESULTS:

The seminar was full within 45 days of the beginning of his promotion and responses continued to come in.

Instead of creating a waiting list he quickly reserved the meeting hall for a second date... then a third.

Neil Walsh
Daba Designs
P.O. Box 255
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Phone: (440)465-0744
Website: http://www.daba-designs.com

Expert Financial Advisor Or Financial Adviser? Playing Games With Insurance Customer Clients

For the last 10 years insurance customer clients have wondered if a financial advisor or financial adviser before them is an expert or a fake. Find out how to tell the expert financial adviser from the insurance agent fake. It is like being operated on by a meat butcher instead of a certified surgeon.

The doctor shortage could end in a hurry if after a very brief training, new hired by want ad "doctors" were given a waiting room of patients to practice whatever skills they had learned. Moreover, management told them yes you are a doctor, so they do not hesitate in performing their duties. Locally there would be very few return visits from customer clients, and hardly any would be completely confident in following the new doctor's advice. Nationally you would have medical security in a state of turmoil, and irate professional doctors and surgeons.

Well this is a real life game being played out with unaware insurance customer clients thinking they are planning their financial future with expert financial advisors or financial representatives. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of a clients personal financial assets could change directions due to the advice of a new financial adviser. Did this new customer just have financial surgery from an expert of at least 5 years or a new trainee of a couple of months? They can both wear identical suits, have identical haircuts, and have business cards with just about the same wording. Financial advisor, adviser, consultant, representative, specialist, analyst, sales representative, guide, producer, or what. Pick you name title.

IS THIS FAIR TO AN INSURANCE CUSTOMER, CLIENT, OR EVEN PROSPECT?

Do not expect the major life insurance companies to be of any assistance. In fact they are the cause for much of this name title confusion. They started the name game. Sudden agents that passed their life insurance exam and worked for a life insurance company were no longer called life insurance agents. Instead they were financial representatives and financial agents, immediately capable of providing financial advice as an advisor. Sometimes in a hospital in might be hard to tell a registered nurse from an LPN. Here it like walking into a field of active sheep and seeing which ones still have immature pink pimples on their butts. I wish all insurance agents well, but I personally would not want a rookie just scraping by on paying bills to give advice and make decisions on my lifetime accumulated assets. The rookie has to make a sale(s), good or bad.

The REAL Financial Advisor

One this is for certain, he or she are not a naive captive insurance agent that does not know the difference between an insurance suspect, prospect, or client. If this adviser has 5 years experience currently, there is an ongoing continuing education in financial issues slated for the life of the career. Knowledge is a never ending process. Along the way certifications like CLU, CHfC, CFP, RFP, and dozens of new ones are available for the learning. Even though giving financial advice requires being quite a perfectionist on uncovering a wide spectrum of products, the real financial advisor has substantial errors and omission insurance. The majority of true insurance financial advisors are proud to be independent. This allows offering a variety of producers from a range of different insurance carriers.

FINANCIAL PRISON?

It would be easy if all so called financial representative under 4 years experience were required to wear a prison striped suit so they could not fool customers and clients with a good con line. Since the big union of old insurance companies hiring these "non-insurance" agents would be ready to have their lobbyists attack the white house, a different method would have to be used. My suggestion is a very simple one and would still avoid the suddenly lower-class name of insurance agent, plus it would be easy to enforce. Since no one but an out of space alien knows the difference between the word advisor and adviser, here is the solution. All real financial advisors with at least 4 years experience and one earned designation would retain that name. All the rookies with stars in their eyes and holes in their wallets would be called advisers.

No more deceptive name games please.

Well published author, Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't know or what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is.

Watch for his new paperback book debuting on Amazon this summer. It is loaded with great insurance marketing, brokerage, sales, and recruiting information.

Come and get your FREE "Think and Grow Rich" Ebook by Napoleon Hill instantly.

The website address is [http://www.agentsinsurancemarketing.com]

How To Use Publicity To Create National Expert Status

1. Make a list of all of the topics you can discuss along with sub-categories. For example, a Workplace Expert would compile a topic list that included how to deal with gossip in the workplace, the dos and don'ts of asking for a raise, workplace etiquette, tips for traveling with the boss, harassment, climbing the corporate ladder, handling burn-out . . .

2. Create five talking points for each of the topics you list in #1. Talking points are statements in sentence format that present a concept or commentary. Example of talking points on the topic of "tips for traveling with the boss" are: "Do not drink alcohol and if you do, never become intoxicated" or "Being on the road with the boss is not a time to ask for a raise". Under each talking point create several lines of discussion or commentary.

3. Create a well-developed BIO that stacks your most impressive accomplishments from the top down. The media will read just enough to convince them that you are their perfect expert. Lead with your credentials and education, special areas of expertise, and follow with accomplishments or companies you have worked for and any impressive media you have obtained. If you need help with your BIO contact Tony@effectivemediatraining.com

4. Develop your contact database in advance. Buy an online database service such as Bacons Directories.

5. Make contact with your media targets in advance to let them know you are standing by for them the next time they need a Workplace Expert. Send your areas of expertise as identified in #1, your BIO and your complete contact information including home and cell phone. When the media moves, they move FAST! If they cannot find you quickly, they will call someone else and you will lose your credibility.

6. Become well-read. Look for articles in major national newspapers and magazines that tie into your area of expertise. TV shows get ideas for programming everywhere. Once you spot a national article that you can expand upon or offer commentary on, you will want to contact the media using your contact database. Then send your talking points, bio, phone numbers, and of course, mention the article or breaking news event to which you are pegging your pitch.

7. Keep your eye on the news. Anytime there is breaking news that you can comment on contact your media database immediately and stand by for their call. If you are immediately available for an interview or willing to drop everything and head to a local TV affiliate for a segment, let them know this and include your closest major city.

8. Watch your target shows and subscribe to your target print media to learn the types of experts they have on the show or use in the article. You should also familiarize yourself with the interviewer's style or the journalist's work in your area. You always want to be pitching "next level" ideas, not something they just covered.

9. Invest in media training. The media loves a well prepared and media trained guest who knows how to convey information on the exact topic quickly and accurately (with no ummms). You will get one chance to be fabulous! If you are a great expert that the media can count on to do a great job, you will be asked back. Ask your media trainer to train you on your talking points. Contact Tony Trupiano at 313.730.0899 (www.effectivemediatraining.com) and he can run you through your talking points.

10. Tape yourself! These VHS tapes are very important in your marketing strategy and most shows do not offer a tape service. You can bring a blank tape with you to the studio and ask the producer to pop it in for you but you cannot count on this. Ask several friends and family to tape the segment for you so you can pick the best quality copy. You can order a professional copy from Video Monitoring Service and I recommend that you invest in a professional tape. Call them immediately, as they only have the programming available for a short period to time.

Annie Jennings of the national PR firm, Annie Jennings PR, is a highly acclaimed national publicist whose outstanding vision & insight have revolutionized the publicity industry. Annie Jennings PR's clients appear on all of the top national media. Please visit our free publicity teleseminar replay link for courtesy recordings at [http://www.anniejenningspr.com/digital3.htm]