Rick:
Welcome back to another episode of the ITB Insurance, the Brightway podcast. I'm the host, Rick Fox, and today, yes, it is another insure rant. It's sort of a combo rant, mixed question bag kind of thing. So I want to kind of pull through the thread that's happening over the last couple of weeks here. So...
By the way, I just want to thank everybody for being part of this, not just a podcast, but now becoming a community. So I got a lot of feedback from a lot of you after my rant two weeks ago on racing to the bottom and not selling on only price. And so I want to kind of address that and follow it through. And if you listened to the podcast last week with Charles Specht on prospecting, let me just start by saying this. Some of the feedback I got was...
It's good feedback in that you're asking challenging questions. I want to level set at 30,000 feet that this isn't easy. So the, you know, I can't win on non-price. The market's too crazy. That's an excuse. This is work. It's hard. If you want to go through some of the things that Charles talked about last week on prospecting, it takes time and energy and effort and planning. So I'm hoping that you're on this journey because you want to get better and because you want to win. Because to me, winning is the ultimate, it's the ultimate like rush is can I grow my business? Can I grow my place in my community? Can I make more money? Can I build more wealth for my future and for my family? I think those are, those are wins and it's hard work.
And so for all of you out there that are listening in and I'm hoping taking notes and trying to fight the good fight and win, I sort of curated some of these questions that I've been getting or statements that I've been getting as it relates to quoting on price. And then, so I kind of wanted to kind of, so this is pulling the thread through from that rant. Okay. So first question that I got, and it's a good question and it's a good topic for us to discuss.
But here's the question. What do I do if price, if the price is so off that I can't compete? And that's the right question. I'm sure some of you who listen to the other podcasts were thinking that way, like, yeah, I don't wanna sell on price, but I can't sell value at 2X what somebody's charging for price, and I don't have the markets. Very true. Statement that is going to be the case for some prospects.
But this is still about the philosophy of who we're selling to and what we're trying to do. So if you're in a position where you're just, let's say, getting internet leads or however you're randomly generating leads, if they're coming off of your website or through bot leads or whatever it is, they are shoppers. And it makes it difficult to win if you don't have the lowest price. You're not wrong by saying, how do I compete?
But what I want to say to you is why don't we compete elsewhere? Why don't we find where we win? Why don't we go back to last week, listen to the podcast we did with Charles, make a plan around prospecting and go to where people want the value. Prospect, market, make yourself available, engage with people who want value from you that aren't just going to every six months or every year race to the bottom with price. Now, nobody wants to throw leads away, but I know very successful agents that do not take leads off the internet. They do not take the random shoppers because even if they win, they lose later. And it takes more time, more energy, non-payments, loss ratios, all of the things that come with people that are just looking for the fast quick solution at the lowest price when this is a curated, consultative business that we're in of insurance. It's your job to build them the right future proof that they need so that whatever happens, they're in good shape. So I'm still challenging it. I'm not sitting on top of a mountain going every, every prospect is great and you should sell because they're going to listen to why your value is worth more than the $400 more. They'd have to pay you for it.
That's not what I'm saying because not everybody will do that. But go find those people. That's part of your prospecting journey. That's part of the way you look at it and say, well, I could sell this, I'll make a number up, $1,200 policy today. Then it's going to be seven or eight hours of work. And I'm going to dogfight again in six months or 12 months to save this business again on price. Instead of, I found my prospects. I found my niche.
I found where I live and they care about not only price, because obviously nobody wants to overpay for anything in the world, but they want what you have. They want a professional, consultative, insurance solution for them. And you can offer that to them. So when I get the question, what do I do if I can't compete on price because I'm double the cost? I say you're probably fishing in the wrong pond.
And again, it is hard decisions you have to make to think that you might not want to take those leads when leads maybe are hard to come by. But again, I say, harken back to the podcast we did just a week ago on prospecting and on building a plan around how to go get it done, go win. So that's what I would say to that question. And that is a, but it is a debate.
And the easy out is to, you know, turn your hands up, your palms up and go, I don't have the markets. Well, you do have markets and those markets, right? Business. The question is, are you out in the right pockets to find the business for the markets that you have? It's a hard thing to do. It is. This is not easy work. It is not for the faint of heart. This is.
This is in these kinds of markets or just generally even, but even especially in these markets, this takes you rolling up your sleeves, getting dirt under your nails and getting this thing done. And I hope you're on that journey because the other side of that, when you're rolling and then the market starts coming back, your snowball is already rolling and gathering steam and just going to keep going. You've got huge opportunity here, folks. And I want you to go get it.
Okay, next question. How do I show value when all they want is a quote? How do I shift the mindset? And this is a really, this is longer than we have to discuss on this podcast, but it's the right, the person that, I think this was Brenda who put this in. The person that is thinking about it this way is thinking about it right. Because it is hard to say, get, you know, Hey, I want to quote on my auto and my home. What's the price? How do you go from that conversation to them thinking that maybe you, regardless of price might be the right solution for them. And a lot of that goes back to, what am I going to say? Prospecting goes back to who you're talking to, how you're talking to them, what kind of communications and value they see even in, even just the things you're sending them or your website or the way you communicate in your, in your communications or the way you present yourself either digitally or in person in your community. Because, because we have this problem right now and it is the, the easy out is if I go to 15 minutes can save me 15%. That ad doesn't once say, I'm going to be here for you and make sure you're fully covered. That ad doesn't say, I'm in your community and you know who to call. It says, save money, call today or log on. Go to the internet and save 15%. So, this is a hard one. The mindset shift, it becomes a mantra for your agency.
Everything you do is about the value you bring, being part of your community, your agency's community is the right answer for them. And you know that, but does everybody else know that? So it is difficult. Simple, you know, cheat codes on this are when you're quoting, if you get the opportunity, and we talked about this last week on the prospecting podcast with Charles, if you get the opportunity.
Walk them through the coverages and why those coverages are important, and why you ask the question about their assets or what properties they might own so that you were making sure they were protected. Those are real quick eyebrow razors for prospects that are like, Whoa, the others didn't ask me that. So you have that opportunity there. I think it's a great opportunity. And we could go on about setting mindset for hours, literally. But... but I want you to look at it through your genuine lens and say, am I presenting that it is like this person who's calling me, are they better off buying their insurance on their computer with no support from a professional insurance agent? This is rhetorical, or are they better off buying it from me? They're better off buying it from you. They're better off being knowing that you've given them the solution and put them in a place of peace of mind. If you're not thinking in those terms, you're not communicating on your website. If you're blogging, anytime you get in front of, of customers or prospects, or even just, you know, people at the barbecue at your church, whatever it is, it isn't call me, I want to save you some money. It's call me. I want to make sure you're protected. I want to make sure that we are future-proofing you.
Everything that could go bad doesn't matter because we've got you. That is a mindset shift that everybody needs to be really aware of. And I think as a collective in insurance, we have fallen sort of, uh, victim to this 15 minutes can save you 15%. And so our instant reaction to that is, well, let me find the lowest price. Nope. Stay in our lane, be genuine and authentic offer the value that they so desperately need to have, even if they don't know it. And that mindset starts to shift even in the quoting process. So that's not, I didn't just solve all of your problems there because that is, that is an internal vibe and message you have to put out to the world in every way that you communicate physically, digitally, everywhere in marketing, the way you go out to market is that there is value to be, you want to be on my agency's train. Get on board. That's the message.
And okay, so that's question number two. Question number three is...
And it's kind of tied into the, how do I show value during the quoting process? But it's what's the easiest way to show value post sale. So this is a little different. So now, now we got them and we, and we hopefully made a promise that this was the right, the, because we believed it, but this was the right way for them to buy insurance and if they believed it, now they, now, you know, the.
Any of you from Missouri show me that's the show me state. Show me that there's value here. Well, obviously the best time to show value and the absolute worst time to show value is if there's a claim, we don't, we don't want anybody to have a claim, but that's when we really show our value. But in the meantime, what value do you give? What technology have you put in place to automate your communication? So they are receiving stuff that you're not doing anymore work. What. And what purposeful, unapologetic value, are you giving them in that communication? You know, if you live in the, the hurricane states, are you letting them know before flood season that, uh, or, you know, hurricane season that this, these, these are the things you need. Here's three tips and three phone numbers. If things go bad, we got you. I'm just going to keep using example. Like if you live in the cold, could you send a value add? Hey, winter is coming, as they say on Game of Thrones. Have you wrapped your pipes? Have you done A, B, and C to winter proof your house? So there's ways, and I'm just, that's two simple examples. What's important for your customers to know? Because what they don't want is, you know, four or five emails that say, buy more product. That isn't genuine, that isn't value add. Add value. And that's what we do. We add value. So it shouldn't be that difficult, but you have to have a plan on how you want to communicate it. All right. My fourth and final question, because I don't want this. I want, I wanted to hard hit a few points because I don't want to overwhelm me and boil the ocean. But these are, these were these a few of these were repeated in different words. The fourth one was how do I, or can I leverage social to show my value?
And this is a great, another great way to deliver your message. And I'm asking you, what is your message? You know, I think I've said this on the podcast before, but when I used to work at Vertifor and I talked to agencies every single day, my first question to them is what differentiates you from your competition? And literally 95 plus percent of them said our service. Okay, let me ask a follow-up question. What do you mean? Well, you know, like when, well, you know, when people call, we help them. Oh, okay. That's not a differentiator. What's your why? And the reason I put the, why I'm going this direction is because social is the easiest way. I mean, they don't, I mean, it's good to put out some, you know, information, but why your agency from your authentic voice?
In a social post, even if it's simple little things, you know, value ads or in the community or having a chilly cook-off, come check us out, whatever that is, doesn't say come save money at my used car lot. Again, not the case where insurance, but you get my drift. There is a message here that is we're here, we're gonna help you, and at the end of the day,
That 15% or whatever, I can, you know, more than likely you can be in the ballpark anyway, so the 15% is silly. And I'm not, I'm not picking on Geico. I'm just using him as an example. But actually I'm kind of picking on all, all online opportunities to buy insurance. Cause this is not a click buy thing. You want to buy your jeans or your tires or refrigerator online, go for it. You need a pro for your insurance and you're that pro.
And your social should, should send that message, the confidence, the, the authenticity around what we do here, which is we give people peace of mind because we have put the right package together with the right limits, the right coverages, so that if on that one day when things go bad, everything will be okay.
Say that, talk about why it's important. Give the value is why, you know, what, what does liability mean? What's the, you know, there's an example from my old days about a guy who, one of our customers, when I was in the agency side, hit a dry, hit a golf ball down the middle of the fairway, hit a guy in the head, the guy sued him. Luckily, this guy had very high personal liability limits on his homeowner's policy that covered that loss.
And you say that, people will be like, wait a minute, my homeowner's paid for, like think about the way you could educate, the way you could value add and show who you are as a genuine need for them. You're a need. This isn't a, they look at it as a necessary evil. They need to look at it as a need because the most important things in the world need to be insured. Not telling you anything you don't know, but sometimes we forget.
Cause we get stuck in every day, every football game, every sporting event I've ever watched, I see the lizard and I hear that save money mantra. Get online now or call us now and save money. Not get online now and let me make sure you're protected. That's what we get to do as independent agents. That's our differentiator. And that's the way through your social, as this question asked through again, your website in your community, every time you talk to someone, never say, hey, call me, maybe I can save you some money. Hey, call me, let me make sure you're protected. And then again, back to the beginning and prospecting, if you're losing and you're losing bad in certain, you know, let's say in homeowners or auto or when you're trying to upsell umbrella, whatever it is, find your people, find your prospects and that takes work as well.
So I'm again, I want to thank everybody that the, it was a, a barrage of, of direct messages that I got from that podcast, very positive, some challenging, which I love challenge all day. Let's have these, these are the debates we need to be having. These are the conversations that everybody should be having in our industry. And we should be standing each other up. So I hope that helps in one way or another that you're thinking about this, just maybe just slightly through a different lens.
And if you are, awesome. Again, like I've said a million times, I so much appreciate this opportunity. I would love for you, if you're not already connected with me, make sure we are connected on LinkedIn, send me a message. If you have questions or comments or debate against any of my rants or topics, or if you think of somebody that should definitely be on the show that could help us win, let me know. And as always, thank you so much for tuning in and we'll see you next time.
