Setting Yourself Apart

Doug Blevins

If your business is built on offering the best prices, you’re on a shaky foundation because there’s always someone out there who can undercut you. That’s why our approach is based on being an agency that is viewed as priceless, not cheap.

With this in mind, client relationships are everything to us. In fact, we don’t present quotes to or take on the business of everyone who reaches out to us. If someone is purely price-driven in their search, we are probably not the best fit because we want our business to be relational rather than merely transactional.

Turning business down like that may seem foolish. But at a time when so much business is about “bundle and save” and “come here for savings,” we have found our approach—based on the belief that, while money is important, our clients deserve more—to be quietly disruptive.

To be successful, this customer-focused approach requires a team mindset. One person will never be able to accomplish what a group can. The better you equip your team, the higher they can climb and the more they can achieve. Our agency is built on growing a team of professionals that share the vison and have completely bought into the culture that we have created and continue to build. We don’t want an hourly mindset; we want rockstars and fighter pilots, no matter what their role at the agency. When everyone does what they are responsible for at a dependable and high level, it enables the rest of the team to excel in what they want to be focused on and move forward at a faster pace.

However, you can’t just mean well and have an ironclad system in place to deliver the promises you make and expect to blaze a trail. People have to know who your agency is and what you’re all about before you have that chance to perform, compete and win. So, putting yourself out there is a piece of the puzzle for sure: how do you really make that connection?

Breaking the mold

We have found that always being genuine and sincere with clients helps us display our authenticity and attract the policy holder that values what we do and wants that kind of service from an insurance agency. Differentiating ourselves in this way is based on transparency.

One way we pull back the curtains is by using video as a platform. It allows people to not just learn about our services but get a feel for the people who provide them. And so, we have produced a series of short videos in which team members introduce themselves and speak about what they enjoy most about their work.

We also post client testimonials from people who have appreciated our service, while I host a series of short FAQ videos in which I explain issues like flood insurance and what “full coverage” really means (and doesn’t). By explaining claims, coverages and pitfalls in coverages, we set ourselves apart as advocates, not just advisors. Sharing real-life situations can be eye-opening and show that nobody is exempt from being involved in an accident or claim.

In a world where most websites or insurance company call centers just quote someone’s current insurance to see if they have a cheaper rate, it’s refreshing for clients to be confident that their insurance is doing what it’s supposed to do.

Our videos are not all serious, however. We also like to have some fun, such as with a lighthearted baseball-themed ad in which prospective clients are scouting us out. All of these videos help break the mold and separate us from the pack by building a sense of relationship and connection. Ultimately, it comes down to us selling a promise and executing the delivery of that promise by delivering an entirely different experience for our clients.

When you can impress someone to the point that you have a fan instead of just a customer, then you have the type of relationship we seek with each of our policyholders. You cannot put a price tag on being able to pick up the phone and call on somebody, no matter the need. It’s part of becoming invaluable, which puts us in a much higher category than someone who just quotes insurance rates.

White glove service

I have always disliked the question, “Do you sell insurance?” It may be a fair one for a large group of individuals or organizations in our industry, but it’s only a part of what our agency is all about. We want every client to receive more than they expected in every interaction. We want to be viewed as trusted advisors by our policyholders, such that they wouldn’t introduce us to others as someone they just buy their insurance from. It’s much more than that.

This is why we have developed what we call our “client experience” to replace traditional “customer service.” That means establishing systems and processes focused on providing a better outcome for our clients. When newcomers to our agency are onboarded, they can be a little overwhelmed by all the small details and things that at first seem like not such a big deal but which we require to be handled in a precise manner.

That’s because all these little things make for a huge result in our finished product that we tout as our unique white glove service. For instance—not letting a phone ring three times and never leaving the office with a policyholder waiting on something.

With the rise of artificial intelligence and people soon being able to add insurance policies to their shopping cart on Amazon, this high-touch level of service is just one of our value-adds that we feel will make our client want to continue their relationship with us, choosing connection over convenience. We are not anti-AI: we use these tools as well as many other technology products to make our agency more efficient and effective, but we believe that they can’t provide the personal relationship that requires a human touch.

Building relationships in this way will only pay dividends, however, if you have a solid product and you always do what you say you’re going to do. For me, it comes down to treating people the way I would want to be treated.