Agent Link November 2018

Agent Link November 2018

AGENT LINK To empower those who change lives for the better

NOVEMBER 2018

A TALE OF TWO CARRIERS

Part I

After much analysis, we stumbled upon a startling fact: The leads the campaign had generated had been allowed to sit without contact from my clients’ personnel. In some cases, quite a long time had elapsed between the lead delivery and a recruiter following up with the lead. Upon realizing that the metrics were pointing to a lead follow up “bottle neck,” we began inspecting more closely. We found that my client’s recruiters had spoken with most prospects only once . Contracting proposals had been sent to prospects without the kind of tight control a recruiter keeps on a good prospect. It wasn’t that recruiters had carelessly or lazily neglected to call the leads, but it was clear that recruiters were tasked with bringing in new business, managing existing producers, and procuring production. And it appeared to be a case where priority levels had caused new leads to sit untouched for some time. Even though in the eyes of the client I had fulfilled my end of the bargain by delivering a voluminous number of leads, naturally they weren’t happy due to low contracting numbers. So my staff and I began a handling which involved additional delivery — only this time we provided consulting and coaching in addition to simply delivering leads, which involved methods of converting lead traffic. Much to my fortune, I had been provided earlier with the kind of experience that allowed me to develop some benchmarks and effective methods of lead conversion. As you might have guessed from the title, I happened to have another client, another carrier — we will call this client Carrier B — in the same marketplace offering a different value proposition but still holding many similarities in terms of target demographics, product, rates, and a brand recognized by independent producers. Upon conducting a yearly campaign with Carrier B, and assessing impressions, response, leads, conversations, contracting numbers, and business written, they decided to continue and come back for more. Curious what the outcome of Carrier B’s campaign was? Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter to read Part II and find out the vital lessons learned from “A Tale of Two Carriers.”

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (we were located in a different office at the time), I was preparing for a large recruiting campaign on behalf of one of my clients. My client’s name won’t be mentioned; I’ll just say they are a prominent carrier whose core product is quite competitive in their market. There was excitement and anticipation at my client’s home office and at our office as the marketing campaign deployed and promotional communications were sent. I had been working with regional outfits for this client, and they kept coming back for the satisfactory results I provided.The product hadn’t changed, nor had there been significant new trends in that market. Surveying and research had been done; all the T’s were crossed and the I’s dotted. The campaign launched on schedule and, as is customary, our proprietary web-based lead management platform recorded the kind of activity you want to see after the initial deployment — timely promotional impressions, great responses, and leads pouring in. My campaign manager kept the finger on the pulse with the client, periodically checking in to see how things were going, and the feedback was positive. Everything seemed to be going well. However, sometime after this, during one of the customer service calls, the carrier’s marketing executive overseeing the campaign surprised us with the feedback you never want to hear as a marketing agency: “The campaign is not going well. We’re not seeing the results we expected.” It felt like a bucket of ice water being poured down my back, and not the kind a football coach gets after they win the big game. Naturally, we rolled up our sleeves and began assessing the situation to solve this for our client. Like every great executive knows, a great handling and tactical implementation is completely dependent upon the quality of the >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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