STARTING UP AN INSURANCE BUSINESS?
Problem: An employee was made redundant from a firm offering financial services and insurance; it was mutually agreed that the employee could use existing office facilities and take over the insurance agencies directly and operate an insurance broking business on a profit sharing partnership with his original employer. At this point the employee consulted us for ideas to help him develop his new enterprise and be accepted as a "local insurance source"
Advice: Although he was already pointing out to potential clients that they could avail themselves of specialist knowledge at no extra cost whatsoever, the most important information he needed to develop the business, was to learn what policies "potential clients" already had and, more significantly, the date when they were due for renewal so he might offer better cover or a more competitive premium from an alternative insurer. The strategy was to write personal letters to the local residents (names from voting register & wording cleared by the insurance companies) and follow up with a survey to obtain data, diary the information and follow up when policies were due for renewal. His efforts to obtain the vital information also went a long way to establishing himself as the local point of contact and an advertising board, strategically placed outside the office entrance, made the "door to door" campaign more productive. A similar strategy was adopted to obtain trade from local businesses ie learn when business policies were to be renewed and simply offer an incentive to handle the renewal business on more competitive terms through reliable established insurers.