John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing wrote a great post on using trigger phrases to generate referrals. This isn’t necessarily a new idea, but definitely one worth a refresher.

Any insurance agent who began there career with one of the big carriers was probably taught this method during their initial training. Don’t ask your friends, neighbors, dry cleaner, and anybody else who will listen if they know someone who needs insurance. Ask them who just got married or bought a house, who got promoted or started a new business, who has a new child on the way or stands to receive a big inheritance.

These are all examples of the triggers that Jantsch refers to in his article along with specific recommendations on how to use this concept in your business. I suggest you take a few minutes to read the rest yourself.

In light of the current economic environment, we have created "Simple Solutions for Difficult Times - 9 Tips to Boost Your Revenue with Provada". This online guide will provide you with ideas to help solve important client problems while creating sales opportunities for yourself.

We have included tips on a variety of subjects including annuities, defective trusts, IRAs, long term care insurance, life settlements, policy reviews, and more!

You can access the guide by going to our 9 Tips Website.  Make sure you click on the "Learn More" link after each tip for the detailed explanation along with other useful information.

Please let us know if you have any questions or need any assistance in implementing these or other ideas into your practice.

Differentiating Your Business from Your Competition

Most businesses fail to differentiate themselves effectively from their competition. For those of us in the insurance industry, this means that we do not give prospective clients a truly compelling reason to do business with us rather than with someone else. Part of the reason is that our message is cluttered and conveys information rather than knowledge. For example, if you were to check your website and the websites of your competitors, they probably all say pretty much the same thing: what you do, rather than who you are and what you can do for your clients. Pick your best clients and prospects to work with and develop messages and techniques that clearly convey the value to them of doing business with you.