Carrie Reynolds

carrie-reynolds-insurance-goddess

by 10 Comments

Insurance folks- don’t tweet or update your status without reading this first

Insurance folks- don’t tweet or update your status without reading this first

This is a desperate plea to all insurance agents and agencies engaged in social media- if you post one more item referencing “you’re the best agency in XYZ county” or “buy your insurance from me”, I’m going to lose my lunch.  All. Over. You.

For the love of all things deductible, PLEASE STOP.

Hard truth- your audience doesn’t care. Unless you give them a reason to. Tell them why they should do business with you. And here’s a big hint- it has to be beneficial to them. When posting, think like the consumer and ask “What’s In It For Me?”  This is basic consumer behavior and whether it’s a print ad, radio spot or a status update, if you don’t provide benefits to the consumer, they have no reason to consider you. I’m not sure why we turn our brain off to this basic fact when we go online. 

Second truth- you’re REALLY annoying your audience. The days of the hard sell are OVER. I’m sorry, you can’t just hop onto Twitter or Facebook and push your insurance products. No one wants to hear it and will get pretty ticked off when it’s all you talk about. And then you’ve lost your audience (who may also be potential customers, hint, hint).

You can agree or disagree (and please do so, I love a good discussion), but I have to speak up. You’re not doing yourself any favors, nor the industry.

I don’t care how wonderful you are, or that you represent 800 companies, or that you’ve been around since 1885. I do care that you can save me time, money, my sanity, whatever.

Establish rapport, trust and build up to slipping in the occasional mention that hey, you just happen to sell insurance products that can provide the solutions they’re looking for. Just don’t beat me over the head with it.

Thoughts?

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  • Katharine

    Since we’ve begun our social media campaign the “hard sell” concept has never been a part of it. We are told to engage our audience, be social, share interesting, locally relevant information. We don’t use our FB or Twitter feeds to sell…we use them to engage and share, just like on our personal pages. I have “fans” that love the information that we share and have in turn shared with others. Do I want to increase our client base, absolutely, but not by annoying them. I’ve been “talking” to a lot more local merchants and sharing information with our fans in an effort simply to help our small town businesses thrive. I also think if you don’t try to sell and show your human side, people will remember you when they are thinking of shopping around.

    • Anonymous

      Katharine- good for you! The industry could use more like you. It’s all about engagement, sharing and helping others. Keep it up and it’s a natural conclusion that people will remember you first when it’s time to talk insurance!

  • Thank god someone wrote this! Our industry desperately needs to take this to heart! Every time a company, agency or individual producer posts one of the “hard sell” status updates it perpetuates the stereotype of insurance agents being like used car salesmen. It’s hard enough fighting the uphill battle to give the insurance industry a good name without these guys making it twice as hard!

    • Anonymous

      Matt- thanks for reading and for commenting. Yes, agreed- insurance people have a hard enough time battling negative stereotypes. This only makes it that much worse and to a much larger audience.

  • Anonymous

    Amen.

  • aaronbeaudette.com

    Good stuff ins. Girl….i agree….sell the sizzle not the steak. What problem do i solve for you with my products; not “why we’re #1”.

    • carriereynolds

      You made my day with this comment! Sell the sizzle not the steak. Love it! And thank you for reading.

  • Pingback: Confessions of an Insurance Goddess » observations and comments about all things insurance (with some other fun topics thrown in to keep it fresh) » How NOT to Make Your (Boring) Business even MORE Boring online()

  • Katharine

    Amen to this! The best feedback I get from people is how active we are in promoting everything about our community and the businesses and events that we have. We are slowly beginning to see more commercial businesses come to us simply based on the effort we put forth in “selling” the awesomeness of our community. Social media is meant to be social and from a business stand point nothing is more social than engaging with your community and promoting success for all.

  • Jim Luscher, CLU

    Thanks for posting what most of us were thinking. While I don’t twitter, I am beginning to use my Agency’s FB page to promote (in general terms), and when (if I have the time) find something of value or worth to post. The general public doesn’t think the way we do – if they did they’d buy insurance without our prodding – so interesting news items or alerts can inform as well as identify problems (that we may be able to solve). Once again, thanks.

    JL