Having long-term clients is one of the more significant components of a valuable book of commercial business. These are clients that you write more than one type of insurance and clients that have renewed those policies with you over several years. It would be noteworthy too if those clients remained with your agency through market cycles and also when it was necessary to move their coverage to other insurance companies you represent.

If asked I’m sure those clients would say that they know, like and trust you in high measure. How do you gain and keep clients like these?

Know, Like and Trust applied to client acquisition.

Know

Getting a prospective client to become aware of who you and your agency are will be the critical first touch point in this relationship. This is accomplished in one of two main ways: marketing, and referrals.

Marketing

There is a myriad of ways to bring attention to you and your agency. Marketing can encompass media advertising in its many forms, direct mail, and social media. Each method has a common goal; to create the impression or brand you and your agency as a qualified choice to provide insurance for the prospective client. Your marketing message can take many forms such as testimonials from your other clients or promoting your agency’s legacy in the community.

Referrals

Referrals are the golden key that will unlock the doors to many new prospects for you and your agency. How do you build quality referrals from your client base? You must invest a lot in high quality service and quality insurance coverage with your existing clients so they will freely introduce you to new prospects or are comfortable having you use their name.

A quality referral can also enhance the “like and trust” with a new prospect.

Like

Now that your marketing has “opened the door” it’s your task to build the “like” component of this relationship. Most times you and the prospect are meeting for the first time. Inherent is this encounter is apprehension on both sides. Building rapport is a more comprehensive term for overcoming this unease. Building rapport can take many forms, here are two:

Personal connection. Explore ways that you and your prospect may have people, places, and things in common. The quality of your pre-call research will be vital to uncovering these factors. Learning what college did they attended or what business groups they belong to are just a couple of items you can discover through thorough research. Looking around their office do you see photos of them enjoying personal hobbies or on vacation at a location you too have been to?

Show your attained knowledge of their industry. You will further build a bond when you demonstrate that you can talk capably about their industry and are familiar with their terminology.

Trust

The final component of our trio, trust, will result from your conduct during the rest of your time with the prospect. Are you honest and forthcoming about all issues concerning their insurance? Have you conducted a comprehensive review of their risk exposures, and will your insurance proposal adequately protect the prospect in the event of loss? In more simple terms, do you say what you mean and mean what you say?

The optimal outcome will be a new client. Yet the measure of the know, like and trust you built with the prospect can also serve you well if you lose. And this can happen despite your best efforts. Accept it because strategically, you also want to be the prospect’s first call if things don’t work out with their current agent.

Study any successful athletic coach and you will find their winning percentage was closely related to knowing and controlling as many variables as possible. The same will results will occur for your when you hone your skills to enhance the know, like and trust with all prospects.