Referral Selling and Increased Conversion Rates: Insurance

Using Referral Selling to Increase Revenue at an Insurance Company

Client Case Study

Situation

This California insurance brokerage faced increased competition and declining sales.  The conversion rate of prospects to clients was below 30 percent and Salespeople were not active in the community and were “dialing for dollars” with minimal success and low engagement.

 

Complications

  • No Collaboration: Account executives and brokers were not referring business between departments.
  • Weak Brand Positioning: Clients were unaware that the company was a full-service insurance agency.
  • Ambiguity: The vision and mission statements were not clear to every employee.

Approach

  1. Strategy Retreat: Held a strategy retreat to make sure the team understood the mission statement and set standards for referring business between personal, medical, and commercial lines. The company updated technology so that client information would be available to all.
  2. Process Changes:
    • A bonus program was instituted for the most referrals in a month
    • Referrals are tracked and reported weekly
    • There is an account handoff between the production and servicing teams
    • There is new criteria for hiring—insurance professionals join a referral organization
    • Everyone has joined community and professional groups and is actively networking to build relationships
  3. Referral-Selling System:  The brokerage:
    • Committed to a referral selling strategy from the top
    • Trained salespeople in referral selling methodology
    • Set up and tracked and rewarded referral selling metrics
    • Coached and reinforced behaviors

Results

  • 66% increase in conversion ratio of prospects to clients
  • More new personal lines customers have become clients than ever before
  • Clients understand what it means to work with a full-service insurance agency

Related Information

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