Agency Nation Radio

“If you’re an insurance broker, we’re going to drink your milkshake.” Parker Conrad, Former CEO of Zenefits.  April 29, 2013   “We’ve talked about this numerous times, “the new normal” and how everybody wants to do everything now, “it’s when I want to do it, not when you want to get it to me”, and they are leveraging that consumer sentiment and they are using technology to do it. That’s why they’v...

  Recently, Google launched their Google Compare insurance pricing program in the United States after its huge success in the UK. Unfortunately, they haven’t been as successful as they anticipated. Google is one of the most successful businesses on the planet, but they made some huge mistakes with their latest campaign that’s now forcing them to re-evaluate their fiscal plans and growth for Google...

The landscape of the insurance industry is changing. Today Marty and Ryan talk about an overlooked demographic, the shopper. “One of the ‘new normal’ behaviors is the fact we want to get a deal on everything.” — Marty Agather Shoppers are clients who look for the best deal when choosing a major purchase. Shoppers exist in all industries, but independent agents often make the mistake of considering...

Today we are going to discuss the changing face of marketing in today’s insurance business. Our first topic will be the article B2B Marketing Professionals: Prepare for 2016 by Considering these Predictions , written by Forrester Researcher, Peter O’Neill. Marketing has become a marriage of both the sales team and the marketing team.

It takes work to reach digital marketing paydirt. Do you have what it takes? Today we are discussing two topics that we believe you can apply to increase productivity and attract customers to your agency. One idea deals with making yourself stand out in a good and unique way that attracts customers. The other addresses the fact that it takes time and hard work to hit pay dirt. We talk about some w...

Are you creating unscalable human experiences in your business?   I recently read an article called “Three Tips for Future-Proofing Your Digital Career”, and it inspired today’s episode. With so many industries developing automation, you need to find a way to protect your business from the changes future technology presents. As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to keep up with the latest trends...

This episode is Part II of our series on digital disruption in the insurance industry. Click here to listen to Part I . There are many factors that can lead to disruption inside the insurance industry. In Part I of this two part podcast series we discussed the definitions of Innovation and Disruption: Innovation – new methods, ideas, or products which improve upon an existing process or product. D...

Is your insurance agency prepared for digital disruption? On this episode of Agency Nation Radio we discuss the different between innovation and disruption, as well as, why “The New Normal” of the modern marketplace has created an environment ripe for disruption. But first… let’s talk a little bit about creating content and haters.

Today we answer questions sent directly from the Agency Nation Radio audience. Niche Websites Our first question comes from an agent in North Carolina. Ryan asks: What are your thoughts on creating a personal website highlighting your experience and expertise in certain niche markets? Has anyone done this in the past? Did you have success?” This is a complicated question as every agent is going to...

What trends are guiding your strategic business decisions?  In this episode of Agency Nation Radio , we use an article from the Insurance Journal, Progressive Insurance CEO on 5 Macro Trends of Note, as the backdrop for discuss on the macro issues shaping the future of the independent insurance agency channel. According to Progressive insurance CEO, Glenn Renwick, the 5 macro trends his organizati...

Are you running to catch up with the live streaming video revolution?! If so, you might want to pump the brakes. Seriously. As much as we’re always pushing marketing, live streaming video (as exciting as it is) is a major undertaking. For the vast majority of agencies taking on a tool like Periscope (Twitter’s live streaming video platform) is NOT a good idea. With any new tool we take on, there n...

In this episode of Agency Nation Radio we examine this new JD Power study and share insights on how the study’s finding will impact the independent insurance industry. As study shows, despite the increase in customers shopping their insurance, “…only 29 percent actually switched in 2014, compared with 37 percent in 2013.” Poor Customer Experience Leads to Lower Conversion Rate

Are you trying to sell digital marketing inside your agency? Whether you’re a CSR looking to sell , a producer trying to expand brand reach or an agency owner who simply wants to grow, selling digital marketing as tool to accomplish these goals can be difficult when other stakeholders in the agency disagree. In this episode of Agency Nation Radio we discuss a four step plan for selling non-believe...

Are you running the insurance business of the future? In this week’s episode of Agency Nation Radio we discuss five ideas agency principles should consider when building their agency for the future. The inspiration for this week’s episode comes from an article published by Booz & Company titled: How Digital Leaders Outperform Their Peers. In this article the author outlines five critical ways the...

Are you answering client questions on your website? This week on Agency Nation Radio we dive into the most consistently successful type of online content insurance agencies can create to grow their business: Answering client questions.

Of all the reasons big money from the insurance industry continues to flow into digital marketing, customer experience stands out as the highest priority. As the public perception of personal lines insurance being a commodity spreads, the last bastion of differentiation might just be customer experience. Direct writers and captive insurance companies already understand the power of customer experi...

Does Google Compare present an opportunity for independent insurance agents? In this episode of Agency Nation Radio we step up onto our soap boxes for a philosophical discussion on the impact Google Compare Auto Insurance will have on the independent insurance industry. More importantly we share ideas on psychological impact products like Google Compare will have on the US insurance buyer.

The business of insurance is busy. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to the sales, marketing and automation tactics and strategies drive insurance agency growth. Welcome to the very first episode of Agency Nation Radio, the insurance pros podcast. Agency Nation Radio will be a weekly podcast hosted by Ryan Hanley , Head of Marketing for TrustedChoice.com and Marty Agather , Senior VP of...