Building an Independent Insurance Brokerage from Scratch: 5 Easy Tips for Success in 2023

They say, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. For independent insurance agents, growing your book of business frequently means venturing into untapped territories and trying new things, in marketing, sales, staffing, and more. The path to starting an independent insurance brokerage is becoming one of the most profitable routes for existing and new brokers. Learn how you can excel as an independent insurance agency in the market!

Set Goals for Your Insurance Brokerage

The first and foremost step towards realizing your independent insurance goal, as well as agency growth targets, is goal setting. It is critical to know where you want to go, who you want to reach, how to reach those targets, and what unique products you can provide your customers. Moreover, setting goals helps guide the agency’s focus, trigger new behavior and prioritize tasks.

If you set your brokerage’s goals the correct way it will help you measure your firm’s success. As you know that using the SMART i.e. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based, the way has been a proven method that helps ensure success. Goals not only keep you motivated but the people around you too.

Deloitte’s survey outlines how people want to work towards something they feel is important, rewarding, or aligns with their values. Especially with an increasing percentage of the workforce being made up of millennials, who generally have high regard for values. Furthermore, goals should be dynamic and evolving and not seen as stagnant. Setting goals as an independent insurance agency is beneficial to a company in various ways, both for independent agents and companies.

Drive, Prioritize and Nurture Fresh Leads

Selling insurance means continuously having to drive leads. Having access to new leads in the pipeline and managing ongoing ones is necessary for your brokerage. Many agencies fail to prioritize these leads which can actually work as a fuel for your brokerage’s success.

As many independent agency adopt inbound marketing as a means to generate more leads, the importance of having an effective lead nurturing strategy becomes clear. Implementing this strategy will have an impact on the result of your inbound marketing, client loyalty, customer retention, and revenue. A well-prepared nurturing tactic, for instance, targeted content, multi-channel lead nurturing, personalized emails, lead scoring will keep your leads engaged and moving through your sales cycle. This means you can beat your competitions and enjoy larger conversions quickly.

Brokerages should build leads strategy through target marketing as the companies grow. Remember to narrow your lead types as your brokerage grows, penetrate ideal the market, and when designing your messaging tactic.

Insurance Brokerages Should Tap into the Millennial Market

With a population of 72 million, millennial’s are the largest living generation in the U.S. What’s more, their purchasing power continues to increase as they inherit jobs and businesses from retiring baby boomers.

With millennial’s purchase power increasing, independent brokerages need to address their needs and make them purchase policies from you. Outdated sales and insurance marketing pitch will not work for them. You need to leverage various social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Develop a planned content strategy to grab their interest; photos, videos, blogs, infographics are great tools to use. It can entertain as well as educate on associate topics linked to your products. For instance, many of your millennial prospects would be buying or living in their very first owned apartment or home. Your independent insurance agency can recommend the following two blogs that might interest them,”5 Tips for first time home owners” or “Must have essentials for first time owners”.

Your Insurance Brokerage has a Niche: Find it!

The independent insurance industry has been evolving over the years and so has the need of customers. With this increase in protection for almost everything you can find insurance for even your body parts. The rising need and want from diverse customers have created different niches of business opportunities.

Before you target a niche market, passion for a specific industry is how the common brokerage starts their process of discovering their niche. This plays a vital role because you will spend most your time researching, understanding and working for this niche. If your market can see your passion and ability in the niche you specialize in, you will gain their support.

The entire process takes time and a well thought out plan. But it is critical to ensure that you target a niche that will sustain and excite you. Find where your passion lies, leverage it, develop your own experience, find the right market and understand the long-term opportunity.

So, what’s your unique niche?

Embrace Technology

Many technological breakthroughs have set a fundamental transformation for the independent insurance industry. The Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, telematics, blockchain, and AI, are providing new ways to measure, mitigate, reduce cost and engage with customers. Emerging technologies provide opportunities to reinvent brokerages and also transform their business operations.

Brokerages can use Agency Management Systems (AMS) to integrate their business processes or work with brokerages having those systems. For instance, filling out form, comparing and reviewing quotes, binding coverage and also renewal of policies.

Until now, using technology was limited to claims management and customer service. Easy to use sites and straight-thorough processing of simple insurance claim solved pain points for both clients and carriers. But technology is causing big waves in the industry. AI, big data, and machine learning are making shifts in the way insurers approach risk. And could possibly change the business model in the long term.

Final Word: Start your Insurance Brokerage Today!

Prioritize your goals and don’t try to achieve too much at once. Instead, set a goal, find your niche, understand how to grow leads, search for a new market and try innovative ideas at your brokerage. The insurance industry is still full of potential, even amidst a volatile economy.

Again, as Deloitte reports that the P&C sector has been seeing a boost in their net premiums of up to 10.8% boost in 2018 after a great loss in 2017.

Understand what goes into establishing your independent agency, and you can start off on the right foot. The first step is the most important and will set the stage for long term success.

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