Establishing any sort of business in the last couple of years is a feat in itself, and achieving it in the insurance industry might be considered doubly so. It’s an important service, especially for those who target businesses, as many owners might not know how much coverage they are likely to need or maybe even that they need any coverage at all.
Now you’ve got a foothold. The next question is what you do next to keep up the momentum and make the most of your successful start. That one could be a real head-scratcher, so to give you a few pointers, you could try these three things.
Use the right software to find your target audience
When you first started, if asked who your ideal customer was, you might have answered ‘anybody’, but now you have some data to work from, you can be a bit more discerning with your marketing. Using software like BI to sift through that data you have about what worked (and just as importantly what didn’t), you can see where to target your efforts, whether it be doubling down online or looking at some other methods you might not have considered.
Look at telemarketing
You might think that this is something from the ’80s, but anyone ignoring the potential of targeted telesales to increase the size of their customer base might be leaving a whole lot of money on the table. Cold calling might not be an ideal strategy, but contacting your warm leads from an initial internet inquiry could bear much more fruit.
In the UK B2B telemarketing looks to have made a resurgence, and if it hasn’t started here just yet, it could only be a matter of time. By exploring the options now, you’ll be able to get ready to make the most of it if it proves to be effective, or at least know for definite whether it is for.
Draw up a training program for your staff
It’s a proven fact that fully trained staff tend to work to a higher standard are generally happier and more confident about what they are doing. Areas like this are often put to one side in startups, as there can be an ‘all hands to the pumps’ approach that means people learn in a very ad-hoc manner, which can leave some gaping holes in their knowledge.
While this might not be a problem at the moment, as you expand, it is definitely something that can come back and bite you. By drawing up a training program so that everyone is fully equipped to do what you asked them, you are cutting down the likelihood of it being a problem later on. You don’t necessarily have to do this yourself; you could use an online training resource to do nearly all of the heavy lifting for you. This will free you up to concentrate on all the other aspects of turning your small business into a much bigger one.
