How to Build/Grow Your Book of Business in 2023

As a successful insurance agent, building and growing your book of business should always be a priority. However, what do you do if you seem to have hit a wall with your previously proven methods? First and foremost, it’s important to understand that your book of business is the heart of your agency. In order to build or grow your book of business, you need to focus on three things:

  1. Selling more policies
  2. Retaining current clients
  3. Acquiring new clients

Another important aspect to growing your book is staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends. This will help you identify new opportunities for selling insurance products and acquiring new clients.

Why is a book of business important? There are a few reason why a book of business is so important for insurance agents. First, IT’S HOW YOU MAKE A LIVING!! The book of business is one of the most important factors in how much money you make. The more policies you have in your book of business, the more money you’ll earn. Second, it’s a way to measure your success. When you look at your book of business, you can see how many policies you’ve sold and how much money you have made. This is a great way to track your progress and see where you need to improve.

How to build your book of business: Building a book of business is critical to succeeding in the insurance industry. On average, it takes an agent three to five years to develop a book of business that can support a decent lifestyle. That’s why it is important to have a plan and focus on the long game. Here are a few things you can do to build your book of business:

  1. Get involved in your community. One of the best ways to get your name out there is by getting involved in your community. This could mean joining local networking groups, joining your local Chamber of Commerce, or even volunteering for local charities.
  2. Develop relationships with referral sources. Referral sources are a great way to grow your book as they can introduce you to potential clients who need your services. It is imperative to take the time to nurture and build the relationships with your referral partners so you can work together to grow your businesses.
  3. Focus on quality over quantity. It’s tempting to sell insurance policies to anyone and everyone. However, it is more important to focus on the quality of your clients over the quantity. Believe it or not, it is better to have a smaller book of business made up of clients who are a good fit for your business, than a large book full of clients who are always shopping around for the lowest price or are higher risk profiles with higher possibilities for claims or payment defaults.
  4. Stay up-to-date with industry trends. By staying up-to-date with industry trends, you can identify new opportunities for acquiring new clients and selling products.
  5. Offer value-added services. This is a great way to stand out from the competition and attract new clients. These services could be offering discounts on bundled products (cross-sell and round accounts), giving clients access to exclusive events (client appreciation events), or providing risk management consultations. Sometimes just talking with your clients and finding out their needs and educating them on the best products for those needs, can be enough to keep them as a client for life.

How to grow your book of business: Once you have built your book of business, it is important to keep growing it! You should always strive to expand the book’s audience. Here are a few things you can do to grow your book of business:

  1. Use technology to your advantage. There are many ways you can use technology to reach new clients and grow your book of business. Social media is a great way to connect with potential clients and have your current clients share about their experience with you. You can also use online tools to research potential clients and identify new sales opportunities. Also, create a google business profile and have your current clients leave a review! This will help potential clients earn trust with you before even speaking with you!
  2. Stay in touch with your clients. It’s important to stay in touch with your clients so you can upsell or cross-sell them on other policies they might need. You may check-in and find out their child just turned 16 and got their first car, which is a great time to get them added to their policies and mention an umbrella policy, if they don’t already have one. You can stay in touch with your clients by sending them newsletters, calling them on their birthdays, or sending them holiday cards.
  3. Client retention. Focusing on client retention is one of the best ways to grow your book of business. It’s important to keep your clients happy so they continue to do business with you and recommend you to others. You can retain clients by providing excellent customer service, being responsive to their needs, and offering value-added services.
  4. Prospecting. In order to grow your book, you should always be prospecting. There are a number of ways you can find new prospective clients, such as attending trade shows, networking events, and using online tools.

How to make your agency stand out: It can be tricky to make a name for yourself in such a large and highly competitive industry. So what is it that sets you apart from other agencies like yours? Why would someone prefer you over others available? Once you pinpoint what makes you different, marketing becomes much simpler. You will be able to communicate your worth with ease, making you more effective overall.

Rachel Sherman
Marketing Executive
CoVerica Agency Alliance

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