Even though cities across the nation are beginning to loosen COVID-19 restriction, many agents and agencies will continue to experience disruption in their business for the coming months. With fewer in-person meetings, many agents have found themselves with additional time during their workday that they didn’t have before. So what’s the best way to spend this time? We recommend taking this time to train up in preparation for the busier fall season. Whether you’ve been putting off learning new tools for your business or just want to expand your knowledge on a specific topic, there’s no time like the present to invest in your knowledge. Here are some ways you can take time to train up right now.
Enhance Your Marketing Skills
Developing, or even updating, your agency’s marketing strategy can feel like a big undertaking. Technological advances are constantly changing the market landscape and it can be challenging to hone your skills and stay relevant. That’s why we’ve created valuable and free marketing tools to help you get started.
- The free Bootstrap Marketing Guide is a great place to begin investing in your marketing systems and content. If you’re not familiar with Bootstrap Marketing, it refers to a marketing technique that small and medium-size businesses frequently use to develop a marketing strategy from the ground up, with little to no marketing budget. Everything from getting started with social media and digital marketing, to maximizing face-to-face engagements is covered in our guide.
- Our Agent’s Guide to Marketing Success is focused on helping you set and reach goals. By setting sales and marketing goals you can make sure your strategies are aligned to provide you with the most benefit. This guide dives into topics like defining your target audience and tips for tracking leads and sales. It’s the ultimate guide to insurance marketing success!
Prepare to Sell Individual Products on the Marketplace
As Americans across the country face unemployment due to COVID-19, many people will be looking for insurance not tied to their employment. Selling Individual Products through the Marketplace is a great way to serve your community during this time, but there are some barriers to entry. To sell on Marketplace products you are required to get a Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) certification, which requires the completion of a registration and training process. New agents must complete 10 core training modules and pass 3 exams. Returning agents can take a condensed training program which includes general information, new information since the last plan year, and an exam.
CMS put together a helpful Guide to Plan Year 2020 with detailed information about the registration and training process for Individual Marketplace agents.
Check Out a Webinar
We are committed to providing you with the tools you need to be successful. If you need help or are looking for additional resources for a certain aspect of your business, there’s likely a webinar for that! We host webinars on a wide variety of marketing, sales, and training topics. What’s even better is that we keep all of our previous webinars available on our Resources Page, so you can access them any time.
We know that this time is unprecedented and has created unique opportunities and challenges for our agents. We are continuing to offer webinars to our agents. Make sure to keep an eye on your email for all of the latest webinar announcements.
While there is no single right or wrong way to use this time, investing in yourself is always a good way to spend your time. The insurance industry is always changing, therefore, making sure you stay up to date with all the skills, policies, and tools can make you an even greater resource to your clients.
