Insurance Agent Forum

[al3]

I don't know if any of you do any speaking but I was asked to give a short presentation at the local chamber of commerce. Below is the press release I wrote which was published in the chamber NL and the weekly community news paper. I got one client already from it... and I don't give the speech until next month.

Rule: Publicity... not advertising. There is a difference... a big difference!

HTH,

Al
www.insurancesolutions123.com

Healthcare Insurance Expert to Address Fair Oaks Chamber Business Group

For Immediate Release
3-16-2006

On April 12, Al Canton who specializes in healthcare coverage with Adams-Blake Insurance Solutions (www. InsuranceSolutions123.com) will, in thirty minutes, give the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce Business Development Group (BDG) a whirlwind tour of various types of health coverages available, how group insurance works, why owners may want to opt for individual coverage instead, and information on the new Health Saving Accounts and Health Incentive Accounts that are sweeping the country.

In addition he will explain why people SHOULD work with an agent (cost nothing and can save money) and how to keep from overpaying for coverage that is not needed (i.e. not letting the broker bamboozle the owner into being over-insured.) Finally, he will talk about discount plans and association plans and why businesses want to stay far, far away from them.

This will be 30 minutes of fast-paced, fact-filled (no BS), must-know information on making sure chamber members get and have the right coverage for their particular situation (because in healthcare one size does not fit all.) Al is a dynamic in-your-face speaker who does not mince words and tells it like it is... and yes the system IS broken... but he will explain how to keep IT from breaking YOUR business!

The BDG is a twice-monthly meeting of Chamber members who seek to network, exchange information, and obtain information on how to better run their businesses. The meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, 8 AM, at Raley's on San Juan. There is no cost for members.

-30-

Contact:


Al Canton
Adams-Blake Insurance Solutions
Fair Oaks, CA
916-962-9296 (best)
888-544-8081 (toll free)
www.insurancesolutions123.com
CA Lic # 0F31110

[Frank Stastny]

WOW! Ya done good! After I finished reading it I wanted to sign up with the chamber and hear what you have to say.

It is very well written and I can see why you have already gotten calls. That press release, with some minor changes, could be used to promote any kind of insurace with very positive results.

Good words: whirlwind, fast-paced, fact-filled, all designed to stimulate excitement and interest. The use of those words doesn't make it sound like the typical, boring, sales pitch type of talk about insurance and I'm sure it won't be.

[salpro22]

I agree, sign me up. I am curious to know the education behind over-insuring.

[somarco]

I am curious to know the education behind over-insuring

Al will have his own view, but too often buyers let the agent talk them into something they don't need. This is especially true with fluff add-ons that have very little chance of payout.

I bet if you think hard enough, you can come up with your own list of health insurance riders & supplements that are virtually worthless to the client.

[al3]

Originally Posted by salpro22

I am curious to know the education behind over-insuring.

One of the 'gifts' I received from my creator is that I can speak on almost any topic for almost any length... it may be crapola, but it will be high-quality crapola! It is easly to do if you understand what motivates people to listen to you. (Easily learned at Toastmasters... or in a creative writing class with a good instructor.)

This is only a quick and dirty 30 min presentation (at 8 AM) and I will start at ground-zero with differences between HMO, PPO, PSO, etc., and move into HSA, how group works in CA (GI), then why IFP may be a better option (portable, sometimes cheaper, etc.) and end up with why an agent should be part of the process and how a good one will save your ass (i.e. my commercial for myself.) As for over-insurance, somewhere in there is a minute or so on over-priced and under-featured dental and life plans sold by the major carriers as add-ons to their IFP plans.

It's not the content. It is NEVER the content. It's all in how you present it.

I like to tell stories, use humor, do a few impersonations (John Wayne (the Duke) as a high-pressure insurnace salesman selling final needs "Well prilgram, I know you didn't think you were ever gonna die, but yeah, you're gonna, and if ya don't sign right here it may be sooner thay you had planned." ), do a little bit of Sunday preacher stuff (I once took a course on evangelical speaking ("Sinners beware. Git down in front of that blue cross or the loooooooorrrrrrrrrrrddd will STRIKE you down... yes sir, amen...") do a little dog-and-pony show on a white-board, and entertain people. Would any of you believe (in my Don Adams voice) that insurance is not the most interesting topic to most people? :-) Well (pilgram) it's true!!!

Any of you see the move Chicago? Richard Gere said it all: "Give 'em the old razzle-dazzle." (And I'll bring my ipod and speaker with the song as an example of how some guys sell insurance!). I don't expect to send them out of the room knowing a lot about the insurance biz. I send them out knowing a lot about ME... and that I'm the guy to call when they need to know more and are serious.

I'll say a few 'outrageous' things ("Gee, Al... you think?") which will get me in the paper again (because I'll send the press release): "Local Insurance Expert Says Health Insurance System is Totally Broken" or "Insurance Expert say 'Hillary-Care' is Walter Reed on Steroids" (film at 11).

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm kinda tired of going to the customers. I want the customers to come to me when I don't yet have a strong referral base like most of you here. I'm smart and articulate. There must be a way to get (at least a few) customers to call ME instead of the other way around. I'm going to try to be(come) the 'go-to insurance guy' in three suburban zip codes.

You can sell anything with the right message.... even a rock in a box (who knows what I'm talking about?)

(Big close... bring up the music..."And so my fellow Fair Oaksians I say this about that. Ask not what Blue Cross can do for you, but what YOU can do for Blue Cross. This is America... one nation, under God, all insured with zero co-pay and no deductables for all. Because where else can a short, funny-looking Jewish boy from the Bronx grow up to be an insurance salesman!! I am not a crook! I did not inhale! God bless all of you... and thank you for the use of the hall. (Balloon drop, confeti, etc.)

Al
www.InsuranceSolutions123.com