What do you do?

When you attend Chamber meetings or the softball game for an agency-sponsored team or even when you're out with your friends and meet someone new, how do you answer the question, “What do you do for a living?”

Related: Read Rick Gilman's previous column “A Thousand Words.”

An initial response may be, “I own a restaurant” or “I'm an accountant.” If you're really good at networking, you take the opportunity to turn the question around and find out more about the person you're talking with and begin to evaluate whether he or she might be a potential prospect.

Whether the process ends there or is followed up with short notes about meeting them or adding them to your newsletter list, I believe the success or failure of that networking experience is less dependent on whether the person likes you and more on what they remember of the encounter.

Human beings strive for memorable experiences. Whether it's time with the family or date night with your significant other, our perception of the level of satisfaction and happiness we achieve has more to do with those moments of memorable experiences that make up our lives.

In his thesis, Sinek describes truly successful companies as those built around a belief system and not a product. He said there are three ways to describe a company and 95 percent of all companies work from the outside in on his three-concentric circles graphic. 

Outside ring

What does the company do? It makes widgets, defends the innocent or sells insurance. These businesses are solely focused on the end result, the outcome, and use that as their primary and, in some cases, only reason for being. For some, the ultimate reason is to make money.

There's no question that there are successful companies with that philosophy. But I would venture to say they are not long lasting nor inspiring, signs of truly great companies. 

Middle ring

How do we make widgets, defend the innocent or sell insurance. “We have the most sophisticated machinery with the highest quality parts from all across the world going into our widgets.” “Our lawyers have more than 100 years' combined experience defending the innocent and our success rate is 95 percent.” “Our agency offers unparalleled service and a wide range of choice from among our two dozen AAA-rated carriers.”

Related: Read another column by Rick Gilman “Information Overload.”

How you accomplish what you do is important but only so much as what you do is important.

Inner ring

Why do we make widgets, defend the innocent or sell insurance? What is it at the core of your being that compels you to do what you do? For those great companies, that core is a belief system that lays the foundation.

For me, the best companies, regardless of what kind of business they are in, reveal opportunities to make memorable experiences for their customers, employees and communities. The “how” and the “what” are simply the means for achieving the “why.”

Inspiring leaders are inspiring because they instill their passion and belief. Inspiration impacts employees, business partners and especially customers. There's a difference between loyal customers and repeat customers; I think businesses that understand and convey the “why” of their companies generate loyal customers, while convenience drives repeat customers.

Insurance agents are no different, especially in today's market. Differentiation is becoming more difficult whether it's between independents and captives or direct writers or even between independents around the corner from each other. A lot is written about branding and how it should be part of that which distinguishes one agency from the other. Brand, I believe, is about all three circles in that graphic—from the why to the how and finally to the what.

Branding is about corporate culture, mission and vision. It's about the look and feel of the agency, and yes, it's about experience. What do you want your customers' experiences to be when they interact with your agency? How you describe and imbue that belief and goal is how you build your brand.

But brand is not just outwardly focused. Everyone in the organization must inwardly adopt it, and that's where the inspirational leaders with a strong belief system upon which the business is built will excel. A friend of mine who is a human resources expert told me that we tend to hire based on skills and fire based on behavior. That is true because we hire for the “what” of our company, not the “why.”

While you can't manufacture passion or an inspirational belief system, there are ways to approach those moments of memorable experience. They can be as simple as going out of your way for a client or, as stated in a Liberty Mutual commercial, “When it's people doing the right thing, they call it being responsible; when it's an insurance company, they call it Liberty Mutual.”

Related: Read the article “Polls and Pundits” by Rick Gilman.

That attitude needs to be instilled in your staff and it goes back to the question: Are they working for you because of the “what” or the “why”?

From a practical standpoint, finding ways to anticipate your clients' and prospects' needs by being accessible where, when and how they want—not when it's convenient for you, but when it's convenient for them—is expected today and more easily achieved. Fortunately, things like mobile technology, digital marketing and social media can help break down any barriers between your agency and your customers and get them closer to those memorable experiences. 

A new study by Deloitte Research, “The Voice of the Personal Lines Consumer,” examined the sense of loyalty auto and homeowners' insurance buyers have to their current providers, be it direct carrier, independent agent or captive. Indications show many results split along age, with the youth market (34 years old or younger) being more willing to change than their older counterparts. It also discusses the findings that the younger group sees technology and mobile apps as very or extremely useful by a significant margin over the 35 year old and above group.

According to the study, “Twenty-eight percent of the auto buyers surveyed said having multiple touch point options to communicate with their insurer was an extremely or very influential factor the last time they changed carriers.”

We all know it's far less costly to keep a client than to gain a new one, so how are you going to find and keep your customers? Why are you an insurance agent or claims professional or CSR?

Generation C

Online and mobile technology have changed not only how consumers access information and ultimately shop, but it has fundamentally changed consumers themselves and how businesses need to market to them.

Generation C (or the Connected Consumer) is not age segmented but rather based on technology:

• 274 million Americans had Internet access in 2011, more than double the number in 2000 (Nielsen, 2011)
• 64 percent of mobile phone time is spent on apps (Nielsen, 2011)
• 117.6 million people visit the Internet via their smartphones (Nielsen, 2011)
• 67 percent of people spend more money online after recommendations (BazaarVoice.com, 2011)
• 90 percent of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70 percent trust opinions of unknown users (Econsultancy, July 2009)
• Women dominate most areas of social media, except for tablet owners, in which 53 percent are male, 47 percent female (Nielsen, 2011)
• 40 percent of U.S. smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device while in-store shopping for an item (Comscore, January 2011).

Nielsen found that during October 2011, YouTube was the top destination for all online video content, accounting for 45 percent of American's total streaming time. Having video as a communications/educational tool for agents should be obvious, but also have them linked to an agency YouTube channel is quickly becoming a must. That's where you'll find your prospects and clients hanging out.

Memorable experiences

In this new environment populated by connected consumers, how do you create those memorable moments? First, take a look at the experience your clients have when they visit your website. Is your site and its flow of information, the click path, so engaging that it would compel a discriminating consumer to tweet about their experience? Or post a link to your site on their Facebook page? What about visually? Does your site incorporate photos, videos and graphics of information that might prompt someone to pin it to their Pinterest account? 

What about mobile and push notifications? Do you have a mobile strategy or must consumers come into your agency or go to your website to discover you? Why not reach out via mobile apps and text messaging so you can discover them?