It struck me that his ideas could help me do this job—writing this monthly column—better. I often look upon this as an opportunity to persuade and educate on relevant topics that might help you in your jobs as insurance agents.

I write about new tools, tips for creating graphics and how best to leverage social media. I also write about why we should use technology and social media. Many of you are still in that camp of slow followers when it comes to technology; others have their heads buried deep in the sand and have no plans to ever stand up straight and see what's coming.

According to a Progressive Insurance study on agency websites, only 77% of respondents host a website. I want to target that remaining 23%—what kind of persuasion might work to move these agents to implement a website?

Part of Pink's approach to the "attunement" portion of his new "ABC" definition is to consider two ways of successfully relating to a prospective buyer as a seller: perspective (thinking) and empathetic (feeling). Within this kind of framework, what might be the best way to move the needle on an agent's "website value meter"?

Perspective persuasion

What are the cons of an agency website? Some say that a website is too expensive to build, it demands too much time from staff, business doesn't require a larger marketing presence, an agency isn't big enough to warrant a website, or they express doubts over how much new business a website brings in to the agency.

With the tools available today, building a website is inexpensive. Also, according to information from an agency website survey co-sponsored by IIABA's Agents Council for Technology (ACT) and Agency Marketing Partners:

• 94% of smartphone owners are looking for local info on their mobile devices

• 70% of those searchers take some kind of action following it—call, visit or purchase

• 78% of buyers research online before making a purchase decision.

Empathetic persuasion

From a more emotional viewpoint, I can relate to the challenges that agents have with limited funds and time. To these agents, I would ask about their future business plans. Where do they see their agencies in three to five years? Are client demographics slanted more toward the older generation than the new consumer coming into the market? From where will future growth come?

According to Pink's book, although studies have shown a "perspective" approach is more successful in moving people to buy, the real strength comes from having elasticity or being able to adjust to signals. That's one reason why Pink describes one of his new approaches to an elevator pitch as improvisational. The others are: The One-Word Pitch, The Question Pitch, The Rhyming Pitch, The Subject Line Pitch, The Twitter Pitch and The Pixar Pitch.

How best would you describe your style of selling? Do you have an elevator pitch? You might think, "What do I need with an elevator pitch? I sell insurance." Think of the pitch not so much about what you do, but why you do it and what results from that effort.

Finally, because the continuing question by some agents over the value of having a website still exists, I thought I'd ask the question myself. Please take this four-question survey at bit.ly/AgencyWebsiteSurvey. I'll post the results on the Personal Lines Growth Alliance Facebook page.

For those of you reading this who fall into the "no website" category, you might want to read my June 2012 column, "Websites Optional." Despite the headline, it might give you more food for thought.