--- title: How to Build an Insurance Agency the Right Way description: To differentiate your group from others, it is important to demonstrate your training program to candidates. LIMRA tells us that today’s candidates, especially millennials and female recruits, are heavily swayed by the ongoing training and educational programs that organizations offer, as well as the technology by which they will deliver it. They see education as the pathway to growth and new opportunities. image: https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_106643105.jpeg --- [![FSEDNet](https://info.hoopis.com/hubfs/FSEDNet_June2018_v2/Images/logo-sized1.png) ](https://hello.fsednet.com) - Who We Are - [![Schedule Demo](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4570472/162dd7e4-98c0-4297-85d6-465bc5e71a26.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4570472/162dd7e4-98c0-4297-85d6-465bc5e71a26) - [Sign Us Up](https://hello.fsednet.com/sign-us-up) CLOSE X # How to Build an Insurance Agency the Right Way # How to Build an Insurance Agency the Right Way Posted by [Richard "Dick" Cleary](https://info.hoopis.com/blog/author/richard-dick-cleary) on Jan 14, 2020 6:43:58 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![AdobeStock_159376745-1](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_159376745-1.jpeg) You've created a business plan, focused on logistics, and launched your insurance agency. Perhaps you've been in business for a few months or a few years. Once the dust settles from your initial launch, it's time to revisit, reevaluate, and reset your goals, so your agency continues to thrive. This guide extends beyond the logistics of starting an insurance agency and provides detailed information on how you can grow your business, boost your work culture, and optimize digital marketing tactics, resulting in an improved overall performance. **Refresh Your Website and Make it Responsive** If you haven't built a website for your agency yet, you need to make it a top priority. Whether you are starting from scratch or revisiting your website, make sure to spend some time ensuring your website is professional and draws in visitors. A shoddy website can drive potential clients away, never to return. Important things to include: **Professional Photos: **All photos on your website should be professional, high-resolution photos, demonstrating to visitors your commitment to quality. **Substantive "About Us" Page:** This is an opportunity to share your story in a sincere way to connect with visitors. Let them know about the types of insurance you offer and why you are dedicated to helping others with their insurance needs. **Lead Generation Tool: **You can have one or more tools to help you generate leads on your website. You might use a simple "Contact Us" page, a free download for their contact information, or an email sign up for a newsletter or blog. **Responsive Website:** A responsive website is a site which users can view well across multiple devices and screen sizes; the website looks as good on their iPhone as it does on a desktop computer or tablet. Potential clients often start their search online and often from their mobile device. If you don't have the capability to do this in-house, search for a third-party tech person to make sure your site is responsive. **Blog: **Establish yourself as an insurance expert and educate your visitors about insurance-related topics. Today’s consumers seek educational resources to help them understand and gain insights into the confusing world of finance and insurance. Blogs can help you become recognized as a resource, and not just a salesperson. **Harness the Power of Social Media![AdobeStock_94459575 (2)](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_94459575%20(2).jpeg)** Social media has become an integral part of business today. If you haven't created profiles on the major social media platforms yet, do so immediately. Facebook is a great way to reach prospects, clients, and potential job candidates. In the event you want to spend money on advertising, Facebook Ad capabilities allow you to target super-specific markets by age, gender, location, activity, income, hobbies, and more. You should also start with LinkedIn and Instagram, which will allow you to reach a younger audience. Connecting with influential thought leaders in the insurance industry or adjacent industries is a good way to drive traffic to your social media accounts, website, and blog. If you are planning on adding professional videos to your website, create your own YouTube channel to post the same videos. **Upgrade Your Office Technology** When you have an awesome professional website and are providing engaging content on your blog and social media pages, you will start to build leads and acquire new clients. You need to remain organized and efficient to handle this growth. Spend the money to invest in marketing automation software which allows you to capture leads from email and social media, develop relationships, and move prospective clients through a sales funnel online. You also have analytical capabilities to optimize your approach and focus on strategies that work best for you. Some examples here would be Hubspot and Aritic PinPoint. You can also use marketing automation software in conjunction with an agency management system which can track client quotes, policies, and other client documents. Some examples include EZLynx and Vertafore. **Invest in Sales Training** It takes far more than state licensure to succeed as a financial professional. Associates must have exceptional sales skills allowing them to educate potential clients, inspire their trust, and get them to sign on the dotted line. If you are not yet providing professional sales training for your associates, it needs to be a top priority. It will impact production, producer retention and client satisfaction – all good stuff. If you cannot do this in-house, find an outside resource to supplement or provide this training. There are many opportunities available to help you with this, both live and online. You can also take advantage of seminars and training opportunities through nearby industry organizations and associations. One way to start implementing sales training at your agency is to hold weekly meetings and focus on a specific topic such as overcoming objections. A successful format may be to treat the meeting as a workshop. Here your associates collaborate on all the possible solutions for a particular objection, giving them the opportunity to actively learn.   Everyone knows that there's a skill gap problem when it comes to associates building their clientele. In fact, LIMRA reports that over 87% of those who leave this profession, do so simply because of a lack of activity. Helping associates to develop their core competencies in how to build and run a successful practice in today’s ever-changing marketplace, while developing a focused activity discipline, should be the basis of a meaningful curriculum. Unfortunately, many organizations are attacking the problem the wrong way. There is a better approach that can solve the problem, by providing competency-based learning where people have a voice in not only what they need, but also have a choice in when and how they get it. A resource example includes FSEdNet. **Engage with Your Community![AdobeStock_190806788](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_190806788.jpeg)** Whether you are in an urban area or a rural city or town, you need to engage with your community, and encourage your associates to engage. You can attend or host formal networking events. Or, a more organic way to have face-to-face contact with potential clients is by joining a sports league, volunteering in the community or attending community events. Begin by attending already existing local events. It's a way to meet people or connect with contacts you already know, so you can build lasting relationships. When you meet other business members in your neighborhood or community, it can lead to you working together. For example, you meet a local real estate agent at a Chamber meeting or Cancer Society event. You can share that you own an insurance agency and let him know you are happy to help his first-time home buyers who need homeowner's insurance. Unless you are handing out some company schwag at a parade, you aren't likely to be handing out business cards in most of these situations. Instead, you are taking time to get to know others and letting them know you. When they need insurance, you will be the first person who crosses their mind. 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Learn More CLOSE X # What People Are Saying “FSEdNet is a game-changing strategy to help with the education of new advisors in the business.  The key to any training is to focus on being brilliant on the basics.  Dick Cleary and his team have created a turnkey educational program that helps leadership teams implement an easy to deliver training system for the fundamentals of success.”      **J. Christopher Noonan, CLU, ChFC Regional President & Divisional Executive VP, Equitable-Advisors LLC** "FSEdNet's delivery process and information will help your advisors become more confident in front of clients." ###### Garry Kinder, CLU, ChFC, CSA, Kinder Brothers International “NAIFA is excited to partner with FSEdNet to create the NAIFA Learning Center. We value the breadth and depth of educational content relevant for all practice specialties and the ease of access on multiple devices to the online video content. Core to NAIFA’s mission is delivery of critical training and professional support to our members—this program is a key component in meeting that objective.” ###### Kevin M. Mayeux, CAE, CEO, NAIFA "The best I have ever seen. Clear, concise and relevant - a platform that really makes a difference." ###### Paul E. Vignone, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC, VP of Advanced Markets, Empire Wealth Strategies, Penn Mutual Life "FSEdNet is a comprehensive online resource that is filled with practical and actionable content. It provides its user with the fundamentals, as well as advanced learnings, for a successful financial services career." ###### C. Richard Weylman, CEO & CDO, The Weylman Center for Excellence in Practice Management "FSEdNet will engage your new advisors and staff in a new innovative way. Associates will absorb the basics and master the fundamentals through this connected learning platform." ###### Bonnie L. Godsman - CEO, GAMA International" "LIMRA research has found that young advisors integrate technology into all aspects of their practice. FSEdNet provides basic "blocking and tackle" training in an innovative and contemporary way, which resonates with today's financial professionals. Not just for agents and advisors, it's an invaluable part of my onboarding of new LIMRA research professionals - FSEdNet really delivers." ###### – Patrick Leary, LIMRA Corporate Vice President - Research #### "It's Time To Turn Potential Into Reality" "The Financial Services Educational Network, from the genius of Dick Cleary, is something this industry has needed for a long time. It is for many advisors, the missing piece. FSEdNet provides the educational background needed, in a myriad of topics, to give advisors the confidence to engage in meaningful financial discussions." **Harry P. Hoopis, CEO, Hoopis Performance Network, Hall of Fame** “FSEdNet is a game-changing strategy to help with the education of new advisors in the business.  The key to any training is to focus on being brilliant on the basics.  Dick Cleary and his team have created a turnkey educational program that helps leadership teams implement an easy to deliver training system for the fundamentals of success.”      **Mark Rooney, CFP, ChFC, CLU Equitable-Advisors, LLC, Hall of Fame Recipient** “FSEdNet has allowed us to focus on what we do best: find, recruit, select and train the future of our industry.  It provides excellent education, so our leadership team can do what they do best and that is joint work with our newest advisors.  I would strongly encourage any firm to embrace this as it will impact productivity.” **Ed Deutschlander, CLU, CLF, CEO, North Star Resource Group** "Bring back the basic training our agents need is the passion and commitment that Dick has made to the industry. As a long-standing professional in our business, he is well positioned to deliver the right product at the right time. FSEdNet is a perfect solution to the training needs of today." ###### **– Jim Kerley, Chief Membership Officer, LIMRA and LOMA** "I have been in the industry many years. FSEdNet is one of the most comprehensive educational tools to help new reps get off to a successful start and for developing reps to build and grow their business in years 2, 3, 4 and after. The ability to have this information at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere, on any device, 24/7 is truly a must-have for today's financial professional.” **Fred Walker, VP of Professional Development, Transamerica Agency Network** “At the Great Basin Agency of American National, we use FSEdNet faithfully. We find the product they have, and the support of Dick Cleary and his team is amazing, this is one of the best training tools we have or have ever had. The sales training and education are for agents and staff at all levels of their careers." **Ken Gallacher, CLU, ChFC, FSS, LUTCF, LACP and Thresa (Terry) Cochran, CLU, ChFC, CLF, FSS, LACP - General Agent, American National** "A revolutionary strategy to help train and develop your producers, regardless of experience. To make an impact, it must be simple to understand and use, and that is exactly what FSEdNet does. This turn-key educational platform will add true value to your value proposition, and will separate you from the competition." **Dan LaBert, CEO, NAILBA - National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies.** "Opening Up the library of videos offered on FSEdNet for our agents provides an immediate resource that supports the new agent experience after initial training and adds to that knowledge base in all areas. Not only do the new agents benefit, but veteran agents can add to or be reminded of information that helps them focus on improving results." **Mike Catania, Ph.D., Director of Learning Management Field Development, Bankers Life and Casualty Company** “Having been in the industry over 30 years, I can honestly say that FSEdNet is a game changer for improving retention, growing rep productivity and developing a highly trained sales force.  I was exposed to Dick Cleary and FSEdNet in another life prior to being with AAA Life and I was very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce an entirely new field force to this awesome tool!  We have used it as the foundation to build our training program.  I would highly recommend FSEdNet to anyone!” - **Allen Jackson LUTCF, FSCP, Vice president of Agent Distribution, AAA Life Insurance Company** “FSEdNet has been the game changer we needed for our General Agents. It is the perfect tool they needed to make their training programs A+.” **Todd Scott, Manager Practice Management & Development, AMERITAS** “We needed to completely update our agent and management development and training platforms. FSEdNet was a perfect fit that did not take additional resources to write, develop and implement the changes we needed. We now incorporate the management training program of FSLEdNet into our weekly development calls with all our entire field leadership team and incorporated FSEdNet into our new agent training program” - **Damian Salvi, Senior Vice President ****and Chief Distribution Officer, The Baltimore Life Companies** "Just a quick comment of appreciation for your FSEdNet. We have been so pleased and impressed with your training program. It has helped our advisors at all different levels in many different areas of your curriculum. It is concise, effective, and easy to use. And you and your team have been incredibly responsive whenever we have a question or a thought."  **James Meehan, Managing Partner at 1847Financial, Penn Mutual** "FSEdNet has provided us with the foundation we needed to strengthen our Field Force training programs.  The courses have provided us with the basics that would have taken us a very long time to develop on our own. The structure of the videos and worksheets helps to improve retention and develop a skilled workforce. I would highly recommend FSEdNet!" ***Beth Jones, Director of Field Force Training Development, First Command Financial Services.*** ![FSEdNet](https://info.hoopis.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FSEDNet_June2018_v2/Images/cleary-pic.png?width=500&name=cleary-pic.png "FSEdNet") - Download Our App - [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4570472/1454e9fc-640c-4dd3-9678-a66d16a7b477.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4570472/1454e9fc-640c-4dd3-9678-a66d16a7b477) - [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4570472/3006a79f-73fd-497e-867a-f7e34856bca5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4570472/3006a79f-73fd-497e-867a-f7e34856bca5) Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved FINANCIAL SERVICES EDUCATIONAL NETWORK, LLC.