(SmartPros) Your agency has a personality, a distinctive profile that sets it apart from other agencies. No two agencies do business in identical ways or have identical environments. What you do may be a given to clients and peers -- but how you do it is another thing.

Although every agency is different, those who succeed at marketing share several common traits. First and foremost, your agency must make a serious commitment to its marketing activities. Think in terms of the effort made towards quality control. Your marketing effort can be no less important and it may require more attention, particularly at the start. Recognize and accept that it takes discipline and dedication to see your efforts bear fruit.

Successful agencies clearly articulate and assess marketing expectations on a regular basis. Management must convey to its professionals that they are responsible for both managing and marketing the agency in addition to servicing clients. Marketing will not become a voluntary and universal activity until this sense of responsibility and accountability is instilled and recognized.

Prioritize!
Starting with top management, marketing must be a high priority. Ideally, senior managers should be staunch supporters of the agency's business development program. As role models for other agency professionals, they should be active participants in both words and deeds. Staff will be quick to see through and assign a low priority to a marketing program that top management exhorts but otherwise does little about.

Additionally, the feelings, beliefs and values held by agency management will affect marketing success. Management's views about professionalism, tradition, fear and resistance to change will all impact marketing to some degree. These feelings are very real to those who have them and they are not dislodged easily. Given that marketing will only succeed if backed by senior staff, a marketing program must be tailored to fit their professional values. In some cases, asking management to adopt new thinking or a new approach may be critical. Agencies with open-minded senior partners will stay one step ahead of the competition.

Agency-Wide Involvement and Compensation
Successful agencies spread opportunities for governance and policy-making throughout all levels and departments. As running a business becomes more complex, there should be plenty of meaningful work on agency decision-making committees to involve everyone. Service on such committees should be promoted and recognized as a way for staff to increase their status within the business. The more agents that "buy in" through their involvement, the more agents there will be with a commitment and ego stake in seeing things work. Generally, agents who participate in controlling the destiny of the agency are more apt to sell its services sincerely and enthusiastically.

Compensation plays a major role in whether agents actively and voluntarily participate in marketing. Marketing successes and efforts must be monitored, evaluated and acknowledged objectively and consistently. Many compensation formulas do accommodate the generation of new business, but few recognize marketing efforts. This lack of recognition and credit acts as a serious deterrent to future marketing success. To correct this problem, agencies must design a compensation component to evaluate and reward time spent developing and nurturing current and prospective clients. Just as importantly, efforts made by agents to enhance and expand services for existing clients must be measured and recognized as the single most effective marketing tool.

Essential Elements
Successful agencies are quick to acknowledge that its employees comprise its greatest asset. An agency's personnel practices significantly influence the kind of ambassadors its employees are. For outsiders to be sold on your agency, your insiders must be sold first. Two-way communication, recognition, incentives and morale building are essential elements for building a loyal, collegial practice. Employees at all levels need to feel that their input is not only invited, but appreciated. They must believe they have worth and value and that they contribute in some way to the agency's success.

A management that invests in its staff with encouragement and support will be rewarded with a proud, hard-working team. Employees who feel good about the agency will speak positively about it to people they encounter outside the workplace. Allegiance and loyalty on the inside projects outside to clients, who will sense that the whole agency is there to serve them. An agency's cohesiveness also gives clients a feeling of stability, which is important for building lasting relationships.

Listen to your Clients and Be Ready to Embrace Change
Just as listening to employees is critical, agencies who listen to their clients and provide solutions to real problems or needs (versus perceived problems) will be doing themselves (and their clients) a favor. Client surveys that assess agency performance and client satisfaction are key to eliciting honest feedback. Additionally, asking clients about their industry, visiting their office or site and getting to know them personally go a long way towards cementing a satisfying association. Agencies that encourage and support proactive client relations will be more successful at securing their long-term future.

Agencies that are successful in marketing maintain a continuous improvement philosophy. They anticipate and embrace change; they encourage innovation. Setting high standards for performance, they seek to improve those standards all the time. Many differentiate themselves through a "winning" attitude and a sincere attempt to be the best at what they do. Simply conveying a spirit for success can enhance an agency's image and success in the marketplace.

To succeed in marketing its services, an insurance agency must encourage its staff to participate in hands-on activities with clients, referral sources and potential clients. It must accept that there are no quick fixes or magic bullets for bringing in business. Marketing efforts yield results only after a long period spent cultivating relationships.

Expect marketing to be a long-range investment, because the foundation of a successful program requires philosophical change, which takes time. Successful marketing programs require that insurance professionals understand how good advice and good marketing go hand-in-hand. By developing the right attitude and culture, an agency can provide greater staff and client satisfaction for months and years to come.

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