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Case Study: Rick Russell, Russell Insurance Group

Delray Beach, Florida - A native Canadian, agent Rick Russell's first wake up call with US health insurance arrived when his wife firmly overrode his blustery objections to paying COBRA. Rick reluctantly paid the first premium, then a week later he ran up $38,000 in hospital bills. At a friend's suggestion, Rick got into health insurance to help people navigate a growing challenge in America.

After a stint as a captive agent, Rick decided to go independent and founded Russell Insurance Group.

Challenge

At the end of 3 years as a captive agent, Rick was disillusioned with the model. "I felt like I was representing the interests of the insurance company, not my client," says Rick. "And I built excellent relationships with my clients, but when the client was unhappy with their coverage or a price hike, I lost that client. I had nothing else to offer them."

Rick's old method of selling insurance was ineffective. "I'd schedule 3-4 appointments in a day but you'd get someone who'd cancel in the middle of that or wouldn't be home as promised. Often the appointment was long - an hour and a half to 2 hours - me and my clients were often exhausted, then I had to come home and tackle the paperwork. It wasn't pleasant."

Solution

Rick packed in insurance and took 90 days to reinvent himself. "I liked the insurance industry, so I hopped on the internet and did some research," says Rick. "I came across this website where people could go shopping for health insurance from a variety of carriers and the prices were instant."

Rick had stumbled upon a Norvax-powered website. "I thought, if I can hold a client's hand and we can go shopping together to see what the plans are and what the prices are, it's a whole different business model," continues Rick. "So I called Norvax and got set up with their complete set of tools."  

Tools used:
Insurance website
Quote engine
BrokerOffice
Insurance Leads
Email Autoresponders

Results

Selling more convenient for agent and client
Now with his Norvax quote engine in place, the concept of the appointment is different for Rick. "For people with access to the internet, we schedule a time to shop together online," he says. "In 30 minutes the whole process is done. If a person needs more time to digest the information, that's OK, I just email them the plans and prices, they can talk to their family about it, and we get back together on the phone in a day or so and do the application. It's a much more respectful and cleaner way to do business."
 
Happier clients means more profits
"I have about 50 quality conversations a week. It's a lot different, and the closure rate is a lot higher," says Rick. "It's much more efficient for me and more pleasant for the client. Happier clients and more of them has helped me raise income as you would expect."

"It's been a year now and I don't feel like I'm in sales anymore. I'm just helping people."

Autoresponders turn old leads into gold
Ricks lead management system and autoresponders are helping him profit from older leads. "I have someone entering $10,000 - $20,000 worth of old leads into the [BrokerOffice] system. With the autoresponder all those "B" leads are getting emails with a link and getting updated quotes. It's turned old leads into gold. I never would have been able to extract that kind of value from old leads without the Norvax system."

Now reaching a statewide market
Rick's clients now include people from all over his home state. "I can reach out to people in the panhandle, rural areas or the Florida keys as easy as connecting with my neighbor next door. We can go shopping together right on the internet and hone in on a plan that suits them."

Building long-lasting client relationships
Continues Rick, "I check in with my clients every six months or so and it really has helped me develop a solid relationship with people that leads to new business. We're finding that we're developing a long term relationship that wasn't available before the Norvax model or with the captive agent model. It's more fun for me and the client."

"Norvax has kept me in the insurance industry. Norvax really is the heart of my business."

Read more case studies, or contact us to learn how you can get results like Rick's.


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