What type of advertising and marketing is most suitable for your insurance business? This is not a one size fits all deal. You must consider how much of a budget you have and work from there. You also need to know what your target market is. For example, are you going to sell one type of insurance such as life insurance or a variety, such as health insurance, auto insurance and house insurance? What is the demographic you are aiming for? The more you know the better able you will be to figure out what type of insurance marketing you should do to grow your business.

Online advertising is one marketing tool that is worth the money. As the Internet takes on more power and influence all of the time, having a web presence will put you on the cyber map and get you noticed. It has been found through studies that 75 percent of all households have access to a computer and Internet resources. Find out what you need to do in order to get online before that percentage gets any higher!

Block line advertising in trade journals, industry publications and periodicals is the way to go. This is because industry professionals read these publications to keep in the know. You are an industry professional so you need to get your business in one or more of these publications as well.

Television ads and print ads are excellent forms of insurance marketing. However the downside is that both can be very expensive. You may go way beyond your advertising budget if you decide to use either one of these methods. However if you can afford it then your best course of action is to either consult with an external advertising agency or hire one to help you develop a campaign that is conducive to what you need most. Your goal of course is to gain exposure and to increase your sales.

If you decide that print ads would suit your style and your budget just fine then colored ads are the most expensive to produce but can be very appealing to the eye. You can also choose a “reverse type” for your advertisements. Think back to what black and white television looked like. The ad would have white lettering on a stark black background. The black background sets off the lettering and gives it that catchy effect.

- economywatch.com -

Managing your company’s cash flow is a tough task when you’re not sure your clients will pay what they owe. Rather than take a chance, consider credit insurance.

Credit insurance policies cover your accounts receivables, insuring your business in the case of non-payment. You tell the insurance company which accounts you want to cover, and you’d pay a monthly premium based on the creditworthiness of your client and the amount of credit you’re extending to that client.

“Credit insurance has been around, but up until recently, it was really a very expensive proposition and really not affordable for small businesses,” says Michael Zeldes, a senior vice president of HUB International Northeast, a business insurance broker.

These policies, also known as business credit insurance, trade insurance, bad debt insurance or accounts receivables insurance, may be a worthwhile investment, especially in this rocky economy.

How Credit Insurance Works
Credit insurance is appropriate for any business that extends credit to its clients.

Zeldes offers this example: Say a company has 50 customers and it sells widgets. Of those 50 customers, the widget-maker feels 20 of those companies are their most important customers because they buy the most merchandise.

The widget-maker can identify which of those companies they’re most concerned about, perhaps because of past late payments or non-payment, or simply because of the amount of extended credit. The underwriter for the credit insurance policy will investigate those specific clients and approve the ones the policy would cover.

One of the biggest benefits: The underwriters will continue to monitor the financial health of those companies over time. You’ll get regular reports from the insurance company about your clients, so if the client encounters financial difficulty, you’ll learn about it quickly.

It could really help you stay in business,” says Michelle Dunn, credit and debt collection expert and author of the Collecting Money book series.

The Cost
During a recession, you might be thinking that insurance costs are a luxury you can’t afford, but there’s no downside to applying.

“It’s sort of a no-brainer,” Zeldes says, because underwriters are very willing to evaluate the risks presented by your clients for free, and no one gets paid unless you buy a policy.

You can also control the cost of the policy by deciding how many clients you’d like to cover, and which insurer to use. Depending on the policy, you can choose how many days late a payment has to be before the policy kicks in. You can also select the percentage of the unpaid invoice the policy would pay.

Other Financial Safety Nets
If you extend credit for your clients but you’re not ready for credit insurance, the only other options is to do your own due diligence. Do what you can to check the credit worthiness of a company before you extend credit, said Dunn, but that can be a challenge.

“You can do your own risk management. Only do business with those you know will pay you,” Dunn says. “In a good economy, you might say that you could sell to anyone, but in a bad economy, who knows if even Wal-Mart is a good bet.”

- www.entrepreneur.com -

Lets consider why people buy life insurance.
Most people buy life insurance because they know that either their family will be totally devastated from the loss of one or both income earners, and/or a business will fail as a result of the owner or owners premature demise. The reasons people buy life insurance vary. Some people buy it for the tax advantages, some buy because they have to. Did you know that many divorce settlements require the income earner buy life insurance (or more of it)?
Those are the ‘logical’ reasons that people buy life insurance.
But the overriding reason that families buy life insurance is because they love their families and they know that it is the right thing to do for the loved ones that depend upon them emotionally and financially.

Marketing life insurance is not an easy undertaking if you are starting from square one. After all, there are hundreds of life insurance companies, thousands of life insurance agents, and hundreds of online life insurance lead generation companies to compete with.
But it is possible…

Here are 6 life insurance marketing tips:

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #1: Target your market. Study the market you are targeting. What keeps them up at night? What makes them happy? What do they want most when it comes to their family, profession, hobby, etc.? Some target markets want life insurance for business reasons, tax benefits, or simply for love. Find out what is the major ‘hot button’. Use it in your life insurance marketing.

Marketing Tip #2: Choose your media. Choose one or combination’s of media that your target market is most likely to be responsive to. Do they read trade journals, newsletters, or newspapers? Do they belong to associations? What websites do they frequent?

Marketing Tip #3: Write your copy or hire a quality copywriter. Whether you are writing a radio spot, TV commercial, viral video, PPC, or direct mail letter, copy is king when it comes to marketing life insurance (or any product for that matter).

Do not use ‘we’ if possible. You must always write to them. A good rule of thumb is to use 4 ‘you’s’ for every ‘we’ or ‘I’ in your ad copy.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #4: Test Small. If you have the budget for a big test, by all means go for it. But a better way to go is to roll out a small test. Measure your results. And then roll it out again on a bigger scale if the numbers are looking good.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #5: Lead Generation. In my opinion, you should focus on generation life insurance leads. In other words, 2 step marketing. One step marketing is where you do all the selling in one step and hope that you’ll make a sale. In 2 step (or multi-step marketing) you focus on getting people interested in what you have to say by asking for more information, and then follow up with until the ‘buy’ or ‘die’ (as they say).

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #6: Affordable Print Advertising

There are several sources of affordable print advertising. Local newspapers are what most immediately think of but its great to think outside the box. Consider placing ads in magazines that are directly related to the type of insurance you are selling. For example, life insurance print ads in a financial magazine are a good mix. Other forms of affordable print advertising can be found in direct mail outs our next area of discussion.

Life insurance marketing tips side bar: Print advertising can be expensive, so budget accordingly. Test small ads and mailing pieces first.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #7: Direct Mail Outs

Direct mail outs offer plenty of affordable options for life insurance leads. Something as simple as a postcard can be used or something more sophisticated such as a free booklet packed with useful information on life insurance is also an option. The key is to choose what fits your budget. You’ll need to decide how to get the most out of your budget. You might choose a simpler format like the postcard and distribute to more potential clients, or you could choose the more expensive booklet and distribute to a smaller potential client base.

When doing direct mail outs keep in mind that targeting your market is important. If you just mail out without thinking about your target market you will be sadly disappointed. You know who your target market is. Use that information to get the most from your direct mail out. Direct mail is a good way to generate qualified insurance leads.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #8: Pay Per Click Ads

You can create online life insurance lead generation using pay per click marketing. Yahoo, MSN, and Google all offer their own version of pay per click. How does pay per click work? Let’s have a look.

Let’s say a person does a search on Google for life insurance. Google will then display your ad with the search results. That means you have a targeted lead because when the person clicks your ad its because they were searching for life insurance.

The drawback to this type of marketing is that you pay each time a person clicks one of your ads. How much you pay depends on how much you bid for ad placement. The more you bid the more your ad is displayed. There is plenty of excellent information available on pay per click marketing to get a full understanding of how this unique form of marketing works.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #9: Online Insurance Leads

Online life insurance lead services have changed the way agents target potential clients. This one source of leads can be very lucrative. How the lead service works depends on the lead service company you are working with. It’s important to do your homework so that you and the internet insurance lead service are a good fit. There’s plenty of flexibility with this lead generating tool, and it’s definitely one of the best-kept secrets around.

Life Insurance Marketing Tip #10: Insurance Lead Telemarketing

Insurance telemarketing is a tough nut to crack. But it can pay off especially if you have a good telemarketer. You response rates can improve if your telemarketer or telemarketing company are following up on an effective direct mail piece.

Contact a insurance telemarketing lead company. With a recession in full swing, many businesses and families are looking closely at their insurance coverage to make sure they have the necessary coverage to provide peace of mind. The telemarketing company will design a message specific to your business and the services you are offering. Review their scripts and test their telemarketers yourself.

If the laws in your state allow for it, you can test an auto dialer. Your message will be auto dialed to the number of leads you contract, and the message will end with a hook such as “to learn how to save half the cost of insurance, press one.” Those that make the connection are a “hot” insurance lead.

- insurance-leads-advisor.com -

Reasons For Life Insurance Marketing
The Life insurance companies were paid very little premiums by young children or healthy people and thus the scope for profit was very small and those who paid high rates of premium were the older beings who died and the Life insurance companies compensate for that. However nowadays the Life insurance premiums are almost the same for an young adult and an old person who just had a major operation.

As the Life Insurance Marketing Companies already deals with this type of a scenario, what one can do is to change the public perception about the Life insurance companies. One can connect himself or herself with companies whose workers need a plan for Life Insurance. One can also go to crowded places and advertise for the Life insurance company. The Life insurance companies also offer fliers and hanging banners. One can also offer free Life check in a reputed place to the insured for at least once. One should always give the life insurance policy holders existing a chance to prefer the marketing techniques that the insurance company is presenting. If the policy holder does this at a regular basis then the company has a high chance of succeeding.

This is making the competition much tougher for the Life insurance companies as most of the companies offer similar types of premiums and facilities. So it has become very important for the life insurance companies to concentrate on Life Insurance Marketing and attract as many people as possible towards their company.

The Life Insurance Companies prefer to go for Group Life Insurance for a group of people from a particular company or a family so that they get a group of customers and even if they compensate for some of them for various reasons they usually make it up with other’s premiums. They also get less papers to control and also they provide better facilities for their clients. So to promote this type of policy they need to have social and industrial connections. Life Insurance market helps developing that. Even for other policies like term life insurance and permanent life insurance one needs to be aware of making people realize the profits of the policy by various means provided by marketing agencies.

So before going for a Life Insurance Marketing one actually needs to know the market target and the desires of the people who are actually seen as potential insurance customers. The confusion about the way a Life Insurance Marketing conductor can draw the potential Insurance holder’s attention evaporates fast if he knows his targets and aims clearly. So, it is important to conduct a sound survey and then attract people.

Life Insurance Marketing Strategies

• A very common way to promote a Life insurance company through Life Insurance Marketing is to make the name of the company familiar to others by means of television commercials, handling out pamphlets, hanging banners in populated areas and by providing exciting offers.
• Telephone marketing is another way of Life Insurance Marketing. One can see the telephone companies send messages about various offers and they even make phone calls. Web Insurance Marketing is another good strategy to promote insurance policies. The pop ups that one sees while using Internet are actually a very effective way of sending messages across the potential insurance customers.
• One should listen to the existing Life Insurance Policy Holders as well as the potential Life insurance policy holders and listen to what people who actually matters have to say. One common problem that the insured persons face is that the insurance companies do not inform its clients about the hike in the premium rates. These things should be kept in mind. Not only that, a client should be informed about everything related to his policy and the Life insurance company should keep the transparency as much as possible.
• Community Life Insurance Marketing is another different way to get promotion and a high recognition for the Life insurance company. Eminent workers join local community institutions, such as Chamber of Commerce, and by signing up there one can help out various projects that take place. These kinds of activities and social works on behalf of the Life insurance company helps the company to get free publicity as their names are published in news paper and in media also. Doing charity works also helps the Life insurance companies to come across various people who act as volunteers and can act as their potential Life insurance clients. People also like to deal with like minded people and companies and this is how many deals are made.
• A Life Insurance Company should not charge different Life insurance client different charges for the same policy. This kind of policy gives the Life insurance policy holders the feeling that they are being treated unfairly and also that the Life insurance companies are only looking for profits and not the betterment of customer welfare.
• When a Life insurance claim is filed, especially for a very big hefty amount, the Life insurance company should help out the policy holder in processing out the paperwork. One should not let bureaucracy enter and make it so difficult for the one making the claim so that he gives his claim .This has always been a common tactic on the insurance company’s part to avoid paying claims claimed by the policy holder. This though makes a short term profit for the company but it hurts in the long run as the reputation of the company is hampered severely.
• People in this Life insurance industry should always try to keep in constant contact with the existing customers as well. The competition in the insurance market is so fierce today that no company wants to loose out on a customer to another company. Clients who are not contacted for a longer period of time normally fail to remain loyal to the insurance company and look for a different Life insurance company. The company can keep the records of the client’s birthday and days like anniversary and sent him or her small tokens of love or loyalty at a regular basis. If the company can afford a little more it can send dinner coupons to the Life insurance policy holder. These things play a major role and can be considered as an effective Life Insurance Marketing strategy.
• May be the most crucial thing in insurance marketing is to always speak about unity and honesty while dealing with a business. A Life Insurance Holder can find so many frauds in various life insurance companies today, that life insurance customers are going for products and services which are trustworthy to them. Feeling safe is about insurances and other things are most important as far as the insurance holder is concerned. So, if a company remains loyal to its customers it will itself do Life Insurance Marketing for itself. So, only by remaining loyal to its customers the company can do a world of good to its reputation and this would in itself bring more potential Life Insurance Holders to the company, because the customers prefer safety more than anything else these days.

- economywatch.com -

Marketing health insurance

Marketing Health Insurance: Reasons

In the past, health insurance policies for young children and health people have had low premiums, resulting in little profit. Those who paid high rates of premium were the older people who often got ill, with the result that the health insurance companies had to compensate for that. However, nowadays health insurance premiums are almost the same for a healthy young adult and an old person who just has had a major operation.

Marketing Health Insurance: Advertising and Informing

In order to advertise and market their products, health insurance companies use fliers and banners that inform clients about their range of products. Another strategy in marketing health insurance is to offer free health checks to the insured. It is important that health insurance companies give policyholders, existing or potential, a chance to understand the benefits the insurance company is presenting to them. This makes clients feel comfortable and cared for. If this is done regularly by the company, there are high chances of attracting new customers.

Marketing Health Insurance: A Competitive Field

Marketing health insurance products has invited tough competition as most health insurance companies offer similar types of premiums and facilities. So it has become very important for life insurance companies to focus on health insurance marketing and attract as many people as possible to their company.

Marketing Health Insurance: Know the Target Audience

It is hence mandatory for one to know about the market target and the needs of the customers before proceeding with health insurance marketing.

It is easy to capture the potential insurance holder’s attention if the insurance company knows its targets and aims clearly. So, it is important to conduct a survey (of what?) and then aim at attracting people.

Health Insurance Marketing: Strategies

- economywatch.com -

How to implement health care reform that cuts costs and improves care.
While most Americans favor health care reform, the majority are against proposed plans expanding the government’s role in providing health care. The public is not only skeptical of the promise of improved access and delivery, it is also suspicious about claims of cost reduction through the elimination of waste.

Historically, health care programs end up costing five to 10 times their original estimates. Hawaii tried a system with a public option intended to cover more individuals; the program was dropped within seven months as costs spiraled out of control. Other states have had similar experiences.
A major problem with the current insurance model is that it does not work for services used on a routine basis. Insurance is designed to work for services that are unexpected; it is a very poor and ineffective method of delivery for routine, expected services.

With the current insurance model the only cost containment is denial of service by the insurer. Patients with insurance pay a premium, so rightfully they want to get as much as they can for their money. Similarly, doctors seek as much treatment as they can from the insurance company, being naturally drawn to procedures that are paid the most by the insurers. Thus, to contain costs insurance companies must deny treatment. Medical decisions are influenced more by what the insurance company will likely pay for than what is medically appropriate. Routine medical treatments are routinely denied payment or require “prior authorizations” from doctors, meaning they must fill out multiple forms to prove their patient needs a particular treatment. As a result, costs rise and care declines.

Doctors start to realize what the insurance company will pay for–usually high-price procedures and specialty services. Over time this results in huge amounts of unnecessary costs, an overabundance of specialists and a lack of primary care physicians. Care further deteriorates because physicians find they can make much more money by spending less time with patients. Doctors are no longer doctors but rather now serve as intermediaries between the insurance company and patients.

The system needs to change so that it empowers patients and physicians to work together to provide the most appropriate treatment in the most cost-effective manner. Medical savings accounts–with negotiated rates to prevent overcharging–would be a step in the right direction.
An even more significant change would be converting to payment on a cash basis. We have found that, almost without exception, laboratories, doctors and other services will happily take 70% less if paid in cash at the time of service. Their costs are increased by that much if they have to bill insurance companies and incur other expenses–plus the risk of denial–in an effort to obtain payment which, if approved, generally arrives 30 to 300 days after initial billing. For instance, we have contracts with the major laboratories at 70% less than what they bill insurance companies. CT scans and MRIs, usually billed $2,500 to $3,000 to insurers, are contracted at a rate of $165; colonoscopies that doctors bill at $1,500 are done for $400. The cost savings are not in the care but rather the system.

Most patients with “good” insurance are relieved when their insurance pays 50% to 70% of the bill. They are surprised to find, however, that their co-pay is usually more than the cash price would have been for the service. A recent patient who visited our office, for example, had extensive lab work (21 tests). The lab billed the insurance $1,800 and the insurance paid $1,200; the patient was billed a $600 co-pay. The cash price would have been less than $400.

What is the solution? It is to expand medical saving accounts. But in doing so, the government must require that all doctors, laboratories, hospitals and other services post their rates, and cash must be the least expensive rate. With these entities competing against one another, costs will plummet and quality will improve.

What about those who cannot pay out of pocket? Instead of an employer paying, say, $500 per month to a third party, $400 per month could go into the medical saving account and $100 could go toward catastrophic care insurance. Most of the money rolls over each month to be potentially used in the future, but some can be returned to the patient. This is a big incentive to keep costs low.

With all the money saved on routine and semi-emergent care, better insurance can be provided for those most in need. Under this model, physicians would be able to provide the best medical care possible at the most cost-effective price.
- forbes.com -

With insurance costs ranging from 20 to 30 percent of the price of doing business, unscrupulous businessowners will sometimes take drastic measures to avoid paying the true premium on their business insurance policies. Premium fraud occurs when someone intentionally conceals or misrepresents information when obtaining insurance coverage. To prove fraud, it must be determined that the insured knew that the information he or she provided was untruthful and that the misrepresentation would influence the insurance contract and premium calculation.

When businesses apply for insurance, they provide information that allows underwriters to assess risk, analyze coverages, and calculate estimated premiums properly. Businessowners who intentionally provide false information during this process are committing application fraud. Application fraud — or premium fraud — can affect any line of business, including workers compensation, general liability, commercial auto, and inland marine.

When businessowners complete applications, there are numerous opportunities to falsify information. One of the most common misrepresentations occurs in describing the nature of the business and its operations. Businessowners can omit or misrepresent information in many ways to pay a lower premium than their actual operation warrants. Some businessowners intentionally provide incorrect information about employees’ duties with the intent of not paying the accurate and full premium. In fact, some employers underestimate payroll because it forces the carrier to finance their insurance premium — unknowingly to the insurance carrier. Companies also attempt to conceal information to misrepresent the business’s mailing address, locations, number of owners and officers, prior carrier information and loss history, and general information related to operational attributes of a risk.

Underreporting payroll used for premium calculations is one of the most common fraud schemes. The University of California Berkeley performed a study called The Grey Economy, which compared U.S. Census Bureau and industry payroll statistics with payroll data reported to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California. The data comparison estimated that 6 to 10 percent of payroll was not reported to workers compensation insurers in 1997, and the percentage grew to between 19 and 23 percent in 2002. Unreported payroll ranged from $31 to $106 billion during that period. Based on a premium estimate of 6 percent of payroll, lost premium fell about $6 billion dollars. Those figures are even more shocking considering they represent statistics for only one state.

Payroll comparisons have been proven to detect premium fraud. A company named Cover-All reported a significantly lower payroll to the California Department of Insurance than it reported to the Employment Development Department. Over four years, Cover-All, Inc., underreported payroll to its insurance carrier, which resulted in a premium loss of more than $7 million. Three suspects were arrested because of the California Insurance Department Fraud Division investigation that uncovered the crime.

Employers may provide insurance auditors with phony payroll records, pay employees in cash, or hire employees as independent contractors, among other deceptions.

The intentional misclassification of the type of work performed by employees can also lead to significant premium reductions. In some obvious schemes, employers report that a construction worker is employed as office staff, as was the case of the Boston Big Dig, where tunnel workers were reported to the carrier as clerical. The resultant loss was more than $11 million in premium. More subtle but just as significant ploys involve slight shifts in classification, such as classifying commercial roofers as “residential carpentry–detached one- or two-family dwellings,” code 5645. While the change may not seem significant, commercial roofing classifications typically have rates two to three times higher than residential carpentry. Employers may also misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying for workers compensation coverage. A recent study by the School of Industrial Labor Relations at Cornell University estimated that approximately 10 percent of workers reviewed during audits by the Department of Labor were misclassified as independent contractors. That number increased to 15 percent in the construction industry.

Another type of misrepresentation is experience modification evasion, which occurs when companies underreport employee injuries. Often minor injuries are paid in cash by the employer, instead of being reported to the carrier. Smaller companies may also form fresh entities under new names to wipe the slate clean and avoid the true experience modification. In either scenario, the precision of the underwriting function is compromised because the true nature of the total risk is masked.

Premium fraud can also occur after policies have been in effect. Individuals can alter certificates of insurance to falsify ­infor­mation about policy coverages, effective dates and limits, and other contractual provisions. Even more elaborate schemes have been devised. In September 2008, Risk & Insurance magazine reported that “the Florida Department of Financial Services has targeted shell companies that were formed for the purpose of creating phony certificates of workers’ compensation insurance.” Those companies would purchase coverage for minimal cost and then “rent” the certificates to subcontractors that needed to supply proof of insurance to work on a contract.

With so many opportunities for premium fraud, it is critical for insurers to know the indicators. Insurance agents, auditors, and investigators need to examine information submitted on applications, claim report details, and records supplied to auditors. Persistence is key to uncovering fraud. Indicators of possible fraud include an insured’s refusal of access to records, an inability to verify tax and unemployment records, payroll for first quarter that exceeds annual estimates, separate locations for operations and records, overuse of independent contractors for large risk exposures, and many more.

A number of organizations are committed to helping insurers combat premium fraud, including the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the 47 state fraud bureaus, and ISO and its Premium Audit Advisory Service (PAAS®).

Analytic and predictive tools are available for carriers seeking to make better underwriting decisions and better use of their audit resources. Carriers can take advantage of underwriting predictive models for improved risk selection and rating. Using account information along with third-party data to verify that information, underwriters can select risks matching their desired account profile and book of business. With the predictive model, they can more accurately price the risk at underwriting, improving cash flow management.

In addition, predictive modeling can help insurers more effectively use audit resources. Modeling can help them decide what accounts to audit first, based on potential for additional premium, and what type of audit to perform.

Most current practices for audit selection involve business rules based on the size of the account and occasionally the type of exposure. Predictive modeling is a more effective solution that can examine more factors and account characteristics — and can efficiently examine large volumes of historical data. Modeling can also identify complex patterns not easily discernable by even the most seasoned experts.

When policies are properly evaluated for premium potential early in the audit process, the premium audit team can generate a number of benefits, including more premium dollars, a lower loss ratio, an improved ROI for the audit function, increased investment income, and better underwriting of future policies.

Premium fraud is one of today’s most costly types of insurance fraud. But armed with the proper tools, underwriters and auditors can ensure that more premium dollars make it to the bottom line.

- iso.com -