How To Stand Out Against "The Big Guys" In Your Area

It's likely that there are plenty of insurance agents in your area. It's likely that each of them claim to deliver trustworthy, top notch service to your community. It's also likely that some of them are with larger, captive carriers. Maybe they have big signs out front of their offices and promotional vehicles and one of those giant inflatable dancing guys in the parking lot. Maybe they have larger budgets to pay Google and a call center chock full faceless customer service agents to respond to questions.

OK. Fine. Great. BUT.

Just because they might be bigger doesn't mean you have to lose business to them. You have one very important advantage in this game. You're there. Front and center. You're there to shake hands and kiss babies (I mean, with COVID, no one's ever touching again anyway, so we're adapting but you know what I mean). Being present in the pond gives you a leg up against the bigger fish.

Here are a few tips you can use to stand out in front of the "so-called" bigger guys in your community:

1. BE PART OF THE CHAMBER GANG
Your local Chamber of Commerce offers a ton of opportunity for you to get your face and name out into the community. It may feel like an outdated, old-timey resource, but that couldn't be more untrue. It's the easiest way to stay on top of what's actually happening in your community and to take advantage of the chance to get involved.

2. CHARITY CHARMS
This is such a no-brainer/win-win we feel like it can NOT be overlooked. Find out which charities are active in your community and become active in them. You'll have a chance to meet potential clients while DOING GOOD and getting your face attached to that GOOD DOING. How on earth could you pass that up?

3. SUPPORT ALL THE SMALL BUSINESSES
Supporting small businesses in your area does a few things. It shows business owners that you're FOR their business and you're FOR their town, while you're building relationships at the same time. You're getting out, you're supporting, you're seeing and you're being seen. And you're probably having the best burgers in town while you're at it.

4. HIRE FROM WITHIN
The quickest way you build a reputation is to build your own community within the community and where better to do that than where it's all happening. Your business. Hiring people who live in the town you sell to does that for you automatically. Creating jobs and contributing to the success of the community will pay back big time.

5. CREATE A SMALL LOCAL BUSINESS REWARDS PROGRAM
It sounds difficult, but it's not. Going from business to business asking if they'd like to be involved in a program that offers discounts at the cost of great promotion is seen two ways. You're trying to get people in their doors and at the same time, you're trying to make those people happy once they're through them. This is a great strategy for small towns!

6. BE THE FACE AT EVERY TOWN EVENT
Ok, maybe selling insurance doesn't make you Pitbull, but you can certainly be the Mr. Worldwide of local 5Ks and town carnivals. At the end of the day, if you're a friendly person and you're doing good business, it's going to add up. It doesn't matter what you're selling.

This is a true instance of quality over quantity. Doing business with someone you know and feel comfortable with, and who you see as someone who has helped you in some way already, will always beat out a faceless name from a distance. A more personalized sense of service will win every time.