Techniques for Discovering, Building and Communicating Differentiation A Primer for Insurance Firms to Gain Clients

As the sales and service representative for large insurance companies, insurance firms have to find differentiation in the context of competitors offering similar products. Of course, the primary challenge is to gain clients by demonstrated differentiation from competitive alternatives.

A clear understanding of one’s differentiated value is the bedrock of a sales and marketing strategy.  For example, an insurance firm that believes it can efficiently close consumer home owners policies will have a very different strategy from a firm that focuses on commercial business liability.  However, clearly defining the differentiated value and communicating it effectively (especially on the Internet) is a non-trivial task.  This issue is especially exacerbated by the expense of building and updating marketing communication vehicles such as websites. 

However, if an insurance firm uses a state-of-the-art Internet platform such as Ocoos, it can build an iterative learning process for discovering, building, and communicating a differentiated value statement.  Here is how it works:

1. Build an initial view of the differentiated value of your company:
   1. Write it down in a way to communicate to customer.
   2. Think about your proof points for building credibility.
   3. Identify competitive alternatives and answers to customer objections.
   4. Identify 3-5 example customers in the market segment of interest.
2. Build a website that communicates your initial point-of-view. In a platform such as Ocoos, this will take 5-10 mins.
3. Build a small survey in the platform (5-10 mins within Ocoos), which asks the consumers specific questions:
   1. Do they gain a clear understanding of your offering from the website?
   2. Do they understand your unique differentiation?
   3. Do they find the information credible? If not, what sort of information would convince them?
   4. What impediments--if any--exist to keep them from moving forward to a buying decision?
4. Run this survey with your example customers and gather feedback.
5. Iterate on steps 1-4 until you have settled in on your unique differentiation point, as well as focused on the market segment for which you are the obvious choice.

Once you have settled into a core strategy, the next step is to amplify your offering. How do you do that on the internet? The short answer is to build content around your core points of differentiation, establishing yourself as a “thought leader.” The longer answer will be in our next article (virtual communities).

 Looking For a Solution: Please Look at Websites For Insurance Agents

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