 |
Receive alerts when new articles are uploaded by subscribing to our
e-notification service. |
|
Home |
Insurance |
Mitigation |
All Audiences |
Events |
Publications |
Websites |
Search |
About Us
|
|
Connecting Consumers to AgentsThe NFIP's marketing campaign, FloodSmart, uses many tools to educate consumers about the risks of flooding and the benefits of protecting their homes and businesses with flood insurance. These tools include direct response television commercials, a direct mail campaign, online and print advertising, and various public relations initiatives.Each of the methods employed by FloodSmart is designed to motivate the consumer to either log on to the FloodSmart website or call a toll-free telephone number (888-379-9531) for more information. By logging on to floodsmart.gov, consumers can learn about their own personal risk of flooding and find out what the financial cost of a flood might be to them. Armed with that information, consumers can then click on the "Find an Agent" button to locate an insurance agent nearest to their address for a quote on a flood policy. When consumers choose to call the toll-free number, they dial the NFIP Call Center established in 2003 especially for the NFIP's marketing efforts. Upon reaching the Call Center, consumers are offered a free FloodSmart brochure that will be sent to their home or business. Consumers may also ask the Customer Service Representative to look up a list of flood insurance agents near them. More importantly, the Call Center has the ability to dial the insurance agent of the consumer's choice and transfer him or her directly to the agent. Insurance agents must participate in the Agent Referral Program to benefit from this feature (registration is through the FloodSmart Agent secure site). There are now more than 6,000 qualified agents enrolled in the Agent Referral Program. FloodSmart employs two types of direct mailings that also can play an important role in connecting consumers to agents: acquisition and retention. All of the acquisition direct mail pieces FloodSmart sends out to attract new policyholders contain contact information for an insurance agent close to the recipient's address. Insurance agents participating in the Agent Referral Program can count on their names being included in these mailings. Retention direct mailings, which encourage consumers to keep their flood insurance policies, actually contain the name of that consumer's insurance agent, which adds a personal touch to the direct mail effort. The Agent Co-Op Program is one more way consumers get connected with insurance agents. Through this program, agents are reimbursed up to 50 percent of their advertising costs to use professionally produced materials to advertise locally in Yellow Pages, newspaper, magazine, radio, billboard, and direct mail. Agents can qualify for an additional 25 percent reimbursement when they participate in NFIP training. To date, more than 850 insurance agents participate in the Agent Co-Op Program. As you can see, the marketing efforts currently taking place benefit the agent community in many ways. Since the beginning of the FloodSmart campaign, more than 6.6 million consumers have been put in touch with agents nationwide. Denise Quinn at PAP Financial, an agency that writes for Allstate, had this to say about the Agent Co-Op and Agent Referral Programs: "The co-op program is proving to be beneficial to our agency. We receive consumer calls based on our use of magazine templates in our local medium. We also refer to the FloodSmart Agent secure site regularly. Our agency is registered in the referral program, where we receive an average of one lead per month. We will continue to use the program." |
|
Last updated on March 1, 2007
|