Professional Marketing Associates

"How does one measure the value of a teleprospecting firm? The answer is easy for me. Do they achieve our goals and add to our profitability? PMA helps achieve our agency’s goals through

Professional callers who are able to reach decision-makers
Professional callers who don’t antagonize decision-makers
Getting very good information
Saving time for underwriting people by having the prospect prepared for the appointment with all pertinent information
Working with us on individual marketing plans

Thank you PMA for excellent service. You continue to provide us the opportunities to increase our business and history shows your value! How many telemarketing firms can boast of clients who’ve been with them for over ten years!"

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The Value PMA Delivers

Teleprospecting helps agencies write more business in less time because producers concentrate on sales meetings and servicing clients, instead of ‘beating the bushes’ looking for new prospects. Teleprospecting provides insurance agents with one of the best ways to find specific businesses that are most likely to buy from them. Interactive phone conversations make it possible to:

Identify decision-makers
Effectively communicate your agency’s strengths and competitive advantages
Probe for buying attitudes and gather a wealth of intelligence that will turn a larger pool of suspects into a focused target group of well-qualified prospects - quickly and cost-effectively
Establish positive perceptions and strong credibility
Schedule a steady, ongoing stream of qualified appointments
Give producers a ‘track to run on’

"We are very much aware and very appreciative of the efforts you and your staff have put in on our account during the past year. Your reports are timely, your people courteous, and your overall service is very responsive. I look forward to our continued relationship."

Capabilities

With nearly 20 years of direct marketing expertise, advanced database and contact management infrastructure and a highly trained and knowledgeable team of callers, PMA has the resources to quickly and efficiently deliver a steady flow of qualified appointments for your agency. From running specific niche campaigns to being an outsourced sales center; from local BOP targets to Fortune 1000 companies, PMA provides the full palette of marketing solutions to help your agency meet and surpass its production goals:

Telemarketing lists and counts
Professionally written and designed marketing materials
Sales database development and management
Web-enabled call stations
Flexible activity reports for your agency managers

"PMA is the best telemarketing firm I’ve ever worked with – and over the years we have used several different firms. I’d be more than happy to act as a reference any time."

Getting Started

After determining the appropriate size program or number of monthly calling hours to suit your production team’s appetite for appointments, PMA will work with you to order calling lists, develop ‘talking points’ tailored for your agency, and determine how visual support information (letters, formatted e-mail, etc.) will be provided to qualified prospects.

Establish objectives & goals
Develop agency background information sheet
Agree on phone approach & ‘talking points’
Agree on delivery channels for visual information

"Over the two years we've been working with your firm we've had some real success getting to see hard to reach prospects. In some cases PMA has made appointments that our producers had not previously been able to secure."

Lists & Prospecting Database

Your agents can provide their own lists, or PMA can order them - selected by business class, company size and geographic area. Through PMA’s on-line connection with the top national list compilers you’ll have instant access to counts and information about virtually every business in North America. Your agency can review lists and delete all unwanted targets before calling begins.

PMA creates a flexible contact management database for your agency, which can be customized with specific data fields to accommodate and track particular information or details. All information supplied to PMA as well that gathered during teleprospecting is the proprietary property of your agency and is held in strictest confidence.

Compile target calling lists
Scrub list for non-viable targets & existing customers
Set-up agency contact database
Create any customized data fields

"This is a true story: When we went on an appointment PMA had scheduled for our consulting and benefit division, the decision-maker told us that she was unbelievably impressed because your caller was so genuine and friendly. Not only did we write the account but also we were pleased with the way we are being represented by PMA."

Consultative Teleprospecting

PMA Account Executive callers are skilled communicators who work diligently on behalf of your agency. Generally a team of two specific Account Executive callers is assigned to your agency. This small-team approach means high-caliber communications, and results in more leads and appointments because your Account Executives have an ongoing familiarity with your agency and your prospect database – an advantage that other telemarketing centers don’t provide.

Calls are not scripted but proceed naturally from a basic Phone Approach tailored to your agency’s particular strengths and culture as well as the kinds of businesses targeted.

Qualified leads are much more than just x-dates. AE callers gather valuable sales information and make notes about prospects’ concerns and attitudes. While some leads are naturally stronger than others, prospects are only qualified if they are open to speaking with your agency and willing to switch insurance providers.

Assign & train AE callers
Identify insurance decision-makers
Gather strategic insurance information
Qualify prospects’ interest and buying attitudes
Deliver support information
Schedule appointments
Suspend prospects for future follow-up

"We're very pleased with what you've been doing for us. Our $4,000 program is very reasonable compared to the revenue we expect to generate. The producers really like the quality of the information your callers acquire."

"We’ve written two already but what’s even better than that is the stuff down the road. We have to have our calendars full and your appointments are the best way to do that."

Contact Management & Agency Reports

In general callers attempt to schedule appointments with all qualified businesses regardless of their renewal dates. When prospects prefer to meet with your producers closer to their month of expiration, PMA ‘incubates’ the qualified leads in your agency’s prospect database and a follow-up appointment call is scheduled at the appropriate later date.

Careful follow-up is key to a highly productive marketing effort. PMA maintains a ‘sales pipeline’ for your agency using versatile contact management software to keep track of all your prospecting data. We manage this database of pending prospects according to your directions. Since the process of qualifying prospects and converting those leads to appointments is ongoing, PMA works with your agency’s prospect ‘pipeline’ month-by-month: sending your promotional information, tracking upcoming x-dates, making follow-up calls and scheduling appointments for your producers. All information in your prospecting database is your agency’s proprietary property and is held in strict confidence. As calling proceeds PMA will keep your agency informed of ongoing activities and results via a number of tailored client reports faxed or emailed to your office each month.

Incubate qualified leads in prospecting database for future follow-up
Re-contact prospects prior to renewals to schedule appointments
Ongoing database management
Monthly progress & status reports

"FYI - I have had some nice hits thanks in part to PMA's set appointments. We placed coverage for an architect firm, a retail shoe store with locations in MA & RI, as well as florist shop. KEEP THEM COMING!"

"Last year I went out on an account August 19th and we wrote it effective September 1st for $299,000".

"...So far, I've written a couple of accounts in the $15,000 to $20,000 premium range. We'll be calling you to generate another round of leads probably for the Fall...."

" You folks are doing great. Tell Joe (Joe Arak, PMA Principal) that I wrote the insurance for the first appointment you folks set for me....about $60,000 premium. Thank you all very much! Keep up the good work!"

Return on Investment

The number of appointments PMA generates for your agency over any given period of time will vary according to the size and classes of target businesses, the time of year, the location of your agency and other variables. While no two campaigns or markets produce the same results, over time you can expect a solid, bankable return on your teleprospecting investment.

AE callers typically generate one or two qualified leads per calling hour and one appointment every two to three hours. Employee Benefit teleprospecting trends toward fewer overall leads than P&C business. As your agency’s database of qualified prospects grows, so will the number of monthly appointments. Some programs, of course, yield considerably more commission income than others. The process of turning suspects into prospects, and prospects into new accounts is ongoing. The full measure of telemarketing productivity clearly increases over time.

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