Astonish Results visited Berry Insurance in Franklin, MA to speak with their newest hire Amanda about breaking the typical stereotype of the insurance industry. Amanda did not plan on going into the industry but she said once she met the people in the office and enjoyed the work she put out, she was happy with her decision.

Whether she is blogging, updating their twitter accounts, or meeting with clients for their partners’ page, Amanda has taken on Berry’s insurance marketing efforts for the long haul. She will continuously work with VP Kaitlyn Pintarich on Berry Insurance’s marketing and digital strategy and will be getting licensed in insurance later this year.

While at Berry Insurance we also interviewed Kaitlyn to hear her point of view on how social media has taken the agency into the digital age, and how working with Astonish Results has benefitted them greatly.

Catch up with the “Changing Faces of the Insurance Industry” with Episode One

(The following is a guest post from Chris Kollar, Director of Marketing for Astonish Results partner Prostar Insurance in Washington. With offices in Bellevue, Renton and Sumner, WA, the agency has an influx of young talent and modern business practices which are reflected in the office culture.)

There is no doubt independent insurance agencies are on the ascent. The competitive edge that independent agencies have over their captive and direct writing counterparts is unmatched in 2010. In fact, an independent agency is defined by competition in many ways.

Multiple markets are the ground-force that provides the horsepower behind independents; wielding a dozen quotes in front of a customer within minutes is quite powerful- and it makes a statement. Captive agencies have a difficult time competing because of their monogamy, while direct writers suffer from their lack of a personal connection. All this being said, there is one aspect that stands out and makes it easy to find the perfect match of insurance carrier, coverage, and premium for almost any client- and that variable is the ‘fun factor’.

At Prostar Insurance, we often share a round of high fives when a client calls us coming from a company that we know is overcharging them for their Washington insurance coverage.  It happens quite often; many times leading to fist bumps, smiles, laughter, choreographed handshakes, hoots and hollers, and other unusual things you wouldn’t expect from an ordinary insurance office. The fun is infectious; seeping into the personalities of even the most docile and humble agents.

The bottom line…when your job flows smoothly and the difficulty of selling drops to a reasonable low; humor, creativity, and fun naturally rise to new levels. Of course, its’ still office humor and we have to make due with our theatrics utilizing the usual office props like coffee, spinning chairs, and multi-purpose paper. But overall, the creativity that stems from an independent agency is undoubtedly much higher than our ‘homo captivian’ counterparts. For this reason, we are able to expand our ideas and insurance marketing services to offer much more to our partners, clients, and agents than we ever thought before!

“But Jimmy, doesn’t all of this buffoonery and fun get in the way of your productive output?”

The simple answer is really… NO WAY! Most of the time, the uplifting comic relief is directly related to the work at hand, therefore we just have fun working! Many times it’s a funny comment as you pass someone’s office. Sometimes it’s a group huddle of weekend experiences, incredible stories of savings to our customers, or really anything that creates more of a connection between everyone in the office. That’s really what its’ all about, an office atmosphere that is more like a group of friends and family, which will always be healthier and more productive than a stiff-collared  office of ‘professional’ 9 to 5ers who walk in…work…and walk out; The balance of fun and productivity comes naturally!

It’s an exciting day for IMHQ as we announce a new “Changing Faces of the Industry” video series aimed at showing how the insurance industry is evolving by introducing a new breed of agency employee.

The topic of attracting young talent to the insurance industry has been a popular one on this blog with multiple posts on the topic including:

• Millennial Mentality Keeps Insurance Agencies from Aging to Irrelevancy
• A Millennial’s Perspective on Attracting Youth to the Insurance Industry

The new video series takes it a step further by actually putting young or non-traditional insurance agency employees front and center to explain what attracted them to the industry. Furthermore, the brief interviews will focus on educational and work experience to document the different paths and skill sets being introduced at agencies throughout the country.

For the first several segments, all interview subjects will be clients of Astonish Results (the company that supports this blog), but we’d like to spotlight other agents and producers with unique work histories  in the future.

The first segment comes courtesy of Provider Insurance Group in Needham, MA who recently hired Julie Wetherbee as a marketing manager to handle some of the social media and partner building responsibilities. Ms. Wetherbee also happens to be a TV reporter for NESN’s (New England Sports Network) Dirty Water TV.

Changing Faces of the Insurance Industry videos can also be viewed on the Astonish Results agency Youtube channel.

According to several Internet sources, June 28th is National Insurance Awareness Day. Aside from a couple blog entries making reference to this notable industry date (which is also shared by Paul Bunyan Day), there does not seem to be any person or entity claiming the creative rights to the not-quite-Hallmark holiday.

A simple Google search brings back confirmation of June 28th as National Insurance Day, but the closest explanation from HolidayInsights.com states generically, “…you can be certain that insurance companies had a little something to do with the origination of this day.”

Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a California health insurance agent’s tongue-in-cheek (I think) explanation of how his office celebrates National Insurance Day, which involves lighting a candle and some other celebratory activities. In their own words, “In fact, an exotic dancer is sometimes hired to heighten the festivities, but the dance performed, the ‘Insurance Dance,’ is very protective in nature. Just watching it performed gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling all over.”

Aside from these two posts and a few press releases looking to capitalize on the date, there’s virtually nothing that would make National Insurance Day noteworthy to anyone…until now.

Firstly, anyone who has more information about the origins of National Insurance Awareness Day, please chime in the comments section. Whether you’re an insurance marketing person staking claim to its invention or just an agency that’s celebrated in the past, we’d love to know what ritualistic activities make this day special?

For planning purposes, here are some suggestions to build on for future National Insurance Awareness Day celebrations.

• Offer to shred commercial partner papers and recycle for free in your office
• Sponsor a safe driving course
• Set up a wrecked car outside the agency with a sign, “Are you insured?”
• Get a pizza place to hand out your business card w/ every slice they deliver and offer to promote them for it
• Host an Insurance Awareness Day line dance
• Shoot a humorous video showing how insurance is often overlooked
• Have an agency rounding off contest – whoever adds the most policies, gets a paid day off
• Support a local non-profit that you are passionate about and encourage locals to match
• Dress like an insurance agent day – play up the stereotype, the less stylish the better
• Deliver baked goods or branded schwag  to VIP commercial insurance partners around town
• Host an insurance agency Olympics competition
• Publicly re-enact the some of the oddest insurance claims your agency has ever received
• Donate employees for a “Bring your agent to work day.”
• Do a publicity stunt with a partner or town (fire drill) to draw awareness to insurance
• Bake an Insurance Awareness Day cake
• Give away  “Home/Auto Insurance for a year” to the person who can share the most inspiring insurance story
• Have an insurance awareness scavenger hunt
• Send out a humorous email blast notifying people of the date
• Spend the entire day volunteering to call attention to the fact that insurance agents don’t just sell
• Cover yourself in dollar bills & business cards and carry a megaphone around town inviting people to grab you

With a little creativity and a keen grasp of your community, the ideas are really endless. While it’s a bit late for a throwdown in 2010, our calendars are marked and we look forward to making June 28, 2011 the Insurance Awareness Day that changed the industry…

Special thanks to @Carrie_AGIns and @AlysonDelPaggio for bringing the important date to our attention.

(This is the first post by Alicia, Astonish Results’ new social media intern)

After every twenty-something throws their cap at college graduation, then pushes through the crowd to find their family, the first question posed to them is always the same. So what are you going to do now? Some know and some do not, but for the most part, every college graduate has one thing in mind. Ok maybe two: getting away from home, and most importantly, where can they make the most money?

After speaking with some recent college graduates, money seems to be the driving motivator in determining their ideal workplace (hardly a shock). Without a long career history, there is also a feeling that no dream is impossible and a willingness to reach higher and higher to get that “dream job” the first time around. Whereas some fail because of an overly inflated sense of entitlement or value, some succeed, depending on how hard they work.

The insurance industry is a bit different. Ask any recent grad why they did NOT consider insurance and they will most likely all say the same thing, “It’s too boring.” But when speaking with two recent college graduates who have entered the insurance industry, they both seemed to have legitimate interest in their jobs.

When asked what they liked most about their jobs, both replied that they enjoyed the extensive training and office atmosphere their workplaces offered, which happen to be two insurance companies, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and The Hartford.

So do they feel out of place in an industry that tends to be dominated by an older, less than riveting crowd?

One millennial answered saying the group she was put into for training and team work had mostly twenty-something professionals, so she felt comfortable in the setting. With all new employees gathered together to learn with one another, it creates a sort of morale-building exercise in and of itself. The second interviewee said she was the youngest in the office. And while it felt awkward at the beginning, she now enjoys her job and the people who work alongside her (an often hugely underrated factor).

Personally, if someone had mentioned a career in insurance to me a month ago (I’m a recent grad as well), they would have been greeted with a blank stare. After starting with Astonish Results as a social media intern, I realized that it is not so much the industry you work in, but what and who you work with. Working in an environment with vibrant personalities that can teach and listen has been the most rewarding aspect so far. I’m quickly learning that you never know how a job will turn out until you take a leap from what is comfortable, and open up your mind to learn something new, and also learning that insurance marketing can be fun.

So in a stereotypically unattractive and un-youthful industry, how can insurance companies and agencies attract bright young talent?

With many millennial graduates thinking dollar signs fresh out of school, the reality of the economy and inexperience often deals a blow to their delusions of grandeur. Fortunately, atmosphere and office culture seem to rank high on the scale of importance as well. If the atmosphere of the office can provide educational tools and support, while being filled with interesting and exciting people and ideas, the younger talent may think twice before saying “boring” after hearing “insurance industry.”