Most insurance agents sound the same, with phrases like these littering agent websites or business cards:
- “We care about our clients.”
- “We offer great customer service.”
- “We’re your local, trusted advisor.”
Every insurance agent says these things, so if you want to stand out in today’s crowded insurance market, you need a clear, sharp, Unique Value Proposition (UVP) that means something to your ideal client.
UVP defines the value you create for your customers. Often, this involves creating a new way of segmenting the market, which could mean creating a new value proposition.
It answers the question, “Why you?”
The Problem with Most UVPs
Most insurance agents default to vague promises:
- “We work hard for our clients.”
- “We treat you like family.”
- “We’re fast and reliable.”
That’s not UVP, but customer service, which should be a baseline of your organization, not your main selling point.
Let’s Build a Better One
Here’s a simple 4-step process to craft a UVP that resonates with prospects:
Step 1: Know WHO You Want to Attract
Being everything to everyone is exhausting. It leads to letting prospects down and creating possible detractors who work against you. A great foundation to build on is finding more clients like your current ones by understanding who they are and what they want.
Another aspect you need to consider is your current product portfolio and determining the best clients for your current policy products. Maximizing your current opportunity by finding the best prospects for your current products is the lowest-hanging fruit to maximize your UVP.
Your ideal client can be:
- Contractors with 5–50 employees
- Tech startups under 3 years old
- High-net-worth families with teenage drivers
- Business owners offering ICHRA
- Whatever profile you discover for your best current clients
When you know your audience, you can tailor your message to them.
Step 2: Identify the Big Pain Point
As we mentioned in our previous article, anticipating needs is critical for agents to deliver what clients want when they need it. A significant part of this is determining the thing they care most about keeping them up at night?
Some examples of this include:
- A contractor worrying about uninsured subcontractors
- A startup founder who doesn’t “get” group health
- A family trying to protect teenage drivers without paying $8,000/year
Knowing their pain points enables you to deliver the UVP solution to their most concerning problem. Now, you’re not just selling insurance but solving a problem.
Step 3: Tie Your Solution to a Specific Outcome
Most solutions must focus on solving a specific problem or concern, so avoid saying, “I help clients get coverage.” A better UVP statement is, “I help roofing contractors avoid lawsuits from uninsured subcontractors.”
A better UVP statement is, “I ensure my roofing clients never lose sleep over certificates or compliance.” Focusing on the specific pain point to achieve a positive outcome immediately delivers unique value to clients by making their life easier in a particular way.
Step 4: Package It as a Clear Sentence
You want to make the UVP simple to understand, so here’s a simple formula you can use to develop your UVP statement:
I help [ideal client] solve [specific problem] so they can [desired outcome].
Some possible examples of UVP statements are:
- “I help restaurant owners find workers’ comp that won’t eat into their margins.”
- “I help families with teen drivers cut premium hikes without cutting coverage.”
- “I help startups with under 20 employees and offer flexible health benefits without going broke.”
You want your UVP to be clear, relatable, and humane to grab people’s attention and trust.
Say It Out Loud, and Don’t be Afraid to Adjust it
If you feel awkward saying it out loud to yourself, it’s not ready yet. Make the changes you need to make you feel comfortable, and then practice it with a friend, or better yet, try it on a prospect and see how he or she reacts.
If they say, “Oh wow, that is what I’ve been looking for,” you’re onto something. If not, keep adjusting until you hear those magic words or something like them!
You don’t need to be everything to everybody. You need to be exactly right for someone. Your UVP is the chance to tell people why you matter, not just why you’re “nice to work with.”
Agility market managers and product specialists know unique value propositions that work for insurance agents based on their experience selling insurance policies. Our team is happy to share their UVP experience and expertise with you.
Use their contact information to directly connect with our market managers and product specialists for assistance on your UVP statement. You can also contact Agility at (866) 590-9771 or email [email protected] to reach the agent support team about this UVP assistance.
Let Agility help you answer this question: “So… what’s your UVP?”
