By Laurie Donohue

“People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”

Most agents spend a good deal of time working on annual business plans. They work with carriers to set sales goals, annual budgets and future staffing needs. But, too often, they fail to include marketing in this process: marketing to both customers and prospects.

Why? Because agents focus on day-to-day operations. They spend their time on the “urgent,” and not always the “critical.” Marketing often falls in the “critical but not urgent” pile and gets put aside for the next claims issue or billing error.

Many say, “Marketing doesn’t work for me. It’s just an added expense.” And they’re right! Not because marketing doesn’t work—but because they didn’t plan or implement a thoughtful communications strategy.