ClientCircle blog

Hungry? The sink is leaking? Getting sued? It’s unlikely you’ll choose a restaurant, plumber or lawyer without first checking how many positive Google or Facebook reviews they each have. That applies to insurance agents too.

This might convince you to focus solely on a reviews-only strategy as the best way to grow and sustain your business. Bad idea. You’re missing out because both reviews and testimonials should be part of how you market your agency.

Reviews are collected by third parties like Google and Facebook. Testimonials are collected by a business. You shouldn’t focus on one at the expense of the other. Your search rankings, reputation and business growth are all based on how well you can manage collecting both.

It was a 2003 article in the Harvard Business Review entitled "The One Number you Need to Grow" that changed forever how we define client loyalty. Business strategist and author, Fred Reichheld, set the framework for the Net Promoter Score (NPS) which is used by many of the world's most successful companies.

So what's so good about this score, anyway?

Today, we find ourselves ranked 481 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. We ranked 62 among all software companies in the U.S. and the fastest-growing software company in Iowa. We’re very proud to be among so many other innovative and successful businesses.

A recent study by Advisor Impact examined how and why people refer their insurance agency to others. They found that 98% of personal recommendations occur when a client recognized an opportunity to help their friends and family. When you consider how these referrals are made, it’s easy to see why flat out asking for referrals seldom works.

Written testimonials are an exceptionally valuable form of referrals for insurance agencies.

For more reasons than you might think. Testimonials provide social proof, promote trust and confidence in the agency, boost employee morale, improve organic SEO, and establish an identity that prospects can associate themselves with. As an added benefit—one that is often overlooked—testimonials also significantly increase client retention.