I sell advertising and to the person on the street, advertising is advertising. There are thousands of ways to advertise your business and even in a small town like ours there are literally a hundred marketing and advertising professionals you can talk to.

Worse still are professional services businesses. There are lots and lots of Financial Advisors, Insurance Agents, Banks and Realtors. These services have become commodities. They’re easily accessible and the bottom line a lot of times is price.

So how do you stand out?

By adding value. Insurance is one of the best examples of a service being viewed as a commodity. Typically, whoever has the lowest rate is the most competitive and for a small insurance agency this can be tough. Most insurance agents stand out via prominence in the community, building relationships and just letting enough time pass that they finally become well known. 

An agent I know (Sharon Galicia – Gulf South Benefits) does it by adding value and she does it in a way that has very little to do with insurance. Without getting paid for it or recognized in any way, she coaches people on personal development. By writing blog posts, giving talks to her clients businesses and by leading book studies on personal growth, she adds value to the people around her and in turn becomes INVALUABLE to her clients and contacts.

Next time a competitor comes along with a lower rate, her clients can not AFFORD to switch insurance agents, they’d have too much to lose…