What takes up space in your portfolio? In retail, “share of shelf” is an important metric for measuring how much space a product occupies on store shelves. Insurance agents can borrow this concept to build a strategy that helps clients find the products they need when they’re ready to buy.
What Is Share of Shelf?
Let’s say you go into a store to buy some crackers. There are many different types and brands to choose from, so which box do you grab? If you don’t already have a particular brand in mind, there’s a good chance your decision will be guided by the placement of crackers on the shelves.
This is the basic idea behind “share of shelf” marketing.
If a brand takes up a large portion of the available shelf space, customers are more likely to notice it. Trax explains that around two-thirds of shoppers don’t decide what to buy until they are looking at their options on the store shelves, so having a large share of shelf is critical.
How Insurance Agents Can Use Share of Shelf
As an insurance agent, you might think the share of shelf isn’t particularly relevant. You don’t have a physical store where you stock boxes on insurance for your clients to grab off the shelves. However, two of the core principles still apply.
- You don’t have physical shelves stocked with insurance, but you do have a website, social media, business cards, and handouts that highlight your offerings. The more prominent a product is, the more likely it is to draw your clients’ attention.
- Many of your clients don’t know exactly what they want until they see the options in front of them. For example, they may need health insurance or be worried about their long-term financial security. But they may not know which insurance products will help them. This is similar to when you go into a store knowing you need crackers but not which type you’ll buy.
What Takes Up Space on Your Shelves?
If you sell Medicare, there’s a good chance that Medicare Advantage plans take up the lion’s share of your virtual shelf space. While it’s good to have a wide breadth of Medicare Advantage options, it’s also smart to think about how else you can diversify your portfolio.
Your clients may come to you for Medicare Advantage, but what about their other needs? A fully stocked insurance portfolio should include products that address other financial needs, as well.
These additional products may include:
- Final expense insurance
- Hospital indemnity
- Dental and vision plans
- Annuities
If You Don’t Fill in the Gaps, Your Competitors Will
Your clients have needs outside of Medicare. By selling these products, both you and your clients can benefit.
- Better Protection. Some of your clients may not realize they have coverage gaps. Offering complementary solutions educates them and helps them make informed decisions.
- Higher Revenue. To increase your revenue, you have to sell more products. In general, it’s easier to sell two products to 50 clients than it is to sell one product to 100 clients, so cross-selling is a smart way to increase your income.
- Increased Retention. When you help clients with multiple solutions, they have more good reasons to stay with you. If you don’t, they’ll have to go elsewhere, and they may take their Medicare business with them. After all, why should they deal with two insurance agents when they could get everything done with one agent?
Medicare rules prohibit agents from discussing non-health products during Medicare sales meetings and from discussing anything not on the Scope of Appointment. However, you can still showcase your full portfolio on your business cards, website, social media, and email signature. These are your shelves, so think about what’s taking up space.
Do you need more products to fill your shelves? In addition to Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and Medicare Part D, Western Asset Protection gives you access to top carriers offering hospital indemnity, life insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and more. Contact us for more information.