Writing Your Own Newsletter
November 2004
This is the fourth column on the subject of
personal lines risk management. The author believes that there are 16 additional
commitments to be made by an insurance agency wishing to add fee-based risk
management services to their personal lines customers. Writing a personally
produced newsletter is one of those commitments.
by Jack Hungelmann
Corporate
4 Insurance Agency, Inc.
Writing your own newsletter is essential, I believe, if you're going to provide
value-added risk management for your personal lines clients. It is one of the 16 commitments I make to clients as part of
my risk management framework of services. I see no other way to keep clients
informed of new laws, new coverages, new coverage limitations, and most important,
your expert risk management counsel on each than writing your own newsletter.
"Store-bought" newsletters (those generic newsletters written by others and
printed with your logo) don't meet this objective. Their primary purpose is
PR—to keep your name in front of clients. They provide little risk management
value. I receive these generics from accountants, lawyers, financial people—even
auto glass companies—all the time. At best, I glance at them before tossing
them. But when the stock market changes or a unique investment opportunity presents
itself, I receive a personally written letter from my financial adviser, along
with his financial advice regarding what actions he recommends I take. I always
read those letters cover-to-cover.
I just completed writing my 60th newsletter issue. I have written them three
times a year for 20 years (starting in January of 1985). I constantly receive
expressions of appreciation from clients. Many clients have newsletter folders
in which they keep back issues for future reference.
My office staff receives several calls responding to my advice each time
a new issue hits their doorstep. Here are some examples from my January 2004
newsletter to demonstrate the variety of topics you can cover in a newsletter
as well as the process of informing, analyzing, and then advising.
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Advised clients of the new Health Savings Account program effective January
1, 2004.
-
Advised clients with Medical Savings Accounts how to convert to Health
Savings Accounts and the advantages of doing so.
-
Passed on, from a police officer client, a risk management tip when selling
your car—keep the plates—ensuring that the new buyer is forced to do a title
transfer and reducing the risk to the seller of being involved in future
accidents where the vehicle is still titled in their name with no insurance
in force.
-
Introduced the new Medicare drug bill and advised clients what the bill
covers, its shortcomings, and my advice.
-
Informed clients of the new 2004 contribution limits for retirement plans—IRA,
simple, and 401(k).
-
Recommended to small-business owners considering retirement plans that
they download a copy of an excellent IRS publication explaining the pros
and cons of each choice.
-
Alerted clients to the new mold coverage restrictions or exclusions and
included a grid showing each of the personal lines markets we use along
with their new policy limits for property damage and liability claims. I
included hypothetical stories for a property claim relating to mold as well
as the liability claim, showing how a client could be harmed. Concluded
with my specific risk management advice as to what steps the client can
take to protect themselves and reduce the risks associated with mold claims.
-
Shared a story of a client and their children heading off for a winter
vacation to the beaches of Costa Rica followed by my advice on three things
to do when vacationing outside the United States.
With every January issue, I include an index of all past issues on topics
that are still current, along with the specific newsletter issue or issues in
which the topic was addressed. This resource certainly benefits clients, but
it is also a huge benefit to myself and my staff in locating pertinent topics.
I invite you to check out the most
recent index. You have my permission to use the topics for suggestions in
writing your own newsletter.
Writing Tips
If you're considering writing your own newsletter, here are a few suggestions
that have worked well for me over the years.
-
Keep it simple. I just use a piece of letterhead. I don't get fancy with
color or graphics. I know that the easier I make it, the more likely I am
to stay with it.
-
Use a simple format. I have always liked the brief bullet-like format
of the Kiplinger Letter. Makes it
easy for busy people to skip over topics that don't pertain to them. Using
short paragraphs and brevity makes it easier to write and easier to read.
-
Create a newsletter idea folder and keep it handy. As I receive notices
of changes or additions to federal or state statutes, coverage changes,
or new restrictions or exclusions, I just drop the bulletin in the folder.
If I'm discussing a particular problem with a client that I realize probably
affects many of my clients, I immediately jot a note to myself, and drop
it in the folder later. I have found if I do this faithfully, when it's
time to write the next newsletter issue I have more than enough important
topics that I can cover.
-
Commit to a manageable number of newsletters per year. For me, that is
three times a year. I doubt if I could have stayed with this for 20 years
if I tried to do any more than three times a year.
- Send your newsletter in an envelope with first-class postage. That conveys
the message that this is important and not junk mail.
The Educational Benefits to You
Clearly your client benefits a great deal by receiving a personally written
newsletter from you. But as I look back on 20 years of newsletter writing, it
occurs to me that a substantial amount of the personal lines expertise I have
did not come from the CPCU or CIC designations I have earned. Rather, it came
as a result of writing these newsletters. Every time there was a change in laws,
coverages, or other pertinent areas, in order to write informatively to clients
about the topic and then to be able to recommend strategies, I was forced to
really study each of the changes in-depth, often getting copies of the pertinent
laws or policies so I could understand and interpret them accurately for myself.
I probably could not have written the book Insurance
for Dummies without the expertise I gained writing these newsletters.
I have certainly experienced the wisdom of the principle, "If you really
want to learn something, teach it to others." I hope you can too.
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