Krishen Iyer shares why modernist marketing specialists are a good idea

By: Sumeet_Manhas

Whether you like it or not, your company is going to need a marketing guy, or more fairly, a marketing person. Be warned though: it’s not always an easy sell for people who are used to doing things themselves, and/or those who try to run a tight financial ship. Krishen Iyer, the owner of MAIS Consulting, understands the reservations that some company or agency owners may have to either hire their own marketing help or hire a consultant to help with these duties.

His company works with the insurance industry and advises them on all sorts of techniques to be successful and keep things going in that direction.

Marketing is a big deal, particularly in insurance where there are plenty of people selling similar products. So it’s important that anyone trying to make it needs to communicate clearly to their customers or prospective customers, not try to overwhelm them with too much data or scare them with possibilities, and create a pleasant and personable experience.

If done right, insurance professionals can create customers for life, clients who regularly up their policies or add on more products and coverage.

If done wrong, prospective customers will either not see your messages or not want to spend their money with you to protect them, their families, and their property.

Role of marketing professionals

The right marketing professional is also important. If you’ve already found methods that work for you and get a certain number of customers, great. He or she shouldn’t touch this – you know you, you know your community, and you feel comfortable with certain types of marketing methods.

But at the same time, he or she should also encourage you to try other methods to see what kind of results you get.

The ‘modernist’ approach can mean being open to exploring new methods to get the word out, including new technology.

It takes some trust: if you, as a company owner, refuse to budge from what you’ve learned about marketing 10 or 20 years ago, you won’t be doing anyone any favors and making people frustrated – including yourself.

So, if you collaborate with a marketing expert with a modernist viewpoint, they would like the opportunity to at least try to see what results they can achieve.

They won’t always work: there are so many variables in putting together a marketing campaign, all the way from larger economic forces to smaller factors like individual opinions.

But modernists like Krishen Iyer also need to have that excitement and the freedom to say “I wonder why this didn’t work. What happens if we try it this way?” or “I just read that ____ is getting good results trying something similar this way. Would you be willing to explore?”

Already, we can hear cash registers ringing in people’s heads, or cartoon images of money flying away. But smart marketing can be thought of as an investment and an effort to find something effective.

Plus prospective customers are also more likely to notice an insurance company using something unique, even if the initial effort doesn’t seem to get results.

“You’re the place that tried the TikTok” or “You’re the guy with the billboards that were up for a while.”

Modernists also have to know their stuff. This includes being aware of some of the history of the industry and different accepted marketing methods but also new methods and tools, such as current policies for Google for SEO efforts or Facebook for optimal visibility.

It also includes looking ahead to new methods and getting excited about everything from new algorithms to different devices. This excitement also needs to extend to new insurance products and introduce them to customers.

Helping an insurance firm let the community know about what it has to offer should also include educating them about the people involved.

Even if the various principals and employees don’t have time or interest to “do” social media regularly, they should at least have the basic professional pages in place as a way to be contacted or for people to learn more about them when doing their research.

A modernist also can look for ways to let people know about past products or past marketing methods. Maybe email blasts didn’t work five years ago, but improvements have been made in how to organize and integrate databases, add dynamic information to emails, and track responses.  

Krishen Iyer’s perspective

With more than 20 years of insurance experience, Krishen Iyer has a good perspective. He’s seen campaigns that have worked and campaigns that haven’t been as successful. He works with people new to the industry who need advice on getting noticed, and with industry veterans who have been at it for a long time but still need some guidance in competing and staying relevant.

Sometimes solutions can be as simple as pairing them both together – the newer member of the industry can learn from the person who has been around and also teach them a thing or two about new outreach methods, particularly digital offerings. Veteran members can share their wisdom and learn new marketing methods in the process.

Krishen Iyer grew up in California. He attended San Diego State University and earned degrees in public administration and urban development.

He has worked in different areas of insurance, including managing agencies and an affiliate distribution center that provided resources for insurance industry members.

One of his companies, NMP Insurance/Name My Premium, allowed customers to choose products based on how much budget they had available.

He next created a company called MBS/Managed Benefit Services which was a licensed insurance agency as well as a marketing firm. His clients were offered a variety of sales leads based on marketing data about interest in various products.

Following the sale of MBS, Krishen Iyer opened MAIS Consulting, which provides general support as well as marketing expertise.

By Sumeet Manhas

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