Labels Matter when it comes to Liability

Take care when using terms like “specialist” or “expert” when describing your business or job title to a customer. In some cases, agents who hold themselves out as “specialists” may be held to a higher standard than those who are simply advertising services as an “insurance agent.” The logic behind this is that experts provide advice and are therefore more likely to follow a standard of care that is expected of an advisor, while agents typically procure insurance coverage the customer is asking for. For instance, a property and casualty insurance “expert” may be expected to provide advice or make assessments regarding all of the customer’s insurance needs including but not limited to pointing out potential coverage gaps the customer may not be aware of, exploring and explaining available limits and policy exclusions which should be tailored to that client’s needs. In a case like this, the customer may hold the agent responsible for not identifying and providing coverage for exposures the agent should be aware of as an “expert” in the field.

Although insurance professionals may often view themselves as experts, consider using the term in marketing and promotional materials only if you’re sure this term accurately describes your knowledge level and the level of care you believe is expected of you by your customers. Consider usage of terms like “expert” or “specialist” carefully especially when it comes to marketing collateral and websites. Although there are advantages to promoting yourself or your business as an industry “expert” or “specialist,” these terms can also leave you vulnerable to E&O claims. To help avoid E&O claims, consider taking the time to determine what standard of care you will be providing and how this impacts your customers’ expectations before titling yourself an “expert” in the field.

All information provided in this blog is for informational purposes only. The sources used are presumed accurate. CalSurance Associates, Brown & Brown Program Insurance Services, Inc. and Brown & Brown, Inc. will not be liable for any errors, omissions, losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use and will not assume responsibility for any misguided information. No guarantees are implied.

Financial Advisors Using Yelp for More than Just Restaurant Recommendations?

A new SEC guideline now allows investment advisors to publish public reviews on third-party websites, possibly giving advisors the opportunity to leverage this new freedom as a marketing opportunity to build business.

The new SEC guideline to rule 206(4)-(a)(1) of the Investment Advisors Act of 1949 essentially states that advisors may publish unaltered public comments about their services that are posted on third-party websites, provided that they include all comments, both positive and negative, and that the advisor has no connection to the third-party site or influence on the comments. Additionally, advisors may post a mathematical average of comments from third-party review sites.

Ultimately, this new guideline allows investment advisors to participate in a PR/marketing channel from which they have been previously excluded, due to SEC regulation. Multiple industries, including restaurants, hotels, spas, and so many more have relied on endorsements, reviews, and recommendations from happy customers on websites such as Yelp or Angie’s List as a form of promotion. Although this provides a new opportunity for advisors, they must carefully measure the pros and cons of publishing reviews as this decision affects both PR/marketing efforts as well as regulatory compliance.

For investment advisors, it’s important to keep in mind that the world of free, open-forum reviews is a double edged sword. The SEC guideline clearly states that both positive and negative reviews must be published as they are, unedited. Although positive feedback can give your advisory business a boost, it’s important to maintain compliance with the SEC and any other applicable regulations, as well as be prepared to counteract potential negative feedback. Although no professional desires negative feedback, not all negative reviews are bad. Sometimes, this is an opportunity to find out where you fall short, and show customers that you have taken action to remedy any previous challenges. In some cases, the story of turning an unhappy customer into a happy customer makes the best review.

All information provided in this blog is for informational purposes only. The sources used are presumed accurate. CalSurance Associates, Brown & Brown Program Insurance Services, Inc. and Brown & Brown, Inc. will not be liable for any errors, omissions, losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use and will not assume responsibility for any misguided information. No guarantees are implied.

Free Tools to Assess Your Competitor’s Marketing & Advertising Efforts

Although the term “you get what you paid for” usually holds true, there are some ways to access free tools in business that can be quite valuable when properly implemented. For instance, before committing to a paid service, subscription, or other vendor, look for companies that offer free trials prior to purchase. Companies that are confident in the effectiveness of their products or services rely on free trials knowing the product will sell itself.

Across most industries, companies are relying more heavily on software tools that not only help track and analyze their own website performance, but also analyze competitor performance. Below are just a few of the services currently available to help you start thinking about what options you may look into to improve your marketing and advertising efforts, or simply to get a better idea of the competitive landscape.

SEMRush.com

Although this is a paid service, you can get free sample reports from competitor websites. Reports contain various tracking metrics such as organic and paid keyword data, ad content, website traffic, and more.

Wordstream.com

Word Stream provides pay per click (PPC) software to help companies optimize their online advertising campaigns. Although services and pricing vary, Word Stream offers a number of free offers including: AdWords Landing Page Grader, PPC Advisor free trial, PPC Optimized Landing Pages & Leads free trial, and a number of other free reports. Try downloading a report to assess whether or not the data you receive is useful to your marketing needs.

Moz.com

Moz offers website analytics to help track and improve search engine optimization (SEO), social media, branding, link building, and content marketing efforts. Moz offers subscription based services at various price points and currently offers a free 30 day trial.

All information provided in this blog is for informational purposes only. The sources used are presumed accurate. CalSurance Associates, Brown & Brown Program Insurance Services, Inc. and Brown & Brown, Inc. will not be liable for any errors, omissions, losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use and will not assume responsibility for any misguided information. No guarantees are implied.