Summary
It may seem like a bold move to approach the owners of bike dealerships directly to ask if they will refer your insurance company to their customers. After all, they have spent years carefully building their industry reputation and fostering relationships with customers. And of course, the first question they would ask is ‘What’s in it for me?’
In order to get them onboard, it was important to communicate the financial benefits of joining the Swinton Bikes Dealer Scheme clearly and succinctly. Bike dealers are busy individuals so we needed to grab their attention. And we did. Our campaign launch pack used powerful direct mail techniques along with strong messages, simple instructions and clear benefits.
Measured on cost per call, dealer referrals are the single most cost effective of all Swinton Bikes channels. Over 21,000 leads have been generated since the launch of the campaign and referrals continue to increase year on year.
About the client company
Swinton Bikes is part of Swinton Insurance Group and was established to provide great value insurance policies to motorbike riders.
Strategy
In a crowded market it’s difficult to stand out, and the insurance market is definitely a crowded one. So in addition to using a variety of marketing mediums to generate new business, we decided to target our customers at precisely the point where they would be considering their insurance requirements – inside the dealership showroom.
To do this effectively we needed to enlist the help of bike dealership owners. By providing a cash incentive and a supply of specially designed Swinton Bikes business cards to hand out, potential customers had Swinton’s details to hand at exactly the right time. It was clear that the only way to communicate the benefits of joining the scheme effectively was by creating a DM pack.
Bike dealers are rewarded with £10 commission for every quote one of their customers gets from Swinton Bikes, whether the policy is taken up or not. The customer calls a unique dealer number supplied on the business cards so we can track which dealer has referred them. The result is we get new business leads and the dealers receive commission – this simple strategy is exactly why the campaign was so successful.
Objectives of the campaign
A lot of DM is received by motorbike dealerships, so it was imperative that this particular campaign stood out visually and was impactful and direct with its aim. Using a clear, straightforward message centred around earning ‘easy money’ combined with striking black and orange creative, this was one piece of DM that would, and did, get opened.
The campaign objective was two-fold: to sign up as many new dealers as possible with this campaign and to incentivise dealers that were already referring to send more business our way.
The target audience
Bike dealership owners can be tough nuts to crack. In this male dominated industry, more often than not they are bikers themselves and are straight-talking, results-led businessmen. They’re part of a community that has a reputation for looking after its own so they would have little desire to refer customers to just any insurance company. For that reason it was crucial we struck a chord with them in terms of the tone of voice we used, and how we conveyed our credentials and understanding of the biker insurance market.
We had to get it just right or our DM pack would be discarded along with the others. We took the same approach with our welcome pack and monthly mailings – the look and the language had to work to win them over and motivate them to respond.
Media, channels or techniques used
The campaign was launched with a DM pack outlining the Swinton Bikes Referral Scheme benefits and the £10 incentive for every referral. Every mailing was followed up a telephone call, which allowed us to address any concerns and answer any questions directly. This approach was extremely successful and we recruited over 500 dealership owners to the scheme.
Once they had signed up, the dealers were sent their unique business cards complete with trackable contact number plus other promotional material including a mousemat, keyring and pen. This was all designed to keep Swinton Bikes front of mind when they were completing a bike sale with their customers.
To keep up the momentum, we sent regular monthly mailings along with their commission cheques. For inactive dealers, this was also an opportunity to illustrate what they were missing out on and reiterate that they could start referring at any point and start earning ‘easy money’.
Timescales of the campaign
Launched in January 2010 with the initial DM to encourage sign up, this campaign continues to drive calls into Swinton Bikes and bike dealers receive monthly mailings.
