I know what it feels like to call on claims managers and be told they can only use an approved vendor and the approved list won’t be added to for another year by some obscure guy in Walla Walla , Wisconsin . 
 
I know what it feels like to work for years servicing an account, only to see it disappear overnight when the account is acquired by another company who now locks you out in favor of their own service providers.
        
I know what it feels like to hit your head against a defensive line of adjusters who don’t want to be sold, don’t want to meet anyone new and were already blitzed by several vendors before you got there.  
 
The entire process can be compared to beating your head against a brick wall. It hurts while you do it so you want to stop doing it.

Don’t despair. Someone understands. You can make this happen. Review your methods continually to find the methodology that fits for you. 

Find a game plan that works and stick with it. Use marketing techniques to build quality business relationships with adjusters — make this a long-term goal.

Participate in their claims associations and find ways to educate adjusters without selling them a service but by positioning your company as a resource.  Multiply your efforts and put the “law of large numbers” to work for you by a steady pace of contacts. 

If you sell services to insurance claims adjusters, your goal as a sales and marketing professional should be to have the adjuster see you as a “resource” rather than a sales professional.  
 
Unless you’re in a “Preferred Vendor Program” and they’re required to use you, most adjusters build lists of resources they’ll need in the course of handling a variety of claims. Years ago, they’d keep Rolodex or business card files. Today, they may use a PC, iPhone, Android or Blackberry to keep their lists, but you can bet your paycheck that they keep lists; and, they refer to them often.   

The challenge, then, is to get on the list and become a “favorite” on the list by breaking barriers and fulfilling your promises. Concentrate your marketing on a few you want to work for and make your marketing approach manageable, which means it will eventually be more effective.

Peter Crosa has been a licensed independent adjuster for more than 35 years, handling insurance claims throughout the United States and Latin America. Since 2000, he has traveled across the country conducting seminars and speeches on the topic of marketing restoration services to the insurance claims industry. He is author of the 2012 Restoration Contractors Guide to Insurance Repair. Visit his website at www.sshca.net or e-mail him your question at peter@sshca.net.