Just about every business professional uses LinkedIn – but very few are taking advantage of a premium service that offers qualified leads to brokers for a minimal monthly fee.

“One of the speakers at the upcoming P&C Crystal Ball, Andrew Jenkins, will be talking on social media selling. He will be explaining how you can use LinkedIn to get qualified leads,” says Eric Walker, a managing partner with CW Group. “For something like $20 a month, you can use the more advanced version of LinkedIn to get qualified leads. And that is something brokers don’t know.”

It is a subject that Jenkins had spoken about at an earlier conference that Walker attended.

“I was intrigued by it, so I’m going to try it,” he told Insurance Business.

Jenkins, chief strategist at Volterra Consulting, is one of 10 scheduled speakers at the 13th annual P&C Crystal Ball on January 23, in Toronto at the International Plaza Hotel, Toronto Airport. This year’s theme is Plan for Change, Create the Future.

“The focus will be on forecasting what is coming to the industry for 2014,” says Walker. “The marketplace is becoming more competitive: how are brokers going to deal with telematics? Are they going to be able to cope with the 15 per cent auto premium reduction target? With the constant consolidation in the marketplace, this gathering is aimed specifically at the independent broker.”

The Crystal Ball – which traditionally is attended by 130 to 150 independent brokers – is viewed as a way to take stock of the year to come, Walker points out.
“It is an opportunity at the beginning of the year to do the environmental scan of their business plan,” he says. “Last year it was search engine optimization – next year may be telematics. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone addresses that very topic this year.”