The success in this space, for anybody, is going to be the relevance and authenticity of their message.

People who wonder why social networking has gone viral should consider rocking out to The Beatles. Borrowing a line from John, Paul, George and Ringo, “Sometimes you just need a little help from your friends.”

In the insurance agency business, that friend could be a trusted colleague, a more experienced mentor and even an insurance carrier partner. The relationship can be nurtured in person or online. But whatever format the friendship takes, building rock solid relationships is paramount.

Take for example the producer program at Thoits Insurance in San Jose, Calif. To train recent college graduates, “newbies” are paired with a more experienced mentor, and the two are “joined at the hip” for about three years as they write business. Paul Saich, the company’s CEO says developing the mentor-mentee relationship is not cheap; he spends about $100,000 per year for each “newbie,” and has about four or five “newbies” being trained at one time. But, when the relationship works, it pays dividends.

“One of our newbies is a very established producer today, and we were able to write anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000 in commission each year when myself and him were paired up (as mentor-mentee),” Saich said, noting the relationship chemistry was “just right.” Without the “friends” working together, the two wouldn’t have pushed each other to grow, he said.

As another example, Fireman’s Fund is partnering with its independent insurance agents to grow their Web presence. The carrier helps to provide content that can be fed to the agents’ own Web sites. That means the agency benefits from Fireman’s Fund’s articles and, to the consumer, the agency gains the reputation of being an expert on certain topics. By being such a good “friend” to its agents, the company has learned what issues are important to customers, so it can help them mitigate and reduce their overall risks.

“The success in this (Web 2.0) space, for anybody, is going to be the relevance and the authenticity of their message,” said John Hosbein, vice president of online marketing for the company.

Authenticity is necessary in any kind of successful relationship, whether it be in person or online, according to Mike Robbins, who recently spoke at a CPCU-Mt. Diablo (Calif.) chapter meeting. Sure, an agent could have a million “friends” on Facebook, but the agent won’t really be able to grow his business online or in person unless he develops those friendships on a personal level and finds out what people’s needs and concerns are. However, spend the time to build those relationships with or without the Internet, and business can grow by leaps and bounds.

Sometimes there’s a lot of resistance to being authentic in your relationships, Robbins said, noting people can take on a persona because they think it’s the right thing to do, or they fear they will not live up to expectations. But the most effective relationships are ones that can work through conflicts, are respectful, personal and genuine.

“If you like working with certain clients, tell them why, be genuine and celebrate what you want to see more of. … The relationship will grow to become even more real and authentic,” Robbins said.

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