Insurance agency marketing and sales are being transformed right before our eyes, and customer expectations are driving the change. The way your agency markets and sells insurance has changed more in the last few years than in the previous 30.

Brian Halligan at HubSpot explains it this way: "I started my career as a sales guy in the '90s. And back then, the whole funnel really was controlled by the sales rep. You're cold-calling somebody, and you manage the process all the way to the funnel. There's asymmetric information. The sales rep has all the information the prospect wanted, including pricing and discount options. You had so much control. Now, 90% of it has swung to marketing. It's self-service, and you need to be able to be very helpful to see to the top of your funnel. The game changed a lot."

The marketing activities that agencies have relied on for years to obtain and retain clients may not continue working as well as they have in the past.