Leads

Where to Turn for Insurance Lead Generation

Agent & Advisor Stuff, Leads, Marketing / By

As an insurance agent, your success will hinge greatly on your marketing plan. How re you currently generating leads? Are you confident in your current strategy or are you ready to make some changes? Although you may think you are on the right path, adding a few new techniques here and there could help you increase sales.

Direct Mail

Believe it or not, direct mail is making a comeback among professionals in many industries – insurance.

If you are going to rely on direct mail, make sure you target consumers in a particular area. Along with this, spend time perfecting your mailer. From a sales letter to a postcard, you must be sure that you are providing the consumer with the information needed to move forward with contacting you.

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Life Insurance Leads

Agent & Advisor Stuff, Leads / By
Life Leads

Over the past year or so I have seen an uptick questions related to insurance leads.  Many of the questions have come from agents and financial advisors after they have already tried various types of life leads and the main question I get is where to find a good lead company.

After digging a bit I typically find the underlying issue is not the source as much as HOW the lead is processed.  If the method of working a lead is not sound the producer won’t realize success on a consistent basis no matter how good the lead source might be.

So….today I want to go over a few basics regarding contacting a lead.

Reminder: This advice goes along with the speed to contact advice posted here.

Here are three steps to follow when a working a life insurance lead (or just about any other type of insurance lead):

1. First attempt to make contact on the telephone as soon as it comes in. As you know, it is much easier to close a sale over the phone because you can work with the consumer to better understand their situation.  This also gives you an opportunity to make content at the peak of interest before other distractions come into play (assuming it is a real-time lead).

2. Make use of email. There are going to be times when a consumer wants to communicate via email and it is important that you meet the prospect at their preferred medium. When you contact a lead via email, make sure you are concise and complete with your answers. Since you are not communicating in real time, you need to make as much progress as possible with each message you send.  Take a forward looking approach and try to answer any questions or objections you could encounter beforehand. If you have already spoken with the person on the follow use email to recap and pitch your unique value.  If you have exhausted all efforts add the lead to on ongoing drip email marketing series and follow up manually on renewal dates.

3. Don’t give up after one failed attempt. You may call an online insurance lead just to find that they don’t answer their phone. As frustrating as this can be, you don’t want to give up. Continue to make contact until you finally get the person on the phone.  I suggest making at least 7 attempts via phone before moving a lead to an auto responder list.  You will probably be surprised  to see how many leads end up converting at 5 call attempts.

Are you confident in your ability to follow these three steps? If so, put them into practice and you will be ready to make progress with online life insurance leads.

For a good look at life insurance lead sources I recommend checking out this site.  You can also check out Kevin’s ILR or our Where to Buy Leads post.

Why Should I Purchase Insurance Leads Online?

Agent & Advisor Stuff, Leads / By

So I’m a big fan of making things easier on myself. In turn, I really like the availability and relative ease of online leads. There are plenty of snags and frustrations in the process but compared to the old days it is a no brainer for me. There is a negative stigma out there and when I’m working with newer agents I do tend to get some resistance at first. Below is an article I wrote a while back that got buried away. I recently came across it and thought this would be the ideal place to share. 🙂

Purchasing insurance leads online is a trend that has grown in popularity over the past 5 or so years. As more and more people spend time online, the number of agents following suit continues to increase. Before you begin to purchase leads via the internet, you need to become familiar with the many benefits as well as the advantages when compared to more traditional strategies.

High Quality Leads

One of the primary benefits of buying online is that you are guaranteed to receive high quality insurance leads. No matter if you buy a couple of leads each month or more than 100, you know that the quality is going to meet your standards. If a particular lead does not offer the quality you are interested in, you can request a refund from the provider. This gives you peace of mind as you continue to purchase leads with the hopes of finding a steady stream of new clients and revenue.

Affordable

It is a common myth that purchasing insurance leads online is an expensive endeavor. Although you are required to pay for these leads, most agents find that they are quite affordable. To ensure that you are getting the best price per lead, compare the offerings from several companies.

No matter how much you spend on insurance leads, be sure to track your return on investment. This will help you understand of you are making money on this marketing strategy or losing out in the long run. If you are spending more on leads than you are earning, it is time to adjust your approach.

Simplicity

Are you tired of generating insurance leads through time consuming strategies such as direct mail and cold calling? Are you fed up with spending a lot of time and money on something that has no guarantee?

When you decide to purchase insurance leads, you will realize that everything is simple from beginning to end. Even if you don’t make a sale, at least you had the chance to speak one on one with an interested consumer. This goes a long way in making it easier for you to consistently spend money moving forward.

High Close Ratio

A lot of this has to do with the quality of the leads that you purchase. Of course, a lot of this is based on your sales approach. That being said, most agents who purchase leads online find that their closing rate is above average.

This goes along with tracking your return on investment. You need to keep track of how many leads you are buying as well as how many you are closing. By doing this, you will have a basic idea of the quantity you need to purchase in order to acquire a new customer.

Save Time

There is nothing worse than spending hour after hour making cold calls, just to learn that nobody is interested in what you are selling. The same holds true with a direct mail campaign.

When you get involved with buying insurance leads online, you are going to save a lot of time. Once you make a purchase you know you are getting something in return. Not only are you getting something in return, but every lead is going to be actively shopping for a policy. This helps increase your chance of making a sale.

Steps to Getting Started

Now that you are aware of the benefits associated with buying insurance leads online, it is time to get started. As long as you follow the appropriate steps, you can get started in an efficient manner.

Once you move through these three steps, you will find yourself with a better understanding of what is available and how you should be spending your money.

There are many reasons you should purchase insurance leads online, with several of the biggest benefits detailed above. Once you get involved with this marketing strategy, you may find yourself focusing on this area as opposed to others.