Working Insurance Leads

The approach that an agent takes to work insurance leads is the key to running a successful lead buying campaign.  It is no doubt easier to say an insurance lead provider does not provide good leads than it is to work them correctly.  Simply put, an agent must have a consistent and persistent approach to making the sale once a lead is obtained.  Merely making one call and throwing the lead away if it doesn’t work out does not cut it.

Every agent has their own approach so we are not saying our methods are the only way to effectively work insurance leads but they are methods that have proven out among a group of experienced agents.  The following are suggested actions to work insurance leads.

Be Persistent
As previously mentioned one contact is not going to net profitable results with internet leads. Yes, you should call as soon as possible when the lead comes in as the prospect is engaged and being the first contact increases the chances of obtaining a sell significantly. If you aren’t able to make contact or were not able to close the deal on first contact by all means do not stop. Get set up with a good autoresponder email service (such as iContact, ConstantContact or Aweber) and engage the prospect via email as well. Follow up at every reasonable opportunity and DO NOT throw the lead away.

Know Your Product & Offer Solutions
Making contact with a prospect is only part of the battle.  There is a good chance there are several other agents calling as well so you need to have a unique angle and offer quality solutions.  This means knowing your product extensively.  Instead of providing an auto generated quote listen to your prospect and offer a sound solution for them that will provide quality coverage with a cost savings.  Cross sell complimentary lines when the situation lends its self as much as possible for added value.  The key is establishing a good relationship with the prospect and putting forth extra effort that other agents might not to get the sell.  Come up with a unique angle and use it to provide a quality solution.

Record
Record as much information as possible when speaking with your prospect.  Write every detail you can down as you talk or immediately following your conversation.  Ask questions to determine the prospect’s situation and needs and if they are currently insured try to determine what company they are with.  Also try to determine how often they pay for insurance and when they renew.  This information allows you to follow up at peak times such as immediately following a price increase or just before a renewal period. No information is too trivial to record including personal info such as pets, kids, or anything else that is mentioned in conversation.  All of this information helps build the puzzle and allows you to follow up and engage quickly into meaningful conversation with the prospect.

Organize
Now that you have detailed prospect information and data points you need to organize it in a searchable and readily available manner.  Many agents use spreadsheets or index cards but this method takes considerable time to manage and doesn’t allow for easy search access.  We highly recommend recording all prospect info in a CRM software or other contact management system to streamline this process.

Keep in Touch
So what if you didn’t make the sale on the first attempt.  That doesn’t mean you should give up.  There are plenty of agents that book considerable business 6 months or longer after initially contacting a lead.  We recommend a drip marketing method which includes periodical contact via direct mail, email newsletter and occasional phone calls at strategically important times.  Holidays, birthdays, renewal periods and times of rate changes with their current provider are all ideal opportunities to make contact with a prospect.

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