When you’re working with insurance prospects, you may be reaching out to cold leads, or people who didn’t actively seek you out for a quote.
It can be time-consuming and frustrating to try to turn these prospects into customers. Here are four things you can do to help establish warm contact with your cold leads.
Send a card
When you open your mailbox and see a handwritten note sitting with all your other bills and marketing offers, you likely feel excited. Create that warm, fuzzy feeling with your cold leads by sending them a handwritten card in the mail. It’s unlikely that other insurance agencies competing for their business will take the extra step to brighten their day. Your prospects will be touched by your thoughtful gesture.
Offer multiple ways to get a quote
Some people love to receive personalized service from prospective insurance agents and others would like a less direct approach to get a quote. Offer both. Start by emailing or calling cold leads to offer them a quote you can personally put together for them. It’s easier to make a cold lead a warm one once you establish direct contact.
However, you may need to try a less direct approach with cold leads who want to avoid contact until they’ve had a chance to evaluate their options. If a prospect hasn’t returned your calls or emails, try sending a link to your website where they can request a quote. Your cold leads may be more likely to submit their information online if they are avoiding back-and-forth communications. You can add web chat to your site to help prospective customers with any questions they have as well.
Call cold leads
When you receive a new prospect’s email address, you hope it’s correct.
However, you’ve likely had prospects provide fake or unused email addresses. In these cases, try giving that person a call, if possible. Even if the person you’re calling doesn’t answer the phone, you can leave them a warm, genuine voicemail to explain who you are and how you’d like to help them. Most people check their voicemail regularly and will be more likely to call you back when they hear a real person’s voice instead of a robotic, pre-recorded voicemail.
Schedule your follow-ups
Doing all these things may sound like a lot of work. As an insurance agent, you’re dealing with unexpected issues daily and it’s easy to let proactive communications slip through the cracks.
To save time, schedule follow-up communications to prospects so you have one less thing on your to-do list. As soon as you receive a new lead’s contact information, add them to an automated campaign to continue reaching out until they become a customer.
Even if they decline your quote offer, you can reach out again around their ‘X’ date to see if they’d like to compare their coverage and rates.