Whether you’re purchasing Internet insurance leads from us, another lead provider or generating your own leads through Facebook or your own website, implementing a lead follow-up strategy is key to closing more sales. Here are a few tips for staying in touch with your insurance prospects:

1) Determine your next touchpoint. Will you call him/her back in another 2 weeks? Have you added their email address to your monthly email newletter? Plan your next step so this lead doesn’t get caught in limbo…

2) Schedule time in your calendar for prospecting. Just like any other critical business activity, if you don’t plot out time in advance, there’s a good chance it won’t happen. Most importantly, follow through on these prospecting appointments with yourself. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get distracted. Not to mention, you may experience a reluctance to pick up the phone. If it’s on your schedule ahead of time, however, you’re more likely to complete the action.

3) Take good notes. We all know the insurance business is a relationship business. If you’re not staying on top of what’s new in the lives of your prospects, you may be missing out on business. Always document your conversations as they happen or immediately following the conversation.

A new study from IBM makes it clear that Internet insurance leads are a great way to grow your insurance business. Their new study titled “Powerful Interaction Points: Saying Goodbye To The Channel” indicates that consumers are spending much more time evaluating their options when it comes to insurance. While many consumers used to passively receive information and then sign the dotted line, today’s consumer wants to be an informed, well-educated consumer.

The study also underlines the importance of leveraging social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to interact and engage with prospects and consumers.

The Internet is continually changing the way people shop – particularly for insurance. The team at Insurance & Technology magazine offer three suggestions for interacting with customers and growing stronger relationships:

1) Offer a variety of interaction points.
2) Track your customers and invest in analytics tools.
3) Improve the way you interact with customers and prospects.

As technology shifts and the insurance purchasing landscape continues to evolve, insurance professionals who stay abreast of these trends and focus on engaging insurance customers will continue to watch business soar.

Insurance professionals across the U.S. are raving about our insurance lead webinars. Click here to read what they’re saying.

If your insurance sales need a boost, don’t miss our next webinar titled “Closing the deal: Succeeding with Internet Insurance Leads”. This presentation is for all insurance professionals, new and seasoned, regardless of line specialty.

We will cover best-practices for marketing your insurance business online – from what to do when the lead comes in to wrapping up the sale and retaining life-long customers. There will be a live Q&A session following the presentation, so come armed with your best questions about using the Web to market your insurance business.

To register for next week’s free insurance webinar, click here.

We’re excited about the new design for our insurance agent site. As the next few weeks progress, we’ll be adding more features and more resources to arm you with the tools and knowledge you need to close more sales and grow your insurance business. We hope you’ll take a look around and let us know what you think! Here is a quick tour of our new site:

The HometownQuotes Insurance Agent Blog – Make sure you bookmark the new location of our blog, where we’ll be sharing company and industry news, business and marketing tips from our team of experienced insurance professionals and stories, insight and advice from readers and other insurance professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions – How do insurance leads work? How do I integrate Internet insurance leads with my current marketing plan for my insurance business? We get those questions often. Check out our FAQ section for an overview.

Sample Leads – If you’ve ever wanted to know what an Internet insurance lead looks like, visit our sample leads page to see an example of our auto, home, life and health insurance leads.

HometownQuotes is social! You can connect with us on:

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More social media channels are coming soon!

Consumers have been turning to the Internet to make purchasing decisions for several years now. They’re shopping for and purchasing books, homes, cars, music, clothing and yes…insurance.

That’s why we’re here. That’s why you’re here. You want to connect with more customers and we want to connect you with more customers.

Whether you’re one of our customers or not, there are a few things we recommend to insurance agents to establish a visibility online.

1) Are you blogging? Not only does a blog build trust and illustrate knowledge, it helps you establish search engine relevance – which means if a consumer is searching online for insurance-related terms, they may find your site and want to learn more about your products.

2) Do you have a Web site? No? Stop what you’re doing and talk with someone about setting up a site for your insurance agency. Prospects want to know about you. They want to know why they should choose you as their insurance agent. Why should they trust you? Make your site personal. Tell your story. People connect with stories.

Some insurance companies are helping their agents create online visibility. A recent article in National Underwriter P&C explains that Progressive has partnered with Web.com to give Progressive insurance agents a discounted price on Web site services. Pretty interesting. Any other insurance companies doing something like this?

3) Buy Internet leads. Okay. Clearly a plug for us. But I had to mention it. The great thing about insurance Internet leads is that we’re sending prospects to you who may otherwise never find your blog or Web site. We know technology and the Internet are always changing, that’s why we’re constantly monitoring and refining what we do to connect you with high-quality prospects. Plus, you can easily measure your ROI using your online account or our exportable reports. When you’re researching insurance lead companies, always be wary of incentivized leads. Our leads are NOT incentivized. We deliver real leads in real-time because that’s what gets you the results you need to grow your insurance agency.

In the end, the point here is to convince you to establish some type of Web presence. Whether through a blog, an insurance agency Web site or using Internet insurance leads (or a nice blend of all three!), marketing yourself online will help you close more sales.

I like this quote from John Jantsch over at the Duct Dape Marketing Blog:

“So in order to generate leads and be found you must put yourself in the path of people who are learning about, asking about and shopping in your industry. You must create a Web presence or hub of information for your business and then create spokes, online and offline that lead people to your hub.”

Well said, John. We agree.

Are you an insurance agent? Are you using these methods to market your insurance business? Please share your experience with us.

We love helping people. Especially when those people are helping others. A few weeks ago we received this photo from one of our insurance agents in Florida:

This photo quickly made its way around our office and instantly made everyone’s day brighter. I recently interviewed this agent to find out how he uses our leads and see if he’d be willing to share a few tips with us. Here’s what he had to say:

Why do HometownQuotes leads work for your insurance agency?
Because the people are wanting to purchase insurance now or in the immediate future. If they have taken the time to fill out the information form, they are hot prospects. They’re ready to buy.

What’s your favorite thing about HometownQuotes? What makes us stand out from the crowd?
I can filter the insurance leads and increase my closing percentage by not receiving and working on quotes other agents are going to beat me out of. Plus, the information I get from HometownQuotes is almost always complete. We can often run quotes without having to contact the prospect.

What tips do you have for insurance agents who are considering using insurance leads to grow their agencies?
KNOW YOUR MARKET. Filter the leads so you can get the highest closing percentage. Don’t waste money on leads you will not sell or lose to competitors.

Some agents are uneasy about Internet leads. (There are some fly-by-night companies out there, so sometimes that uneasiness is justified.) What would you say about HometownQuotes to those insurance agents who are apprehensive?
Buy 100 leads and see what happens. Compare the cost of the 100 to the income/sales/commission made. Factor in the renewal commission as well. Monitor the leads. Make sure you are hitting your “sweet spot”. Shoot for a 17% or higher sales ratio.

When I asked him why he enjoyed being an insurance agent, he said “the fact we are helping the public when it comes to a sometimes very confusing product, but a necessary purchase.”

Thank you to our Florida agent for sharing this photo with us and for your willingness to share your experience as one of our customers. It’s thrilling to see the success of the insurance agents we work with. If you’re one of our customers and have a success story to share, we’d love to include it here. If you’re not one of our agents, click here for more information about how we can help you grow your agency.

In this month’s InsuranceNewsNet Magazine, there’s a great article about business/professional growth.

In his article “The Five-Year Phenomenon“, insurance agent Brad Elman explains the importance of noticing patterns in your life and in your business. Twenty-three years into his career, he noticed a clear pattern in his professional growth. Approximately every five years he would experience a restlessness and seek new challenges. Feeling stagnant, he would enter a new niche or start a new project.

I think this is only natural. So many business people, whether you’re the creative type or more of a numbers person (or an equal blend of both!) have to continually raise the success barometer.

Elman offers three tips for recognizing and working with this five-year phenomenon:

1) Surround yourself with a peer group of friends you trust. You will rely on their support and advice when you start getting an itch for change.

2) Look for life trends. If you take a few moments to sit down and think about trends and patterns you’ve noticed in your life over the past few years, it makes it much easier to plan your future. Life tends to be cyclical, so pay attention to the signs!

3) Write a business plan for your new ideas. “If you can’t write a business plan, it’s probably not the right time to do it,” said Elman.

Another way to boost insurance agency growth is Internet insurance leads. Never tried them? Not a problem. Give us a call today to see how they will fit into your business plan. Already a customer? Great. Let us know what else we can do to help you grow your insurance business.

As the old saying goes, the early bird catches the worm. The same can be said if you’re an insurance professional using Internet insurance leads to grow your insurance business.

Always call the prospect immediately – even if you don’t have the quote ready.

When prospects complete our online forms, their lead information is sent to you in real-time. So, why wait?

Here are five reasons why you should always pick up the phone and call immediately upon receiving the lead information.

1) Increased likelihood of immediately reaching the prospect. There’s a good chance that when you receive the lead information, s/he is still sitting at the computer. The sooner you can reach him or her, the better!

2) Helps prospects validate online process. We don’t want people to think we’re just another faceless online company. We want people to know we’re here to connect them with the best insurance possible. YOU are the person who will confirm that. As soon as you call the prospect, your phone call will validate to him/her that we’re following through with our promise. Your immediate call assures the prospect that their information was securely passed to the right people. By waiting to call, you’re only prolonging the process…and potentially losing a customer.

3) Less likely to wander. Like most consumers, I want instant gratification when I’m searching for a product. The more time it takes a service provider to get in touch with me, the more likely I will go to another Web site or store to search for help elsewhere. I know I’m not alone. Don’t give the lead the opportunity to stray. Once s/he has expressed need by completing our form, it’s in your best interest to get in touch and capture his or her attention ASAP.

4) You will be memorable. Being the first to call not only increases your chances of closing the sale, it also means that you will be more memorable. The insurance lead will probably have many questions to ask you and by being the first to answer those inquiries, s/he will be more likely to remember your responses and view you as the insurance expert you are.

5) Just be a friend. Don’t rush through the quote preparation and then call, only to find out you’re the second or third insurance agent in line. One of the most important things a successful salesperson will tell you about conducting business over the phone is to treat the prospect as you want to be treated. Most people don’t want to feel like they’ve been sold on something. They want to feel like there’s a genuine person at the other end of the line who is looking out for the prospect’s best interests. When the lead arrives in your inbox or your online account, just pick up the phone and make the connection. Besides, you may learn something s/he didn’t submit on the lead app that could affect the quote.

Internet leads are opportunities, they are not guaranteed sales. They can take a lot of time and work. All agents have their own individual processes for being successful, but insurance agents who are succeeding with Internet insurance leads are picking up the phone and calling the leads immediately.

Have a question about insurance leads? Need some tips for working insurance leads? Leave a comment and our experts will respond!