July 11, 2016
Traditionally, the summer months have been the most difficult time of the year to add new clients and expand ones book of business. That does not need to be the case. There are some concrete things you can do to add both home and auto insurance clients, life insurance policyholders and more. All it takes is a bit of extra effort to kick things into gear and get your sales off to a great start for the fall.
1. Contact your existing book of business who have children that may be starting to drive for the first time. Many young adults take driver education classes during the summer months, in anticipation of driving during the school year. This is a great time to be proactive and reach out to them to see if you can add their children to their policy or start a new one for their children. In either case, your clients will appreciate the fact you are making their insurance shopping an easy and efficient process.
2. Contact your existing book of business with children heading off to college. Many young adults heading off to college, especially if it is out an out of state school, should take a look at how that impacts their auto and health insurance. The state in which their school is located may require a different level of coverage, the number of miles they drive may need to be updated and more. There may also be implications with one's health insurance, especially if they are with an HMO or PPO. Helping your clients to understand these impacts will help you to deepen your relationship and write more business.
3. Ask your clients for referrals. While asking for referrals should be done throughout the year, during the summer you should have more time to develop a comprehensive program to contact all your current and past clients. You should reach out and ask if they can refer anyone looking to receive a higher level of service and/or a more competitive rate.
4. Network with realtors in your area. Summertime is one of the most popular times of year for people to move, so that they will be in their new home prior to the start of the new school year. You should network with all of the realtors and title companies in your area to offer your assistance with their buyers. Summertime is also an ideal time to increase your daily purchase of home insurance leads and calls. You will not only get insurance leads for people purchasing a new home, but you will get leads from people who may have done additions on their home, added a pool or had other changes to their property.
5. Network with the apartment complexes in your area. The leasing consultant at your local apartment complex can be a great source of business for renter insurance. Many complexes now either require renter's insurance or strongly recommend it. Another way to obtain high quality renter’s insurance leads is to purchase renter’s insurance calls and internet leads.
6. Network with the local car dealers. New models start arriving in car dealerships during the summer months and at the same time, they are trying to sell out the current year's models. This is a great time to visit the dealers to pass out your business card and ask for referrals. Most lenders and car dealers require proof of insurance prior to allowing a new car off the car lot. These are usually buyers who will be required to purchase full coverage from their lender.
7. Schedule several ‘lead marathons’ during the month. During these periods, purchase as many auto insurance leads and calls as possible to fill the top of your sales funnel. While during your normal course of business, you may purchase 3 to 5 leads a day, during a lead marathon you should triple or quadruple the number of auto insurance leads you are buying. Focus 100% of your effort on aggressively working these leads and nurture any that you are not able to immediately close.
8. Contact all of the home and auto insurance leads that you quoted in the past six months and did not write. All you have to do is call the insurance lead and offer to run a new quote for them, so they can see if you can possibly save them some money on their insurance. The prospects or auto insurance lead will appreciate the proactive contact and outreach, as everyone is always looking to reduce their monthly bills and save money.
9. Get ready for an end of year push to achieve your bonus targets. One of the best things about insurance leads and calls is that, in many cases, you can effectively forecast your sales based on the number of insurance leads you purchase. If you know you need to write 100 new policies to achieve your end of year bonus, and you know your average close ratio, you can do a simple mathematical calculation to determine how many leads you will need to purchase. You can then work with your insurance live transfer and lead company to have those delivered to your agency.
10. Stay open later and work on the weekends. During the summer months people are more busy than ever and want to get help with their insurance when they have the time. In many cases this means in the evenings and on weekends. The great thing about this is you can schedule your day to enjoy the summer during the weekday and then work in the evenings and weekends for a few hours. Many auto insurance lead providers give you the ability to purchase both insurance calls and leads during these periods, so you can purchase real time leads and write more business when consumers are online shopping and comparing insurance rates.
June 09, 2016
Over the past few years, there has been a movement towards online insurance sales. Websites are ‘connected’ with various insurance carriers, consumers enter in their information, that information is instantly sent to ‘raters’ and then consumers can select from the various quotes. Once selected, many insurance carriers will bind the policy online. This is all done in a few minutes online without the need for any human interaction.
Insurance carriers like the idea of online insurance sales because they are able to reduce their customer acquisition expense and/or the commission that they pay to insurance agents. The carriers also believe that they can reduce their servicing expense, with this group of clients, since they may be more comfortable with customer service being handled online, rather than over the phone or in person.
While these objectives may make great business sense, the reality is, consumers need personalized help buying insurance. Consumers benefit when they are working with an expert in insurance. The following are several reasons why most consumers will always want, and need, to work with an insurance agent when they purchase insurance.
- Trusted. For most people, the home they own is their most valuable asset and they want to protect it. They want to go to bed at night knowing that they are protected against their worse nightmare. When someone is buying home insurance, auto insurance, health insurance and life insurance, they want to know what they are buying and that it will meet their needs and that of their family. Insurance agents are able to convey trust, far more than any website or online system.
- Educated. Insurance agents are educated on the business of insurance and how to minimize one’s risk due to unexpected situations. They understand the law and what things you will be covered for and what things you will not be covered against. Most websites assume users know this. If one doesn’t, then their home, auto, health and family may be at risk.
- Experienced. Most insurance agents have years of practical experience. They have seen the best and worst of situations related to auto, home, life and health insurance. Insurance agents can tell a buyer what may or may not happen if they decide on a level or type of coverage. There is nothing more valuable than practical experience when making decisions about the type of insurance, coverage levels, deductibles and more.
- Forward looking. Insurance agents can be forward looking to anticipate future of needs of insurance buyers. They are able to understand that if someone installs a new pool, they may want to modify their homeowners insurance, if they become first time parents they may want to buy a life insurance policy. By anticipating future needs and risks, insurance agents provide a personalized service which could never be replicated by some online service
- Consider the subjective. An online insurance buying system can easily help insurance buyers or auto insurance leads compare objective measures like price, coverage, terms, deductibles and more. However, to make sure that one purchases the best insurance coverage, buyers need to consider subjective measures such as convenience, service, location and speed of payout. Insurance agents are best position to understand these objective measures and assist consumers evaluate the various options available to them.
- Big Picture Thinking. Done right, insurance can be a very important component of one’s financial plan and future. Many people consider their insurance needs in silos, ignoring how they should work in tandem to provide the best coverage or protection. Insurance agents are trained professionals who can look at the big picture to help insurance consumers select the best bundle of insurance products, that work together. This is something that even the best website, with the best artificial intelligence, would struggle with.
Agent Ethan Kosmin Generated over $200,000 in premiums during first year in business thanks to Contact Concierge.
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