Finding qualified leads takes time. Once you get them, you don’t want to lose them – you want to convert them to clients. The biggest mistake you can make is to push too hard. The second biggest mistake is giving up too quickly. Pushing too hard can push away a great lead. And giving up… well, you know the consequences of that. The key is to practice lead nurturing, a processes in which you build a relationship, and keep your agency visible so when your prospects decide they are ready to make a move, yours is the first agency they will consider.
Successful lead nurturing comes through building trust with a prospect, and knowing when to give some space. It’s a delicate balance between staying in contact, and not pushing so hard as to lose the lead. As you practice lead nurturing, keep in mind that 80% of leads are never followed up on. This means you are likely the only insurance agency pursuing each lead, increasing your chances for success.
1. Build a Relationship
Know that it takes time to gain the trust and confidence needed for an individual to choose your agency. Prospects will commit when they’re ready, and your job is to stay on their mind, in a positive light, until they’re ready. This can be done in a number of ways, but the point is to move at their speed, contacting prospects just often enough to stay in mind but not too often that they feel berated.
2. Provide Free Resources
If your prospects feel like they’re getting something for nothing, they’ll begin to see you as an agency that cares more about clients than profits. These giveaways can be pamphlets, workshops, whitepapers or other materials covering topics of interest, like how to understand coverage and PIP. Be sure to follow up after, asking what they thought and what other resources they’d like to see.
3. Show Your Expertise
This goes along with giving away free resources – the resources you provide not only show your commitment to clients, but also your knowledge and expertise in the insurance field. Ask prospects what they’re confused or concerned about, and follow up with information addressing these concerns. This can come in the form of blog posts, articles, whitepapers, or presentations from your agency showing you have the know-how they need.
4. Stay in Touch
As mentioned, it’s important to stay on your prospect’s mind. Depending on the prospect, you may want to give them your direct line or email, invite them to follow you on social media, and/or add them to your mailing list. Any way you can remind them about your agency is great, as long as they have given their consent to be contacted in such ways.
5. Respect Their Wishes
It can’t be stressed enough that the key to nurturing a prospect is to go at their pace. Don’t move to “sales” mode until they have indicated they’re ready. Acting this way shows you value your clients, which is something they’ll pass on to new prospective leads. When in doubt, err on the side of “slow” – as long as you stay on the prospect’s radar you’re moving in the right direction.
Throughout the lead nurturing process, you’ll want to track each lead and your agency’s interaction with them. Keeping these records helped you know what works, and gives great detail on that prospect that you may need in the future.
The best way to track prospects is through your agency management system. Partner XE makes it easy to prospect track with Outlook integration that automatically syncs all email communication and mobile access so you can add in notes anywhere, anytime. To find out more about Partner XE’s great prospect tracking capabilities, contact us today at 800-747-9273 or email [email protected].
