Insurance internet leads are a marketing must. Whether or not these leads generate a successful conversion to book and closed sales will depend on several variables. If you find your agents have lackluster results from the financial investment of procuring these leads, then they may need some help maximizing the return of investment in these sales leads. You may also need to verify the quality of the leads.
Insurance Internet Lead Stats
Statistically, 25% of salespeople make two attempts to contact a lead but then stop calling the contact. However, only 2% of calls are successful on the first contact, and only 3% are successful on the third contact. Only 10% of salespeople attempt a third call, but 80% of sales are actually made on the fifth call. The moral of this statistical story is that a persistent contact strategy is worth the time invested.
Persistence pays off for insurance internet leads. Forty percent of the leads convert with long term relationships.
Lead Sale Tips
If your agents are committed to creating relationships with the prospects on the insurance internet leads, then the relationship is more likely to succeed. Agents do more than close sales; they develop relationships with customers. Some tips to achieve successful sales etiquette include:
- Be Courteous: While this might seem redundant, engaging a prospect with friendly and respectful dialogue and tone from the first contact will set the stage for a communicative relationship with the customer.
- Be Prepared: If possible, understand your prospective client. If a salesperson takes the time to understand the customer’s needs, they will be more prepared to propose a catered and specific resolution to the customer’s insurance needs.
- Follow Up: Technology is fluid; follow up by a call, text message, or email.
- Timing: Some days and times are better when contacting customers. Fluctuating the times and days in which attempted contact or follow-ups are made can increase the chance of a successful connection.
These tips will help agents maximize the return of investment on the insurance internet leads, but it is also important to research the right leads for your agency. When searching for lead providers, a little additional research will help you understand if the lead provider is right for you and your agency.
Need some tips on becoming a more successful broker? Here are 5 habits every broker should develop.
Not All Leads are Equal
How a lead provider sources its leads is arguably more valuable information than how much those leads cost. Generated leads may come through ad services, organic searches, or website referrals. Of these, the organic search is often the best lead generation source. These leads are potential customers who are searching for an upcoming or immediate insurance need.
The lead content is also important to successful lead conversion: the more information a lead provider can give, the better. The information provided can give valuable research information that will prepare the agent when targeting the sales pitch to a customer’s specific needs.
Whether a lead is exclusive or shared is also important. The value of the lead is affected if you are the only agency calling the prospective customer. Shared leads, of course, are sold to multiple agencies. In this environment, the prospective customer will have multiple agencies calling and vying for the sale closing. Exclusive leads are somewhat self-explanatory in that they are sold exclusively to one agency. The exclusive leads, however, are significantly more costly than the shared leads. One added benefit of the exclusive leads comes from lead generation companies, which provide live transfer calls. These leads are live calls that propose a transfer of a live and interested customer directly to the agency for conversion or closing.
Most leads will average a cost of $10 to $20 per lead, and no list is without its “junk leads.” The closing rate of insurance leads varies from 8% to 15%, depending on the insurance line. The closings are not without invested work, however, and the persistence and follow-through of the agent making the sales contact will make or break the successful return of investment on the insurance internet leads.
