Online leads are viewed as the business industry’s slam dunk sale. Someone inquiring online about services is a captive audience to an insurance professional’s dream. Online lead companies are going to say that they are providing quality leads and your phone will start ringing because the prospect will get your name and phone number in response to the inquiry they request. As in any industry, selling online leads take a measure of cunning intelligence. Utilize the next few steps to determine how to work online leads successfully.

Ask the important questions when signing up. How many other agents subscribe to this zip code and what companies do they represent. If you are an independent insurance agent, you don’t want to compete against other agents representing the same companies that you do. To discuss your quotes with prospects that are also looking at other companies provides the prospect with options. Talking to five agents that all represent the same companies is a nuisance to your client. Find out how many powerhouses you are competing with as well. The powerhouse companies do buy online leads and have quote engines that return quotes within seconds. These quotes are not always valid and have no personal service attached, so use that as important selling points.

Be ready to respond quickly. A fast response is one of the key points to making the sale. When people are requesting quotes online, they expect to have speedy responses. Your prospects will be inundated with agents over the next 10 days. Prospects will listen to those first agents responding and the last agents responding. If your agency responds in the middle section with the other fifteen agencies, your calls will be lost. Being one of the first agencies to respond will give your agency a 10% close ratio increase immediately.

Respond in a variety of ways. In today’s technological world, each prospect has a different time line and way to be reached. Some people respond faster and easier to emails, some people want that phone call and to talk to a human being. Some of your prospects will expect quotes in emails, look over them and respond only to the ones they like. Still others will want to sit down with an agent to review their entire insurance portfolio and derive a sense of security from their agent. These are all very valid opportunities for selling a policy. Call, email, and make that personal contact to increase your close ratio by another 10%. The best assurance of selling the policy is to set a personal appointment with each client. These agents see close ratios of in excess of over 60%

Respond often. Remember that the average lead is sold between 10-15 times. Even if your sales rep says your lead is sold eight times, odds are that somewhere another few agents are getting that information one way or another. Being persistent will allow multiple exposures and at various times for the prospect to be reached at their convenience. Try creating drip emails that allow for the prospect to be reached at various times. This shows persistence on your end and displays your commitment to be available to service their insurance needs. Be aggressive; don’t be afraid of your prospects.

Get a lead management system to manage all your leads. Utilizing a quality system will open up your time to perform all the above tasks and actually save you time and money. Volume is the key in any sales environment and it is impossible to maintain a volume of leads and perform quality follow up without a system designed for your needs. Look for a system that imports leads, has auto responders, and makes the sales process smoother and faster. The AgencyIQ System offers agents a system tailored for the insurance industry and various resources to help agents manage their agencies more efficiently. Check them out at http://www.agencyiq.net - Your sales volume will soar!

Teresa Kitchens
VP Operations of Net-Lead, LLC, the creators of the AgencyIQ System
Teresa is one of the co-founders of the AgencyIQ System and a proud owner of her own insurance agency.
http://www.agencyiq.net

Tags: auto insurance leads, home insurance leads, insurance, insurance agencies, insurance leads, online leads

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