Lead Closing Strategies Blog

You’ve probably heard about the four P’s of marketing, but have you heard about the four B’s of client retention?

It’s common knowledge that it’s a lot cheaper to keep a current client than it is to get a new one. In fact, business leaders estimate that it costs six times more to acquire new clients than it does to keep existing ones.

Client retention is important for business success, but it’s also an often overlooked principle among health insurance agents and brokers.

Here’s part 2 of this 2-part article…

2. Be Indispensable

Each new client is another opportunity to establish your thought leadership in your market. It’s another chance to build your reputation as the agent that consumers can turn to for the vital health insurance information they need.

To capitalize on this opportunity, top producers now maintain an email newsletter or blog, or both, that keeps clients informed about their health insurance options:

• Answers to common program questions
• Advice on how to expedite claim requests
• Tips for lowering premiums and costs
• New plans now available from your carriers
• Life insurance, annuities and other plans your clients should consider

Email newsletters and blogs are inexpensive to create and maintain. However, it does require a commitment to creating and delivering helpful information. So make sure you have at least a three-month calendar of topics before you launch.

3. Be Brave

Customer complaints and angry clients are part of the business. When a client receives unsatisfactory service from a carrier representative or from a network provider, they may take it out on you.
Sometimes the problem is close to home, such as an unreturned phone call or a file misplaced by your assistant.

Whatever the cause, avoiding an angry client is the worst thing you can do. True professionalism requires having the courage and self-confidence to handle customer complaints and dissatisfaction head on.

You may not resolve every issue, but it does show that you’re someone that prospects and clients can rely on for professional and sincere service.

4. Be Ready

One of the best ways to increase client retention is to anticipate when they’re most likely to start shopping for a new plan.

Many individual health plan consumers typically get that itch to switch plans shortly before their current plan expires. That’s usually when they get a notice from the carrier announcing an increase in their premiums or a change in their coverage.

As they say in the old Westerns, you need to head them off at the pass.

That’s why top producers routinely turn to their BrokerOffice lead management system to keep them on top of current clients, as well as prospect and leads. They can use BrokerOffice’s calendar feature to schedule reminders a couple of months before each client’s anniversary date.

You can then use BrokerOffice’s convenient email program to start sending those clients an invitation to call you for a “health insurance check-up.” Let them know that you can help them review their policies to see if you can find better options for them.

And if your BrokerOffice lead management system is integrated with the Norvax Insurance Quote Engine, your email can even include a link to a personalized health insurance quote. Your prospects can then follow that link to your website and online quote engine to start comparing plans and policy options — that you offer.

By becoming your clients’ shopping advocate, you can continue to help them find the right insurance plan. You’ll also continue to be the person they turn to year after year for their health insurance answers.

You’ve probably heard about the four P’s of marketing, but have you heard about the four B’s of client retention?

It’s common knowledge that it’s a lot cheaper to keep a current client than it is to get a new one. In fact, business leaders estimate that it costs six times more to acquire new clients than it does to keep existing ones.

Client retention is important for business success, but it’s also an often overlooked principle among health insurance agents and brokers.

The Problem

Many producers seem to accept that many, if not most, of their new individual health plan clients will depart for other producers after a year or two.

Brokers and agents have seen it time and again: Cost-focused customers jump ship as soon as they receive the notice of premium increase just as their plan anniversary looms.

Premiums are going to go up. The rising cost of health care has made cost increases inevitable. From a sales standpoint, however, the real problem is that many agents and brokers often put little or no effort toward retaining their current clients.

That’s somewhat understandable when you’re under pressure to work the new leads and tend to those hot prospects who are ready to complete their application.

The fact remains, however, that investing a little more time in retaining your current clients will yield much greater return on investment than putting all your focus on new leads. With the right tools and strategy, you can do both.

Technology and the Internet give you the resources you need to efficiently nurture current clients so that they return to you when they want to start shopping for a new policy. And understanding the four B’s of client retention will help you create a strategy for success.

1. Be Thankful

You may be providing your clients an important service, but they’re doing you a favor.

The truth is that it’s a competitive market out there, and they can probably find someone who can match the service and expertise you provide. That’s why many agents and brokers rightly send “thank you” letters after the application is first approved.

Being thankful helps build trust and nurture your relationship with each client — which in the end will increase the odds that they will stay with you for their insurance coverage.

It also pays to get in the habit of showing your gratitude during the holidays and especially after they’ve signed on for another year. And with email marketing programs like iContact.com and ConstantContact.com, it’s easy and cheap to send customized and professional thank-you emails.

But don’t use your “thank you” message as a cover to cross-sell another product!

A sincere thank-you letter is simple and focused on expressing your gratitude. Trying to sneak in a sales pitch will make you look insincere.

See Part 2…

Whether you call it an assembly line, sales conveyor belt or bins, top sales teams discovered long ago that you need an effective system if you want to close a large number of sales.

Unfortunately, too many agents are losing deals because they…

• Don’t have a lead management system
• Have a poorly designed sales pipeline
• Fail to use the tools they already have

So why do so many agents fall into this trap? It’s primarily because the courses you need to get licensed usually don’t have much in the way of sales training. And there are few sales and marketing courses that offer continuing education credits.

An effective pipeline not only helps you close more of your leads, it also allows you to project what your sales will be down the road. Using the right sales pipeline will help you plan for contingencies. And it’ll tell you when you may need to open up the lead faucet a little more.

Here’s Part 2 of this 2-part report…

2. Regularly Update Each Prospect’s Status

A lead management system will only help you if you actually use it. This means immediately updating each prospect’s status as soon as it changes.

The easiest way to do this is to get into the habit of updating each file after every contact you have with the client. Once you’re doing this on a regular basis, you’ll soon discover that using your new system will save you time and money.

For example, you won’t have to waste any time on invalid or dead leads, when you have hot leads and current clients waiting for your call. Put that lead in the right file and get it out of your way.

Have you awoken a dormant lead? Put it in the hot lead file right away.

Note that lead statuses are dynamic. They can change at any time, and they can go from cold to hot — or hot to cold.

The bottom line is that your lead management system can help you increase your productivity and efficiency—but only if you maintain it.

3. Budget Your Time Accordingly

Maintaining your lead management system is only the start. Now that you’ve got your statuses or bins in operation, you need a strategy to fully exploit your system.

This strategy comes down to a basic question of income-generating priorities. Which status categories offer the greatest potential returns? Which bins give you the biggest bang for the buck?

Your priorities will shape which bins receive most of your attention each day. For example, many top producers will spend 75% to 95% of their day handling leads in the most promising categories:

• Hot – Ready to Close
• New – No Connection Ye
• Current Clients – Up For Renewal

These are the prospects most ready to sign up for a plan — today. Failing to connect with prospects in these bins will have severe consequences. At best, they’ll fade into other categories. At worst, they’ll buy their individual health insurance from someone else.

The little that remains of your regular workday can then be spent on leads that offer more “long term” prospects:

• Current Clients – Recently Added
• Lead Nurturing – Qualified But Not Ready
• Dormant – Little or No Activity

Many of these prospects will turn into submitted applications in the future or provide valuable referrals. You need to stay connected, but they’re lower in priority than hotter leads.

Top producers have learned that the best way to nurture their thousands of unclosed, long-term leads is through automation. For example, an email autoresponder geared for health insurance can deliver a regular stream of marketing emails to thousands of long-term prospects — with just a few clicks.

Finally, you need to do whatever you can to avoid wasting time on dead leads. If you’re able to replace invalid leads, avoid doing it during your workday.

Instead, wait until you’re done with your higher-priority sales calls and marketing tasks. Then submit these invalid leads for a replacement credit.

3 Steps to building a sales pipeline optimized for more submitted applications.

By Rey Villar

Whether you call it an assembly line, sales conveyor belt or bins, top sales teams discovered long ago that you need an effective system if you want to close a large number of sales.

Unfortunately, too many agents are losing deals because they…

• Don’t have a lead management system
• Have a poorly designed sales pipeline
• Fail to use the tools they already have

So why do so many agents fall into this trap? It’s primarily because the courses you need to get licensed usually don’t have much in the way of sales training. And there are few sales and marketing courses that offer continuing education credits.

An effective pipeline not only helps you close more of your leads, it also allows you to project what your sales will be down the road. Using the right sales pipeline will help you plan for contingencies. And it’ll tell you when you may need to open up the lead faucet a little more.

An effective and well-tuned lead management system will also tell you exactly what your closing ratio is. You can then use that metric to determine how many leads you need to meet your goals.

For example, if you can improve your close ratio to submitting five percent (5%) of your leads, then you know that 1 out of every 20 leads turns into an application. And if your goal is 30 submitted applications each month, then you need to adjust your lead flow to only 600 leads.

Here’s a 3-step process to make sure your pipeline delivers the highest close ratios possible.

1. Set Up Your Lead Status Category

Do you have your bins set up? The traditional sales system organized prospects into bins.

The bin in which your prospect folder is filed gives a ready indicator of which leads are hot, which leads are cold — and which leads are at key points in between.

You also need to take the time to define what leads are considered hot or cold. For many top producers, a hot lead is one where the prospect has indicated that they plan to buy health insurance in the next 30 to 60 days. A cold lead is one where the prospect won’t decide for at least six months.

If you have an automated lead management system, your lead’s “status” has replaced bins. One of the big advantages of an automated lead management tool is that you won’t have to worry about finding space for all your bins — because everything is kept online.

But before you can use this powerful feature in top lead management systems, you need to set up your bins. Here are a few of the status categories or bins you should include in your system:

• Hot – Ready to Close
  These are leads you have personally qualified. In addition to qualifying for multiple plans, you’ve also confirmed that they can afford them and just need your help in making a decision.
• New – No Connection Yet
  These are leads that have just come in, but you have not yet contacted. This would include leads you have called multiple times but have been unable to get on the phone. Keep in mind that this bin has a time limit for many of its leads, because many lead providers will only replace leads if they’re returned during a specific window.
• Current Clients – Up For Renewal
  Many agents take for granted that they’ll lose many of their individual health insurance clients as soon as their policy is up for renewal—and they get a notice of rate increase. But top producers have found that they can increase their retention rate and overall revenue by contacting their current clients a few months before their current policy expires and help them shop for the most affordable plan on the market.
• Current Clients – Recently Added
  Too many agents file away prospects who become paid clients. They forget that these new clients are an excellent source for referrals. Make sure to follow up with new clients to thank them for their business, build a long-term relationship…and ask for referrals. And if you sell other products, such as annuities and life insurance, you may be able to increase your revenue through cross selling.
• Lead Nurturing – Qualified But Not Ready
  Some leads offer good prospects that just aren’t ready to pull the trigger. Some may have been shopping in expectation of a coming lay-off or loss of coverage. Don’t make the mistake of abandoning these leads just because they’re not ready to close right away. They’re perfect for a drip marketing program that can automatically nurture them to a buying decision.
• Invalid Leads – Replace
  Most lead providers give you about a week to ten days to return invalid leads. You need to have a routine for submitting invalid leads. But don’t interrupt your prime calling times to request lead replacement. Put it in your file and make the request during the afternoon or at night, when you don’t have other prospects to call.
• Dormant – Little or No Activity
  These are leads you previously qualified or have been nurturing for quite a while…but no longer respond to messages. You can’t waste too much time on these prospects, but you don’t have to completely abandon them either. Here’s where an automated lead nurturing system can help you stay in touch—without taking you away from your hotter leads.
• Dead – Do Not Call
  This category includes all invalid leads submitted for replacement, as well as prospects who asked to be taken off your marketing lists. You need to save this list, as a lead may re-enter your main list in the future. Remember that the federal CAN-SPAM Act also prohibits you from transferring, selling, leasing or assigning lists that include consumers who asked to be removed.

You can add even more bins or statuses, but make sure that each additional category helps you push leads toward a buying decision.

2. Regularly Update Each Prospect’s Status

A lead management system will only help you if you actually use it. This means immediately updating each prospect’s status as soon as it changes.

The easiest way to do this is to get into the habit of updating each file after every contact you have with the client.

Once you’re doing this on a regular basis, you’ll soon discover that using your new system will save you time and money.

For example, you won’t have to waste any time on invalid or dead leads, when you have hot leads and current clients waiting for your call. Put that lead in the right file and get it out of your way.

Have you awoken a dormant lead? Put it in the hot lead file right away.

Note that lead statuses are dynamic. They can change at any time, and they can go from cold to hot — or hot to cold.

The bottom line is that your lead management system can help you increase your productivity and efficiency—but only if you maintain it.

3. Budget Your Time Accordingly

Maintaining your lead management system is only the start. Now that you’ve got your statuses or bins in operation, you need a strategy to fully exploit your system.

This strategy comes down to a basic question of income-generating priorities. Which status categories offer the greatest potential returns? Which bins give you the biggest bang for the buck?

Your priorities will shape which bins receive most of your attention each day. For example, many top producers will spend 75% to 95% of their day handling leads in the most promising categories:

• Hot – Ready to Close
• New – No Connection Yet
• Current Clients – Up For Renewal

These are the prospects most ready to sign up for a plan — today. Failing to connect with prospects in these bins will have severe consequences. At best, they’ll fade into other categories. At worst, they’ll buy their individual health insurance from someone else.

The little that remains of your regular workday can then be spent on leads that offer more “long term” prospects:

• Current Clients – Recently Added
• Lead Nurturing – Qualified But Not Ready
• Dormant – Little or No Activity

Many of these prospects will turn into submitted applications in the future or provide valuable referrals. You need to stay connected, but they’re lower in priority than hotter leads.

Top producers have learned that the best way to nurture their thousands of unclosed, long-term leads is through automation. For example, an email autoresponder geared for health insurance can deliver a regular stream of marketing emails to thousands of long-term prospects — with just a few clicks.

Finally, you need to do whatever you can to avoid wasting time on dead leads. If you’re able to replace invalid leads, avoid doing it during your workday.

Instead, wait until you’re done with your higher-priority sales calls and marketing tasks. Then submit these invalid leads for a replacement credit.

Whether you call it an assembly line, sales conveyor belt or bins, top sales teams discovered long ago that you need an effective system if you want to close a large number of sales.

Unfortunately, too many agents are losing deals because they…

• Don’t have a lead management system
• Have a poorly designed sales pipeline
• Fail to use the tools they already have

So why do so many agents fall into this trap? It’s primarily because the courses you need to get licensed usually don’t have much in the way of sales training. And there are few sales and marketing courses that offer continuing education credits.

An effective pipeline not only helps you close more of your leads, it also allows you to project what your sales will be down the road. Using the right sales pipeline will help you plan for contingencies. And it’ll tell you when you may need to open up the lead faucet a little more.

An effective and well-tuned lead management system will also tell you exactly what your closing ratio is. You can then use that metric to determine how many leads you need to meet your goals.

For example, if you can improve your close ratio to submitting five percent (5%) of your leads, then you know that 1 out of every 20 leads turns into an application. And if your goal is 30 submitted applications each month, then you need to adjust your lead flow to only 600 leads.

Here’s a 3-step process to make sure your pipeline delivers the highest close ratios possible.

1. Set Up Your Lead Status Category

Do you have your bins set up? The traditional sales system organized prospects into bins.

The bin in which your prospect folder is filed gives a ready indicator of which leads are hot, which leads are cold — and which leads are at key points in between.

You also need to take the time to define what leads are considered hot or cold. For many top producers, a hot lead is one where the prospect has indicated that they plan to buy health insurance in the next 30 to 60 days. A cold lead is one where the prospect won’t decide for at least six months.

If you have an automated lead management system, your lead’s “status” has replaced bins. One of the big advantages of an automated lead management tool is that you won’t have to worry about finding space for all your bins — because everything is kept online.

But before you can use this powerful feature in top lead management systems, you need to set up your bins. Here are a few of the status categories or bins you should include in your system:

Hot – Ready to Close

These are leads you have personally qualified. In addition to qualifying for multiple plans, you’ve also confirmed that they can afford them and just need your help in making a decision.

New – No Connection Yet

These are leads that have just come in, but you have not yet contacted. This would include leads you have called multiple times but have been unable to get on the phone. Keep in mind that this bin has a time limit for many of its leads, because many lead providers will only replace leads if they’re returned during a specific window.

Current Clients – Up For Renewal

Many agents take for granted that they’ll lose many of their individual health insurance clients as soon as their policy is up for renewal—and they get a notice of rate increase. But top producers have found that they can increase their retention rate and overall revenue by contacting their current clients a few months before their current policy expires and help them shop for the most affordable plan on the market.

Current Clients – Recently Added

Too many agents file away prospects who become paid clients. They forget that these new clients are an excellent source for referrals. Make sure to follow up with new clients to thank them for their business, build a long-term relationship…and ask for referrals. And if you sell other products, such as annuities and life insurance, you may be able to increase your revenue through cross selling.

Lead Nurturing – Qualified But Not Ready

Some leads offer good prospects that just aren’t ready to pull the trigger. Some may have been shopping in expectation of a coming lay-off or loss of coverage. Don’t make the mistake of abandoning these leads just because they’re not ready to close right away. They’re perfect for a drip marketing program that can automatically nurture them to a buying decision.

Invalid Leads – Replace

Most lead providers give you about a week to ten days to return invalid leads. You need to have a routine for submitting invalid leads. But don’t interrupt your prime calling times to request lead replacement. Put it in your file and make the request during the afternoon or at night, when you don’t have other prospects to call.

Dormant – Little or No Activity

These are leads you previously qualified or have been nurturing for quite a while…but no longer respond to messages. You can’t waste too much time on these prospects, but you don’t have to completely abandon them either. Here’s where an automated lead nurturing system can help you stay in touch—without taking you away from your hotter leads.

Dead – Do Not Call

This category includes all invalid leads submitted for replacement, as well as prospects who asked to be taken off your marketing lists. You need to save this list, as a lead may re-enter your main list in the future. Remember that the federal CAN-SPAM Act also prohibits you from transferring, selling, leasing or assigning lists that include consumers who asked to be removed.

You can add even more bins or statuses, but make sure that each additional category helps you push leads toward a buying decision.

See part 2…

Early last year, we received a surprise call from a health insurance agent about a test they were running on ProspectZone’s Exclusive leads.

In addition to having decades of experience in insurance sales, her company also trained agents for other companies and regularly tested and tracked their lead sources. They found that for every 10 exclusive leads they bought from ProspectZone, they closed over 30% of them.

There’s no guarantee that every agent will close 30% of their exclusive leads. However, exclusive leads are supposed to have higher close ratios and generate more sales than standard shared leads.

That’s why every agent prefers exclusive leads. But there are pros and cons to consider before you jump into exclusive leads.

The #1 Issue With Exclusive Leads

Regardless of where you buy them, exclusive leads have one big issue that makes most agents think twice: the cost.

Exclusivity always comes with a price, regardless of the product. But there are obvious reasons why exclusive leads cost more than standard shared leads. If your lead provider sells that lead as a shared lead, they can charge less but sell it more often for greater overall revenue.

With exclusive leads, your lead provider cannot sell that lead data to anyone else — so their total revenue is limited to what they charge you.

Is that higher price worth it? If exclusive leads can also increase your close ratios, the answer is yes.

The down side is that exclusive leads can sometimes come with side effects that agents and brokers still need to avoid:

Poor sales skills

As we discuss later, exclusive leads can get you connected to genuine prospects. But you still need to close the sale. Even if you’re new to sales, exclusive leads will help your closing ratio. But you still need to invest in learning how to sell, especially over the phone.

Procrastination

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can make an exclusive lead wait for you. Just because your lead provider sells the lead only to you doesn’t mean that the prospect will wait for you. There’s nothing stopping them from contacting other agents.

Lastly, keep in mind that “exclusive” does NOT mean “quality.”  Lead quality depends on how your lead provider generates and delivers leads.

Before you buy exclusive leads, make sure that your lead provider never incentivizes consumers to become prospects and that they deliver leads to your inbox without delay. Otherwise, you’re wasting even more of your budget on overpriced low-quality leads.

How Exclusive Leads Help Your Sales

Exclusivity is a selling strategy.

Many successful agents and producers use this strategy because it gives them real advantages that can help them triumph in a competitive marketplace:

Less competition

You’ll still have competition, because there’s nothing to stop prospects from shopping around. With exclusive leads, however, you won’t have to compete with dozens of agents to be the first to connect with your lead. You can also minimize the “annoyed prospect syndrome” you sometimes encounter with leads who have already heard from 20 other agents before your call.

Higher Contact Ratios

Did you know that leads are more likely to convert into clients if you’re the first to contact them? With less competition, exclusive leads give you much better odds of actually contacting and connecting with your prospects. Exclusive leads give a better chance of getting your foot in the door…and that is where the sale really starts.

Higher Close Ratios

It’s a numbers game. For many top producers, their close ratio is directly related to their contact ratio. The more prospects they can speak to, the more leads they’ll close.

For example, if you close 20% of every prospect you actually get on the phone, and you’re able to actually contact 100 prospects a month, then you’ll submit 20 apps each month. Now what if you’re able to contact 150 prospects a month — without buying more leads? You would then be submitting 30 apps a month…a 50% increase. That’s the advantage exclusive leads offer.

Less Wasted Time

Your budget may be able to buy more cheap shared leads. But then you have to dive into the scrum and fight with dozens of competing agents on each of those prospects. The same budget will get you fewer exclusive leads, but you’ll be able to spend more of your time on genuine prospects. Exclusive leads will also give you more free time — that you can use to close even more sales.

Higher ROIs

Many agents have discovered that less wasted time and higher close ratios result in higher ROIs. You’re getting more out of every dollar you invest in your leads.

Will Exclusive Leads Work For You?

There’s no question that exclusive leads will help. When you compare exclusive leads versus shared leads of the same quality, basic statistics tell you that you will have a higher success rate with exclusive leads.

The question is whether they’ll help you enough to offset the higher cost.

That’s why you have to run some of your own tests and then measure the results. As you do, I recommend that you focus on the “Revenue per Lead” calculation.

Ask any agent who uses leads how much they pay, and most can give you their “cost per lead” (CPL) in under a second. Now ask them how much revenue each lead generates?

The revenue per lead calculation turns the CPL on its head and looks at the lead’s production — instead of price.

Although price is important, it doesn’t give the full picture of how effective your leads truly are. The revenue per lead measurement, on the other hand, focuses on results and your bottom line.

Consider the two scenarios below, which assumes average commissions of about $400 per submitted application.

Shared Leads

Cost per lead: $8
Total leads bought: 100
Total cost: $800
Close ratio: 5%
Applications submitted: 5
Commission generated: $2,000
Net revenue (commissions – total cost): $1,200
Net revenue per lead: $12
ROI (net revenue / total cost): 150.00%

Exclusive Leads

Cost per lead: $18
Total leads bought: 100
Total cost: $1,800
Close ratio: 15%
Applications submitted: 15
Commission generated: $6,000
Net revenue (commissions – total cost): $4,200
Net revenue per lead: $42
ROI (net revenue / total cost): 233.33%

In this scenario, you work the same number of leads for both types. But with the exclusive leads, you generate:

• More applications. With the higher close ratios, you should see a dramatic increase in applications submitted.
• More revenue. In this scenario, each exclusive lead generated an average of $42 per lead — that’s 3.5X more revenue than the average standard shared lead.
• Higher ROI. The ROI for exclusive leads is more than 1.5X greater than standard shared leads.

In the end, the issue isn’t whether exclusive leads will boost your sales. They probably will. The question is “by how much”?

The best way to answer this question is by running tests and comparing results. Split a portion of your current lead budget between exclusive and search leads. Then compare the ROIs and revenue per lead they produce.

Chances are you’ll see a clear winner — which will make it easy to make the right business decision for your future lead purchases.

The Pros and Cons of Exclusive Health Insurance Leads

By Rey Villar

Early last year, we received a surprise call from a health insurance agent about a test they were running on ProspectZone’s Exclusive leads.

In addition to having decades of experience in insurance sales, her company also trained agents for other companies and regularly tested and tracked their lead sources. They found that for every 10 exclusive leads they bought from ProspectZone, they closed over 30% of them.

There’s no guarantee that every agent will close 30% of their exclusive leads. However, exclusive leads are supposed to have higher close ratios and generate more sales than standard shared leads.

That’s why every agent prefers exclusive leads. But there are pros and cons to consider before you jump into exclusive leads.

The #1 Issue With Exclusive Leads

Regardless of where you buy them, exclusive leads have one big issue that makes most agents think twice: the cost.

Exclusivity always comes with a price, regardless of the product. But there are obvious reasons why exclusive leads cost more than standard shared leads. If your lead provider sells that lead as a shared lead, they can charge less but sell it more often for greater overall revenue.

With exclusive leads, your lead provider cannot sell that lead data to anyone else — so their total revenue is limited to what they charge you.

Is that higher price worth it? If exclusive leads can also increase your close ratios, the answer is yes.

The down side is that exclusive leads can sometimes come with side effects that agents and brokers still need to avoid:

• Poor sales skills
  As we discuss later, exclusive leads can get you connected to genuine prospects. But you still need to close the sale. Even if you’re new to sales, exclusive leads will help your closing ratio. But you still need to invest in learning how to sell, especially over the phone.
• Procrastination
  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can make an exclusive lead wait for you. Just because your lead provider sells the lead only to you doesn’t mean that the prospect will wait for you. There’s nothing stopping them from contacting other agents.

Lastly, keep in mind that “exclusive” does NOT mean “quality.”  Lead quality depends on how your lead provider generates and delivers leads.

Before you buy exclusive leads, make sure that your lead provider never incentivizes consumers to become prospects and that they deliver leads to your inbox without delay. Otherwise, you’re wasting even more of your budget on overpriced low-quality leads.

How Exclusive Leads Help Your Sales

Exclusivity is a selling strategy.

Many successful agents and producers use this strategy because it gives them real advantages that can help them triumph in a competitive marketplace:

• Less competition
  You’ll still have competition, because there’s nothing to stop prospects from shopping around. With exclusive leads, however, you won’t have to compete with dozens of agents to be the first to connect with your lead. You can also minimize the “annoyed prospect syndrome” you sometimes encounter with leads who have already heard from 20 other agents before your call.
• Higher Contact Ratios
  Did you know that leads are more likely to convert into clients if you’re the first to contact them? With less competition, exclusive leads give you much better odds of actually contacting and connecting with your prospects. Exclusive leads give a better chance of getting your foot in the door…and that is where the sale really starts.
• Higher Close Ratios
  It’s a numbers game. For many top producers, their close ratio is directly related to their contact ratio. The more prospects they can speak to, the more leads they’ll close.

  For example, if you close 20% of every prospect you actually get on the phone, and you’re able to actually contact 100 prospects a month, then you’ll submit 20 apps each month. Now what if you’re able to contact 150 prospects a month — without buying more leads? You would then be submitting 30 apps a month…a 50% increase. That’s the advantage exclusive leads offer.

• Less Wasted Time
  Your budget may be able to buy more cheap shared leads. But then you have to dive into the scrum and fight with dozens of competing agents on each of those prospects. The same budget will get you fewer exclusive leads, but you’ll be able to spend more of your time on genuine prospects. Exclusive leads will also give you more free time — that you can use to close even more sales.
• Higher ROIs
  Many agents have discovered that less wasted time and higher close ratios result in higher ROIs. You’re getting more out of every dollar you invest in your leads.

Will Exclusive Leads Work For You?

There’s no question that exclusive leads will help. When you compare exclusive leads versus shared leads of the same quality, basic statistics tell you that you will have a higher success rate with exclusive leads.

The question is whether they’ll help you enough to offset the higher cost.

That’s why you have to run some of your own tests and then measure the results. As you do, I recommend that you focus on the “Revenue per Lead” calculation.

Ask any agent who uses leads how much they pay, and most can give you their “cost per lead” (CPL) in under a second. Now ask them how much revenue each lead generates?

The revenue per lead calculation turns the CPL on its head and looks at the lead’s production — instead of price.

Although price is important, it doesn’t give the full picture of how effective your leads truly are. The revenue per lead measurement, on the other hand, focuses on results and your bottom line.

Consider the scenario below, which assumes average commissions of about $400 per submitted application.

In this scenario, you work the same number of leads for both types. But with the exclusive leads, you generate:

• More applications. With the higher close ratios, you should see a dramatic increase in applications submitted.
• More revenue. In this scenario, each exclusive lead generated an average of $42 per lead — that’s 3.5X more revenue than the average standard shared lead.
• Higher ROI. The ROI for exclusive leads is more than 1.5X greater than standard shared leads.

In the end, the issue isn’t whether exclusive leads will boost your sales. They probably will. The question is “by how much”?

The best way to answer this question is by running tests and comparing results. Split a portion of your current lead budget between exclusive and search leads. Then compare the ROIs and revenue per lead they produce.

Chances are you’ll see a clear winner — which will make it easy to make the right business decision for your future lead purchases.

Speak to a ProspectZone exclusive lead specialist today to see how big of a difference exclusive leads will make in your business! For more information about exclusive leads, call 1-877-561-9663 ext. 1; or go to the More About Exclusive Leads page.

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Here are four more of the 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

7. Give them a deadline

Another tactic for reinforcing the urgent need to call you back is setting a deadline. But don’t go overboard with this scare tactic. If anything, blame it on forces beyond your control.

For example, if you’re expecting a rate change from your preferred carrier, you may want to note that in your message.

8. Contact options

Your message should reiterate your preferred contact method, i.e. your phone number.

But if you have a self-service website with a multi-carrier quote engine, you may want to give your prospects a second option for starting their purchase with you.

Online consumers often feel more comfortable if they can shop and compare plans on their own — without the worry of being manipulated by a “salesperson.” With a fully functional website powered by a multi-carrier quote engine, shoppers can compare dozens of plans to find the right one for them.

There’s also a potential time-saving benefit when you offer a second contact option. Many agents today now receive commission checks on web-submitted applications where they never spoke to the client.

9. Get up!

Standing up when you make a call is an old sales trick … and it still works. Before you leave your answering machine message, get up!

But in addition to standing, you should also make sure that your energy is up. An exciting message will be useless if it comes off like a read script.

Go back to the radio commercial models I mentioned at the top. Have you noticed how all those announcers seem upbeat? Well, they actually have to work at reaching that level.

A rule of thumb is: if you think you’re voice is TOO upbeat, then you’re probably just right.

Just as television can add 15 pounds to your look, radio takes down your excitement level a few notches … because there are no facial cues or body language to emphasize your words. So, get up!

10. Practice your scripts

Finally, it should go without saying that you need to practice your scripts.

Yes, that’s “scripts” plural. You should have at least 5 scripts ready to use, based on the most common types of leads you find yourself facing.

And by practice, I don’t mean just one or two quick run-throughs. You need to know these scripts so well that you don’t even need to look at a script or pull a brain muscle trying to remember.

Your message must sound natural and conversational. To put it another way, when a prospect checks his answering machine and hears your message, it should sound as if he’s hearing from a friend or colleague.

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Here are four more of the 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

3. Personalize your message

One of the strongest “hot button” words is actually the customer’s name. And this is where your phone messages have a clear advantage over traditional ads and commercials.

So make sure you practice pronouncing each prospect’s name before you call. Keep in mind that you also personalize your message when you include your own personal information. And because every word counts, I recommend that you skip greetings like “Hi” or “Hello”:

“Mr. Smith. Janet here with XYZ Insurance, following up on your online insurance quote request…”

4. Acknowledge their annoyance

If you’re working a standard (shared) lead, chances are there’ll be other agents calling this same prospect. Even if you have an exclusive lead, there’s no guarantee your prospect hasn’t shopped around.

First, this means that you can’t wait even a minute when calling new leads. Secondly, your prospect may have already fielded calls from other agents. There’s a chance you may run into an annoyed prospect.

But you can still use this to your advantage.  By acknowledging their annoyance, you can lower their frustration level and give them a reason to make you one of the few messages they’ll return.

“You’re probably frustrated with all the calls you’ve been getting. But…”

5. Connect with their problem

Want to really personalize your message?

Make sure to review your lead sheet and come up with potential solutions — before you call them. Then when you have to leave a message, try to connect with their specific problems.

For example, if the lead sheet shows a pre-existing condition, consider adding a reference to it in your message such as…

“…I recently got a client with ____________ (pre-existing condition) into an affordable plan. I know I can help you find similar coverage…”

6. Dangle the benefits

Always leave them wanting more. To this end, your message should tell prospects what you can do for them … with just enough specifics to whet their appetites for more.

Here’s an example:

“I just put a client in a major carrier plan only knowledgeable agents know about and slashed her premiums by 30%. I can do the same for you…”

Notice that this example has some of the hot button words we mentioned earlier, like “slashed premiums” and “30%.” But it doesn’t try to give the whole picture. Curious prospects will need to call to get all the details.

You can also tell them that they can claim a free gift when they call, such as a free guide for lowering their health insurance costs.

See Part 3…

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Ready to learn the secrets for creating and leaving messages that get returned? Here are 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

1. Think radio commercials
Remember that commercial from the local auto dealer or jewelry store you heard on your drive today? Because you’re currently not in the market for a car or diamond ring, they may not have gotten you to act.

But many of the elements that work for local radio commercials apply with answering machine messages. So think about what works on these local ads the next time you compose your answering machine script:

• Keep it short
  Your messages should last no more than 30 seconds. If you’re given more time, use it to repeat your contact information.
  Some machines may even limit you to only 15 or 20 seconds. So the most important part of your message – such as your contact information – needs to be at the front … just in case you get cut off early.
• Speak clearly
  Record your messages before you use them and have others listen to them. You need to make sure your delivery is crisp, clear and understandable. Unlike a radio commercial, you’ll only have one “take” with each phone call to deliver a clear message.
• Not just once
  Radio ads don’t just run once and disappear. Similarly, you should plan on making a strategic follow-up call within a day. If your first call is in the morning, you may want to follow up with another call later that day.

2. Use hot button phrases
Top advertising writers know that every word counts with radio commercials. They also know that certain words carry a lot more weight than others … which is why the most effective ads use these “hot button” phrases and words.

“Free” and “affordable” are common in many ads, because they do grab people’s attention. But most hot button phrases are specific to each audience.

For example, here are a few phrases that may do a better job getting a health insurance shopper’s attention:

• “Affordable premiums”
• “Pre-existing conditions”
• “Low deductibles (or co-pays)”
• “Quick approvals”
• Significant numbers – like 1/3 or 20% off
• “Guaranteed coverage”

And don’t forget to mention the brand names of the most popular carriers in your area. These carriers have spent millions of dollars making sure they’re brand is recognized by their target audience.

You may not be able to use their brand names in your radio commercials, but you can use them in your phone conversations.

3. Personalize your message
One of the strongest “hot button” words is actually the customer’s name. And this is where your phone messages have a clear advantage over traditional ads and commercials.

So make sure you practice pronouncing each prospect’s name before you call. Keep in mind that you also personalize your message when you include your own personal information. And because every word counts, I recommend that you skip greetings like “Hi” or “Hello”:

“Mr. Smith. Janet here with XYZ Insurance, following up on your online insurance quote request…”

4. Acknowledge their annoyance
If you’re working a standard (shared) lead, chances are there’ll be other agents calling this same prospect. Even if you have an exclusive lead, there’s no guarantee your prospect hasn’t shopped around.

First, this means that you can’t wait even a minute when calling new leads. Secondly, your prospect may have already fielded calls from other agents. There’s a chance you may run into an annoyed prospect.

But you can still use this to your advantage.  By acknowledging their annoyance, you can lower their frustration level and give them a reason to make you one of the few messages they’ll return.

“You’re probably frustrated with all the calls you’ve been getting. But…”

5. Connect with their problem
Want to really personalize your message?

Make sure to review your lead sheet and come up with potential solutions — before you call them. Then when you have to leave a message, try to connect with their specific problems.

For example, if the lead sheet shows a pre-existing condition, consider adding a reference to it in your message such as…

“…I recently got a client with ____________ (pre-existing condition) into an affordable plan. I know I can help you find similar coverage…

6. Dangle the benefits
Always leave them wanting more. To this end, your message should tell prospects what you can do for them … with just enough specifics to whet their appetites for more.

Here’s an example:

“I just put a client in a major carrier plan only knowledgeable agents know about and slashed her premiums by 30%. I can do the same for you…”

Notice that this example has some of the hot button words we mentioned earlier, like “slashed premiums” and “30%.” But it doesn’t try to give the whole picture. Curious prospects will need to call to get all the details.

You can also tell them that they can claim a free gift when they call, such as a free guide for lowering their health insurance costs.

7. Give them a deadline
Another tactic for reinforcing the urgent need to call you back is setting a deadline. But don’t go overboard with this scare tactic. If anything, blame it on forces beyond your control.

For example, if you’re expecting a rate change from your preferred carrier, you may want to note that in your message.

8. Contact options
Your message should reiterate your preferred contact method, i.e. your phone number.

But if you have a self-service website with a multi-carrier quote engine, you may want to give your prospects a second option for starting their purchase with you.

Online consumers often feel more comfortable if they can shop and compare plans on their own — without the worry of being manipulated by a “salesperson.” With a fully functional website powered by a multi-carrier quote engine, shoppers can compare dozens of plans to find the right one for them.

There’s also a potential time-saving benefit when you offer a second contact option. Many agents today now receive commission checks on web-submitted applications where they never spoke to the client.

9. Get up!
Standing up when you make a call is an old sales trick … and it still works. Before you leave your answering machine message, get up!

But in addition to standing, you should also make sure that your energy is up. An exciting message will be useless if it comes off like a read script.

Go back to the radio commercial models I mentioned at the top. Have you noticed how all those announcers seem upbeat? Well, they actually have to work at reaching that level.

A rule of thumb is: if you think you’re voice is TOO upbeat, then you’re probably just right.

Just as television can add 15 pounds to your look, radio takes down your excitement level a few notches … because there are no facial cues or body language to emphasize your words. So, get up!

10. Practice your scripts
Finally, it should go without saying that you need to practice your scripts.

Yes, that’s “scripts” plural. You should have at least 5 scripts ready to use, based on the most common types of leads you find yourself facing.

And by practice, I don’t mean just one or two quick run-throughs. You need to know these scripts so well that you don’t even need to look at a script or pull a brain muscle trying to remember.

Your message must sound natural and conversational. To put it another way, when a prospect checks his answering machine and hears your message, it should sound as if he’s hearing from a friend or colleague.

Jeremiah Desmarais is vice president of marketing at ProspectZone, a company whose web-based tools and high-quality health insurance leads help agents consistently increase productivity by 2500%. He is the recipient of 9 awards for his marketing and design initiatives online. He is also editor of the ProspectZone Newsletter, which delivers helpful sales articles, tips and marketing strategies to 15,000+ insurance agents monthly. Author of several white papers, Jeremiah is a contributor to the Agent’s Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter and Broker World, as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders.