Lead Closing Strategies Blog

Consumers are overwhelmingly using search engines to find specific sites on the Internet, according to a recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings. Searches in the U.S. grew 55% in the last year – up to almost 5.1 billion searches in December 2005.

And what are people searching for? Turns out the top search terms are all branded websites such as eBay. That means consumers are using search engines to find familiar websites, rather than typing the address directly into their browser.

What does this all have to do with you and your website? It means that you can’t just put a site online and expect your prospects to beat a path to it. For people to visit your site, they have to be able to find it. Being listed in a search engine will greatly increase the chances that your prospect will find you online. But considering that typing “health insurance” into Google turns up 384,000,000 results, how are you supposed to find your way to the top of the list?

Two Kinds of Searches

Search engine results are generally grouped into two categories.

* Organic search results are pages that are judged by the engine to be the best matches for the terms being searched for. (On Google, the first match for “family health coverage” is a page about Health Coverage and Health Care published by the Kaiser Family Foundation.)

* Paid search results are sites that have paid the engine to be listed when certain terms are searched. These results usually have a notice reading “Sponsored Links” near them. (For the same “family health coverage” search, the first paid result is Kaiser Permanente’s homepage.)

Running a paid search campaign can get very expensive, particularly in a competitive field like insurance. And given how many companies and agents are online, making your way to the top of the pile in organic listings can seem daunting, too.

Know Your Audience, Know Your Terms

The best way to get yourself listed is to encourage your audience to narrow the focus of their search terms. While being listed on the first page of results for “health insurance” probably isn’t in the cards, showing up in a search like “John Smith health insurance” may be possible.

To encourage this kind of search, you should make your audience aware of who you are, and that you have a website. If you can connect with your audience and make them aware of these facts, they’re more likely to go online and search for you instead of going online and searching for the more generic insurance.

* Make sure all your marketing materials have your web address on them. This includes all advertising, in any medium. Are you putting off getting your web address printed on your business cards because you still have half a box left? It’s just not worth it to wait. Having a highly visible web site increases your potential number of prospects. This alone justifies the short-term expense of printing more cards.

* Get your site linked by as many other relevant sites as possible. Your local chamber of commerce is a good place to start. Also try any professional associations that you belong to. The more places a link to your site exists, the more likely it is people will find you when looking online.

Remember: Avoid sites that are just collections of links. These sites are of little use to consumers, and being listed on one may hurt both your search ranking and your credibility. Stick to linking only to sites relevant to your business.

* Be careful with paid search. If you decide to make paid search part of your marketing budget, the same advice applies: encourage your audience to keep their search focused. You can easily drive your business into bankruptcy trying to outbid large companies on search terms like “insurance.” Limit your terms by geography, or a particular niche market that you serve. But be careful: paid search can get extremely expensive, and may not yield enough qualified leads to justify the cost.

Making your site findable on a search engine is just smart business. After all, people who are searching online for insurance are by definition qualified prospects. And if they’re actively searching for your business, you are that much more likely to close the deal.

You’ve got your hands full working leads and managing current clients. In the day to day shuffle, it’s easy for your marketing to take a backseat.

If you want healthy results from your campaigns, make sure your marketing is not guilty of these three mistakes.

1. The ‘one basket’ approach.

Once you’ve found a successful strategy that really rakes in the leads, it’s tempting to abandon the rest of your marketing. Yet long-time marketers advise against pumping all your time and money into just one activity.

What if suddenly your prospects stop responding and your approach is no longer a sure thing? With no back up plan your flood of leads can dry up to a trickle.

For example, if you’ve been leaning heavily on referrals or direct mail, consider supplementing your efforts with Internet leads, email autoresponders or a website that generates exclusive leads.

Remember, you don’t want to spread your marketing too thin or you’ll just end up with a lot of under-performing campaigns. But the advantage of having a couple solid tactics to rely on ensures leads will keep coming in.

2. Inconsistent message.

We learn from repetition, and if you want your name to stick in people’s heads then you need to be repeating a consistent message. Go grab your mailer, pull up your website and crack open the yellow pages. Take a look: inconsistencies can be anywhere, in the look, in the content, and in the tone.

If a prospect was to visit your site after seeing your address in an ad, would they immediately recognize it as being yours? Would they immediately find the information promised by the ad? For example, if you use print to tout your skills at finding people individual health policies, is that prominent on your home page?

And remember, it’s not just your marketing campaigns that need to be reviewed. Anything that your customers see should be consistent as well. Make sure everything from your letterhead to your email signatures look and feel the same.

3. Erratic messaging.

The timing and the frequency of your communications is important to any campaign’s success. That means you can’t just touch prospects whenever you happen to have a free moment to spare.

The worst thing you could do is not repeatedly touch prospects because you’re too busy. Experts state the average person needs to see a message seven times before they actually register it.

If you don’t think you have time for calculated follow up, consider an autoresponder program to automatically touch your leads with scheduled, timely emails.

It’s easy for any agent to make one of these three common missteps. But the biggest mistake of all? Not taking time out on a regular basis to evaluate your marketing campaigns’ performance.

When you’re working leads it can feel like an uphill battle, with objections hurled at you left and right. Here are 4 tips for emerging unscathed and with a sale in hand.

1. Don’t get defensive.

It’s difficult not to respond defensively to a rejection. But if you get defensive, you’re really telling them, “You obviously aren’t smart enough to know what’s best for you.”

That’s not going to win anyone over. Try instead:

“I can see why that would be an issue for you. So I’m understanding it correctly, can you tell me more about why you feel that way?”

So why is this response better?

Because by asking questions you are inviting the lead to discuss their concerns, to elaborate on the reasons behind their objections. It’s a more effective approach than scare tactics that keep them feeling and responding negative.

2. Keep them talking to you.

You’ve got them started by responding to their objections with questions. They’re engaged. But don’t take this as an invitation to launch into plan benefits or a long script.

It’s your turn to listen.

Remember, there’s no commission on the line for your prospect, so there’s no real incentive for them to pay attention to what you’re saying. Don’t give them the opportunity to drift off and start planning dinner. Encourage them to do most of the talking.

Not only are they more likely to remain interested in the conversation, you’ll gain some time to hear their issues and come up with the most appropriate response.

And when you must run long to answer a question, make sure you pause frequently to ask, “Is that clear?” or “Do you know what I mean by that?”

3. Understand all their objections before you address one.

You’ve learned more about your lead’s objections just by asking questions and listening. But the concern that seems like their biggest might not be what’s really holding them back.

Your prospect cites the premium as their major concern, but maybe deep down they’re worried about an existing condition. If you just focus on premiums you will fail to successfully address all the obstacles to moving them forward.

How do you make sure they’ve told you everything? Well, you can ask them. Try saying to the client who doesn’t think he can afford the premiums: “If we took price out of the picture, would you apply for this plan today?” If the answer is no, there are other concerns you are going to have to address.

4. Don’t let them walk away empty handed.

The easiest way to get a stubborn lead to give you a chance is to provide them a no-risk, no obligation way to receive more information from you.

If someone doesn’t want to talk rates and plans on the first call, your goal is to walk away from the conversation knowing they have your proposal.

That doesn’t guarantee they’re going to respond to it, or even look at it. But suppose they do gain interest in a few hours or days; they are more likely to pull up your online proposal first than pick up the phone to call you back.

Above all, your lead doesn’t want to be confused, and discussing rates over the phone can make the buying decision feel overwhelming or impossible. The benefit of an online proposal is that it can be created in seconds, emailed immediately, and is formatted to make comparing plans easy for your prospect.

When you use a quote engine like QuoteBuilder, you can work up a multi-carrier proposal while the prospect’s on the phone, giving you the opportunity to meet their objection with:

“I understand you (don’t have the time, the money, the interest) right now, but with your permission I’d like to email you a proposal that lets you compare some of the plans I think would work best for you based on our conversation today. I can email that to you in a minute, just so you can get an idea of what type of coverage and rates are available to you right now. We could go over it if you want, or you can just keep it for your information. How does that sound?”

Why not?

Remember, a “no” or “not interested” is always better than a dial tone.

There are two sources of potential profits that a busy agency can easily miss out on…or mess up. So how is renewal time your ticket to picking up additional sales from both your current clients and the “dead” leads you trashed months ago?

1. Current Clients: A Wealth Of Untapped Value

You know your current clients have potential: the potential to give you referrals, and the potential to buy other products. But tapping into that promise can be delicate.

Your first instinct might be to grab for the phone. Sure, the Do Not Call lists have dealt a deathly blow to irritating telemarketers. And you are a trusted adviser. But the memories of a hundred interrupted dinners linger. So you better have an airtight reason for calling your clients out of the blue.

Touching a client for a referral or to quote them a new product is best dished out with some appreciated customer service. And renewal time gives you the excuse you need for a new conversation.

For example, frame your call as a friendly reminder about their renewal notice:

“Hi Mary, this is Rob Robertson of ABC Insurance calling. I just wanted to let you know that your policy is nearing its renewal date. Unless you instruct me otherwise, on March 1 your policy will be renewed without any lapse in your current coverage.”

Now, gently nudge them towards getting a quote or referral:

“Before I let you go, do you have any questions about your current policy?…It’s been awhile since we touched base. Do you have any other insurance needs that you’d like me to help you out with, or you’d like to learn more about?”

This is a delicate situation. You can’t ask for too much out of this unsolicited phone call. Decide what you want most out of the conversation – a referral or the opportunity to quote – and stick to (subtly) requesting just that. Above all, you do not want to turn off your valuable client by making an overt sales pitch. Be sure to close with a sincere expression of your appreciation:

“It was great talking to you today; thanks for taking the time. I truly appreciate your business and the opportunity to be your agent; I want you to know we’re here for you whatever your needs are.”

2. The Prospect That Got Away

By the end of the year you have a unique pile of “dead” leads sitting in your database – people that you quoted who were interested…they just bought their policy from someone else, or never bought at all. For most agents these leads are destined for the garbage bin, never to be contacted or quoted again.

But for agents with email autoresponders, it’s a whole other story. Sure, they still don’t have time to be calling up and chasing old leads…but they are effortlessly breathing life into them with a slow, invasive campaign of automatic emails.

In the past getting someone to switch their insurance company, plan, or even agent has been near impossible. Most people will settle for ‘good enough’ and let ‘better’ pass them by just because they’re too busy. They don’t want the headache of going through the buying-process all over again.

So when the renewal notice comes they’ll just continue their ‘good enough’ coverage…unless they get your email promising a better experience at just the right time. And if you’re using an autoresponder program like LeadMiner, those perfectly-timed emails include fresh insurance quotes based on the information the lead originally submitted.

Autoresponder campaigns can run for 12 months. So even if you didn’t get the sale initially, when they’re getting their renewal notice you’ll be right in front of them with new quotes and the opportunity to move onto something else.

Your autoresponders don’t just renew a prospect’s interest; they also put you in the position to contact them first. When a prospect views your proposal online, programs like LeadMiner automatically send you an email to notify you. Now you have the opportunity to call them up, engage them, and discuss their frustrations. Ask if they would like to consider this great plan from XYZ Company that you know will be a better fit.

Whether you’re courting current customers or breathing life into old prospects, renewal time can be a terrific, dependable source of extra revenue.