Lead Closing Strategies Blog

You have a website. Now you need visitors.

What should you do? Spend a bundle on online advertising? Or get an expensive Yellow Pages ad with your site’s address in big bold letters? Maybe a TV commercial on local cable?

None of the above. Instead, turn to one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book: the press release.

Old-Fashioned Publicity Meets New Technology

The always-insightful research team at Marketing Experiments ran a recent test, using themselves as guinea pigs. In this test they released a series of 7 press releases — some through paid news services and some through free services.

The 7 press releases brought in some welcome publicity, including landing them 6 interviews with journalists. More importantly, the press release campaign created enough interest to bring in 3064 visitors and generate 10,000 incoming links to their site. That’s plenty of opportunities for bringing in new traffic.

The total cost of the 6 month campaign? $990. For that kind of traffic, it’s a bargain.

What’s more, the media coverage that goes with an effective press release campaign can help establish you as a credible expert in your field — and that’s a serious advantage over your competition.

Tips For Writing A Release That Will Make Editors Bite

You can’t just send a send a release to your local news editor and hope for media coverage. Writing good press releases and distributing them effectively takes practice. But here are a few pointers to get you started.

Make it timely and relevant. Your press release should contain something noteworthy that people haven’t heard before. This could be a new service you’re offering, a report you’ve written, or a new feature on your website. Relate your news to things happening in the community-at-large. Remember: for anyone to care, your news has to benefit the reader.

Start with the big picture. Open with the most important piece of information, then add the details. Make it clear what the news is, why it’s important, and why people should find out more.

Keep your language simple. The news media love experts who can explain complicated subjects in simple terms. Save the industry jargon for your next conference or tradeshow.

Make it easy for the media to follow-up. This means including all your contact info — including address, phone number, fax, email, and (of course) your website.

Pick the right distribution channels. Whether you use paid distribution services or send out releases yourself, you need to make sure they’re landing on the desks of the right people. Send it to the major news outlets in your region. Hit all the local and neighborhood papers. And since you want to score some in-bound links to your site, send your release to plenty of online news sources.

The next time you’re considering raising your profile with an expensive advertisement, think twice. For a small outlay of cash and effort, press releases can give big results.

Want to take a crack at distributing your press release? Visit:

www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com

The online research journal eMarketer reported that the number of email messages sent in the U.S. will hit 2.7 trillion in 2007. People who use email at work receive an average of 134 emails a day.

When an email shows up in a prospect’s inbox, it’s one click away from the trash can. It has to grab attention, spark interest, and demand to be opened. The subject line is your golden ticket into the prospect’s imagination.

3 Tips For Writing Subject Lines That Try Harder

There’s no “magic bullet” for writing subject lines that get your message read. But there are a few key pointers that can make a significant difference.

• Short and sweet. Most email programs will only display the first 50 characters (including spaces) in your subject line. So you always want to stay under that number. Make a compelling statement in as few words as possible. 50 is considered the maximum — but many experts recommend shooting for as few as 35 characters for the best results.

• Identify yourself. Messages from senders that people recognize are the most likely to get opened. So including the name of your business is one of the best ways to grab attention. Many commercial senders include their business name in brackets at the start of the subject line. For example:

[XYZ Agency] Your Health Quote

• Don’t write like a spammer. Email users can spot junk mail with half a glance. Writing a “hard sell” or sensational subject line is a sure way to get your message sent straight to the trash. So don’t use exclamation points, or say things like “Free” and “Save Now”. And whatever you do, don’t use ALL CAPS.

Taking It Further

These tips are a good starting point. But to make your emails even more effective, you should test two subject lines against each other for every campaign. This means splitting your mailing list into two segments and sending each segment the same email with two different subject lines. To learn more, check out last month’s article about split-testing email campaigns.

A good email campaign can turn doubtful prospects into loyal clients. With a little effort and imagination, your subject line can grab attention and have more people reading your sales message.

Jeremiah Desmarais and his team have won 3 awards in 2006 for their marketing initiatives that touch ProspectZone’s client base and carrier relationships on a daily basis. He is author of several white papers, and has been a contributor to the Agent’s Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders. He welcomes feedback at jdesmarais@prospectzone.com

When your prices are the same as the guy down the street, it can seem impossible to “stand out”. But think of it this way: in most businesses all they compete on is price (or “great service”). Those are good for the customer, but when everyone’s shouting the same words, you eventually stop hearing it. It becomes impossible to pick out one competitor from the next. But people keep on shouting about their low prices because that’s what everyone else is doing.

As a health agent, price doesn’t factor in. You’ve got the same prices as Joe Competitor. But you still need to be careful about falling into this marketing trap. In your ads, and on your website — don’t repeat what other agents are saying, just because they all do it.

What can you say that’s different?
You’ll have to be creative here, because it often feels like all the good ideas are already taken. But chances are the other agents are all repeating the same two or three things over and over again.

Do you represent more carriers, and can whip out a plan for anyone under the sun? Or guarantee customers can compare plans and apply in 30 minutes or less?

Make yourself stand out by developing a niche market.
Look at your customer base and ask yourself, “Who are they made up of primarily?” Is there a common profession, gender, life stage, hobby or interest among them all? Develop a message round that. “Joe Insurance, the guy Realtors Trust”

Partner up with another local business and refer each other clients.
For example, you could offer free gym trial memberships to everyone that gets a quote. These are readily available by most gyms — they’re always looking for ways to bring in more bodies. They in turn can put your flyers in each of their clients’ statements, post them on bulletin boards, or have your brochures with the right imaging at the front desk.

Whatever you decide on, it still has to resonate with your customers’ needs. You could be the only agent offering free ice cream with every policy — but that won’t make much impression on prospects who are looking for convenience, choice, and professional advice.

Scott Sullivan is Vice President of Broker Sales at ProspectZone, where he forges strong relationships with successful agencies and insurance carriers nationwide. His team works with agents across the country and educates them on how to implement technology and lead generation into their daily routines. He welcomes feedback at ssullivan@prospectzone.com

Need some advice on how to close leads? Get your questions answered right here in the ProspectZone newsletter by our own sales expert, Scott Sullivan. Submit your sales questions to experts@prospectzone.com. One question a month will be selected and featured in the newsletter.

Making a sale off of an existing customer returns higher profits than generating a new sale from scratch. Not making as many cross sales as you want? It’s time to take a good hard look at your product portfolio. How deep is it? Do you have a product to meet everyone’s needs?

The secret to strong cross sales is having something for everyone — and not just one something either.

Some ways to round out your product offering:

• Offer both Mini and Major Med plans. Maximize your opportunity to close new leads by serving people who don’t qualify for standard health insurance. For example, if a couple is looking for coverage but one is uninsurable, Mini plans let you make two sales rather than losing them both to a competitor who can cover uninsurables.

• Go beyond health plans. Consider adding Life, International, Short Term, or Long Term Care to your health line up. Some of these products can be added directly to your customers’ health premiums. Your customers can enjoy the added convenience of just one premium check to write every month.

But cross sellers beware: while you do want to have something for everyone, avoid piling on products you don’t have time to understand. If you don’t know the product, you won’t be able to sell it effectively. A weak pitch on a cross sale could lose you the original health app you were after in the first place.

Here’s a couple ways to find out more about your cross sell opportunities:

• Ask your carrier reps for information on popular products compatible with their health plans.

• Attend trade shows and speak one-on-one with company reps about new products.

Scott Sullivan is Vice President of Broker Sales at ProspectZone, where he forges strong relationships with successful agencies and insurance carriers nationwide. His team works with agents across the country and educates them on how to implement technology and lead generation into their daily routines. He welcomes feedback at ssullivan@prospectzone.com

I’m a huge fan of Netflix, the service that delivers all the movies I want right to my doorstep. I watch my movies (and faithfully send them back) as fast as I can. I refer friends. So imagine my delight when a big, fatter-than-usual envelope from Netflix shows up in my mailbox. My first thought: “Wow, a thank-you gift finally recognizing my loyal devotion!”

Then I notice, plastered across the envelope: “Special Deal For New Subscribers”. Darn. It’s an offer all right, but not for me. Just a HUGE marketing blunder we all can learn from.

Plain and simple: It’s insulting to offer customers the products they’re already sold on. It wastes their time. It makes them feel like you don’t know them. And a customer who feels like they’re just some name stuffed in your database doesn’t have much reason to be loyal — crushing would-be referrals, cross-sells and renewals.

Sound gloomy? It’s not, really. Technology you already have lets you use this “Law of Relevance” to your advantage.

1. Target your email campaigns.
Email campaigns can do more harm than good if your “special announcement” is geared towards converting first-time buyers, but is sent to your long-time customers, too. Reason being: it’s cheaper for you to hang onto your current customers than it is gain new ones… so don’t tick them off!

What to do: Divide your list into two “segments”: one for new clients and one for leads. You can get fancy and segment your list as much as you want — people who’ve purchased just a health plan, health and life, a mini-med… any group you might want to send a targeted message to.

If you’re using a lead management system like BrokerOffice, segmenting is even easier. Simply sort your leads by their “closed” status, then export all their information, including email addresses, into one file.

When the time comes to push a cross-sell, you’ll be able to send your message just to the people who are open to hearing it and NOT the customers who’ve already been sold!

2. Have an autoresponder? Good.
Email autoresponders are great for keeping in front of old leads and setting up future sales. But they’re much more effective if you aren’t using the same one for everybody.

What to do: Set up one autoresponder for your customers, and another for your leads. Your messages are immediately more compelling because they can speak to what really matters to the person opening it.

Bottom line: Use the technology you already have to send relevant messages to the people who want to hear them. You’ll find your campaigns are much more effective… and your current customers much happier!

Jeremiah Desmarais and his team have won 3 awards in 2006 for their marketing initiatives that touch ProspectZone’s client base and carrier relationships on a daily basis. He is author of several white papers, and has been a contributor to the Agent’s Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders. He welcomes feedback at jdesmarais@prospectzone.com