Daily sales & marketing tips for insurance professionals

I just love email as a communication tool! (I could write a few pages on the pros and cons of it, but I won’t subject you to that!)

There are tons of great information on the Web that provide tips on professional etiquette and email. Since email is a vital tool with Internet leads—and one form of communication with InsureMe—I think it’s appropriate to touch on a few reminders about email and your InsureMe account:

1. Please remember, you can email us with any questions/comments at leads@insureme.com. However, if you have an urgent matter, calling us is the best option.
2. If you receive a denied credit request and have a question or concern about it, just click on the reply option (which will be directed to leads@insureme.com), and we will review the lead again.
3. If you need to create more than one email for lead delivery, please call the InsureMe agent service department, and we can set that up for you (1-800-467-8736, option ‘2’).
4. If you cannot initially reach a lead via phone, send them an email—even if it’s a quick message to let them know you will be contacting them.

Now for ‘netiquette.’” I cannot stress how important tone, grammar, spelling and font are when sending a professional email to consumers, because a poorly constructed email can affect whether or not a consumer wants to do business with you. (As we all know, spell check does not distinguish the context of many words.) It helps to re-read an email or have someone else conduct a quick check before clicking ’send.’

Our own Jeb Foster provided excellent tips for professional email etiquette in the InsureMe agent resource center. It’s titled, Tips for Email Mastery. Check it out!

I was reading an article in my favorite local magazine recently about a small sample of business people that had found their true passions in life (career-wise) and were now pursuing them. (Of course, the article included an easy five-step guide on how all adults could follow in that group’s footsteps if they wanted.)

While I generally try to steer away from anything that guarantees to make my life better in anything less than ten steps – standards please! – this particular article got me thinking.  How many of us factor how passionate we are for something into our career choices? And does our passion, or even our personal strength, for what we do translate into our success?

I recently placed a call to an agency and was greeted with the following message “Why, it’s a sunny day at (insert generic insurance agency name), thank you for calling. How can I brighten your day?”  I’m sure you’re probably thinking that this is a really fun and original greeting, and it probably was when the agent first thought it up, but the person that recited it said it in a complete monotone.

Obviously, the passion for this particular job had run out.  Unfortunately, the person’s lack of passion for their job was directly translated to their success because they were the first person any consumer came into contact with when calling their business.

OK, maybe this is a fairly obvious example, but it’s also one that causes more lost sales than people realize.

While it’s neither logical nor practical to take what we’re literally passionate about and then do that exact thing every day (I have a passion for shoes and sleep, but I don’t work in a shoe store or sleep 24 hours a day!), it is possible to take a look at what drives you and apply it to your business in a positive way.  In order to do that, of course, you have to KNOW what your strengths are first.

Are your strengths in line with your business values and purpose?  If you need a little help in this department, might I recommend a great read, Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D.  Once you’ve got your strengths and your passions all sorted out, sit down and figure out how you can apply them to growing your business.

According to the StrengthFinder in Now, Discover Your Strengths, one of my strengths is Woo, which means I enjoy meeting new people, and I find the challenge of meeting and winning over strangers energizing rather than intimidating.  This has been a very helpful strength for me to have in this business.

To find your strengths, you can go to strengthfinder.com or purchase a copy of the book.

Today, the Internet is one of the first places people go to shop for their insurance needs. But is everyone who shops for insurance online looking for just the lowest price?  I don’t think so.  I think they want a fair price, but they want a good product from a good name as well.

Twenty years ago, people went to the phone book for almost everything.  Every year, I get the phone book dropped on my front porch, and I throw it on a shelf where it stays unopened.

I think the same thing happens in many households today.  When you call Internet leads and just give them a price, they will probably go with the lowest one unless you tell them what sets you apart from your competitors.  Insurance companies are not apples and apples.

These days it’s much easier to comparison shop than ever before, but Internet shoppers are just like everyone else.  They are looking for the best value for their money.  In other words, if you can show them the total value package your agency offers—things like great customer service, added discounts, and an easy and supportive claims process, in addition to price—they will be less tempted to go with the lowest price and more likely to stay when they decide to compare rates again.

 We are excited to introduce to you a new redesign on the agent site! If you haven’t already logged on to your InsureMe agent account, then please do so that you can view the new interface as of last week. We have already received great feedback from the agents that the new interface is pleasing to the eye and user-friendly.

 One point to mention…a few agents have called me with difficulty logging into their account; therefore, if you have saved your password under your favorites, and have difficulty logging in, you may need to bookmark the new log in page. Or, you may just need to reset your password if forgotten. As for any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email.

Enjoy the new site, and remember to check out the Free Insurance Tools on the login page that include links to the InsureMe Agent Blog and the InsureMe Agent Resource Center: https://agent.insureme.com.

Given that we all want to sell more policies in a shorter period of time, I thought it would be good to identify lead management businesses that can help.  Did you know that InsureMe has partnered with several insurance raters and lead management systems?  These include lead management systems, sometimes called ‘LMS’ systems,  and comparative raters, also referred to as ‘quoting engines’. These applications can all help you build a powerful book of business.

A  few quick definitions: 

Lead Management Systems, LMS, contain several features that enable agents to better manage their leads.  The LMS assists agents in managing the marketing and sales process operations for optimization and increased conversions.  In addition, an LMS performs agency management and tracking of a variety of potential outcomes.  Typically, using an LMS gives agents the ability to handle more leads and accept more volume from an internet lead provider (like InsureMe)  than if they were not using an LMS. 

 Comparative Raters (or quoting engines) take leads that are sent to them and create an automated quote – speedily, accurately, and conveniently. Comparative raters calculate a given insurance risk and rate across multiple insurance carriers to allow the agent to compare policies available. Comparative raters are primarily used by independent insurance agents and can be PC based or Web based.  Along with the companies that serve the independents, we partner with company specific quoting systems such as Progressive, Farmers, State Farm quoting engines.  

 Our desire and our plan is to decrease the time it takes you to get from lead coming in the door, to selling a policy.  Using a lead management system and a quoting engine will help you get to that customer faster and enhance your ability to convert the lead into a sale.  Check out our partner listing for more information about rating engines and LMS systems.

I joined a fantasy football league this year.  This is my first year playing, and I’m having a lot of fun.  I ended up getting last pick in the draft, and I thought I was going to be at a serious disadvantage, but I won my first game.  It helped that my opponent picked a quarterback who likes to throw to people wearing the wrong color jerseys.

When I help agents set up an account, they sometimes tell me they want to put themselves on vacation on the weekends because they are not working then.  They may feel they will be at a disadvantage if they get leads when their office is closed and can’t follow-up right away.  However, I think that you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don’t take leads on the weekends.  Many people who request quotes on the weekends have dependable 9:00 – 5:00 weekday jobs and may become a really good client.  If I were to request a quote, I would do it on the weekend because that’s when I have the time.  People who request quotes on weekends will make the time to talk to you if you make the time to contact them.

As it turned out, I picked a very good fantasy football team (with my wife’s help) even though I was last in the draft.  I was able to pick twice in a row, and I picked up a couple of good players.  Weekend leads may appear to be a disadvantage, but if you don’t try them, you may miss out on that perfect client for your agency.

Ah…vacation…..doesn’t that sound nice right about now? I’m thinking of a trip that includes a lounge chair…a good book… and quiet. I’m not headed out-of-town this holiday season, but thinking maybe Spain in the spring…

 Okay…back to work. With the holidays fast approaching, I want to take a moment to discuss the option of placing your account on a “vacation” hold. Some of you may be wondering when you last took a vacation; especially some of the new insurance agents. 

 Placing your account on vacation status doesn’t mean you are actually taking a vacation, setting an account to vacation status can be used for a couple of reasons: actually taking a vacation and the need to stop the leads for a period of time or placing a temporary freeze on the account to catch up with the leads. For whatever reason, you can place a hold on your account by setting the account status to vacation.

 You can access your account online anytime and set vacation start and stop dates. Simply go to http://agent.insureme.com, logon to your InsureMe account, click on the Account tab and click on Set Vacation.

 I’d love to hear you if have an upcoming trip to an exciting location. Safe travels!

Do you sometimes feel managed by your leads? Are you tired, run-down, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? Oops, sorry….I started thinking of Vitameatavegamin from I Love Lucy…that was a great episode.

Our veteran agents may remember when InsureMe used to fax the leads to them, before the Internet. You probably had to file the paper fax once quoted. Time has certainly changed, and with the advent of the Internet, more consumers are now comparison shopping. More shoppers may lead to more leads, and with this, a difficulty in managing them.

We do understand there are more facets to an insurance agent than just quoting rates, and that your time is valuable. Therefore, for those who may not be aware, lead management systems/comparison raters/quoting systems may be an option in managing your time and leads.

The following overview is courtesy of InsureMe’s Lead Management Specialist:

Lead Management Systems (LMS) contain several features that enable agents to better manage their leads. An LMS will assist agents in managing marketing and sales operations for optimization and increased conversions.

In addition, LMS performs agency management and tracking. Typically, agents using an LMS are able to handle more leads and accept more volume than if they were not using an LMS.

Comparative raters (or raters) assess the given insurance risk across multiple insurance carriers for comparison. Comparative raters are primarily used by independent insurance agents and can be PC- or Web-based.

Quoting engines are used to generate multiple, automated quotes for ease and convenience. InsureMe has integrated with several company quoting engines to decrease the time it takes to quote consumers.

Sounds great, don’t you think?  Check out InsureMe’s LMS and quoting partners.

Don’t turn to Vitameatavegamin to cope with your leads successfully. Please stay tuned for a listing of our lead integration partners, available on the agent site soon!

The other day I was telling a friend how easy it was for me to train my dog, Buffy.  My friend was really frustrated because she could not get her dog to do what she wanted.  It made me think about what I did to train Buffy so easily.  At first I was frustrated because she would not listen to me until I found out what motivated her—food.  As soon as I started rewarding her with food, she started responding to my instructions.  Then training her was rather easy.

 When calling on leads, you need to understand what will motivate them call you back or even go with your company for insurance.  Now, I am not recommending that you bribe them with food or anything else. That will get you a quick call from the state department of insurance.  What I am talking about is this: what sets you apart from the rest of the bunch?   Do you say things like “We have the lowest rates in town!”?  That may not work the best because they are probably hearing that from everyone.  We’ve all seen the insurance commercials that claim switching can save you hundreds of dollars a year. 

 What works for you may be different from the next agent.  Use a different talking point each time you make contact so it doesn’t go in one ear and out the other because they keep hearing the same thing.  When everyone has the lowest prices, you need to focus on what’s unique to your agency: personal service, fast quotes, convenient location, or anything that makes you different.  Once you understand what motivates your prospects, they will respond and may even come back for more. 

 Now Buffy expects a treat every time she goes outside.  I think I’ve created a monster.  But she is very loyal, and your customers will be too once they know that you understand their needs.