Daily sales & marketing tips for insurance professionals

How do you reach the leads you receive? By phone? Email? Fax?

What kind of response rate do you get? 10, maybe 20 percent? OK, so what’s your closing ratio?

If you’ve never tried using text messaging to reach leads, you’re missing a lot of business opportunity. According to a July, 2008 survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, SMS (Short Message Service) campaigns are the most successful mobile ad medium, with 70 percent of those surveyed responding to marketing text messages.

That’s major when you compare those statistics with only 41 percent responding to a survey and 30 percent to emails.

Why are Americans so open to text messaging as opposed to other forms of communication? According to an article in The New York Times, “SMS is still a relatively uncluttered and spam-free marketing channel. It’s also the one form of communication that many people are tethered to 24/7.”

Consider these facts you may not be aware of:

1. 77 percent of mobile subscribers used text messaging by the end of 2007
2. More people text than make cell phone calls
3. 3.5 billion text messages are sent and received every day
4. Text messages have a 97 percent open rate

Not only does the use of SMS texting allow you to reach your leads quickly, getting the jump on your competition; it’s also well received by a majority of Americans, as you can see from the statistics above.

But besides the advantages to the consumer, text messaging has many advantages for you as the insurance agent, too. As the New York Times says, “…Its platform, when used correctly, becomes as much an extension of a client’s customer relationship management system as its marketing strategy.”

Indeed, this venue of communication allows you to contact the consumer, provide a quote, gain new business and follow up for months or even years afterward. And, after a period of time, you can again use text messaging to contact your client, ask if he or she would like to re-shop rates, conduct an annual review or even purchase another type of insurance.

That’s right, I smell an upsell!

Other benefits to insurance agents include:

• Low-cost means of marketing
• Increased customer loyalty
• Ability to track leads to sales
• Help in driving ROI

With more people than ever using cell phones as a communication hub these days, text messaging provides the perfect solution for reaching today’s leads. Give it a try, and let us know the results.

For any of our readers who are new to the business, the seasoned veterans among us can relate one simple fact: selling insurance isn’t easy. 

What makes it so difficult? You have to find the right customers, get them to take the time to listen to your pitch, convince them they need what you’re selling, and finally, get them to commit to actually buying.

It takes time and determination to work potential clients through all those steps. And often, just when you think you’ve got them snagged and they’re ready to sign on the dotted line, they wind up slipping through your fingers anyway.

No matter how long you’ve been selling insurance, you’re no doubt learning some things along the way. For instance, you know you have to establish trust and rapport with your clients up front before they’re likely to proceed through the sales process.

Maybe you’re learning to read your clients’ body language so you can gauge what they’re thinking and overcome their objections before they reject the sale. Or maybe you’ve learned some effective closing strategies that have really paid off.

Here at InsureMe, we’re grateful to have wonderful relationships with the agents on our network. And over the years, we’ve been privy to a few sales tips that have helped them become successful.

Now, we’d like to share some of what we’ve learned with you. We hope you’ll take these tips to heart, try them out, and let us know the results!

Sales Tip #1: Know your product well. Not knowing a product’s features and benefits will cause you to lose credibility with potential clients and could cost you the sale.

Sales Tip #2: Have confidence in yourself. The more professional and confident you appear and sound, the more credibility you’ll gain with leads.

Sales Tip #3: Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Empathy can put you on level ground with clients and help you establish a great relationship that leads to a sale.

Sales Tip #4: Learn to listen. A prospect who feels you aren’t hearing their concerns isn’t likely to trust you enough to do business with you.

Sales Tip #5: Offer options. Rather than asking clients what they want, present them with two or three options they can choose from. Even if they choose the cheapest one, they’re more likely to buy if they feel the choice is theirs.

Sales Tip #6: Drop the jargon. Use laymen’s terms to describe what you’re selling and don’t overwhelm the customer with boring insurance terms they won’t understand anyway.

Now it’s your turn. What works for you? Have you recently stumbled across a sales technique that seems to work every time? Please leave us a comment and let us know.

Though different methods work for different people, we can all learn from one another by sharing–and become a little better at what we do.

Are your coworkers stressing you out? Is there someone in your office who absolutely drives you bonkers–and sends your blood pressure through the roof–with their annoying jargon, constant gossip or inconsiderate behavior?

Or maybe you’re fed up with slow computer systems, arctic office temperatures or equipment that never seems to work properly?

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. A new survey conducted in London by Opinium research reveals that something drives most everyone crazy at work–whether or not it’s discussed openly.

Discussed in a recent Reuters article, the survey shows that nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were stressed out over various office irritations–and one in 10 have actually left a job because the stress became too overwhelming.

What kinds of things tend to drive people crazy in their work environments? Top responses include:

• Grumpy or moody colleagues (37 percent)
• Slow computers (36 percent)
• Office gossip (19 percent)
• Use of annoying jargon, like ”Think outside the box,” “Drill down to a more granular level,” “Bring your A-game” (18 percent)
• Not showing up for meetings on time–or at all (16 percent)
• Not cleaning up after oneself in the kitchen (15 percent)

Do any of these issues strike a chord with you? If so, how do you deal with frustrating situations at work?

Do you…

a.) confront the party at fault head-on?

b.) vent to your coworkers behind the person’s back?

c.) suffer in silence, wishing they would just quit their job so you wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore?

d.) fire the person (if you’re the boss) when you just can’t stand it anymore?

At one time or another, we’ve all grumbled and moaned about selfish, uncaring coworkers who make our lives miserable–or malfunctioning office equipment that stalls our productivity.

If you’re an agent or broker dealing with unpleasant situations like these in business, remember, you’re not alone. And if you’ve found ways to help diffuse the situation, cope with it or move on, please feel free to share! We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re a young agent well versed in using the Web for business, you’re probably familiar with online social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Sites like these hold much promise for the future, as insurance customers wander around online, chat with friends and business associates and talk about their lives.

Why not make insurance part of that discussion? And why not meet customers online, right where they are, and do business where they’re most comfortable? 

According to the Auto Insurance Report, insurance companies like State Farm are joining the world of social networking, attempting to connect with and service customers all over the country.

And sites like these aren’t just for young people and companies anymore–or for corporations. Small agencies and individual agents are also finding their voice in social media, amidst everyone else looking for a piece of the pie. There they can answer questions, dispell myths, offer service and talk about breaking news in the insurance industry that might affect their customers.

Rather than pretending their clients have nothing but good to say about them and tuning any negative remarks out, insurers are wise to listen up, participate in the discussion and know what’s being asked and said about them online. This immediately puts them on the offense, rather than the defense, and offers the opportunity to inform, engage and connect with  customers–instead of playing damage control after the fact.

Not only that, but by tweeting on Twitter or posting comments on their Facebook wall that link back to their own Web sites, agents who participate in social media strategies can increase their business by driving potential customers who need insurance directly to their own contact information.

Are you using online social media sites to increase business opportunity? If you’ve never made use of sites like Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook in growing your business, we recommend you check them out. If you have, drop us a comment and let us know how it’s working out for you.

Though it does take some time and effort to establish a “following” of existing and potentially new customers, it could be well worth the time you put into it when examining your bottom line.

More Information:

Using Social Networking in Business 101

Using Social Networking for Business

Are you a young P&C agent or broker, age 40 or under, who’d like a chance to voice your opinions on the industry? 

What do you really think about the business? Do you have ideas you could share about technology, sales or how to make the job better?

If so, now’s your chance. In case you haven’t heard, you can voice your opinion by weighing in through the Insurance Journal’s Young Agents Survey.

Performed exclusively online, the survey consists of 26 questions on opportunities, attitudes, management issues and the soft market. It takes only a few minutes to participate, and you never know what changes might come as a result of getting involved.

Get what you’re feeling off your chest. Today’s the deadline, so take the Young Agents Survey now–and become an agent for change!

Whether you’re a captive or an independent agent, becoming successful in this industry takes hard work.

Talk to anyone who’s been around more than a year or two, and each of them will tell you they put their heart and soul into their business to get where they are.

Let’s face it, becoming a top insurance producer takes time–and sacrifice. If you’re new to the biz, you might not become successful overnight.

But if you hang in there and copy what you see the super successful doing, you can move your way up the same ladder of success.

So what sets top producers apart? What do they do that others don’t to grow their businesses, make more sales, and establish long-lasting relationships that pay off for years to come?

Here’s the key: It’s all about establishing good habits. In fact, top producers consistently practice habits like these:

• They invest in themselves, using their income to stay up-to-date on their knowledge and continually improving their practice. They also put 10 to 20 percent back into their business for future growth.
• They terminate relationships that don’t pay off. Time is money, so they make sure they’re getting what they want out of the relationships they’re maintaining.
• They work smart. Reducing interruptions can add more hours to the day, giving everyone more time to sell.
• They put their own needs first. Believe it or not, setting aside time for things like physical fitness, family interaction and relaxation helps keep them fresh, on their toes and ready to provide exceptional service, as well as call on new customers.

What are you doing to achieve success? Do you, like some, make excuses, blaming your lack of income on being a new agent, not having the experience or training others have, or refusing to prospect because you really dislike cold-calling? Or are you replicating the actions of top producers?

If you want to become successful as an agent, stop making excuses and start forming good habits. It’s already working for some–and it can work for you, too.

More Resources:

Tips for New Insurance Agents

Building Solid Client Relationships