InsuranceNewsNet August 16, 2018
By Joe Wu
The life of an
independent insurance agent is not for everyone. For many, especially those who
are early in their careers, it’s all about cold calling – all day long, every
single day just to get those first, and then second, third, fourth and so on
clients. This turns many off from ever becoming independent agents in the first
place and certainly poses ongoing challenges for existing agents. But does it
have to?
The insurance agent
lead generation ballgame can at times seem like a locomotive inching ever so
slowly along a track. Sure, many agents procure calling lists and dial for
dollars for hours on end just to reach a live person to pitch their wares to.
Did you also know a
recent CallHippo study showed that it usually takes six attempts to finally
make live contact with a lead? And making contact doesn’t typically equate to
selling a policy either. It just doesn’t work that way. Other agents opt for
leaving their flyers on the doorsteps of unsuspecting (and typically
uninterested) individuals. Yes, cold calling is indeed 80 percent cheaper than
knocking on doors, but it only has a 1 percent to 3 percent success rate just
for setting an initial appointment.
According to
agencybloc, 49 percent of insurance agencies (from 1-2 person shops up to 20 or
more employees), cite lead generation as their No. 1 challenge in 2018.
Among established
agents, cold calling is a forgotten art that many no longer practice. Most of
these high performers rely heavily (if not solely) on referrals for new
business. By not making calls, they are undoubtedly leaving potential new
opportunities on the table for other agents to grab – especially those
opportunities that fall outside of their own referral network.
A Better Way
Cloud software
gives small firms access to enterprise-class tools without the upfront capital
expenditure typically associated with the procurement and installation of
premised based systems. Just about any kind of software you can think of today
is available via the cloud, including agency management systems which primarily
run your agency's back end – underwriting, policy management, claims recording
and tracking, billing, payments, customer self-service and producer
self-service. Some of these tools do offer customer relationship management
capabilities to manage customer and sales contacts, but they do not provide
much in the way of lead generation capabilities.
There are, however,
affordable cloud communication platforms which can easily integrate with your
agency management system to provide the necessary lead generation capabilities
agents require to generate and sustain a healthy flow of leads. These
easy/anywhere access online tools are typically available at monthly
subscription rates and require no installation. A simple web browser is all
that is needed to securely access one’s contacts and call details.
With such tools,
agents are empowered with a host of time-saving, targeted and automated lead
generation capabilities that can significantly enhance their residual income –
both in terms of unearthing new potential policyholders as well as mining
existing clients for additional business.
These capabilities
enable agents to double or triple their outbound calling productivity, leaving
them with more leads in a shorter amount of time, as well as more time to focus
on client servicing, client retention and cultivating more business out of existing
policyholders.
In short, with
comprehensive cloud communications software, agents will be able to:
·
Reach more prospects faster. Simple-to-use
automated dialing and texting features enable agents to automate most of the
cold calling process, allowing them to reach far more would-be customers than
they would by manually dialing on their own.
·
Remind prospects of scheduled appointments.
Agents can radically improve their closure rate by automatically sending
appointment reminders to prospects prior to their previously scheduled call. No
more no-shows. These same automated reminders can also remind existing
policyholders when it’s time to renew – thereby creating another
upsell/cross-sell touchpoint.
Existing or
purchased phone and email lists can be quickly loaded into the system, and
pre-recorded audio messages will be sent to the contacts. The software can also
leave answering machine messages in the agent’s own voice, all on its own and
without any intervention by the agent.
·
Sound more informed when talking. Agents can answer
an incoming call and immediately see (on their computer screen) everything they
know about the caller. If it’s a prospect calling back, it might be their
contact information and the number of call attempts the agent has made trying to
reach them. If it’s an existing client, the screen pop would include current
and past policies, payment details, demographics and more. Think about how much
more impressive it would be to answer an incoming call from customer John
Smith, for example, by saying, “Hello, Mr. Smith. Are you calling today about
your new life policy?”
Cloud
communications software puts this power in to the hands of agents, all without
the need for any technical setup, ongoing technical maintenance or much of a
learning curve at all. Agents access the tools via a web browser, and they can
start their very first automated calling campaign within an hour.
Keeping Policyholders
Loyal
As small business
owners, agents need to know which of their clients are happy and which ones are
not. An agent’s income is directly affected by this critical information.
Cloud
communications software can also help agents identify unhappy clients before
they defect to the competition. Automated surveys can be sent to policyholders
to uncover who is unsatisfied. These individuals can then be called by the
agent in an attempt to turn them around. According to the Insurance Information
Institute, two of the top five reasons consumers choose an insurance company
relate directly to the agent, around their ongoing service, support and
availability.
The age of
automation is upon us and many industries have already taken full advantage of
its capabilities. In order to compete and thrive, insurance agents must begin
adopting these technologies or they’ll risk losing business and remaining
stagnant in terms of growth.
Joe Wu is CEO
of Voicent. Joe
may be contacted at joe.wu@innfeedback.com.
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