InfinityLeads
Super Genius
Raise your hand if you or your team has ever dropped the ball on a sale?
I mean, the prospect was hot and ready to buy, you had the correct service, the stars aligned, but a deal was not made. Now I’m sure we all can relate that dropping the ball on “layup” prospects happens. It becomes a problem when the reason for dropping the ball is because of the lack of follow up.
Statistically speaking, 80% of all sales take a total of five follow-ups to close, yet 44% of salespeople give up after just one follow-up. That is an eye-opening statistic. This applies to your referrals, purchased leads, and random walk-ins alike. Maybe the salesperson followed up once because it was a bad lead? Or maybe the prospect got busy and needed a sales rep who would follow-up? Either way, a lost a qualified prospect, whether paid for or generated organically, has an impact on the bottom line. Here’s how to keep precious leads from falling through the cracks.
Two Reason Lead Programs Fail
Hot leads don’t mean much unless you know what it takes to convert them into active policyholders. No matter if you have been working as an agent as a solo team or have a team of 20, you must have a system for getting and working leads.
#1. The leads are bad- Some agents love lead companies, some don’t. Aged, recycled, or shared leads are likely the culprit here. If you buy leads that aren’t net new, urgent, and exclusive, you run the risk of wasting your money outright. Who wants to fight with 5 agents to write a new policy? Avoid getting burned by bad lead companies with this article or check out a more neutral source like Insuranceleadreviews.com to educate yourself on the marketplace as well.
Bad Practices – Lead vendors, however, are not always at fault. Thousands of inbound call recordings, plus these shocking stats about sales prove that sometimes it’s you. From team member insensitivity to customers or complicated call trees that are ruinous to customers experience, your own processes can be shooting your agency in the foot. The inefficiencies cause by outdated technology and unautomated (is that a word?) marketing processes cause the dripping leak in your agency.
What To Do About Failing Lead Programs?
Purchase Higher Quality Leads– There are all kinds of leads, internet leads, telemarketing leads, live transfers, appointment setters, exclusive leads. By focusing on exclusivity you win on two fronts. First, you get a higher quality lead, nextly, you save the time and opportunity costs of sending your team on a wild goose chase.
Abandon The Source and Look For Other Channels – Many other channels offer benefits to insurance leads. Channels like word of mouth, SEO, and partnership programs can offer more volume, quicking transactions, and higher closing ratios. Remember, in developing your marketing plan, 80% of your marketing will be as a result of 20% of your channels. If it ain’t working, don’t be afraid to pull the plug, fast!
Implement Better Workflows – Things change. Technology changes. The most efficient way to perform tasks changes. When’s the last time you’ve audited your processes? Often times agencies create their own bottlenecks, with outdated technology. Surprisingly simple tweaks in your lead generation and client experience systems can plug the gaps and turn up the numbers.
The Impact of Effective Lead Nurturing
Every agency has 4 key questions to ask about their sales pipeline. How many quotes is my team working? How long they take to close? What’s my average premium value? And finally, what’s my team’s closing ratio? Before we can understand why our failure to follow-up is causing missed sales, we have to understand how lead nurturing can impact each lever.
Increased Closing Percentages: We know that simply following up with prospects means more sales. However, another facet of lead nurturing means spending more time with fewer prospects to win the best prospects. By taking a quality over quantity approach in follow up means looking to close 5 of 7 deals instead of 9 of 39 deals.
Higher Average Premium: One part of lead nurturing requires that leads are scored, and/or ranked according to value and/or priority. This leads to evaluating leads based on expected premium, versus on a volume-basis. A second approach is post-sale lead nurturing for cross-selling opportunities.
Higher Volume of Quotes: Yes, speed in follow-up translates into the ability to process more quotes, but more importantly by automating lead nurturing you’re able to exponentially team production
Shorter Quote to Close Times: Mathematically speaking, according to the sales velocity equation, your sales cycle has the biggest impact on your agency’s pipeline. Even slightly decreasing the average hours/days it takes for your team to close, significantly improves your entire pipeline. An overlooked element of lead nurturing is not just following up but following up at the right time. The right timing behind your marketing messaging can make it so that the prospect moves on your schedule, not theirs.
The Surefire Method To Working Insurance Leads
Again, as referral rates continue to decline across space due to shifting market demands, your inbound leads (whether paid for directly or organically driven) are becoming increasingly more important. Therefore, to get the most bang for your buck
Follow Up Fast – Speed kills. The agency that responds within the first hour, is 7x more likely to get the sale. Not to mention, approximately 20% of agencies follow-up within the first 5 minutes of an inquiry. Secondly, on the flip-side, you have to make it easy for you to be contacted fast. This means auditing your inbound sales process to improve speed/experience.
Nurture The Relationship– Only 10% are ready hot and ready to buy today. 40% of your transactions will between the day after day 1 and 6 months. This means you have to be frequently frequently building customer data nd frequently getting their attention over this time period.
Remarket – Yes, this is a hot marketing buzzword, but this is really where you can use systems technology to blow past the competition. For years, Facebook, Youtube, Google, etc. have been collecting your user data. With this data, you can reach your ideal customers and find more just like them. For pennies on the dollar, you can keep continually marketing so that no leads fall through the cracks. Remarketing is your secret weapon against the agency next door.
Wrapping It Up
A new lead, whether by word of mouth or purchased directly or indirectly, is the lifeblood of any agency. Becoming more efficient in how your team follows-up with leads are one of the small levers that when adjusted can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. By implementing a robust follow up system, your agency can blast past the majority that aren’t!
Stay up to date with the latest technological trends, from a millennial by subscribing to the blog. Also, if you like the content, give us a hand and follow us on LinkedIn! #godigital
I mean, the prospect was hot and ready to buy, you had the correct service, the stars aligned, but a deal was not made. Now I’m sure we all can relate that dropping the ball on “layup” prospects happens. It becomes a problem when the reason for dropping the ball is because of the lack of follow up.
Statistically speaking, 80% of all sales take a total of five follow-ups to close, yet 44% of salespeople give up after just one follow-up. That is an eye-opening statistic. This applies to your referrals, purchased leads, and random walk-ins alike. Maybe the salesperson followed up once because it was a bad lead? Or maybe the prospect got busy and needed a sales rep who would follow-up? Either way, a lost a qualified prospect, whether paid for or generated organically, has an impact on the bottom line. Here’s how to keep precious leads from falling through the cracks.
Two Reason Lead Programs Fail
Hot leads don’t mean much unless you know what it takes to convert them into active policyholders. No matter if you have been working as an agent as a solo team or have a team of 20, you must have a system for getting and working leads.
#1. The leads are bad- Some agents love lead companies, some don’t. Aged, recycled, or shared leads are likely the culprit here. If you buy leads that aren’t net new, urgent, and exclusive, you run the risk of wasting your money outright. Who wants to fight with 5 agents to write a new policy? Avoid getting burned by bad lead companies with this article or check out a more neutral source like Insuranceleadreviews.com to educate yourself on the marketplace as well.
Bad Practices – Lead vendors, however, are not always at fault. Thousands of inbound call recordings, plus these shocking stats about sales prove that sometimes it’s you. From team member insensitivity to customers or complicated call trees that are ruinous to customers experience, your own processes can be shooting your agency in the foot. The inefficiencies cause by outdated technology and unautomated (is that a word?) marketing processes cause the dripping leak in your agency.
What To Do About Failing Lead Programs?
Purchase Higher Quality Leads– There are all kinds of leads, internet leads, telemarketing leads, live transfers, appointment setters, exclusive leads. By focusing on exclusivity you win on two fronts. First, you get a higher quality lead, nextly, you save the time and opportunity costs of sending your team on a wild goose chase.
Abandon The Source and Look For Other Channels – Many other channels offer benefits to insurance leads. Channels like word of mouth, SEO, and partnership programs can offer more volume, quicking transactions, and higher closing ratios. Remember, in developing your marketing plan, 80% of your marketing will be as a result of 20% of your channels. If it ain’t working, don’t be afraid to pull the plug, fast!
Implement Better Workflows – Things change. Technology changes. The most efficient way to perform tasks changes. When’s the last time you’ve audited your processes? Often times agencies create their own bottlenecks, with outdated technology. Surprisingly simple tweaks in your lead generation and client experience systems can plug the gaps and turn up the numbers.
The Impact of Effective Lead Nurturing
Every agency has 4 key questions to ask about their sales pipeline. How many quotes is my team working? How long they take to close? What’s my average premium value? And finally, what’s my team’s closing ratio? Before we can understand why our failure to follow-up is causing missed sales, we have to understand how lead nurturing can impact each lever.
Increased Closing Percentages: We know that simply following up with prospects means more sales. However, another facet of lead nurturing means spending more time with fewer prospects to win the best prospects. By taking a quality over quantity approach in follow up means looking to close 5 of 7 deals instead of 9 of 39 deals.
Higher Average Premium: One part of lead nurturing requires that leads are scored, and/or ranked according to value and/or priority. This leads to evaluating leads based on expected premium, versus on a volume-basis. A second approach is post-sale lead nurturing for cross-selling opportunities.
Higher Volume of Quotes: Yes, speed in follow-up translates into the ability to process more quotes, but more importantly by automating lead nurturing you’re able to exponentially team production
Shorter Quote to Close Times: Mathematically speaking, according to the sales velocity equation, your sales cycle has the biggest impact on your agency’s pipeline. Even slightly decreasing the average hours/days it takes for your team to close, significantly improves your entire pipeline. An overlooked element of lead nurturing is not just following up but following up at the right time. The right timing behind your marketing messaging can make it so that the prospect moves on your schedule, not theirs.
The Surefire Method To Working Insurance Leads
Again, as referral rates continue to decline across space due to shifting market demands, your inbound leads (whether paid for directly or organically driven) are becoming increasingly more important. Therefore, to get the most bang for your buck
Follow Up Fast – Speed kills. The agency that responds within the first hour, is 7x more likely to get the sale. Not to mention, approximately 20% of agencies follow-up within the first 5 minutes of an inquiry. Secondly, on the flip-side, you have to make it easy for you to be contacted fast. This means auditing your inbound sales process to improve speed/experience.
Nurture The Relationship– Only 10% are ready hot and ready to buy today. 40% of your transactions will between the day after day 1 and 6 months. This means you have to be frequently frequently building customer data nd frequently getting their attention over this time period.
Remarket – Yes, this is a hot marketing buzzword, but this is really where you can use systems technology to blow past the competition. For years, Facebook, Youtube, Google, etc. have been collecting your user data. With this data, you can reach your ideal customers and find more just like them. For pennies on the dollar, you can keep continually marketing so that no leads fall through the cracks. Remarketing is your secret weapon against the agency next door.
Wrapping It Up
A new lead, whether by word of mouth or purchased directly or indirectly, is the lifeblood of any agency. Becoming more efficient in how your team follows-up with leads are one of the small levers that when adjusted can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. By implementing a robust follow up system, your agency can blast past the majority that aren’t!
Stay up to date with the latest technological trends, from a millennial by subscribing to the blog. Also, if you like the content, give us a hand and follow us on LinkedIn! #godigital
