Since the dawn of insurance sales, agents have yearned for viable leads. Those who found the best leads enjoyed success, prosperity, and exotic travel. They built empires that stood for decades.
The source of those powerful leads remained a closely-guarded secret, known only to the Old Agents and the gods they worshipped. But time passed and the age of the Old Agents was replaced by waves of New Agents who worshipped the false idols of Internet Leads. As New Agents waited for the Internet to magically make sales for them, the knowledge of the past slipped away.
• Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series, “Lost Secrets of the Best Insurance Leads,” that reveals great tips for finding quality leads. Parts II and III will appear in coming weeks.
Yet, modern “Agentologists” have uncovered three powerful secrets of the Old Agents, and we present the first of these three secrets now for your study.
Secret #1: “Drink water from your own well”
Translation: “The best leads are the people who have already bought from you.”
Consider the time, effort and expense required digging a new well. If you find water, the cost of that first sip is high. Perhaps 7x higher than drinking from your existing well.
So it is with insurance sales. Agentologists past and present agree that it is easier to sell to people who have already purchased from you than it is to sell to someone new. Supporting evidence shows that the costs of finding a new customer are 700% more than making a sale to an existing (or former) customer. The expense of finding a new sale weakens your profit margin. However, upselling or cross-selling to existing customers requires 1/7th the time, effort and expense, and yields greater profit margins. The Old Agents knew that writing additional policies with existing customers creates additional bonds that make customers less likely to leave.
As it was with the Old Agents, your wells today are full of existing mono-line customers that can be turned into multi-line customers by metaphorically lowering the bucket once or twice. While myths were told and ballads sung about the wisdom of these Old Agents, it’s actually not all that difficult to do. All an agent needs to do today is invite mono-line customers in for a Policy Review meeting. In that meeting, show them how bundling their policies with you provides money-saving discounts and makes their lives easier by consolidating multiple points-of-contact down to just one office.
The high quality leads that today’s Agents are hoping the Internet will magically provide for them are actually waiting right now in your existing book of business.
Today’s agents would be wise to follow the wisdom of the Old Agents, and begin searching through their existing books for mono-line customers that they can turn into multi-line customers. More wealth was amassed by Old Agents selling to their existing leads than was generated in attempts to find new customers.
Crack open that dusty tome and start inviting customers in to visit with you – the wealth, growth and exotic travel of the Old Agents awaits you.
• Stay tuned for Lost Secret #2: “The Hunt May Bring Glory but the Farm Delivers Wealth.”
About Boyd Karren
Boyd Karren is an “Agentologist” and the Chief Marketing Officer at Engagex Corp. Always passionate about helping small businesses grow, he has provided marketing advice and direct consultation to growth-minded sales professionals and owners of small businesses for 20 years. He has particular expertise in helping businesses establish and optimize their online presence, and brings “stomping, screaming, soccer fan-type enthusiasm” to the world of Inbound/Content Marketing. Boyd holds an MBA from Indiana University, and a Master’s in Global Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
About Engagex
Engagex sets up selling opportunities for insurance agents, specifically by helping agents market to their existing books of business, with the goal of uncovering all insurable interests and strengthening customer retention. Engagex enjoys approved partner status with several major insurance carriers who contribute cost-share, co-op or subsidy money to its agents to help pay for these vital marketing services.
