Whether you are a newbie selling life insurance or have been in the game for a while, there is often something that you can learn about finding and selling more life insurance to your clients. For many agents, aside from being profitable, one of the most difficult things is finding, and closing life insurance leads.
Note that even if you know life insurance inside out, you will not survive long without prospects. However, keep in mind that lead generation is often a time consuming and even costly endeavor. As an agent, you will likely have to consider a multitude of factors in order to decide which options are suitable for you.
You will need to consider costs, the value of your time, and the resulting lead quality. The good news is with hard work and dedication, you can find and close more life insurance leads.
According to the 2018 Insurance Barometer study, in 2018, some kind of life insurance, such as term insurance, covered 60 percent of all individuals in the United States. However, did you know that among those with life insurance, only one in five says they don’t have enough? And this shows the life insurance market is not saturated. Also, note that 50 percent of all adults either visited the website of a life insurance company or looked for life insurance information online. This indicates that people are willing to buy more life insurance if it meets their needs. Clearly there are sufficient life insurance leads as long as you know the best strategies to use.
Why Sell Life Insurance Policies?
It is not surprising that selling life insurance policies is an incredibly popular profession. And with more than one million insurance agents, insurance brokers, and service employees in the US in 2020, it is one of the largest and most profitable industries. There are several benefits to selling life insurance. Firstly, life insurance sales jobs are plentiful and quite easy to find.
Also, commission percentages are quite high and attractive compared to most other insurance sales like property insurance. Another benefit of selling life insurance is flexible hours. Note that you can do it on the side initially and earn a great living provided you’re willing to put in some work. And best of all, as a life insurance agent, you will also get paid commission renewals for as long as an effective insurance policy is in force. This is lucrative for you as it creates a passive income stream.
What are Life Insurance Leads?
In the life insurance industry, we generally define insurance leads as prospects that have requested quotes for life insurance products. However, remember that for any prospect to be a genuine lead, you need to have a certain amount of information about them, such as their name, their contact information, and a reason for contacting them.
How do I Find Life Insurance Leads?
There are several ways to find quality life insurance leads. The methods we discuss in the following paragraphs represent some of the best tips and ideas to finding life insurance leads for your business. And below each method, you will also find a clear description of how the method works.
There are standard techniques that will help all businesses in today’s economy. However, every independent insurance agent’s situation is different but use these techniques that work best for the resources that are available to you.
1. Acquire Insurance Leads from an Insurance Agency or Company
You may know that working for an insurance agency or firm is an easy and efficient way to obtain a constant flow of leads to grow your business. Here are some benefits of having a company supply you with life insurance leads. For example, you do not have to shell out cash for insurance leads that might not convert into sales.
Also, note that there is no need to compare lead costs as well as lead providers. So, you will have more time to reach out to your life leads and sell your life insurance products. Another benefit is that your insurance agency or firm is likely to provide you with sales assistance and support if you have trouble selling to these leads.
2. Answer Questions Online
You can answer people’s questions about life insurance to find more leads. Some great websites where you can answer people’s questions regarding life insurance are answer.com, Quora, and Yahoo Answers. The great thing about this strategy is that thousands of people will view your answers, and you can leave links to your site in your answers. So, this can build trust and drive more traffic directly to your insurance agency website.
3. Network with Life Insurance Professionals
Another excellent way to find life insurance leads for your business without cold calling is networking with other insurance professionals. The benefit is that you will not have to rely on overworked company leads or spend your valuable money to procure leads.
The great thing is that most US cities have excellent networking groups where professionals and experts from various industries meet on a monthly or weekly basis to socialize, exchange marketing strategies, and refer business to each other.
4. Use Lead Mail Drops
Did you know that lead drops are an affordable and efficient way of procuring quality insurance leads throughout the year? They are also called direct response mailers. You can reach out to these response mailers, set up an appointment, and then offer them information on the most suitable life insurance product that meets their unique needs.
How to Close Life Insurance Leads?
1. Create Effective and Engaging Call Scripts
As an insurance agent, you probably know that nothing falls flatter than winging it on the phone. Preparation is important. You have to think carefully about what you will say before picking up the phone. It is essential to take some time to create thoughtful and effective call scripts. Also, think through the benefits, features, value statements, and differentiators before getting on the telephone. And make sure that you practice them!
2. Make Direct Requests
Contrary to popular belief, often, there is nothing wrong or awkward about being completely upfront and honest with a prospect. Savvy salespeople learn to identify the signs that a prospect is ready to buy. And that is the time to stop the sales pitch and simply ask for the sale.
As an agent, you can also ask for the sale by improvising on another sales technique. For example, you may ask for the sale after questioning your client on their personal situation and their insurance needs and preferences in a consultative situation. A great technique is to paint a picture of your prospect’s family having the right type and amount of financial protection in a tough fictional situation and then follow that up with a sales request.
3. Start a Newsletter
This is another great way to close life insurance leads. Starting a newsletter is one of the best ways to nurture prospects. Provide your clients with a frequent reminder of how important and valuable a relationship with you can be. You can send them valuable and informative articles and updates on the life insurance market. Customer service is important in the insurance industry.
4. Make a Lasting Impression on Your Clients
You can easily make a strong impression on your clients and close more leads in a number of different ways. For example, your passion and dedication will surely make a good impression. You can also show appreciation with cards as well as thank you notes. Really make that big impression doing something unexpected or memorable for your clients.
You have informative product literature, a helpful FAQ brochure or handout for clients about your life insurance services, or a site with resources and tips for prospects and clients. Don’t be afraid to share this information. Your clients will surely find you helpful and memorable. Providing resources and information without clients or prospects asking can differentiate you from your competition. Thinking outside the box for your clients can lead to a door of new opportunities and sales.
