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Finding good leads is one of the hardest parts of being an insurance agent. No matter how much you know about the ins and outs of insurance, you still need high-quality leads to make a sale. Even if you're a naturally gifted salesperson who knows how to connect with people and win their trust, you still won't get anywhere unless you're meeting new prospects regularly.
Most agents spend a lot of time and energy wondering how to get quality insurance leads and where to find them. It's a crowded business, which means you're constantly competing with a mob of other agents over every single prospect.
If you're looking for a new solution for how to get insurance leads, don't worry. There are plenty of methods out there for generating insurance leads, and we've looked into all of them for you. We'll let you know which methods are the most reliable and which might not be worth a shot.
Some big insurance companies hand out a steady stream of leads to their agents. They do this on the theory that it'll make their agents more productive, resulting in a win-win. After all, handing out good leads to agents should result in a rapid conversion rate, which should be a boost for everyone.
Getting leads from your company can be a big advantage, and it's a huge incentive that draws many agents to work with bigger companies. If you're a new agent and not fully confident in your ability to generate good leads, this can be a good option.
When your business gives you a regular flow of warmed-up, qualified leads, you can stop worrying about hunting for prospects and focus your energy on what you do best — connecting with people, answering their questions, and matching them with the best plan for their needs.
This setup has its downsides, though. Before you sign up with a company that promises you a steady flow of leads, check to see whether those leads are truly fresh and valuable. All too often, companies hand out the same, tired old leads to all the new agents they hire. If your prospects have already been called by a string of other agents, it's no wonder they aren't responsive when you call them.
Keep in mind that some companies also reduce agents' commissions in return for handing out a flow of leads. That trade-off might make sense for you, especially if you're new to the job and still developing your sales ability. But if you're an experienced insurance agent, you might prefer to receive a more sizable commission in return for generating your own leads.
If you want to generate your own insurance leads, you'll need a well-planned marketing strategy that includes both digital and traditional methods. Here are a few key areas to get you started.
This old-school marketing method is still one of the best ways to get insurance leads because it relies on the recommendations of customers who already know you and appreciate your service. When they give your name to a friend or colleague, that recommendation packs more punch than an ad or a random online review.
Especially in a business like insurance, which deals with sensitive issues and requires a lot of trust, a recommendation from a friend is worth its weight in gold. So don't hesitate to ask for referrals anytime you catch up with a customer.
Although some customers may have referrals top of mind and ready to share with you, others may need a little incentivizing. A referral program can help draw out those names and keep a steadier stream of leads coming your way.
The simplest way to set up a referral program is to offer policy discounts to customers when their referrals turn into new customers for you. So, for example, you might advertise that any referrals that convert to new auto insurance clients for you will win the customer who gave you the referral 15% off their next six-month auto insurance premium.
Successful referrals, of course, rely on your existing book of business to generate insurance leads. And you'll need other ways to grow your book without relying on your immediate customers for names. That's where networking comes in.
When you're truly committed to networking, you realize that potential connections are everywhere. They're at the places you do business every day — the grocery store, the coffee shop, your favorite lunch spot. They're in the clubs you've already joined, such as your alumni association or local PTO, or ones you haven't joined yet. You can join your local chamber of commerce and make business connections. The possibilities are endless. Once you remember that everyone needs insurance, you can find opportunities to network anywhere.
Partnering with other businesses is another great way to get insurance leads. There are natural connections between many of the products and services we purchase, and partnerships leverage those connections to benefit everyone involved.
For instance, where are there likely to be a plethora of people who need auto insurance? Car dealerships. How about new homeowners looking for hazard insurance? Real estate agents. You get the idea. Form strategic partnerships with businesses like these so you can send business to each other. Just be sure the businesses you choose have a good reputation with customers so referrals in either direction make a positive impact.
As important as some of these traditional techniques are, you can't ignore the fact that we live in the digital age. Especially in the post-pandemic era, consumers are increasingly shopping for everything online — even insurance. For instance, from 2019 to 2020, online auto insurance shopping jumped by 49%. Likewise, 29% of customers said they preferred buying life insurance online in 2020, compared to just 12% in 2011.
To engage a large portion of today's customers and generate more insurance leads, you need a robust online presence. Here are some of the essentials:
These are just a few of the pillars of an effective digital marketing plan. If you start with these, you'll find new, digital ways to get insurance leads every day.
This may not be a marketing tip in the traditional sense, but it's worth emphasizing. In fact, customer service may be the best way to get leads for your insurance business. Or, if your service reputation is lackluster, then it may be the best way to short-circuit your lead-generation efforts. Good customer service, on the other hand, gets you more referrals, opens new doors, and builds trust for your brand.
When you generate your own insurance leads, you automatically build and strengthen your existing relationships with customers — and that'll benefit your business in the long run. Doing your own marketing is also a great way to brand yourself since your customers will feel that they really know you. You'll probably get more repeat customers for this reason.
That said, bear in mind that marketing is a complex process. Chances are that if you're an insurance agent, you're already an excellent salesperson — but having great sales skills doesn't necessarily mean you'll be successful at marketing. It's easy to get overwhelmed, and it can be hard to tell whether you're on the right track with your marketing efforts.
Besides, marketing tends to take up a lot of time and energy. If you can't afford to put constant effort into marketing yourself, you could end up with just a trickle of leads — or worse, no leads at all. But there's a way to supplement your marketing efforts to ensure you have good leads while you hone your skills.
If the company you work for doesn’t provide you with leads (or at least not good ones) and you're still getting your footing as a marketer, you might want to buy insurance leads directly from a third-party company.
Several third-party businesses sell leads to insurance agents. Also known as lead aggregators, these companies find prospects in a variety of ways. They might comb through websites or conduct their own marketing or social media campaigns, for example.
You'll typically pay them a set rate in return for a certain number of insurance leads. You can even set specific characteristics you want your leads to have, such as their age range, income, desired benefit amount, and geographic location. For example, if you’d like to find female customers between the ages of 25 and 40 in the Akron, Ohio, area, buying leads might be a great way to get exactly what you want.
There are some clear benefits to buying insurance leads from a third-party company. You get a flow of new prospects that your specifications. And you can concentrate your energy on your work instead of spending your time trying to generate your own leads.
If you’re relatively new to selling insurance, then working with a lead-generation company is a great way to go. You’ll be able to concentrate on sales and build your expertise without trying to generate leads simultaneously.
Even if you’re a seasoned professional, it’s usually a good idea to employ some expert help for generating insurance leads. Yes, it’s technically possible to get your own leads, and we’ll get into that more below. However, lead generation is an extensive and demanding project. It’s a significant investment in time and energy, and it can leave you drained — making it harder to focus on your actual work.
Nectar can help you make direct connections with the insurance shoppers you’re looking for. Working with Nectar ensures that you not only get fresh insurance leads but also connect with prospects who are already in the market for exactly what you offer.
We generate our own leads so we can identify shoppers who are actively searching for information about certain insurance products — and connect those shoppers with an agent who can meet their specific needs. That’s it. The result is an organic relationship that’s smooth and positive on both sides.
Nectar connects you with health, Medicare, auto, and life insurance shoppers based on what they're looking for and what you offer. As a part of Assurance IQ, LLC, Nectar has excellent access to insurance shoppers through an online platform for people who are shopping for information about the right insurance plans for their needs.
In the end, providing a great shopping experience for customers makes a huge difference. After all, happy customers are likely to return the next time they need insurance. They're also likely to refer their friends and family. That means you're not just making a one-time sale — you're also establishing a relationship that can potentially last and grow for years.
Wherever you are in your prospecting process, remember there's no one magic answer for how to get insurance leads. The truth is, you'll probably end up using more than just one approach to generating leads. That's fine. In fact, it's a good idea to keep a few irons in the fire. Ultimately, you've got to experiment and find the method that works best for you, based on your market and your unique set of skills.
It's a good idea to include Nectar in your list of lead-generating approaches, no matter what else you have on the table. Partnering with Nectar allows you to get fresh, unique leads that'll help you close sales and build long-term relationships. That makes it a sound part of just about any lead-generating strategy.
This article reflects the features of Nectar as of the date of publication. Features are subject to change at any time. This article is meant for informational purposes only, it is not a guarantee that using Nectar will help you achieve specific business or financial results and is not intended to serve as the sole recommendation for any business financial decisions.
