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An Insurance Agent's Complete Guide to Generating More Leads Lead Generation
Feb 3, 2022
•
15
minute read
As an insurance agent, knowing how to get insurance leads is critical. Leads are your bread and butter. The thing is, lead generation is one of the biggest challenges agents face.
Prospects are often hesitant to admit they need your services. Or, they might not realize they need them. Unless they have to buy a particular type of insurance, such as homeowners or auto, they might not even think about it. Add in the fact that you already have a lot on your plate, and finding new leads can feel downright impossible.
Fortunately, you have options. One such solution for finding insurance leads is to buy them. The thing is, you want to make sure that you're buying quality leads and that you have access to the best tools for finding the ones that make the most sense for you.
There are a lot of platforms out there that will sell you leads. Here are a few essential things that you should consider before you buy any insurance leads.
One of the first things you should consider is the exclusivity of the leads. Some companies sell shared leads, while others sell exclusive ones. Other companies offer both shared and exclusive options.
Shared leads are those that a company sells to multiple insurance agents. While these leads tend to cost less, you do face more competition.
The exact amount of that competition depends on how many other insurance agents receive the same leads. Depending on the company, you could be sharing your leads with two to eight (or more) other insurers.
Another issue with shared leads is that insurance shoppers often get bombarded with calls from multiple insurance agents. Too many calls can overwhelm and irritate a potential customer, leading to a terrible buying experience. What’s more, you get a bad experience because your leads conversion rate is likely to decrease. It’s an overall awful experience for both of you.
Exclusive leads, on the other hand, are leads curated just for you. You'll pay a bit more for them, but you won't face the same competition as you would with shared leads.
One thing to keep in mind with exclusive leads is that while they're exclusive to you, they aren't exclusive to the prospective customer. The prospect could have contacted other insurance companies for additional quotes.
Be sure to ask yourself if you want leads curated only for you, or if you mind sharing them with other insurance agents. Sure, shared leads cost less, but having exclusive leads can be essentials for success and getting your money's worth from the lead generation company.
High-quality leads can come from a variety of sources. Knowing which types are going to work best for your needs is a thing in itself. It's also necessary to keep in mind that not all lead sources are equal. Companies can gather leads using inbound or outbound tactics. Each source has its pros and cons.
With outbound techniques, companies reach out directly to potential customers. While these strategies can work, there's also a much higher chance those people will say no. The best insurance leads are those that a company generates organically through strategic inbound marketing campaigns such as blogging, paid search, and advertising.
With organic search, potential leads are actively searching for the types of products you sell. As such, these leads may be more likely to purchase an insurance product from you because they're looking for specific insurance coverage. They click on the company's site and fill out a form. You can then use the information provided in that form to generate an accurate, personalized quote just for them.
These types of organically-generated leads are typically the best. In-market customers are in the shopping phase, actively looking for insurance coverage. If you reach out to them with a quote that they like, there's a much better chance that they'll buy.
Many lead generation companies offer preset and custom filter options. While custom filters typically cost more, they give you the ability to take more control over your leads' quality with more specific audience targeting. They can, however, be overly complicated at times, and you can easily end up filtering out good candidates by trying to get too specific with your filters.
Preset filters are more affordable, and they still give you a lot of control over your lead quality. Either option can work well for you. What you choose should depend on your specific needs.
You can generally filter leads based on several different criteria, including:
One of the best ways to go about using filters is to start with a couple of filters and test out the different options to see what works best for you. Then you can start applying more filters to get more targeted results.
Keep in mind that the more filters you have, the fewer results you'll likely get. If you're not getting as many as you like, you can always remove a filter or two. Alternatively, if you find yourself overwhelmed, you can always turn a couple more filters on.
A lead generation company should be confident in the quality of its leads. It should also reflect that confidence in its return policy. While all highly-rated companies take extensive measures to exclude bad leads, it's not uncommon for some to slip through mistakenly.
Missing the occasional bad lead happens to the best companies. How a company deals with these bad leads is what makes the difference. How will its representatives react when you tell them that you received a bad lead?
Before working with any lead generation company, make sure you understand its return policy. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you can't contact the leads you purchase, the company should offer a prompt refund. If it doesn't offer a direct refund, it should at least credit your account.
Either way, you shouldn't have to pay for leads that fall outside of your territory or that have inaccurate information. If there's no return policy, or it's hard to understand, you might want to consider going with a different company.
Some lead generation companies require you to sign a contract when you decide to work with them. Not all of them have this requirement, though. There are plenty of companies that don't require a contract whatsoever.
Before you make a final decision, be sure to check with the lead generation company to see if you're required to sign a contract. One of the last things you want when buying leads is getting tangled up in some long-term contract that you can't escape if you're unsatisfied.
Without a contract, you can generally cancel your account any time you want, and there isn't a penalty for doing so. That freedom can provide significant peace of mind. Should you need to cancel your account for any reason, you can do so without facing exorbitant fees.
Finally, you should find out if the lead generation company offers an online self-service portal.
Sure, you could work with a salesperson over the phone to get your account set up and start purchasing leads. While some people prefer talking with actual humans, the process is time-consuming. Not only that, but you can't see what they're typing in, and there could be some miscommunications or mistypes in the process. If things aren't how you need them, then you have to spend even more time on the phone trying to fix them.
You can avoid the hassle of dealing with salespeople over the phone with access to a self-service portal. Completing the onboarding process online is generally faster and more convenient. You can sign up at any time that works best for you. You're not limited to business hours only, which is typically the time you're the busiest. Nor do you have to worry about being stuck on hold indefinitely for a live person when you should be focused on selling insurance.
When you fill out your information in the online portal, you have total control. You see exactly what you're typing and can edit it as quickly as needed. If you need to make changes, such as updating
personal information or adding new custom filters, you can sign in and make the necessary adjustments. You're not dependent on someone else to do the work for you. You're the one in control. Of course, if you need help from a real person, you should still be able to contact customer service, but you should have the freedom to manage everything yourself.
If you're looking to purchase insurance leads, Nectar is here to help. We support quality leads by generating our own traffic through various marketing channels. We believe that you shouldn't be using overly complicated platforms to receive the best shoppers. Our premade filters allow you to reach your target audience in a simpler format.
We do our very best to ensure that all of the information we collect from leads is accurate. If we don't for any reason, we do offer returns around bad information, like a wrong phone number or someone who states they didn't request coverage. We take your satisfaction very seriously. There's no contract or subscription to use our platform. The control is in your hands, and you can purchase insurance leads as you please.
Are you ready to get started? With our online portal, you can sign up and start taking leads today. Start finding high-quality insurance leads right away.
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.