Your independent insurance agency’s success lies in your client base and client service – gaining and keeping clients is what keeps you going. Although you may have a solid client base today, you know the fluid nature of the insurance business, and are always on the lookout for new clients. You need to constantly gain leads to keep your agency thriving.
In order to gain leads, you’ll need to take a look at your current clients. Once you have an idea of who you’ve already attracted, you’ll get insight in to what type of audience to target for new clients. Once you know that, you’ll need to think about howto attract more of these leads.
Once you know the who and what, it’s down to how to gain leads. In this post, we’ll look at some more traditional methods for lead generation. In our next post, we’ll cover some newer methods, which should be used alongside these traditional approaches.
DIRECT MAIL
“Snail mail” sent directly to a potential client’s home or business.
- Choose the right way – postcard, brochure, greeting card, flyer
- Make it stand out – bright colors, eye-catching designs
- Include something special – discount, limited time promotion, etc.
- Test it – ask trusted clients what they think
- Follow up – call, email or send a follow up letter reaching out
REFERRAL
Providing incentive for current clients to refer new clients.
- Offer a discount –offer rewards like a free month or a discount on adding a new car to a policy
- Create a contest – enter those who referred someone in a drawing to win gift card to a local business, like a car wash or home and garden store
- Send in the mail – enclose an easy to pass along flyer or postcard to expand your reach
- Thank clients for their referral – call or send an email, and publicize those who have referred on social media, your enewsletter and other forms of marketing
WORD OF MOUTH
Individuals (clients, car dealers, real estate agents, etc.) telling others about your agency.
- Give special access – help your clients and partners feel exclusive, letting them in on special announcements and frequently asking for their feedback, so they’ll want to share with others
- Make sharing easy – allow individuals to share their experiences and have them seen by posting them on your website, social media, in your enewsletter, etc.
- Ask for ideas – when your clients share what they want, make it happen – they will be eager to share about something they feel a part in creating
- Identify influencers – specifically target clients who refer often, provide lots of feedback, and have a large social media reach as their word will make a larger impact
Once you’ve got leads coming in, your next step is to create a system to track them. We suggest using your agency management system, as you plan to add these individuals to your client base. Partner XE users find it a great tool for lead management with capabilities like Outlook integration and mobile access, agents can keep track of an individual as they move from prospect to life-ling client.
To find out more about what Partner XE can offer, contact us today at 800.747.9273 or [email protected].
