Generate Insurance Leads to Grow Your Book of Business
Renew, Upsell, Cross Sell & Find New Clients
As an insurance professional you know you need to constantly work to increase your book of business. You know it is far more profitable to maintain existing accounts and grow your business from within your current client base. You also know that attrition is a fact of life and, oftentimes, due to no fault of your own clients are wooed away to “greener pastures.” Marketing strategies, therefore, need to be geared at renewing and upgrading existing accounts, cross selling to current customers and getting new business to replace what you lose due to attrition. Generating insurance leads, whether through inbound web leads, networking, social media, direct mail or other means is an important step in that process.
Direct Mail
In a recent survey of independent insurance agents across the nation, it was determined that direct mail was the preferred marketing channel for agencies utilizing an agency management system. After direct mail came email, radio/newspaper advertising and social media respectively.
Because direct mail was so high on the list, today’s focus will be on how best to utilize direct mail to drive inbound inquiries. Note, we said inquiries, not sales. Direct mail won’t sell your product, but, done correctly, it will open doors for you to do what you do best – help prospects identify the coverage your company provides that best suits their needs.
Postcards
Used effectively, post cards in particular can be excellent conversation starters when it comes to new business opportunities. They are also a great way to keep your name in front of current clients with timely reminders to renew; information on your services they aren’t currently taking advantage of (to cross-sell); information on expanded programs (upgrade), requests (and incentives) for referrals and more.
Benefits behind generating insurance leads with postcards include:
- They stand out in a stack of mail.
- People ACTUALLY READ THEM (not so easy to hit the “delete” button)
- They’re TANGIBLE (how many billboard ads or Facebook posts do you see tacked on the fridge?)
- They’re AFFORDABLE
Targeting
Use your agency management system to identify cross selling and up selling opportunities:
Use the marketing features in your Partner XE agency management system to help you identify renew, cross-sell and upgrade opportunities and use a reputable list provider who “really gets” the needs of an independent insurance agent to help you generate new business lists.
For mailings designed to generate new clients, be sure to target and mail to a very specific demographic of households who match the demographic of your best customers. Look at things like household income, home value, geographical location, marital status and more to pinpoint your best potential customers.
You will get a much higher return on your investment if you do the homework up front.
Tracking
Also, remember to be consistent in your efforts, track your results and reevaluate periodically. When it comes to direct mail marketing, “one and done” cannot be an option. There are numerous studies out there which talk about the number of times someone has to see your message before they take action. Give your plan time to work before you pull the brakes on it or switch directions.
