LeadGen, a systematic method of identifying real people and organizations with a need for your services, capturing their information and building your sales pipeline is a critical piece of the insurance sales and territory management puzzle.
In the whole scheme of things, however, generating the lead is just the beginning. Leads need to be managed and nurtured in order to bear fruit. Timely follow-up, lead management and lead nurturing are all critical to moving a prospect through the buying cycle from inquiry to close.
A consistent lead nurturing program will help you stay in front of your leads and, in turn, keep you top of mind.
According to Brian J. Carroll, professional speaker, author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, and founder and CEO of InTouch, Inc, “Lead nurturing converts inquiries into qualified leads and starts the qualified leads on a trajectory to capture sales. It essentially follows up and turns qualified leads into future sales opportunities by consistent and meaningful dialogue, regardless of timing to buy.”
In his blog post No Budget and Less Time? Lead Nurturing in Five Simple Steps Carroll offers the following advice:
- Decide what information would be most relevant to them. Begin by asking your producers, “What questions do your customers ask most often? What do they care about? What issues are they facing?” Find content – articles, blogs, whitepapers, and the like – that addresses these issues. Pass this content by your producers. Ask them whether their customers would value it. As much as you can, repurpose content. For instance, industry briefs or letters from your companies can be transformed to articles and articles to blogs.
- Email prospects this relevant content, but whatever you do, don’t pitch. These should be simple emails that are written as if you are speaking to them directly. Be genuinely helpful. Provide your sales team email templates so that they can follow up and engage in their own conversations.
- Follow up with a human touch. Make a personal connection and follow up emails with phone calls to directly gauge prospects’ interest. Never rely on email alone.
Throughout the process, it’s also important not to forget the basics:
- Use targeted e-mail or snail-mail messages to bring your agency to the top of mind either before or after the initial sales call.
- Have specific information and literature ready so that you may use email to send literature and answer questions after your calls.
- Send follow-up summaries to review what was covered during phone conversations or in-person visits and confirm the next steps in the sales process.
- When leaving a voicemail, remember to keep it simple and speak clearly. Include a compelling reason to return your call.
- Take care not to leave multiple voice mail messages in the same day for one person, unless there is an absolute need to.
- Increase the likelihood of reaching the buyer directly by varying the time of day you call and/or drop by.
Remember – companies need insurance. It’s a must have. So being on top of your lead generation and follow-up is critical for your success.
Track your activities. Give yourselves reminders. Be professionally persistent and offer value when you call or email.
