As an insurance agent, you may sometimes feel like you live in your car. That's because you probably spend countless hours each week driving to sales call after sales call. Although it comes with the territory, this cold hard fact of a salesperson's life can sometimes be infuriating. How many times have you driven an hour across town to meet with a prospect only to find an empty house or an unfilled seat at the restaurant table? Most agents would probably say this has happened more times than they wish to recall. But it's all part of the job, right? Well, the folks at iBoomerang don't think so.
Founded in 2003 by a group of Internet sales professionals, iBoomerang offers a variety of tools designed to make a salesperson's job easier, less time-consuming, and more profitable. These strategic tools allow insurance agents to interact with their clients in unique ways -- none of which involve sitting in a car. "In the past, I was wasting 20 hours a week driving to appointments to sell insurance," says Doug Frankel, president of iBoomerang and regional vice president of USA Benefits Group. "I can't tell you the number of times I drove for 60 minutes for a no-show."
This led Frankel to the realization that Web conferencing would be a more productive way to meet with clients, and as a result, iBoomerang was born. "Since 2003, we've been using Web conferencing to sell health insurance," he says. "We sell 100 percent online, no signatures -- 37 states have approved the use of 'electronic signatures.' "
Including a comprehensive Web conferencing tool, iBoomerang's ground-breaking products allow salespeople to securely gather, customize, and present marketing materials to their prospects and clients. The service, which is fully automated, promises to add deeper levels of personalization, convenience, and utility to a salesperson's online products and service offerings.
Idiot-proof Web conferencing
With iBoomerang's Web conferencing tool, the salesperson can literally share their computer screen with their client as if they were sitting side by side. Here's how it works: When you call your prospect or client, you both log onto a secure Web conferencing site. Once you're both on the site, you can share your computer screen with the client. During the conference, you can show your client a presentation, Word documents, Web pages, spreadsheets, or anything else stored on your computer, and you maintain control of the presentation at all times. Plus, iBoomerang offers a telephone bridge, so you can host a conference call or conference for up to 96 people at a time.
A versatile tool kit
In addition to Web conferencing, iBoomerang offers an array of innovative sales tools, including:
o Dynamic event calendar tool: This product helps salespeople easily keep track of their schedules, even linking events to conference calls or Web pages.
o Landing page tool: Salespeople can give their Web conferences a personal touch with a customized log-in page that includes their logo.
o Email template and business responder tool: This convenient tool automatically sends appointment reminders, promotional emails, and even birthday e-cards to your clients.
o Fishing 'Net tool: Most effective for agents licensed in multiple states, this tool allows you to customize a lead-generating Web site. All leads gathered from the
Web site are emailed directly to you every day.
Faceless selling: The way of the future?
Many agents, especially those who have been in the sales industry for decades, believe that online selling is ineffective. These old pros insist that you simply can't close a deal unless you're face to face with the prospect. Frankel disagrees, saying, "After years of selling, I know that no one wants an insurance salesman at their house in their face. They prefer meeting the salesperson online. Web conferencing is the gasoline to get to those meetings."
Whether or not you agree with Web conferencing as a viable sales tactic, the numbers don't lie. Studies have shown that businesses experience an average of 7 percent higher retention rates for online marketing customers versus customers not using automated online services. "Using Web conferencing, I've personally quadrupled my sales revenues," Frankel says. "It's like putting away a horse and buggy and getting into an automatic red Corvette."
For more information about iBoomerang, visit www.iboomerang.com.
Amy Bell is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to the Agent's Sales Journal. Visit her Web site at www.writepunch.com or email her at amy@writepunch.com.
