On a fundamental level, marketing your insurance services is pretty straightforward. However, you don't have to resort to time-consuming and, ultimately, unproductive cold-calling to gain prospects and make more sales. A series of steps -- prospecting letters, free information reports, and automated follow-ups -- can help you:
- Target a hyper-responsive group of prospects
- Identify the risk issues that are most important to this group
- Motivate a percentage of this group to come to you for more information on your products and services
- Guide them through a sequence of steps that will move them from awareness to interest to action
Although these basic objectives seem clear-cut, implementing a process that will actually help you achieve these goals is anything but simple. Ultimately, the key differentiator separating the most successful producers from the pack is a relationship built on trust that is cultivated long before the sale is made.
In order to better understand how important new business relationships are best developed, we interviewed 179 business owners, professionals, and executives to uncover which strategies work -- and which don't -- for insurance producers seeking to do business with these centers of influence and those in their network.
In these interviews, we asked the following question: Suppose an insurance agent was interested in establishing a professional relationship with you but had no previous relationship with you or anyone you knew -- what is the best way for them to get your attention?
The most effective way
Out of the top five methods cited by these professionals, the No. 1 way to gain traction and build new relationships is a one-page letter that generates curiosity. Out of those surveyed, 82 percent said that if this letter clearly communicated that the agent specialized in products and services that could provide solutions to these prospects' unique situations and presented a particular issue they could help address, the prospect would read that letter. However, while such a letter can be a powerful tool for gaining awareness, in and of itself it is limited in what it can motivate the reader to do.
These business owners, professionals, and executives were clear that a letter by itself would be unlikely to persuade them to call the agent to further discuss the services offered, schedule an appointment, and meet with the producer face-to-face. However, if the letter referenced that the prospect could request additional helpful information, the prospects would be more likely to take that next step.
Thus, the first step focuses on a carefully constructed series of one-page letters designed to motivate potential clients to contact the agent for a follow-up.
Letters, however, are only one of three primary lead-generation tools that forward-thinking insurance advisors should use when marketing to influential prospects. When you supplement this sequence of letters with call-to-action advertising in specialized publications and paid Internet/pay-per-click strategies, you can dramatically increase both the quantity and quality of leads.
There are essentially five steps to implementing a successful new business-development campaign. If you focus on these techniques, it can be relatively easy to create and implement a marketing system that will consistently bring in a steady stream of new clients -- all of whom have already pre-qualified themselves as being interested in learning more about your services.
Step 1: Determine your targets
Too often, this is given only a cursory consideration. Since you likely operate on a limited marketing budget and only have the time to follow up with those who are most likely to actually use your service, identifying the most hyper-responsive sub-groups within your target market is very important.
One key consideration in targeting a particular group is making sure they can be easily reached. Since an important step in your lead-generation process involves the use of a series of letters, it's crucial to obtain the right mailing list. And while email can be a very powerful tool for following up and staying in contact with prospective clients, it's not an effective tool for gaining initial awareness.
Step 2: Create a free information report
Remember that your goal is to get prospective clients to come to you. The best way to achieve this is with a free special report.
There are two aspects to creating your free information report. First, it must contain enough practical information so that the reader feels that they have learned something new -- this is crucial to developing your credibility. The second objective is to cultivate your reader's hunger for more information. When you provide just enough -- but not too much -- information, you can easily move the relationship to the next step. Ideally, your report should be anywhere from four to 12 pages in length and readily available on your Web site.
Step 3: Craft a one-page lead-generating letter
You should always write your lead-generating letter after you create the free special report. Remember: The letter should position you as an insurance advisor with the necessary expertise and an interesting perspective on issues that the prospective client faces.
The business owners, professionals, and executives surveyed in our study indicated that if the letter were intriguing enough, they would be more likely to read it. Moreover, if the letter communicates the many benefits of requesting and reading the free report, the prospect would follow up.
A word of warning: Do not include your report with your initial letter. You want your readers to come to you for this additional information. If you give them the information up front, it becomes virtually impossible to determine who's worth a follow-up and who's a waste of effort. The letter's sole purpose should be to intrigue the prospective client enough for them to request more information that will play a significant role in moving them along in the sales process.
Step 4: Send free information report and collect data
As mentioned earlier, the free report offer contained in your letter should direct prospective clients to your Web site for more information.
As a general rule, your goal should be to move at least 50 percent of these visitors to fill out an information form in order to receive the report. Although it would seem natural for all of your site visitors to follow through with their request, this is, unfortunately, not always the case.
The primary reason for that is that many visitors will inevitably be distracted. They may not be able to easily find the button or link to your request form, or they could be turned off by other, less relevant information on the page. You must take care to ensure that the landing page to which you direct your prospects re-emphasizes the benefits of this report. Don't assume that just because readers visit your site that they will ultimately take action. You must do everything possible to get their contact information so you can continue your follow-up efforts.
Step 5: Automate the follow-up process
Effective marketing works on the premise that through regular and consistent contact, you can move prospects through a carefully orchestrated series of steps that will lead to their business. Not surprisingly, this regular and consistent follow-up is the step that is most likely to fall through the cracks. Your goal, then, is to automate as much of this process as possible.
Once your prospects have requested your report, they should receive a series of auto-responder messages sent out at precise intervals. The question, however, is how often you should touch base and what these follow-ups should communicate. Nail this step, and your conversion rate will skyrocket.
The initial auto-response should ideally be sent three hours after the prospect requests a report.
This follow-up should simply thank the recipient for requesting the information and introduce yourself.
The next series of messages should build your credibility and move the prospect to take further action.
One of the biggest challenges facing agents is the lack of time available to aggressively market products and services to prospects. This can be particularly difficult during the follow-up stage. However, if you maintain consistent and regular contact with your prospects, your marketing efforts are sure to bear fruit --- just choose your targets first, create a compelling information report, write your lead-generating letter, send your report, collect your data, and automate your follow-up.
Mark Satterfield is a founder and CEO of Gentle Rain Marketing Inc. For more information, visit www.gentlerainmarketing.com.
