The Five Biggest Mistakes Made in Managing Internet Leads
By Carl Moulton, CPCU, CLU, ChFC 10 L
et’s face it. With over 75 percent of today’s insurance consumers beginning their search for insurance online, we must be successful marketing
online if we expect to stay in business. Here are the five biggest mistakes to avoid.
Not immediately getting in touch with prospects! This is the biggest mistake of them all. Keep in mind people go online for the web’s convenience and speed. Getting quotes and questions answered immediately is the standard expectation from today’s insurance consumers. Strive to treat your quote request “inbox” with the same level of importance as an office visitor. You wouldn’t ignore a customer at your receptionist desk so you shouldn’t delay in responding to a quote via the web. Obviously, our offices are not physically opened at night, so consider using a 24/7 licensed call center for after hours support. I’m not talking about the insurance carriers’ call center, but one that represents you, the independent agent.
Purchasing non-exclusive leads. Working non-exclusive leads is, more often than not, an act of futility. The primary reason is the number of other agents working that same lead! Personally, I would’nt want a bunch of agents calling me back about the same thing! If you’re not the first or second agent to respond, your call merely becomes an aggravation. I would much rather receive one phone call with multiple choices and solid advice. Of course this ability to shop the market for the consumer is the independent agent’s main competitive advantage, and exclusive leads leverage it.
Not having an established, measurable marketing plan in place for working internet leads. There is an old saying that you have to inspect what you expect. It’s also been said that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. It’s important to map out your work flow on how your agency is going to work ALL leads (not just your internet leads). Be sure to set measurable standards that answer the ‘who, what, when, where, and why’ of everything you do.
Not leveraging your agency’s existing technologies in managing your leads. Most of us are guilty of not maximizing the capabilities of the technologies that already exist within our agencies. It’s even more common that we fail to connect the dots and integrate these technologies into our daily work flows. A classic example is the failure to embed our client management systems (CMS) or multi-rater’s consumer portal into our websites, which would cutback on our quote processing time. Those of us who don’t use online consumer portals often overlook the prospect management capabilities of our CMS. Let’s face it, having a 20 percent closing ratio for any line of insurance is not bad. The question is what are you doing to manage the remaining 80 percent which offer potential. It takes three to five sales calls to close a deal. By keeping this data current and working it faithfully with the help of technology, sales will increase.
Not getting buy-in from agency staff. How good are you at pushing a string? Unless you’re in the office every day, you rely on your staff to get things done. You need to be sure that your staff buys into your marketing plans. That includes both a complete understanding of how to implement them as well as the right incentives to make them happen. Weekly office meetings are the perfect environment for developing, adjusting, communicating and measuring any agency marketing plan.
This article was originally published in the 2011 PIA National Agency Marketing Guide (www.PIAAgencyMarketingGuide. com). It is reprinted here with permission of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carl Moulton is a co-owner of Insurance Agent Internet Marketing Systems (IAIMS) and has held positions in underwriting, underwriting management, sales and sales management for one of the largest U.S. multiline insurance carriers. He is a member of the Florida PIA and the Society of CPCU.