The best way to approach these Centers of Influence (COI) or referral sources is by sending a message to them stating that you saw their thread, that you are contracted with multiple carriers for cost and plan comparisons, that you have served that area for X - number of years, and include a link to your website. You should also leave your real name (since forum members often use screen names) and contact info (email address, phone number, LinkedIn profile URL, etc.) After sending the message, reply in the thread that you have “PM’ed the OP” (privately messaged the original poster) and you look forward to being a resource to them and their clients.
Create a Podcast: Agents these days have a number of recording devices on their phones, tablets, laptops, and computers. Leveraging these devices by recording a quick 10 - 15 - minute audio podcast allows you to speak directly to potential customers to answer common questions. This can help you build an audience that prefers to get their information via auditory means or perhaps on their way to work, while helping you get another backlink to your website from various free podcast directories. Here’s a list of 50 places to share your podcast.
Leads should come in the form of people that are likely to work with you. When you get leads for free, they may not be targeted. That’s okay though, you can target these people yourself, and it’s free to do if you’re willing to put some time into learning marketing. Don’t just get a logo slapped together and act like you’re an awesome company with all kinds of things you don’t really have in place. However, you can work with leads that you target by learning to make a splash in places like review websites and other places people read more about companies.
Ask People If They Are Happy: Simply ask prospects if they are truly happy with their insurance plan. Even if they say they are (because no one likes to admit they made a mistake in choosing a bad plan), ask people how they would improve their plan or the service offered by their current agent, if they could. This will give you what Randy Schwantz refers to as a wedge, allowing you to wedge in between prospects and their current provider to offer better service or plan alternatives.
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Write a Whitepaper: A well - written whitepaper can instill trust and credibility by educating consumers about a given issue or challenge related to insurance, while positioning yourself or your services as a solution. More polished than the typical blog post, whitepapers present your expertise backed by facts, statistics, graphs and solid research to give consumers an in - depth, downloadable piece of content, usually 6 - 10 pages in length, to guide their buying decision.
Bare - minimum customer service may not be enough to earn the referral, though, so an agent has to make himself referable. If you have business cards, a nice website, and a brochure, you make it easier for clients to refer you to someone else. But to make yourself referable, you have to consistently deliver great service—showing up on time, calling back when you say you will, staying in touch once or twice a year with a phone call a birthday card (did we mention SendOutCards?)
Prospect the Paper: Whether it’s new homebuyers, birth announcements, obituaries, or current benefit plans offered by companies in the classifieds, the newspaper is teaming with life event changes that open people up to possibly re - evaluating their insurance options. This is another old - school way to prospect that many agents aren’t doing anymore, although new agents may be getting this info from new - school sources like social media channels.
Host Educational Workshops: This is perhaps the best way to demonstrate expertise, inspire referrals, and gain business at the same time. The best outlets for educational workshops can be senior centers, libraries, schools, hospitals, churches or job sites. Make sure you plan 2 - 3 weeks in advance so word - of - mouth can get out; you don’t want to be educating an empty room. Some places will even help promote your event, which can be a very effective lead generation idea if you can present to multiple people at once for free.
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This is the first program of its kind within the insurance industry, let alone the lead generation industry. We aren’t asking for your contracts or expecting you to ink a deal with the devil. We’re just hoping that through this free lead program, we can reward engaged agents with valuable trade - offs like free quoting subscriptions, free SEO packages, a new website, or free leads – just for interacting with us and sharing your insights. In turn, by sharing your insights with us, you’ll look more like a thought leader who’s engaged in industry, and your insights can help educate other agents to make the industry even stronger, so it’s a win - win - win. Be sure to stay tuned for more details about partnering with us to earn perks like free leads.
Ask About LTC Experiences: If you offer long - term care insurance, you should be asking every life insurance or Medicare client about LTC to maximize the potential of each lead. Ask about their experiences with family members who have needed nursing homes or family members to take care of them, and then ask them what their plan is for their family if that would happen to them.
Your ultimate goal as an affiliate marketer should be to outsource all the work while you collect a paycheck each month. My website DogFoodInsider.com is 100% outsourced at this point. There is always someone willing to work for you. From writers on Constant-Content.com to programmers on Elance.com to odd jobs on Fiverr.com – the sources you can use for outsourcing is nearly limitless.
Hiring an expert is the way to go if you want to do this fast and effectively. In the long run, new clients are worth more than what you have to pay to get help finding them. You’ll make far more money on one turned lead than you will spend on getting someone to help you get that lead. If that’s not the case for you, however, then things may need to change a little. You’ll want to go do some looking at reviews for various lead generation companies to see what they can help you with and if they are worth your time to work with.
