From automation to personalization, learn five strategies to nurture insurance sales leads.
In the insurance industry (as well as most other sales fields), we know that not all leads will convert to sales. Only about a quarter of all leads are ready-to-buy in that moment. Another quarter aren’t qualified at all. And then there’s about 50% of leads that are qualified but not quite ready to buy. These are the leads that require your long term attention and can be the most challenging. But there are ways to make nurturing sales leads easier by setting up processes and structures to keep you on target to meet your sales goals. From automation to personalization, here are five strategies for nurturing sales leads to improve your conversion rate.
1. Build Automation
You’ve already built systems to generate leads using cold-calls, website, social media, and referrals. When nurturing sales leads, leverage technology to automate your first follow up. Even if it’s just buying you time until the next follow up. Setting up automated email marketing campaigns and other auto-reminders will take some of the structure guesswork out of your follow up communications. A full email campaign will do the work for you and reminders will at least nudge you at the proper intervals to connect with your leads. With different customizable tech tools, you can automate a large part of your follow up communications giving you more time to focus on closing deals.
2. Track and Score Your Leads
From the moment you get your lead you should be tracking its progress. There are great tech tools for this work, but even a low-tech option like a simple spreadsheet where you record initial contact dates and follow up contacts is a good start. Another strategy for nurturing sales leads in the insurance industry is to score your leads according to metrics that demonstrate prospect engagement. Use sales and marketing software to track whether your emails are opened, how many times it was opened by an individual lead, and if any links were clicked. The more a lead interacts with your content, the higher their score (and likelihood that they are still interested).
3. Target Your Content
Separate your leads into groups or categories based on similarities that the leads share. Maybe they are of the same demographic, or could benefit from the same type of insurance product. However it makes sense to you, divide your list into groups to which you can tailor your marketing efforts. Is there a group of leads that are all first-time home buyers? Lump those prospects together and send out targeted content regarding first-time home buying strategies. Email marketing is a great tool for these sub-divided lists since you can build targeted email content for the personas, or types of leads and reuse them over and over again.
4. Layer Your Approach For Multiple Touchpoints
It’s a delicate balance between consistent outreach and being a full-on pest, but it’s important to keep checking in with your leads. When nurturing sales leads, one type of communication isn’t going to cut it. A layered approach including things like emails, online newsletters, postcards, and social media posts can work wonders in keeping your name and agency at the top of your lead’s list. Using social media to create live-stream Q and A video content is a great way to be more interactive in your online presence. Another touchpoint can be more organic through community participation both online (in community message boards and groups) and in real life (community organizations and volunteer opportunities).
5. Stay Personal
Whenever possible, use personalized greetings in your communication. In fact, there’s almost no reason not to personalize all of your emails. Technology makes this a bit easier with various mail merge functions, but even one-off messages should be personalized using your lead’s first name. Other personal touches like including any personal connection information (are you both from the same hometown? Did you grow up down the street from where they live now?) are great ways to make your communication seem genuine and not a spam email. Other personal touches can include handwritten postcards or social media shout-outs and tags. The key is to focus on building a connection with your lead more so than focusing on the sale itself. If you build the relationship, the sale will follow!
Want to spend more time nurturing your leads rather than stuck in a cold calling loop? Connect with HBW Leads and learn how they can tailor their expert insurance technology to earn you double-verified leads specifically for your business.