Agent & Advisor Stuff

A Health Insurance Leads Action Plan

keys to health insurance leads

Over the past year or so I have had an uptick in questions with regards to marketing and leads for health.  Confusion is still very high among consumers when it comes to the Affordable Care Act.  Add to that that there are a lot more people looking at their options and you have opportunity.

I have given my thoughts enough times that I figured it was time to put it down in writing so I could offer up a link.  This is a very general framework and you can add any ancillary techniques you like but these are the cornerstones I see working.

Please also note that most people asking are newer to the game and have more time available than marketing budget.  If you already have a strong book mailers are clearly going to be a better option than cold calls and door knocking.

My Health Insurance Lead Plan

I have found that a combo of marketing and lead buying in addition to great service and follow up (for referrals) is the best bet.  That said, there is no one size fits all magic formula to attack health insurance leads. Please consider these suggestions starting blocks rather than absolutes.

The combo that is right for you really depends on your available time and budget. My suggestions are based on personal experience and a number of folks I know that take different angles based on their target market. Clearly the audience is key and the same methods might not be as effective for Medicare sales as a 30 something SMB owner.

Low Cost / High Time – Marketing

Public data and data lists for mailers and cold calls have been good options for lead gen. The key is having a tight market and a proven mailer.  Once you have a list be sure to spend a lot of time on the mailer.  Take a look at mailers see from carriers, ask agents what is working at place like Insurance-Forums.net or hire a copywriter if you are not sure.  Also be sure to test different versions over time (both message and format) and stick with the best responder.

With direct mail the response will be slower than online ads but you can definitely get consistent and reliable results.

Obviously mailers are going to be more costly than calling or door knocking.  The trade-off is that they scale.  If you try your hand at calling you will want to scrub any lists against the do not call registry if you are working the consumer market.

Sources:
https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/faq/faqbusiness.aspx
https://insuranceleadsguide.com/insurance-leads/insurance-agency-marketing-tools/ – See Direct Mail and List Services
https://island-of-freedom.com/senior-insurance-sales-list-guide/

Higher Cost / Less Time – Lead Buying

I have found shared internet leads to be the best bet for the time invested. Exclusive can be great if you have a good source but I they are often fleeting and much lower volume.

The caveat with shared health leads is that you have to test the market and find lead vendors that deliver well in your territory. Every vendor has strengths and weaknesses and they vary greatly by location / ZIP.  You have to put the time in and set reasonable expectations.  This is critical.

When factoring your ROI don’t base everything solely on the instant results. Also consider expected conversion with follow up, cross-sell opportunities, renewals and expected rate of referral from new clients.

Sources:
http://www.healthinsuranceleads.com/
https://www.insuranceleadreviews.com/leads/health/
http://www.insuranceleads101.com/health-insurance-leads/

Online Ad Automation

Regardless of where and how you market or advertise always be sure to include your website or agency profile page.

Hopefully you have some backend control that will allow you to place Facebook and Google Analytics or Adwords retargeting tags. This will allow you to create those ads that follow you around based on sites you visit. Yes, they can be creepy but they are crazy effective.

Anyone that hits your site will be added to the retargeting list which you can then create ads for users that have already shown some level of interest in your services.  You can target audiences by specific page visited so be sure to funnel visitors where you want them to go in your email or mailer.

These ads end up being very cheap compared to all other sources and help to automate the follow up process with more passive points of contact.

The return is as good as it gets, especially with traffic from paid leads.

Sources:
inboundascension.com/facebook-fishing-formula/
ppchero.com/ultimate-guide-to-adwords-remarketing/

The Key

There are a lot of turn and burn approaches in health.  I implore you to resist these tactics and focus on building something real and defensible.
Exceptional and helpful service is the key to everything in health. The masses are more confused and need advice. Given the high level of confusion you will find plenty of folks that will not ready to make a decision.  Give great advice, help solve problems, follow up and be sure to ask for referrals.

Before long you will see your marketing and lead buying expenses decrease because your funnel will be filling up with word of mouth referrals.

Where to Turn for Insurance Lead Generation

As an insurance agent, your success will hinge greatly on your marketing plan. How re you currently generating leads? Are you confident in your current strategy or are you ready to make some changes? Although you may think you are on the right path, adding a few new techniques here and there could help you increase sales.

Direct Mail

Believe it or not, direct mail is making a comeback among professionals in many industries – insurance.

If you are going to rely on direct mail, make sure you target consumers in a particular area. Along with this, spend time perfecting your mailer. From a sales letter to a postcard, you must be sure that you are providing the consumer with the information needed to move forward with contacting you.

Life Insurance Leads

Life Leads

Over the past year or so I have seen an uptick questions related to insurance leads.  Many of the questions have come from agents and financial advisors after they have already tried various types of life leads and the main question I get is where to find a good lead company.

After digging a bit I typically find the underlying issue is not the source as much as HOW the lead is processed.  If the method of working a lead is not sound the producer won’t realize success on a consistent basis no matter how good the lead source might be.

So….today I want to go over a few basics regarding contacting a lead.

Reminder: This advice goes along with the speed to contact advice posted here.

Here are three steps to follow when a working a life insurance lead (or just about any other type of insurance lead):

1. First attempt to make contact on the telephone as soon as it comes in. As you know, it is much easier to close a sale over the phone because you can work with the consumer to better understand their situation.  This also gives you an opportunity to make content at the peak of interest before other distractions come into play (assuming it is a real-time lead).

2. Make use of email. There are going to be times when a consumer wants to communicate via email and it is important that you meet the prospect at their preferred medium. When you contact a lead via email, make sure you are concise and complete with your answers. Since you are not communicating in real time, you need to make as much progress as possible with each message you send.  Take a forward looking approach and try to answer any questions or objections you could encounter beforehand. If you have already spoken with the person on the follow use email to recap and pitch your unique value.  If you have exhausted all efforts add the lead to on ongoing drip email marketing series and follow up manually on renewal dates.

3. Don’t give up after one failed attempt. You may call an online insurance lead just to find that they don’t answer their phone. As frustrating as this can be, you don’t want to give up. Continue to make contact until you finally get the person on the phone.  I suggest making at least 7 attempts via phone before moving a lead to an auto responder list.  You will probably be surprised  to see how many leads end up converting at 5 call attempts.

Are you confident in your ability to follow these three steps? If so, put them into practice and you will be ready to make progress with online life insurance leads.

For a good look at life insurance lead sources I recommend checking out this site.  You can also check out Kevin’s ILR or our Where to Buy Leads post.