Business Insurance Leads – Making Your Leads Count
Every business needs insurance, even if it’s just a simple liability policy. If the business is operating on a loan, it may also be required to have insurance for any stock and equipment, as well as insuring the premises where the business operates. That means that most businesses will be on the lookout for good insurance policies – something you know how to provide. However, you have to be able to find them, and that means getting your hands on great business insurance leads, then knowing what to do with them. Let’s take a look at some techniques that’ll help you convert your leads into new clients.
As an insurance professional, you know the benefit of a good policy, and you should also know that providing insurance to businesses can be a valuable choice for you. Many agents make the mistake of ignoring business insurance in favor of homeowners, life, and auto insurance leads. However, businesses can be great for your business! After all, business owners can be valuable sources of referrals. If you give them a good policy at a fair rate, and you make the process easy and painless, you can be sure they’ll recommend you to others. However, there are lots of other agents out there. What you need to do is get the word out that you’re the best option your lead can choose, and make that message stick.
If you’re like a lot of other agents, you probably make a point of attending social functions for area businesses. After all, these aren’t just places to meet the business owners in your community and get to know one another, though they’re great for that, too. They’re also an excellent source of business insurance leads. Most cities, towns, or regions have a Chamber of Commerce or similar organization that’s there to help promote local businesses. It’s a smart idea to get involved with these for a number of reasons.
Being part of a local business organization underlines your legitimacy in the eyes of other business people, and in those of your current clients. Plus, almost every area has events organized by the local Chamber of Commerce or other organization to help owners of local businesses find out more about one another. These semi formal events are often called things like Business After Hours, and they help you get in touch with others who could be valuable business insurance leads. However, there’s more to it than just meeting new people who might be interested in the policies you have to offer. You have to follow up correctly and make sure they know that you’re the best choice for them. Here’s how.
First, make sure you get a business card or other contact information, and don’t just file it somewhere. Start up a database for business insurance leads and enter those cards into it. Add a note about the person – just ten to twenty words – that’ll help you remember what you need to know about them when the time comes to talk about the policy further.
Within two days of your initial contact, make sure you write a follow up letter. It’s best if this is a real, paper letter on your letterhead. Formal thank you cards work well, too. You just want to make sure you use something that’s a little more formal than an email, and which has your logo and contact information on it in an obvious place. You don’t need to make this a long letter – just make sure it’s polite, and that it includes a relevant piece of information about the person.
That helps them realize that you aren’t just sending out letters blindly – you remember them and you can be a big help when they need to find their next insurance policy. It can also be a good idea to include a small promotional item, such as a refrigerator magnet, for your company. This will help you stick in the minds of your business insurance leads. Remember that attending networking functions can be a great idea, but if you don’t do anything with your business insurance leads to stay in their minds, they probably won’t be much of a help.