Internet Insurance Leads – A Good or Bad Choice?

28. March 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Internet Insurance Leads · Tags: , ,

It’s getting a lot harder for agents to find qualified, worthwhile leads. That causes many people to start looking on the Internet in the hopes of finding leads that’ll work for them. However, if you’re considering Internet insurance leads, you may wonder whether or not they’re worthwhile. With the number of people on do not call lists increasing and more and more agencies going online, they can be worth it. Let’s take a look at some of the places you can find leads online, and the benefits and downsides of each.

Buying Leads Online

There are a number of popular sites that will sell you Internet insurance leads for just about any insurance field. Buyers often look for offers through these sites because it’s easier for them to fill out a single form instead of calling their local agents to compare rates. Starting in one of these sites is relatively easy – sign up and enter payment information to get qualified leads.

You’ll probably get a lot of leads and it’s easy to set up, plus you’ll be able to specify particular types of lead that you’re looking for. However, there are some downsides. These leads may be shared with other agents in your area, for instance. In addition, you’ll still have to make a sales call or at least send a sales email, which is more work and can be off-putting to the lead.

Advertising Your Services Online

Another option is to fish for leads yourself online, by advertising yourself through search engine ads. Yahoo Search Marketing and Google Adwords are two of the most popular. You buy a pay per click ad from them, where you promise to pay a given amount each time someone clicks your ad. These advertisements are in text format, and show up on the edge of the page, alongside the search results when someone looks for the keywords associated with them. That makes picking the right keywords vital.

You pay when someone clicks the ad, and you’ll want to target words that will result in Internet insurance leads you can use. Many agents use localizing keywords to make sure they’re dealing with people looking in their area, for instance. This makes it easy to get in touch with local users who are using the Internet to find insurance, and it’s easy to set up your own pay per click campaign.

However, you’ll have to closely monitor that campaign to keep costs from building, you’ll have to put it together with care, and it can be expensive. You also have to have a well designed website in place for visitors to be directed to if you want to harvest leads by this method, since they’ll judge you by your site. That means that online advertising can be combined with the next method fairly effectively to help you get the benefits of both.

Build a Webpage

If you’re going to work online and don’t want to pay for advertising, but still want to get Internet insurance leads to expand your agency, one option is building a site and allowing search engine traffic to work for you. You won’t have to pay a thing, and you’ll still get a number of people looking for your services. The trick is figuring out how to stand out from the rest. Getting other sites to link to you and using correct site structure and wording can help you build a site that’s put together in such a way that it’ll rise to the top of some searches.

If you choose your optimization correctly, those searches will be made by people you’re looking for. Remember to make it easy to get a quote through your web page if you choose this method. A lot of people in younger generations would rather fill out an online form than call for a quote. They find telephones intimidating, and it’s easy to fill out a form while you’re doing something else.

Of course, the possible free traffic you’ll get via this method is balanced by the fact that you’ll need technical knowhow to build the site, or you’ll have to hire someone else who has it. It can also take several months to be listed by the search engines, and seeing results can take even longer – this is not a short term solution for finding Internet insurance leads, though it can be an extremely effective one for people who are willing to take the long view.

Cheap Auto Insurance Leads – How to Find Them

26. February 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Car Insurance Leads, Cheap Insurance Leads · Tags: , , ,

If you’re in the insurance business, chances are that you’re always on the lookout for prospective customers you can help find the right insurance for their needs. Auto insurance is one of the biggest insurance areas, since just about everyone who drives has to have insurance of some kind. However, that also means that there are a lot of agents out there offering this kind of policy. If you want to out compete them, you’ll need to find people who are interested in what you have to offer. That means generating high quality auto insurance leads, then demonstrating to those people that you’re the best choice for the job. Here’s how to do it.

First, find a niche to concentrate on. This can seem counter intuitive. After all, you want to get every customer you can, don’t you? However, this market is big enough that a given niche should keep you well supplied with customers, and you’ll offer better service if you can concentrate on just one area.

One way to determine a good niche is finding out which carriers have good rates for a demographic that your area has a lot of. If you work with a carrier that offers great rates on commercial auto insurance for electricians, for example, you can concentrate on that small segment of the population. Focus your efforts on them and find the auto insurance leads that will make your business grow and help you match people to their perfect policy. You’ll be surprised at the difference it can make.

You’ll next need to get a list of companies in your niche – businesses are often a better choice than private individuals. One method is simply to buy a list. However, you can also go through the businesses in your area manually and find the best choices to contact. Remember that a smaller business is less likely to need a commercial insurance policy, and may not be the best target as an auto insurance lead.

Commercial auto policy leads will, in most cases, have several trucks and a number of employees. The average one man business won’t need what you’re offering. Of course, the biggest companies probably already have arrangements directly with insurers, and you may not be able to beat them. So, look for a company that has between five and fifty employees, for example. Make a list of these companies and write down a few notes about each. Don’t overdo it – just add enough that you’ll be able to remember them and personalize your communication.

Remember that it is important to know what you’re doing – you’ll need to talk to an underwriter and have a good, detailed list of questions. That’ll get you the information you’ll need to have when auto insurance leads call you to discuss their policies. If you have to keep going back and asking for more information, you’ll look like you don’t have the experience to serve your leads well. Fortunately, if you’ll just dedicate the time to learn what kinds of coverage your leads should have, you’ll come across as an expert, not a beginner.

The last step is to send out a well written letter that will convince your auto insurance leads that you’re the person to call. Give it a good headline, a personal voice (not mechanical or too legal) and focus on the prospective client. A good letter or postcard – not an email or telephone call – is vital to getting the most out of your auto insurance leads. Stay focused on the benefits you’re going to be able to offer your prospects, and don’t talk about yourself too much.

The fact of the matter is that most professionals aren’t aware of how to write a good marketing letter, even if they’ve been in the field for years. The quality of your letter can have a lot to do with how well your lead generation methods work. That means that the reader has to learn what he or she is going to get out of working with you – don’t just make it a sales letter for you. Put in some specific details that make it obvious that this letter is just for them, and be sure you have a company logo and contact information displayed somewhere obvious. Then, wait for their call!