Have Questions? Call Toll Free 1-866-466-7829
5 "Secret" High-Tech Tools Your Competition Wants to Keep From You
Contributed by: Jeremiah Desmarais
Vice President, Marketing
Norvax
Agent's Sales Journal
December 2005
For a long time, the insurance agent had his handshake to rely on. These days it doesn't matter how firm your grip is; it just doesn't stand a chance against today's tech tools for getting (and closing) insurance leads.
If you've been putting off jumping into the hi-tech age of insurance sales, you'd be surprised how easy it is to automate your business and separate yourself from the competition.
Here are 5 high-tech tools your competition wants to keep a secret - and exactly where you can find them.
1. Internet-Driven Insurance Leads
Insurance buyers are not searching for insurance in the phonebook anymore. Research shows that the FIRST place people go is on the internet. They do research online, then they go shopping.
Savvy insurance lead companies focus strictly on website leads, and position their sites to appear in the top ten for the most popular keywords. Visitors check out their sites, submit their information for a quote, and wait to be contacted by up to 5 agents. As a subscriber to a lead program, the prospect's personal profile is instantly delivered to you.
Companies like ProspectZone.com offer lead programs where you customize your leads by county, state, dependents and more. Some programs allow you to choose the number of leads you're comfortable receiving on a daily basis. And at $5 or $6 apiece, you can easily make up your investment in just one sale. Says Wesley Brinson of HealthIns101, "I purchased $500 worth and just one of those leads alone made me $1300."
2. Automated Quoting
Agents still using rate discs and Excel spreadsheets to run quotes quickly find themselves outclassed by competitors using automated quoting tools. Technologies like iPipeline, Norvax' QuoteBuilder, and Quotit allow you to generate complete insurance quotes from an extensive range of carriers.
What used to take 25-40 minutes minutes now takes less than 60 seconds. Says Ed Lang of Lang & Associates, "Now, quoting is quick, easy, accurate, and extremely professional.I'm now able to generate at least 10 quotes per hour which used to take over a half a day."
From the office, home or the road, if you've got access to a computer then you'll be able to run a quote from multiple carriers in one professional statement that's easy for your clients to understand - in less than a minute. Email it off and save money on postage, supplies and admin time. Some tools even let your prospect complete the application online, reducing errors and turnaround time.
3. Email Autoresponders
Autoresponders turn tire kickers into buyers by sending persistent, personalized follow up emails automatically. It's like keeping in touch with dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people with just a one-time setup.
If you're just looking for a basic autoresponder program, getresponse.com offers a version that's free in exchange for third party ads in your emails. If you're looking for an ad-free program with more options and features, it's easy to set one up with software from AutoResponse Plus.
For the serious insurance agent, online autoresponder tools like LeadMiner actually embed health insurance quotes with your carriers directly in the email! Prospects simply fill out a form on your website and are automatically sent a quote. Now you can 'run quotes' without even talking to the person. When you follow up, the prospect already has the information in front of them, making the sale easier. This feature allows your agency to be open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
4. Agency Automation Tools
If there's a repetitive task that takes up too much of your time, there's an easy way to automate it with an agency automation solution. Technology-focused companies like GBS Inc. and Norvax offer solutions to run quotes, generate reports and send proposals all from your computer and easily keep track of them all.
Agency automation tools can bundle a website, insurance quote engine, and lead management system all into one. This way you can track your leads from seminars, ads, and website through the sales process. Importing and exporting features of these tools allow you to easily merge lead sources into one place.
Says Gregory Slack, of his recently installed agency automation tools, "It has greatly improved our efficiency, raised our conversion (closing) percentages and overall just made the sales process a faster, simpler process."
5. Savvy Website Marketing
Savvy website marketing is the final link in the tech chain. Just having a website isn't enough, especially if your prospects can't find it! Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is how you position yourself against thousands of your online competitors. SEO is the process of constructing a website in a way that ensures you the highest ranking in popular online search engine searches, and therefore attracts the most visitors to your website.
Another way to boost website traffic is Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertising. PPC engines like Overture and Google Adwords allow you to bid on keywords most relevant to your agency. If you're the highest bidder, each time someone enters your keyword in the search engine they'll see your website ranked first in a "sponsored links" section.
Don't have a website? Companies that can help you automate your agency will also be able to construct a site so you can start adding virtual clients.
The Secret's Out
There. Now you know the secrets too.
Don't do your competition a favor by letting these tools stay on this page. Just one could make a significant impact on your sales this quarter. And with most of them having a 5-day or less setup time, you're just a week away from a more competitive edge.
About the Author
Jeremiah Desmarais is Vice President of Marketing at Norvax, whose web-based
tools help insurance agents consistently increase sales and cut admin
time by 2500%. He is author of several white papers, and has been a contributor
to the Agent's Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter as well as
a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is also editor
of the Norvax Newsletter that delivers helpful sales articles, tips and
marketing strategies to 15,000+ Insurance Agents monthly. Join here: http://www.norvax.com/email-subscribe.jsp.
