Referrals!
You shouldn’t be surprised. While direct mail is an effective source of marketing, and an online presence is a wave of the future, the best is always referrals. The most effective way to generate solid leads is your existing client base. Some agents fear that asking for referrals might sound too pushy or clients might be offended that an agent is asking for referrals. These are all MYTHS! When is the last time you bought a car? If you can remember a time when you negotiated a price with the salesperson and then went into the financing agent’s office to discuss interest rates and length of the loan/lease. This is the same person that is going to offer you all kinds of add-ons such as tire insurance, fabric protection coating, and all kinds of other money makers for the dealership. When these offers were made to you, did you get up and storm out of the dealership and not buy the car? Of course not!! You either bought them or declined them.
Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.
Once you sell a policy to a prospect, chances are you have gained trust with them, so ask for referrals. Constantly remind your clients that you are open to referrals and hand them two business cards. Why do we recommend two cards….one for themselves to keep, and one to give a friend or family member who also could benefit from your services.
For the most successful outcome, find the right combination of lead generation sources that will perform for you. Not all methods work for every individual agent, so find the right structure for your business.
Over the past couple of months we’ve had agents contact us regarding marketing methods. Should they mail out pre-approach letters, postcards, flyers, or response mailers. So what’s the best???
Direct Mailers
This is a favorite among successful agents and agencies. Sending out direct mailers with offers on Medicare Supplement historically has yielded the best results. We mention Medicare Supplements specifically because we have found that in the senior market they have the higher percentage of return. If we compare the typical Medicare Supplement mailer we usually looking at a 2% – 5% response compared to a 1% – 2% response with a Final Expense mailer. Now some of you might be asking why we don’t mention Medicare Advantage return rates. These particular types of mailers are governed by federal regulations and there are more restrictions. Here are a few things to remember when it comes to restrictions:
- Medicare Supplement and Life Insurance: You cannot quote a premium or place any value unless you mention the carrier. If you mention a carrier you must have your marketing piece approved by that carrier.
- Medicare Advantage: Your Medicare Advantage (and Part D) mailers must be approved by CMS since it is a government approved plan. While there are generic pieces that are CMS “compliant” ….they are not usually CMS “approved.”
Postcards
This type of lead generation is good and bad. We break the pros and cons on postcards below:
Pros
- Overall cost to mail is less than response mailers.
- More people will read the message than response mailers.
- Prospects are calling you.
Cons
- Response percentages are extremely low.
- Many prospects will not call since they feel it puts them in a situation to be sold something.
Online Presence
Seniors turning 65 are using technology more now than ever. Be sure to take advantage of this trend! If you have a website, be sure that it’s easy for your potential clients to get in touch with you! You will want your contact information easy to find, and always up to date. Take it a step further and have an easy form for your potential prospects to fill out and request a quote! From their point of view this is an easy and not a major commitment. From your point of view, this is an easy way to gather information to stay in touch with the client by asking for name, phone number, email addresses, etc. Your potential client is already on your website and interested in what you have to say. It would be a shame to waste such a great opportunity to connect!
What about reaching out to those potential clients that haven’t found you on the web?
One great way is to harness the power and popularity of social networking sites. The largest growing social network (at least for seniors!) is Facebook. Facebook makes it extremely easy to design an advertisement to show up in their network by giving you demographic options like age, location, and estimated income. This will allow your advertisement to appear on the Facebook news feed of your ideal prospect. Best of all you can spend as little or as much as your budget allows on these ads! You can even experiment with different ads and demographics while using a small budget and see what’s getting the best response, then increase your investment based on the results.
Now for the most effective method of Lead Generation…
Referrals
You shouldn’t be surprised. While direct mail is an effective source of marketing, and an online presence is a wave of the future, the best is always referrals. The most effective way to generate solid leads is your existing client base. Some agents fear that asking for referrals might sound too pushy or clients might be offended that an agent is asking for referrals. These are all MYTHS! When is the last time you bought a car? If you can remember a time when you negotiated a price with the salesperson and then went into the financing agent’s office to discuss interest rates and length of the loan/lease. This is the same person that is going to offer you all kinds of add-ons such as tire insurance, fabric protection coating, and all kinds of other money makers for the dealership. When these offers were made to you, did you get up and storm out of the dealership and not buy the car? Of course not!! You either bought them or declined them.
Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.
Once you sell a policy to a prospect, chances are you have gained trust with them, so ask for referrals. Constantly remind your clients that you are open to referrals and hand them two business cards. Why do we recommend two cards….one for themselves to keep, and one to give a friend or family member who also could benefit from your services.
For the most successful outcome, find the right combination of lead generation sources that will perform for you. Not all methods work for every individual agent, so find the right structure for your business.