Whether you bought insurance leads or you generated them yourself, in the end, you will have more leads that did not end in sales than ones that did convert. That's just the nature of the business no matter how good you are at selling insurance. These insurance leads become aged leads. We'll explain how internet leads that go cold still hold a very real value. We'll also show you how to get the most out of the money you spend buying insurance leads.
What Type of Insurance Agent Are You?
There are two types of insurance agents: those who brush off their failures and keep pushing through with fresh insurance leads from vendors. And there are the agents who horde aged leads, even ones that are over a year old, and they keep making the calls.
Is the former just wasting their time in hopes of making the most of the money spent or does this agent actually have the right approach? In order to answer this question about internet leads, we'll explain the best ways to profit from aged leads. We'll then let you decide if it's worth your time to pursue aged leads or not.
What Are Aged Insurance Leads?
An aged lead is a lead that is more than a couple of weeks old. Usually "aged" here means a lead that is 30, 60 or 90 days old or even older -- maybe six months or a year old. Most agents forget about these leads, throw away the phone number and never follow up because a) they didn't make contact or b) the internet lead bought an insurance policy elsewhere.
Let's face it, some agents are still operating their agencies with sticky notes and it's hard to keep information like this organized. After a few tries with a batch of insurance leads, this type of insurance agent usually moves along to a new batch of phone numbers and email addresses.
Are Aged Leads Valuable?
There are many reasons agents turn their noses at aged leads, but that doesn't mean that they are not valuable. Most agents forget that in most cases the last sales person left standing will most likely make the sale. This is perhaps especially true with life insurance, which takes some nurturing and trust-building before a policy is sold. Customer service often tips the scale to an agent's advantage and good customer service includes persistence and problem solving, sometimes just to win them over when they are hesitant the cost of a policy.
Aged Exclusive Leads
It's important to keep in mind that a portion of aged leads were exclusive leads when they were initially bought or generated. It's not hard to make the assumption that a number of them were not worked very thoroughly. Also, some of these leads may have made the decision to go with another agent or carrier but they are not having a great experience and would be open to switching insurance companies. Also, there will be leads who are about to renew their policies and may think twice after hearing what your agency has to offer.
As you can see, aged leads are not worthless. Are all these leads worth contacting now that they aren't being bombarded by so many agents all calling at once? The answer to this is a resounding yes! You can make sales from aged leads.
How Are Aged Insurance Leads Different from Real-Time Leads?
Real-time leads are fresh and probably have not been worked on by many or even any agents. These can be exclusive leads or shared leads. Real-time leads have just given you or SmartFinancial their information and want a quote. If you do not work these leads after 30 days or more, or if the prospect just isn't buying for whatever reason after several weeks, these leads are considered aged leads.
Nurturing a Relationship with an Aged Lead
A wise insurance agent will add an aged lead to a growing list of leads to follow up on. Whether it's you or a producer doing the work, these leads do often convert, just down the line. But considering the fact that the investment has already been made, it's not a bad idea to continue nurturing the relationship. Setting ex-dates is another thing seasoned agents do, hoping that at renewal time, they may have better luck. The best agents have already been nurturing the relationship before that ex-date approaches.
Ask prospects a lot of questions, about the area they live in, their job or business and their families. Use their name when you talk. The more you know about this person, the better able you are to help them. When you become a part of the solution, you can push the product you're selling over price alone.
Whether you're selling Medicare products or auto insurance, you will make sales with a fraction of aged leads after nurturing them. You'll lose some and you'll gain some, but never give up on aged insurance leads until you've exhausted your chances.
Add them to the Sales Pipeline
Some lead generation companies even sell aged leads for a dime to a $2 per lead. But why not make use of the ones you generate on your own after you buy the best real-time insurance leads in the industry? If at first they don't work out, instead of looking the leads as a loss, add them to your growing pile of aged leads to be nurtured and closed at a later date.
Stay Organized with Each Account
Lead management is also very important and should be something you invest in for both real-time leads and aged leads. Not only will you become more organized, you'll sell more policies because you can take up where you left off by just glancing at your notes in the CRM. There's nothing more valuable than making a prospect feel remembered.
For more on how you can stay organized to maximize sales, visit here.
Auto Dialers for Aged Insurance Leads
If you're warming up to the idea of taking aged leads and squeezing out some sales, know that you will succeed. However, we recommend taking a few steps to ensure success. First, consider investing in an auto dialer or hiring some producers to work mainly on commission. An auto dialer will help you save time and money over manually entering the numbers. You'll be able to get through many more leads this way.
Even when a prospect says no, you must always consider this as an invitation to revisit the conversation. You have to know that agents sell to people that initially said no all the time. Add the people who said no to your auto dialer list.
A Winning Combo: Fresh and Aged Insurance Leads
Ideally, you'll want to set up a system of receiving a fresh stream of real-time insurance leads while creating a system to follow up with aged leads at different intervals and using different means (email, text, mailer). There's no shame in getting the strongest return on investment by maximizing your sales potential without spending more money. So the next time a lead says "no," add them to the "talk to you later" pile.
Leads Program with SmartFinancial
Whenever you're ready to meet insurance prospects in your area that fit the profile you want, contact SmartFinancial at 877.323.7750. Our Account Managers will work with you in creating the right call scripts and training your producers. Whatever your budget, we have the right leads package for you.
