The key to success with life insurance sales leads that are generated by a 3rd party lead company is to devise a plan of action. Most agents who use leads fail to handle them effectively enough to be profitable. Here are ten steps for an insurance agent to follow to make a profit with sales leads.
1. Select the type of life insurance sales leads you want. For instance, there are insurance sales leads that are generated by mail, fax, internet websites, etc. Each lead type has its advantages and disadvantages. Also, decide whether you want to work with exclusive life insurance sales leads, or shared sales leads.
2. Determine the quantity of leads you can afford to purchase over a 60-90 day period before you receive any commissions from your initial sales. Typically, underwriting, approving, and getting paid on a life insurance policy will take at least 60-90 days. Therefore, you will need to fund your lead purchases over this period of time before you have commissions to re-invest in leads from profits instead of your pockets.
3. Select a lead company with a reputation for generating responsive leads. Ideally, you should get references from an agent(s) who has experience working the leads generated by the company you’re considering. If references are not available, ask the lead company for several complimentary leads for you to experience first-hand how responsive they are,
4. Always follow-up with your leads quickly after receiving them, preferably within 1-2 hours. Sales leads become stale if they aren’t contacted immediately.
5. Use a follow-up phone script that quickly engages the sales lead in a professional yet friendly manner. Sales leads do not know who you are, and are quick to judge you by how you handle yourself in the first 15-20 seconds on the phone.
6. Close your lead effectively in a manner that allows the lead to decide to do business with you. Sales leads want you to advise them on what options they have, but they want to make the final purchase decision.
7. Have a step-by-step plan of action for your lead to follow to proceed once they have made a decision to purchase one of your recommendations. Your prospective policyholder should always be aware of the next step in the process.
8. Monitor the underwriting of the case to make sure it proceeds without problems or delays. Be sure to update your prospective policyholder often on the progress of underwriting their policy.
9. Deliver approved policies and complete all delivery requirements quickly so that you are paid. Be sure to maintain records of commission income vs. lead expense to track your profitability.
10. Always re-invest a portion of your commissions in additional life insurance sales leads to continue the selling cycle. Your program should be self-sustaining after the initial 60-90 days of selling to your leads.
Attempting to sell leads without a plan almost always results in frustration and wasted money on leads. However, these ten steps can provide a working outline for any insurance agent wanting to profit from selling life insurance sales leads
