When does prospecting end?
Newsflash: It never ends, at least for successful insurance agents.
How did you land your top clients? If you’re like most insurance agents, it was likely through prospecting.
Everyone prospects at the beginning of their career. It’s a great way to gain skills and create your own base of customers. Plus, it’s difficult to hurt a company by failing to gain something that wasn’t their in the first place.
But as an industry novice grows into an industry veteran, rejection is often what drives them away from prospecting. The constant success you feel from your current client base is contrary to what you experience while prospecting.
Unfortunately, your current customers will come and go, leaving you with holes that are best filled through the prospecting process. Agents must strike a balance between innovation and sticking to the script. Fortunately, their are many avenues to do so:
Referrals are nice, but shouldn’t be your most utilized strategy
Sure, a recommendation from a friend is one of the best ways to land a client, but you’re placing your own fate, income, and success in someone else’s hand. Referrals are a passive strategy. Treat them more like an appetizer rather than your main dish.
Prospect your current customers
You can prospect your current clients onto other forms of insurance they might need. Just because they haven’t asked, doesn’t mean they do not need it. Be proactive—do not wait for the client to run into a problem before you address it. They will appreciate your service even more if you help them prevent future roadblocks.
Most customers make purchases to solve problems, which is probably how you landed your current client. Thinking ahead about a client’s future roadblocks and helping prepare is a great way to lead them into additional services.
Shortcuts take too long
Painless strategies are lazy strategies. Anything that will produce massive success will take time, effort and creativity. Painless strategy is like playing the lottery—most successful results are more likely a result of luck rather than determination or work.
Innovate, but stay true to tried practices
Social media is huge right now, but everything comes and goes, and agents who rely on it may face some serious obstacles. would you give money to a stranger you met online? No? Then don’t expect that from your clients.
But, don’t ignore social media either. If you appreciate cold-calling, you’re definitely in the minority, but a little innovation can allow you to do less of it.
Tried and true strategies like email should be embraced. It removes the pressure from the client and gives them space to breathe and you can tell how enthusiastic they are about your product. But there is always a time and a place for phone calls.
Take it a step further and use LinkedIn messenger. It’s more casual than email and less personal than texting. Plus, LinkedIn is a unique social media platform because the professional expectations are already established.
Always get face-to-face
As stated above, would you give your money to someone you have never met? The same goes for phone calls, emails, and other means of communication. While some prospects may buy into your product through digital communication, many will not. Meeting face-to-face provides agents and their prospects with a more genuine level of trust and communication. As today’s culture shifts to the digital realm, old-fashioned, in-person communication will help you stand out.
Do what fits your style
We’re all different. Don’t do something just because top agents and advisors do it. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the relationships you build with YOUR clients. Your personality likely differs from other agents, and the same also goes for your clients. Understand this and make it personal.
While prospecting can be difficult, it should always be a priority. You lose customers every year. The best way to continue growth is to gain more than you lose, and constant prospecting it the best strategy to attain this.
Prospecting allows you to bring out your creative side. You really have nothing to lose. Like stated earlier, it’s hard to be harmed by something that wasn’t there to begin with, but you still need to keep a steady flow of new customers. If you stay calm, persistent, and authentic, the customers will certainly follow.