How to Collect and Nurture Leads Automatically 

If you’re looking for one thing you can do as an insurance professional to dramatically improve your results, the answer lies in the way you gather and leverage your leads.

The good news is that it’s a simple matter of collecting your leads in the right way and then automatically following up with them. Once the system is set up, it’s good to go. Then, you can focus on what you do best — helping people with their insurance needs.

The thing is, very few agents bother to do this. And because they don’t bother, they are leaving thousands of dollars on the table — and leaving more for you.

It can best be summed up as “ABC.” And no, I don’t mean “always be closing” — instead, it’s “always be collecting.”

Your marketing materials exist solely to collect leads. Why? Because otherwise, you’re wasting opportunities.

Collecting the leads
Imagine you run an ad in the local weekly paper. For most of the time, and for most of the people who see your ad, your effort (and money) is wasted. At any given moment, people just aren’t thinking about insurance.

Now, imagine that same ad mentioned a special guide you’re offering, with a title such as, “Peace of Mind: How to Insure Yourself against the Unexpected” or, “Got Health Insurance? Are You Really Covered?”

This ad then directs readers to your Web site, which includes a form to collect email addresses, or gives them a phone number linked to a voicemail that collects their information. Wouldn’t all that make the ad work so much more effectively?

And this technique isn’t limited to your newspaper ads. Use it on your Web site, in your email signatures, in your Google ads, in your YellowPages ad, as part of your community event sponsorships — even on your car, in the form of a decal.

Nurture the leads automatically
Now what happens when you’ve collected all those leads? You certainly don’t want to waste them, and you probably don’t have time to keep following up with them until they are ready to look at insurance. And that’s where automation comes in.

You dump your leads into your database, and using that database, you automatically send them the guide they requested, and, after that, useful information on a regular basis. You then begin building a relationship with all of your leads, nurturing them to prove that you are an expert at what you do and that you are there to solve your prospects’ problems. And because you are regularly sending valuable messages, you are always at the forefront of their minds.

It might take a bit of effort to set up, but once it’s done, it’s a case of “set it and forget it.” The payback will come over the weeks, months, and years ahead.

Meeting prospects’ and clients’ needs
You can even send prospects information that is tailored to their precise needs. If, for example, they have requested information on health insurance, you can send them a series of emails about health insurance. If they have requested information about life insurance ... well, you get the picture.

But just remember two things as you go through this process. First, don’t abuse the trust of your prospects by just sending them advertising material. Instead, send them valuable information, with a mention of what you can do for them tucked somewhere in the email.

And second, keep sending those messages. Your prospect might not be ready to talk to you right there and then, but they’ve at least indicated they are interested in what you have to say. Keep in touch, and when they are ready, they’ll know where to come.

And one more thing: Don’t forget you can also use this technique for both your existing and past clients. Add them to your database and send them a series of messages (and your newsletters) so that they don’t forget about you at renewal time.

Your clients and past clients are yet another goldmine of opportunity you probably haven’t tapped into yet. Using these systems will allow you to mine that opportunity automatically.

Simon Payn is the president of Ready Insurance Newsletters. He can be reached at support@readytogonewsletters.com.