Is your life insurance prospecting on life support? Watch out for these danger signs.
You live comfortably and take a few long vacations each year. You enjoy your favorite restaurants regularly, and you’re about to renovate your kitchen. Selling life insurance has treated you well. But something’s been different lately.
Call it competition. Call it the economy. Whatever you want to call it, the fact is your life insurance prospecting isn’t working the way it used to. You aren’t doing anything different in your marketing or prospecting. It just seems like all those leads that used to roll in are starting to slow down.
You still get a few referrals here and there, and that newspaper ad manages to bring in a call now and then, but something needs to change. What, though? And when did your business start to die off? Did you miss all the signs?
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10 Telltale signs it’s time to adjust your approach to life insurance prospecting
1. You don’t update your marketing
Look back at those big red flags at the beginning of this article. There are a couple, but one glaring problem is that “you aren’t doing anything different in your marketing or prospecting.” If your business is slowing down, it might be time to change your approach to marketing. Do you only have ads in the local weekly? Start advertising online. Are you only online? Maybe it’s time to leave some business cards around town or sponsor a local 5K or 10K race. Or you might even need to scrap what you have and start over. The point is that if you haven’t taken a hard look at your marketing lately, especially if it isn’t bringing in clients, it’s time for a change.
2. You aren’t selling to your current clients
Whether it’s life insurance prospecting or running a pizza shop, your current clients and customers are your best source of revenue. They know you and the quality of your service, and you already have a relationship with them. But if they don’t know you have new products or services to offer, they are a lot less likely to buy from you, and you’ll spend a lot more time and energy courting new clients.
How should you continue to “sell” to your existing clients? Make sure they’re on your email list and send out a weekly or monthly newsletter. Pick up the phone and give them a call. In fact, a phone call is a great way to stay in touch with current clients and prospect for new clients, and Call Logic makes the process exceptionally easy.
3. You aren’t prospecting selectively
You could make prospecting calls from morning to night, and from one end of the state to the other, but the calls that work are the ones in “your” audience. If your specialty is working with business owners or small business group policies, focus on that when you prospect. Set up your calling list, schedule a regular time, and make phone calls. If you’re focusing on the right audience, you have a considerable advantage over other insurance companies who don’t have the same knowledge and experience that you do.
4. You aren’t prospecting; you’re selling
Stop trying to sell? Yes. Especially in the case of cold calls or your first contact with someone, you’ll do more harm than good if you try to sell. Remember, prospecting is about starting a relationship and building trust. The sell comes later. Of course, if the opportunity for a sale comes up, take it, but your primary goal is to get your foot in the door.
5. You’re aren’t prospecting – at all
On the bright side, you can’t try too hard to sell your services if you aren’t prospecting at all. Waiting for your newspaper ad to work or for your referrals to start calling is going to leave you with nothing much to do. If you’re looking for an unpaid vacation, that’s fabulous. But it’s not such a good way to spend your days selling life insurance. Prospecting has to be in your calendar. Do it every day. Make it easy on yourself by using an automated dialing system. And when you do make those calls, don’t make the next mistake.
6. You aren’t leaving a message
Plenty of your calls will go to voicemail. That’s not a problem if you have an excellent voicemail message. And you can streamline the process when you use Call Logic. Just one click and you can move on to your next call while Call Logic’s software leaves your prerecorded message.
7. You’re ignoring social media
You don’t need to be online all day every day, but you do need to have a presence on at least one or two social media platforms. This is your place to show off your professionalism, your experience, and your customer service. Share articles that explain different aspects of life insurance. Mention upcoming health fairs or races. Use the platform to explain, briefly, any changes in life insurance regulations or laws.
8. You aren’t asking for referrals
There is a positive side to this one; if you don’t ask for referrals, you’ll never get turned down. Of course, if you don’t ask for referrals, you may not get any. Keep it simple and direct. Send a business card or referral card out with your policy privacy updates and ask your clients to please refer their friends and family to you.
9. You haven’t updated your “elevator speech”
Client: What do you do for a living?
You: I’m a full-service life insurance provider, ensuring families can take care of each other.
Client: Oh.
Or
Client: What do you do for a living?
You: I help people pay off homes, send kids to college, and ensure the well-being of their loved ones.
Client: Oh? How do you do that?
10. There’s no value in your sales pitch
Ideally, your life insurance prospecting will get you to the point of giving your sales pitch. Your client is comfortable with you; you’ve built a little bit of a relationship, now comes the sell. But if you aren’t selling benefits, it’s going to be a lot more complicated. Look above at the elevator speech. Which sounds more appealing?
There is actual, tangible value in knowing your home will be paid off in the event of your death. Your family will have somewhere to live without worrying about making the mortgage payments. There is real value in knowing your kids can go to college and not end up with piles of debt.
Take an honest look at your life insurance prospecting. Is business slowing down? If any of these points sound familiar, it might be time to review your approach.
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