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Why Should I Invest in Buying Insurance Leads?

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Fran Majidi August 1, 2022
buying insurance leads

Insurance lead generation companies get a bad rap. We do! We are held to task when you can’t close a lead. Helk, we’re held to task even if you sit on a lead for a month and you don’t close it! Every day, we have to explain (repeatedly) that leads are not guaranteed because we can’t control what you do and how well you work them. Even when we credit agents for callers giving wrong or inaccurate contact information, we’re slammed with blame for having “bad leads” which we admit fall through the cracks every now and then. Look, it’s a tough business, but if you sat down and thought about how statistically impossible it is to demand the expectations that many agents have, you’d see that buying leads in bundles is a solid investment in your insurance business. Not just that, it’s an investment with a high-yield probability.

Why Insurance Leads Are Not Guaranteed

When you invest in your business, you’re looking for a strong return on investment (ROI). One typical investment is advertising. Let’s say you own a nail salon and you pay $500 to place an ad that runs regularly for a month. You’re essentially throwing out a net for that price, right? You’re vying for eyeballs on your ad over the course of that month. Do you expect that everyone who sees the ad is going to come in for a mani-pedi? No, if that were the case, you’d be very rich very fast, a pleasant scenario that holds no ground in reality. With this $500 ad, you’ll likely get your $500 back and then a bunch more, which would be your profit. Notice we said likely. The likelihood of a profit (especially the size of that profit) depends on the production quality of the ad, the nail technicians’ talents, fair pricing and superior customer service. If 5 different businesses placed an identical ad they’d get a range of results based on some of the aforementioned factors. Some would probably lose money on the ad, especially if they were charging well more than the average cost of a mani-pedi in their neighborhood or if they just did not do a good job. Do you see how that works? Good. There’s more.

Why Should I Invest in Insurance Leads?

Buying leads is not for everyone. Sometimes one lead company has leads that work better for you than another, purely based on the type of organic leads the company generates. Chalk it up to different people having different preferences. Certainly, you will click with a certain demographic over another so don’t rule out buying all and any leads because you had a bad experience with one lead generation company. Here are some top reasons why you should invest in insurance leads so as to have a strong ROI:

  1. It’s in the Backend. The post-digital consumer is shopping differently now. If you can’t compete with the technology that equips lead generation companies with leads, you’ll have to hire people who can compete, which is a huge expense. It’s much more expensive--even in the long-run--than buying insurance leads. If you can’t start the quoting process online, you’re in trouble. Some bigger agencies are attempting it, but even they still work with companies like SmartFinancial because each ad tech company offers a different supply of leads.
  2. Engagement Matters. Leads are simply an introduction to people who would otherwise never contact you. These people are also actively shopping for insurance. Unless you make it a point to meet strangers every single day, you’re not generating your own leads. Putting up an awning and signing a lease won’t bring you leads. Selling insurance from your home office makes the task even harder. The good news is that the traditional brick-and-mortar shop of insurance’s past is no longer the expensive necessity it once was. When you start looking at buying leads as the equivalent investment, then you’re finally grasping what a lead generation company is responsible for. Now, you’ll be able to use leads better. You’ll interact with inbound and outbound calls better. The service is really nothing more than a replacement for prospects strolling into a high-traffic insurance office to discuss options. Were those queries ever guaranteed? No.
  3. Lead Generation Is Your Weakness. And you’re not alone. According to a 2017 report by Hubspot, 63% of marketers say that generating traffic and generating leads are the two biggest challenges they face regularly. Even people utilizing social media and various apps are not satisfied with the volume of leads they generate organically. They do see results from their activity but they are often unable to utilize the Internet to its optimal capacity (for various reasons which almost always include a restricted budget). That’s why we’re here -- to help you.
  4. Limited Resources for Marketing Campaigns and Automation. The smaller your agency, the smaller your budget for marketing. Do you have what it costs to hire someone to write blogs, ebooks, white papers and run social media, paid search, reviews and public relations? How about paying for Hootsuite and ads on social media channels? If you’re shaking your head at this big undertaking, you’d benefit from buying leads.
  5. Your Website Is Not Optimized. We’re not just talking about using the right keywords (which is also important). We mean that your site is not designed for smartphones if you have a basic presence on the Internet. For instance, get on your smartphone and look up your company. Is it a mess trying to navigate through it (does it allow for vertical swipes)? Chances are that your site was created for desktop and it needs updating.
  6. Focus on Your Strengths. By taking your inbound marketing out of the equation and placing the responsibility in the hands of an insurtech company like SmartFinancial, you’ll be left with two tasks for yourself, generating leads in person and through traditional methods as well as selling insurance. Basically, you’ll be playing to your strengths, which is ideal. The amount of money you’d have spent optimizing a website and investing in marketing campaigns will be taken out of the equation and spent on buying insurance leads from the best.
  7. Beef Up Slow Periods. Many industries slow down during the summer, especially auto insurance in July. To prevent a complete halt in business why not invest in leads during trying times instead? It’s worth a shot. We have a feeling you’ll be happy you did it. It’s certainly better than sitting there twiddling your thumbs.
  8. Three Options. You have three options when given the opportunity to buy leads: You can buy live-transfer calls, exclusive leads or shared leads. Each has its pros and cons but live transfers have the highest rate of return but are the most expensive of the three. The next most profitable lead type is the exclusive lead, which is one that is not shared with other agents. A shared lead is delivered to multiple agents at once but may serve your needs if you have the capacity to buy in bulk and have people ready to make lots of calls. Trying all three to see which yields more success is a good idea.