Life insurance is a lot less popular than property and casualty. Many people think it’s too expensive, too confusing, or don’t want to talk to someone about the morbid topic of their impending death. But life insurance is a vital purchase. And it’s your job to convince the consumer of that.

With life insurance awareness month behind us, a heightened awareness of the product will fall into the hands of potential life insurance buyers. And it’s your job to reel them in.

But how can we accomplish this? By understanding the buying cycle, and how we as agents can adapt to its changes.

Changes to the Insurance Buying Cycle

In recent years, major changes have taken place in the insurance industry. With the internet, consumers are becoming much more informed about the insurance product they’re interested in. And there’s innumerable amounts of content out there for them to do research on potential policies.

Hence a world where the consumer is in the driver’s seat. They have countless companies and policies to choose from, and you’ll need to grab their attention while you can.

So how can you do this?

  1. Know your Audience

    Knowing the demographic of the customer and how to approach them is the first step in getting some solid leads. Unfortunately, in the age of online consumer marketing, the competition has ramped up and agents have found it increasingly difficult to capture their attention. But there’s still some surefire ways to captivate them. For millennials and those tech savvy gen x’s, marketing can be done by social media outreach through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Feel free to share content about your life insurance product, or build out your own content pertaining to the topic. But there is also another generation of life insurance buyers who don’t use social media and read blogs as frequently. With this demographic you may try for email marketing, or even direct mail. Whatever the case, the first step in the buying cycle is to market to the correct audience.

  2. Educate and Captivate the Consumer

    Not only do you need to know how to connect with the life insurance shopper, but you’ll need to keep their attention. You’ll want to educate yourself on the different life insurance policies, whether it be whole, term, or universal. By doing so you’ll be available for any questions the buyer might encounter. They might also ask about your company’s rankings, the pricing structure, and how the company accounts for preexisting conditions, among other things. You’ll want to make sure you’re fit to answer all their queries, which shows you can present yourself as an authoritative figure. Also make an effort to get to know the customer. Get to know their situation and the reasoning behind wanting to buy a life insurance policy. Are they getting married or having a baby? Or are they a smoker who can’t seem to get a grasp on a policy? These are situations you’ll need to be prepared to help your client with. If you want to attract the attention of these potential buyers, you want to make sure you can entrance them with your knowledge on their situation, and why they should purchase life insurance. The key is to captivate the customer. Draw them into your business.

  3. Sell your Life Product

    Now that you have the buyers’ attention, you’ll need to focus on closing the sale. Turn that lead into a purchase. And while you don’t want to be too abrasive, you do want to get the sale. If you’re an agent purchasing life leads from a lead aggregator like QuoteWizard, you’ll want to increase your speed-to-contact ratio. Whether it’s an exclusive or shared lead, and depending on the sales structure of your company, it’s important to stay on top of the game and contact the lead right when it comes in. Be persistent. Start by contacting them over the phone because that is much more effective than through email. Don’t be afraid to call them back. Studies show that multiple interactions lead to a better relationship—which lead to higher conversion rates. In fact, according to Salesforce, it takes an average of eight to 10 calls to get a life lead. Just make sure that if you are leaving a voicemail or calling them back multiple times—you stay professional. Be polite and clear about your motives. Let them know you’re contacting them on behalf of their best interest—not your own. And if you don’t get a response right away, or the lead falls through, don’t take it personally. You’ll go through many faulty leads in your lifetime as an insurance agent. So don’t get discouraged.

  4. Retain Customers

    Once you’re able to retain life leads and up your volume, you need to ensure you can keep the momentum going. Keep client retention high, and be that pillar in the industry that potential life insurance buyers will want to go to. Make sure to frequently follow up with clients you closed deals with. Send them thank you emails, as well as follow up with them every now and then to see how they like their policy. If they’re not completely satisfied, suggest other policies and go over other plans with them. Just because you finished out a deal, doesn’t mean you’ll never have to contact the client again. You want to be that agent people want to buy a policy from. The more satisfied the client is with the service, the more likely they will stick with you and recommend you to others. After all, the longer you retain customers, the more profitable your company will be. 

Key Take Away

With the ever changing climate of the life insurance industry, you’ll need to adjust your approach to attract and retain life insurance leads. Do so through online marketing, and becoming influential in the industry. Be the one people come to for advice, and be the one that can answer questions. From there you’ll begin to see the leads come in. So by adapting your approach to match the changing life insurance market, you’ll begin to reap the benefits and see the higher return on investment.