Monday 12 November 2012

5 things to remember while looking for auto insurance leads


Are you a dealer looking for leads? Are you looking for potential clients who can help you save your sinking business? Are you in search of authentic car insurance leads? If yes, then brace up for the competition and to come up with unconventional ideas to sell yourself. Getting a lead is not very hard and an experienced dealer will certainly, somehow, extract information about a potential client. But it is really difficult to convince the potential client to buy your products or services. Particularly, in the field of insurance, people are very finicky and do a lot of research before buying a policy. You have to be really smart with your strategies and even manipulative, to an extent, in sweet-talking the person into buying from you. 

So, if you are looking to generate and convert auto insurance leads, then here are a few things you must keep in mind:


i.                     Be the early bird: Once you have got hold of the information (say, contact details) about a prospective client, then do not waste even an hour. Make a call and try to explain to the person all about your business and the features and benefits you are offering. Again, you have to be very tactful since people generally hate tele-callers. Make sure to appoint someone who is skilled in his conversational skills and can easily slip into a friendly chatting mode with unknown people and unfriendly clients. The important thing is to be an early bird. Since the market is flooded with competition, you are going to face a harrowing time from your rivals. Make sure to make the call before they do!

ii.                   Make an appointment for a personal discussion: No sane person likes to make a decision about insurance and financing affairs merely on the phone. It is vital that you win his trust and confidence by arranging a personal rendezvous wherein you can furnish him with documents that will authenticate all your claims and the presence of your office. You cannot expect to get car insurance or auto finance leads converted unless you have won the person’s trust.

iii.                  Provide information about various offers: After you have bagged a few car insurance leads, you have got to ensure that you don’t let go of them. Once you have discussed the features of a certain policy and the person doesn’t show enough interest, you must bring up a fresh policy of a fresh company with different terms & conditions. It is vital to make the customer aware that you can fulfill all his requirements.

iv.                 Keeping in touch: Even if the client has expressed his wish to buy a policy from you, say, in the upcoming weeks, he may change is mind or may get a better offer from some other agent. To ensure the success of your auto insurance leads and auto finance leads, you must stay in constant touch with the person through emails, telephones, letters and texts.

v.                   Be ready to alter your plan: If needed, you must be ready to offer a special discount or a special benefit if you find that your rival may bag the deal.

Car insurance leads: 3 ways to generate more leads


A person who is an insurance agent is always on the lookout for auto insurance leads. The bad news is that the market is very competitive and so every agent has to be on the alert to capture big leads. The good news, on the other hand, is that more and more people are getting their cars insured these days. Statistics suggest that the popular search engines like Google have experienced a surge in the number of searches related to ‘car insurance leads. This simply indicates that people are interested in taking up auto insurance even if not in the present period. It also makes it clear that there are prospective clients looking for the right quotes and policies. As an agent, you just have to show them the way.

These days a lot of online auto leads are being generated. On your part, you can look for leads in your own conventional way. But you cannot escape the competitive hurdle which will come towards your way. A much better method would be to shun the traditional route and look for leads through websites. There are some really good websites out there which generate car insurance leads and filter them accordingly.

Nevertheless, there are 3 ways by which you can generate more leads:

i.                     By referrals: Though internet may be ruling the era, people are still a bit skeptical of buying policies from companies or agents with whom they haven’t had anything to do in the past i.e. who are literally unknown and unheard to them. On the other hand, if a potential client has heard about an agent from a friend, then he is more likely to buy his policy from that agent. So, if your existing clients can make referrals about you to their friends and relatives, then you stand a good chance of generating a high number of auto insurance leads. But again, it would largely depend on the kind of personal rapport & relationship you share with your clients. You certainly can’t force or coerce them to refer you. They will do so only if they are impressed by your services and your general behavior and professional conduct.

ii.                   Cross selling: Online auto leads can be generated easily and much more successfully if one dabbles into cross-selling i.e. sells more than one policy to the same person. For instance, if you sell the person a medical policy, life insurance policy or home insurance policy alongside the car insurance policy, then the overall package will be much more economic, feasible, beneficial and lucrative-looking to the person. Thus, he will be more likely to buy a policy from you.

iii.                  Generate ideas: There is no limit to innovation and to innovative ideas. If you can come up with a special theme or a special marketing strategy, then you will definitely be able to bag a higher number of auto insurance leads.

Still, these ideas can be elusive and success is not always guaranteed. The most reliable method to get car insurance leads is to look for them through a portal website.

New car and auto finance leads: Some traditional ideas of generating leads


If you are an auto dealer, then you cannot hope to survive in the industry without generating sufficient car leads. It is not very difficult to get new car leads. But one has to make sure that the leads come with authenticity and are hence worth all the time and effort spent. So, what is a lead? A lead is a prospective client who is looking for a new car purchase. He may or may not buy a car. But he is a potential client because he is interested in buying one and if you can offer him something which will fulfill all his requirements, then he can be converted into an actual client. 


Those who are planning to buy a car also look for auto finance. Buying a car is every man’s dream and with car financing available easily these days, the number of potential buyers is on the rise. For someone who is associated with providing car loans, generating auto finance leads is vital for his survival. If you cannot find yourself authentic clients, then your business will soon be wiped off by the tide of severe competition.

In order to get new leads, it is essential that you find out ways of gathering information about a prospective client. If you can have information about, say, the financial affairs of a person, then you can be in a position to judge whether he has the purchasing power required to make a new car purchase. By scrutinizing the information, you can quickly assess the person’s financial position and check if such a person needs or can afford a car. Thus, by gathering information about hundreds of clients and after going through them, you can filter them. 

The traditional method which dealers and agents often deploy is telemarketing. By making direct telephone calls to people, they try to explain their special deals and try to lure them into buying. But this way of making new car leads is running out of popularity. More often than not, the potential client will slam the phone down even before you have had your say. Some more patient people who are not busy may listen to your statements and then click the phone after saying a perfunctory ‘no.’ Thus, it can be frustrating since it is an expensive affair of marketing where money has to be spent on making phone calls and on paying salaries to the employees who make the calls. 

The much more preferred method will be to display advertisements on newspapers and even on websites. Putting your advertisement in the classified section can be expensive but it ensures that readers go through your details patiently and show interest in what you have to say, unlike in case of telemarketing. 

Nevertheless, most blooming and much more established businesses would tell you that they get their maximum car and auto finance leads through referrals. If your services are top-class, then your clients will be happy to share your company details with their friends and even urge them to deal through you.

Online new car leads: How to get dealer leads successfully


Getting new leads is not the most difficult thing in the insurance business! What is more difficult is to get leads which can be relied upon and which are more likely to convert. Online new car leads can be generated through a deluge of old methods. The agents have their own ways of making sure that they can get leads. But if the lead doesn’t result in any positive conversion, then the whole exercise becomes a waste of time, effort and money. One excellent method of getting good leads is through referrals. You need to please your existing clients so that they may refer your name to their pals. A word-of-mouth form of publicity is always much more desirable and profitable than an online advertisement! So, you have to make sure that your present customers are completely satisfied with you.

A good dealer is one who has plenty of services and packages to offer to his clients. In order to bag all the right dealer leads, it is vital that you store different bundle packages instead of dealing in plain, singular policies. It has been seen that people are more attracted to purchasing insurance policies in bundles as a bundle definitely brings down their average premium cost. Plus, they are also more likely to deal with an agent who can offer such bundles. In today’s competitive edge, you will certainly face problems if you are looking for dealership leads. Hence, the challenge lies in beating the competition and attracting the potential clients by offering a flood of policies.

It is not wrong or unprofitable to sell single policies. You can easily get buyers for them. But your limited number of services & offers would certainly dent the client’s confidence to an extent. For instance, if you wish to generate online new car leads, then ideally, you should supplement auto insurance policy with other classes of insurance like home insurance or health insurance. The variety in you will definitely make the client lick his lips in delight, especially if he plans to buy more than one policy.

It has been found that a person who is willing to invest in one policy is most likely to buy other kinds of policies as well in the future. And if the person spots some lucrative offers going on, then along with the car policy, he may be cajoled into buying a home insurance policy or medical policy. Therefore, stocking yourself with bundle policies and policies of various companies certainly increases your chances of bagging dealership leads.

If you are an amateur in the profession and are not confident about your chances, then you can earn dealer leads from a professional company or website. Such companies provide quotes, content, marketing and even training facilities to help you bag the right leads. Also, being in association with these companies can be very beneficial in the long run. Such an association not just secures you financially but also gives you higher exposure and a platform to further polish your skills and knowledge. 

Dealer leads: Tips on how to sell life insurance and health insurance policies


If you are an agent or an insurance dealer and are looking for clients, then the path that lies ahead is certainly not a rosy one. You may give an hour-long lecture about the benefits of your life insurance policy and about how your health insurance policy may save the life of the person during financial crisis. In fact, the chances are that the listener has already heard of all the major benefits at some point of his life and is aware of them. But despite all your efforts, all you would get is a ‘no’ for an answer. Selling your service is an art which requires a special gift of convincing the fussy prospective clients.

Getting a lead is not enough. It is important to convert the dealer leads into actual sales. One of the key strategies of selling your policy is to listen to the client rather than making him listen to your ramblings. He may not be interested in what you have to say! Rather, you must ask him what he wants and what kind of benefits & features he is looking for in a policy. In general, a dealer or agent has different insurance policies of different companies. After listening to the prospective customer’s demands, you will be in a better position to offer him the kind of life or health insurance policy which will satisfy all his requirements.

For instance, some people look for a policy which won’t burden them with heavy premiums and would still give them a reasonable level of protection. On the other hand, some people may not be bothered too much about the amount of premium but may be more interested in buying a policy which will give them higher long-term benefits. Thus, by adopting such a method (wherein you ask questions to the client before making a suggestion), you can understand the requirements of an individual in a much better way. Plus, such a strategy also works with a greater degree of success since you can quickly develop a bond with the client.

After you have got dealer leads, it is of paramount importance to you that you get something out of them. If the leads fail to convert into sales, then you are simply losing on time. When a dealer or agent is making a telephone call after obtaining leads (telemarketing form of selling), then he is forcing himself on the client and virtually coercing him to listen to his offer. People usually hate such callers and you are unlikely to make big money out of such a scheme.

On the other hand, if you make a personal appointment with the potential buyer and ask him his requirements, then you are giving him an opportunity to speak up about his wish-list. You are thus not just being a sensible audience to him (and thus forming a quick rapport) but are also making a mental calculation as to which health or life insurance policy will be most tempting to him.