How can your insurance agency best nurture your leads? Specifically, what schedule works when you try to turn cold leads into warm leads? Nurturing leads is the balance between too much and too little contact. Here’s a strategy that strikes that balance.
The Leads Come In: What Do You Do Now?
If you’ve been marketing in a focused way, you’ll see new leads flowing into your business. However, those leads can evaporate if you don’t put effort into communicating with them.
One of the first strategies you can use to set up a communication plan is to segment your leads. Which ones show keen interest? Which ones are curious but don’t really want to be bothered? The more information you have about your leads, the more targeted your communication approach can be. Someone who visited your website briefly might be less motivated to talk than someone who clicked through several pages and signed up for more than one free resource.
First Contact
How quickly should you contact leads after they first connect with your website and resources? According to Thrive Hive, you should “arrange for a ‘thank you’ email or phone call to be made within 12–24 hours after a lead comes in.” That means that your agency is still top of mind for the lead.
Follow up weekly via email or monthly via phone.Following Up with Leads
How often should you follow up with leads after that first contact? According to the Online Marketing Institute , generally, it takes contacting people 7 to 13 times before they will become a client. So it’s important to develop a schedule so you can help turn your leads into clients. In general, try not to email more than once a week or call more than once a month. Too many phone calls or emails will make your leads feel awkward, while too few could mean that they forget about you.
If you have a hard time following up, you can work with an organization that helps you do so in a timely manner. Working with lead nurturing professionals helps you lean into this aspect of your marketing, and successfully turn leads into clients.
Lead Nurturing is a Cycle
Once your lead becomes a customer, your lead nurturing is not over. It just turns a corner and becomes client nurturing instead. Continue to nurture your clients as you did your leads, and you will be rewarded with many clients who will remain with your business, grow their business with you, and refer others to your insurance agency.
While you can simply connect with clients for their annual renewal, you can contact them throughout the year too. Focus on providing them with information about events and resources that would be helpful to their specific needs rather than contacting them with general promotional material.
As you work to nurture your warm leads, the American Agents Alliance can help by providing support for your insurance agency. Talk with us about our live calls and lead nurturing program: contact us today.
