Subscribe to our Blog
Starting an insurance agency isn’t just about the logistics — you need clients. Of course, finding those clients is often easier said than done. When you’re a small agency just starting out, it’s not always easy to know what to do to cultivate that rock-solid, loyal customer base you’re hoping for. That’s why we’re here to share the top five tips to get more leads for your small insurance agency.
1. Start a Referral Program
No amount of marketing will ever be as effective as the word of a satisfied client or trusted friend. It can take a bit of time for a referral program to get going as you build an initial client base, but once it starts, you can take advantage of this snowball effect.
Step one: Reach out to established clients with surveys to collect feedback and quotes.
Step two: Based on your surveys, identify areas of improvement — and keep getting better!
Step three: Incentivize current clients with perks — a free month or discount — in exchange for a successful referral.
Most of all, keep track of how your clients are coming to you. Someone who signs up based on a referral is more likely to refer others in the future — and you should make it as rewarding as possible for them to do so.
2. Make Your Website Interactive
Unless visitors to your website are extremely dedicated, they aren’t going to leave contact information without a small push. That’s why we recommend a prompted contact form and a chatbot.
A prompted contact form is a clickable box that pops up when a user visits your website. They have the option to close out of it, but by reminding them to give an email, you’re more likely to gain that lead. Some companies incentivize leaving contact information by offering a free consultation or a small discount. If your client base is lacking, it’s worth it to consider offering a discount in exchange for a long-term investment.
A chatbot is another great way to interact with website visitors. A lot of users may not want to wait for a quote or might have a simple question. Having a staff member monitor the website chat ensures questions get answered promptly. This does two things: one, it eliminates the need to answer an email inquiry, and two, the user sees that your agency is prompt and efficient — who wouldn’t want to buy insurance based on that?
3. Use Social Selling
Insurance may not seem like a popular social media topic, but the fact is nowadays any business wanting to make an impact needs to have a social media presence. Market analysis indicates that consumers influenced by social media are four times more likely to spend more on purchases. That’s far over standard advertising.
Additionally, social selling is easy to do and costs next to nothing. Once you have pages set up on major social media websites, it only takes a few minutes every day to make an impact. Put out content regularly and see who comments on it, then respond to their comments. That’s all. You don’t need to try and sell anything to these commenters, you just need to thank them for visiting your page and offer help with their insurance needs.
Social media is also a fantastic way to build brand credibility. If someone hears your agency’s name, they’re more likely to search for you on social media than to Google your website. Just by having a social media page, you are confirming to that lead that you are a forward-thinking and relatable company.
4. Market to Your Demographic
Not all marketing strategies are built for every consumer. If you’re a small agency starting in a smaller area, it makes no sense to cast a wide marketing net. When you’re starting out, you need to appeal to the people in your nearby circles.
Use online marketing and email blasts, but don’t be afraid to go old school as well. Flyers, snail-mail campaigns, and even partnering with local businesses can go a long way to building your client base. If your area has one, it’s also great to reach out and be listed on the local business directory.
Once you have loyal clients, then you’ll have the testimonials and financial stability to branch out to larger markets. It might be a slower process than you envisioned, but trust us, slow and steady always wins the race.
5. Invest in an AMS
By far, the easiest way to generate and monitor leads is by investing in an AMS (Agency Management System). An AMS will track your customer journey, increase agency productivity, automate cross-selling and up-selling, and automatically reach out to established leads. By using an AMS, your agency can look at the statistics of your sign-ups and understand what works so that you can make adjustments in the future.
As you gain clients, an AMS is also the easiest way to stay organized so that your agents know where to find their information. This ensures your clients are never kept waiting — and makes them more likely to refer you in the future.
Eclipse: the AMS Designed for Small Insurance Agencies
You need an AMS that fits a start-up budget and won’t over-complicate your day-to-day workload. Eclipse by NASA is the AMS designed exactly for that purpose.
Eclipse is an insurance agency management system and claims management software that streamlines your pipeline management, organizes and reports your client and financial data, and increases client retention with automated communication.
To save you time, it also comes with 14 comparative rating integration partners, so you can rest assured your software will fit right in. Additionally, NASA offers low-cost data conversion services. So if you tried out an AMS from another company that you don’t like, we can transfer your client information into Eclipse to save you time and frustration.
Request a demo of Eclipse today and see how the right AMS can make lead generation simple.
