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April 01, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Q. I need more quality leads. My business plan lists developing a way to successfully pursue financial planners and other trusted advisors as lead sources. Do you have any practical suggestions how to accomplish this?
A. Generating quality leads has always been a challenge and now is getting even more difficult. The easy pickings of seniors who are planners have been pretty saturated, so we agents need to work smarter to develop other successful lead sources.
For advice in this area, I asked Rhonda Vry-Bills, an agent in Altoona, Iowa, how she developed her large network of lead referral sources. She successfully transitioned from selling LTC insurance over the phone and through the mail as a salaried employee to starting her own business as an independent agent, dependent upon generating her own leads and doing personal face-to-face production.
She started by compiling a list of those who serve as advisors to clients. It included financial planners, estate planning attorneys, banks, employer brokers and insurance agents – health, life, disability and P&C. Here’s what she learned as she converted the names on her list into profitable referral sources.
It’s very important to let these people know you do not want them to know all of the carriers or the ins and outs. Instead, you want to train them on who is a good prospect and how to schedule an appointment with you. Suggest that the next time they deliver that life policy, do an annual review or review an auto policy, they mention LTC insurance.
