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August 08, 2012 at 03:38 PM
High net-worth prospects are looking to buy life insurance for a variety of complex reasons, and finding the right agent is like finding gold. Specifically, these prospects need:
- Someone they can trust.
- Someone with a deep knowledge of the market.
- Someone who never makes excuses.
All clients are looking for these three things, but high net-worth individuals demand them. They are fully aware that their money sets them apart as customers, and they will find someone else almost instantly if you don’t make the grade in any of these three categories.
I bring this up because the first step in successfully targeting high net worth individuals online is branding yourself and your business online as a firm that meets these standards. Any agent that wants high net worth clients must have a great online brand. This isn’t as difficult as it seems. A simple website that expressly tells viewers to call for further information is fine as long as it brands the agent and the business properly.
These three tips can help as you start prospecting to this market.
1. Use social media to find high net worth individuals online.
Social media is an excellent tool to help you begin your search for high net-worth individuals. Websites like Facebook ask users to reveal where they went to high school and college as one of the principle ways to locate friends. In your particular city, there will be both private high schools and colleges that target the children of high net worth individuals. You can compile a list of these individuals very quickly using Facebook if you or anyone close to you went to one of these elite institutions. Knowing just one person will commonly open up “friends of friends” lists. From these you can then create a research list for your marketing purposes.
LinkedIn is also a useful research tool, as it knows the job titles of its members — another good way to target the 1 percent. Titles like president, founder, owner, CEO, and CFO are — no surprise — common in the high net-worth market. You can also make this approach more specialized. For example, maybe you are looking to meet prospects that are attorneys or surgeons, or people that are highly placed in certain wealthy companies such as Goldman Sachs. From these searches, compile a list of select names. Keep compiling this list until you find someone you know well or feel like you have refined the list to include only the individuals you are interested in targeting. Websites like glassdoor.com provide a breakdown of salaries and statistics to further refine your search.
High net-worth individuals prefer to meet professionals like insurance agents through a recommendation from a friend. Once you get your first client and provide them with fabulous service, they will be your primary facilitator for breaking into this market. This is why you must meet the top three requirements mentioned at the beginning of this article.
2. Take online marketing into micro-locations.
Next, drill down on locations. I’m from San Diego, Calif. La Jolla is an ultra wealthy suburb of San Diego. If I wanted to place a banner ad to increase my life insurance business in San Diego, I would target websites that are viewed by La Jolla locals.
Every city has ultra wealthy suburbs like La Jolla. Be specific in narrowing down where exactly these are and target just these micro-locations. Don’t expect your banner ad alone to generate sales; instead think of this as a way to establish brand recognition among the right group of perspective clients.
