Rules for Closing Online Insurance Leads

AdobeStock 233955358 scaled

Many agents are buying online insurance leads every single day. The insurance industry has jumped on the bandwagon of the online lead generation process. However, just like with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages to doing this. Starting with the positives, online leads can serve as an excellent tool for reaching a new client base. The biggest disadvantage is that with online leads becoming more popular the marketplace has become crowded. This means that only the most strategic sales agents will be able to reap all the rewards. When it comes to buying online, agents will have to think creatively when it comes to their closing strategies. Here are some tips for closing online insurance leads. Be There First  Potential prospects don’t like waiting around. When they fill out an online form, they know that they will receive a lot of calls. If you are the last agent that gets a hold of a prospect, don’t expect to convert that lead into a sale. The longer you wait, your window of opportunity gets smaller and smaller. To be successful you want to reach this prospect ASAP. However, being the first agent doesn’t do any good if you don’t have some sort of strategy to impress them. You want to wow the prospect with a simple sales pitch and a follow-up to get in touch by email.  Follow Up  After contacting a prospect, a solid sales agent knows that’s not the final step in nailing a sale. After a phone call is done, shoot them an email detailing the important information. Prospects have an easier time processing the information if they have some time to read over it.  Now, a common rookie mistake is giving a prospect too much time. If you don’t hear back from them, follow up with a phone call or another email. If you are a sales agent that actively tries to engage with prospects you already have a leg up on a majority of other sale agents. About 61% of sale agents don’t follow up on leads that come their way.  It’s important to mention that there is a fine between being an attentive sales agent and an annoying problem. When following up, don’t be too persistent. In the event of a prospect expressing their desire to not be contacted, honor this wish.  Think Like A Customer  Potential prospects are going to comparison shop for insurance. When it comes to swaying a customer’s mind, you have to think like a customer. You have to view the buying process in a way that mimics a prospect’s brain. If you have a solid understanding of where the sales opportunities lie along the buying process, you have an advantage over other sales agents. Most of the time, customers are shopping for cheaper deals. However, this is not always the case. As a sales agent, you need to understand a prospect’s needs and preferences to truly nail a sale. It’s an effective way that helps with closing online leads.  Make Yourself Invaluable  When you are talking to a prospective customer, it’s always a good idea to be an active listener. Not only that, make it clear, to the person on the phone, that you are invested in establishing their satisfaction. In order to achieve this, you will have to know your stuff. So, be up to date on rates, information, legislation, and any future changes that will affect the prospect. Informing a prospect of all the valuable information helps establish a level of trust. In doing so, a prospect will feel more comfortable with you. Any insurance worries they might have had will start drifting away. It’s much easier closing insurance leads when they see you as a personal guide on their path to success. Conclusion  When it comes to handling online insurance leads a sales agent will need to be strong and creative in their strategies. Since the market has become over-saturated, you’ll need to stand out from other agents. You need to be engaged and self-disciplined throughout the whole process. Utilize these tips for closing online leads, and you’ll be closing deals left and right. GET YOUR ONLINE LEADS WITH QUOTENERDS

Lead Generation Strategies To Achieving Your Sales Goals

Lead Generation Strategies To Achieving Your Sales Goals Lead generation is attracting prospects to your business and increasing their interest through nurturing. The end goal is to convert them into customers. There are a lot of tactics and strategies that we can use to increase the number of prospects we get. Not only will an increase in new leads have a direct positive impact on revenue, but your business will also have more potential customers to market to in the future.  Therefore, If you’re looking for lead generation tactics to help you crush your sales goals, scroll no more. Here are six lead generation ideas that will nab you relevant leads that turn into loyal customers. Content Marketing to Get More Leads Content marketing is an approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content. Most importantly, this content will attract and retain a clearly-defined audience. It should ultimately drive profitable customer action. Great content marketing should speak to the right people with the right problem(s) your product or services seek to solve with the foundation being high-quality content and storytelling. Here are some of the most common types of content marketing that you may choose to incorporate: Social media content marketing – photos, live videos, pre-recorded videos, stories… Blogs Podcasts Video content marketing Paid ads E-books Attract Customer with Reviews and Testimonials To support your marketing tactics, it’s important to showcase customer reviews or testimonials since people tend to trust word-of-mouth recommendations. They are one of the most basic ways to generate a positive outlook to your brand, build trust with prospects, show social proof, and make you stand out from your competition. It never hurts to ask customers who have worked with you for a long time or have had a great experience from working with you to leave you a review on Google Reviews or Trust Pilot or even a testimonial for your website or social media. Building Authority In Your Field Building authority in your field is a great way to stand out from the competition and position yourself as a go-to thought leader. It is great for both your SEO and for earning the trust of new customers. There are a number of ways you can build authority and be the market leader: Publishing high-quality content about your niche Providing coaching sessions and webinars Writing guest posts for other people’s websites Trying to get your work covered by the press Wide and consistent social media presence Engaging your target audience on social media First, determine which social media platforms your audience is engaged with most. Then, focus on creating great content that both reflects your company values and resonates with them. With this personality in mind, start posting regularly and curating a variety of quality posts around topics relevant to the target demographic.  Also, employ great social customer service like always replying to comments and DMs, reaching out to people who you think might be interested in partnering with your brand, and sharing relevant content that communicates your brand personality, or shows customers loving your products. For instance, QuoteNerds manages our own Facebook. Check it out here – Facebook page. Paid Media Paid media serves as an additional promotion method for your content to drive leads to your business quicker. It requires you to pay to showcase your content in front of potential leads in a blink of an eye. It also allows you to reach people who are in line with your target personas. For example, you can base it on their demographics, geographic location, and behavior. The main paid media types are —social media ads or pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements. Once you go live on either of this two, the social platform or Google immediately puts your content to work to start reaching your lead generation goals. Creating offers Offers are the gateways to lead generation. Making irresistible offers is the easiest way to make your marketing generate more leads and sales. Through offers, you attract prospects interested in buying from your brand and quickly convert these bottom-of-funnel prospects who are ready to buy into customers.  Here are a few great options to offers you can implement in your lead generation strategy: Discounts and promotions E-books Free trials Webinars and courses Membership and loyalty programs Product demos and consultations To conclude, lead generation is always important. If you don’t take the time to tailor your strategies to suit your specific situation, there is no chance for your business to be successful. Every business wants to increase their conversions, it’s just a matter of how. if you need some help converting your leads into loyal customers through these tactics and more, then talk to the scientists at QuoteNerds today or check us out at QuoteNerds!

UX What is it?

UX, What is it?   You may have heard of the term UX before in terms of business development. Oftentimes people use it interchangeably with UI. While you may be tempted to do so, you should know that they are two totally different concepts. UX is an abbreviation for User Experience. It’s the manipulation of a digital platform so that users have a better experience with whatever it is they are using. Are they enjoying their time spent using a product? It takes into account all of the parts of a digital experience like colors, images, videos, how they found the platform, and how they felt after the platform.    How do you measure UX? We measure UX through the following metrics:   Usable Useful Desirable Accessible  Credible Findable   Whatever product or service your agency offers, a good way to increase UX is to comb through your product and ask yourself the questions that correspond with the metrics above. When you combine the above metrics what you get is the perceived value of your product. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your intended audience and work through your product. Taking the time to do this can reveal areas that need improvement.   UX also ties into SEO. One major facet that google measures in its algorithm is accessibility. If someone has poor eyesight, how are they able to view your website? The colors you use could make reading text harder, or if your font is too small it may be difficult to follow along. These are all considerations you must make when thinking about the user experience your product has. Curious about how taking advantage of UX can amplify your conversions? Give us a shout at marketing@forgeyourapp.com

UI What is it?

UI What is it?   You may have heard of UI in tech-related circles but UI encompasses much more than your favorite app. UI can be applied to anything. Your stove has UI, so does your TV remote. UI is an abbreviation for User Interface. UI is the way that a user interacts with a product. While it seems like it’s not a huge deal UI is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to influence user behavior.    Take Google for example. We all know that Google tracks our location via our smartphones, but do you know how to turn that tracking feature off? If you said no don’t worry. You’re in the majority of people. Within the fine print next to the box you checked when downloading google maps, Google wrote in that they have the right to log your location, but that the user can turn that feature off. The tracking features controls are usually hidden deep within the app, intentionally making it harder to find and turn off. That is the power of user interface. It’s the ability to intentionally steer a user’s focus towards, or away from something and the power lies in the point of focus.   At its best, UI is intuitive. It provides massive amounts of value to the user and makes using the product easier and more enjoyable. At its worst, it’s manipulative.    How can I make use of UI? The easiest way to make use of UI in your agency is by creating a customer journey map. If you were a customer what would be the steps you take to purchase your product? Walk yourself through these steps and make tweaks and adjustments along the way to make the process a much simpler and easier one. Ready to make the most out of UI for your business? Reach out to us at marketing@forgeyourapp.com to get started!

What is emotional marketing, and why your business needs it

What is emotional marketing, and why your business needs it?   Emotions. We all feel them. Sometimes they guide us, other times they control us. They can help us create connections or they can drive us to sever them. No matter what you think about them, they influence many of your decisions. Emotions can be used in your business strategy as well. They can be the difference between good marketing, and great marketing.    What is Emotional Marketing?   Emotional Marketing is the art of conveying not a message, but a feeling. It’s invoking specific feelings that inspire a specific action. Oftentimes when we think about marketing we tend to get caught up in the numbers. KPIs, clicks, impressions, conversions, all of these are important, but what’s the driving force behind these numbers? The answer is emotions. People will forget what you say and what you do, but people will never forget how you made them feel. We are all emotional creatures and this rings true in the aspect of business as well.    Emotional Marketing is the understanding that if you sell life insurance, you’re not actually selling life insurance. You are selling an assurance that if someone is taken from this world early, their family will receive monthly payments. It’s security against the unknown, and the feeling of being secure is a powerful emotion.   Whatever emotion you’re trying to evoke in your business needs to be well thought out and represented through all of its aspects. When used correctly, emotional marketing makes people decide with their hearts. Anytime someone is going to make a big purchase their heart is going to be involved. No matter what the data shows, if a person feels something isn’t right they won’t buy it.    How to start using emotional marketing   Know your audience. Figure out what drives them. What are their fears, and aspirations? After you feel you have a good understanding it’s time to start crafting that emotion.   Start with the colors. Colors convey an unspoke message to all that view them. Decide what emotion you want to inspire and try to decide what color best represents it. Examples include Red shows power, Green represents growth, Blue relaxes, and Purple displays ambition.   Tell a story. We all love stories. It’s what our entire perception of reality is built on. Stories show depth and understanding. They inspire us to take action and encourage us to move forward. Share your story with your audience to foster a deeper connection.   Project an ideal image. Many advertisements focus on how we’re currently feeling. The problem with this is current moods are fleeting. Instead, project how your audience wants to feel. Show them how great they will feel while using your products.   Entwining emotions into your marketing strategies is the secret ingredient that turns people into lifetime customers. It helps to not only strengthen current connections but fosters new ones as well. Align these with your company goals and you’ll see some of your most effective marketing campaigns be well rewarded.

The Importance of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses

The Importance of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses   What is Marketing?   Let’s pretend for a moment that you want to sell bracelets. You’ve spent months refining your technique. You’ve used the highest quality materials, implemented the most vibrant colors, and you’ve figured out a way to make them quickly for a low cost. You know deep in your heart that these bracelets are going to sell. The day comes to start selling and you set your bracelet stand up outside. At the end of the day, you’ve sold four maybe five bracelets. What happened? They’re supposed to be a hit?   Lacking a marketing strategy happened. Marketing is the subtle art of bringing awareness to a product or service. You could make the best bracelets in the world, but if no one knew about them you wouldn’t be able to sell them. The same goes for any product or service. Solving problems for people is great, but not if those people don’t even know your solution exists.    The rise of Digital Marketing   Back before the digital era marketing for any business was cut and dry. Send out a few flyers, buy an ad spot in the local newspaper or radio station, and you’re done. The local population would inevitably see your ad and would respond in kind. That all changed with the rise of the internet.    In the blink of an eye, the speed at which people could connect and interact rose to an unparalleled level. A technical revolution the kind of which has never been seen unfolded before our eyes. All of a sudden we can access the collective knowledge of our species from a piece of metal and glass that fits in our pocket.    Thanks to the internet and digital marketing we no longer have to be inside a store to buy goods from it. The requirements for starting a business have been drastically reduced because a business can now operate solely online. These businesses champion digital marketing strategies and tactics that have expanded their reach to levels that just wouldn’t be possible with traditional marketing.   Digital Marketing and Small Business   There are many forms of digital marketing out there. You have websites, Pay-per click ads, SEO, SEM, Social Media, content marketing, and the list goes on. While all these different forms of digital marketing can seem confusing they all retain the same goal as traditional marketing; to bring awareness to a product or service.   One of the quickest ways for a company to grow today is by employing a digital marketing strategy that is tailored to its specific business. While it’s not always easy, it is worth it. When used correctly digital marketing can generate streams of income you never thought possible. The key to this statement is “used correctly”.   With this new form of marketing comes new problems. The internet can bring a company vast amounts of awareness. The question is no longer, “am I being seen?” It’s “am I being seen by the right people?” If a business can create value for its customers, and manage to be seen by the right people through digital marketing, that business will succeed.

Boost Your SEO with Quote Nerds: Master Backlinking

Boost Your SEO with Quote Nerds: Master Backlinking SEO and Trustworthiness What makes a website trustworthy? Is it how it looks, or what it says? No, if that was the case then millions of people wouldn’t be getting scammed every day. What makes a website trustworthy is when people all agree it’s trustworthy.  Why does trust matter to Google? Google doesn’t want users to have a bad experience, so if possible Google isn’t going to send its users to a website it deems untrustworthy.  How does Google decide what is and is not trustworthy? Google decides what websites are trustworthy by backlinking. Backlinking is when a website has a link on it that leads to another website. When you put a link on your website that leads to another website you are essentially saying, “I trust this website enough to link to it”. Google views this as a measure of trust. If your website has a lot of other websites linking back to it then Google will deem your website as trustworthy. How do I get backlinks? Well, this is where the fun begins. Sometimes you can buy them, but that is generally not recommended. If Google finds out you’re buying backlinks they will purposefully rank you lower. Instead, try reaching out to other business owners. They may be willing to link to your website if you link to theirs. The opportunities are out there, you only need to look for them. The more backlinks you build, the more Google will believe your website is trustworthy. This will in turn increase your overall rating on Google search, and get you more customers!

Enhance SEO and Site Speed with Quote Nerds Part 3

SEO Part 3 SEO and Speed Is your website fast? You may think it is, but have you ever actually measured it? Most people haven’t given their website speed much thought, but it does matter. Statistically, if a website takes more than 4 seconds to load 1 in 4 visitors will abandon it. That’s 25% of your traffic gone because your website took too long to load. In this digital age, milliseconds make millions. Why does speed matter to Google? This all comes back to user experience. Google wants to give the best experience to the user. If your website is slow, then it won’t provide a good user experience and Google will rank it lower. What slows down your website? All sorts of things. Excess code, bulky images, you name it. There are loads of different factors. The biggest ones are usually images. Many people don’t think about the types and sizes of images they upload. Bulky images in a PNG format can seriously drag a website down. What about plug-ins? If you’re a WordPress user then you know what plug-ins are. Plug-ins are segments of code that usually help your website to accomplish a specific task. There are literally thousands of plug-ins that accomplish a huge array of different tasks. Many people wantonly download these plug-ins without a second thought. This creates what is known as code-bloat. Code-bloat is when a website has so much code attached to it that it slows it down. To solve this issue get rid of the plug-ins that you don’t use. Try out these suggestions, and see if they manage to help speed up your website. Stay tuned for tips and tricks to help increase your SEO!

Relevant Content and SEO

Relevant Content and SEO   Welcome back to our four-part series about why SEO matters to you, and how you can increase your rankings. For this week we will be discussing the connection between SEO and relevant content, and how creating, sharing, and posting relevant content can give you a boost. So where do I start? Before we can create relevant content we need to look into how our potential customers are searching, and the key phrases they’re using. This is where we try to get into the mind of the target audience. Think to yourself, if you were searching for your goods and services, what would you type into Google? If you’re looking for insurance then maybe you would type in “who has the best auto insurance plans near Pittsburgh”. We have our key phrase so now what? Well, I’m glad you asked. Now we need to create and distribute some relevant content. Content that answers the question “Who has the best auto insurance plans near Pittsburgh”. At this point, it’s time to start producing and distributing the most relevant content that best answers the search inquiry. That content can be anything from blog posts to images on a website. For instance, you could start by writing a blog post on your website. A blog post that that discusses and compares local auto insurance plans to find the “best”, plan in Pittsburgh. If you write it well enough, and if Google deems it as informative, then in theory you should be gifted with a ranked position on the search page for “who has the best auto insurance plans near Pittsburgh”. How is posting Relevant Content going to help me? Think about it like this. If someone is looking for the best auto insurance near Pittsburgh and they enter in the key phrase above, it is safe to say that individual is in a buying mindset. They are obviously shopping for the best auto insurance near them. Now if you can manage to get them to your blog post then congratulations you have a lead on your website. The Takeaway on Relevant Content and SEO The most important lesson to take away from this post is that answering questions is what creates relevant content. If you choose the right key phrases, and you answer those key phrases with the best answer then you will get ranked accordingly. While creating great content is important, it’s not everything. Stay tuned for the next segment where we discuss how building a trustworthy site can really increase your potential for earning new customers. Can’t wait for the next post? Then give us a shout at sales@forgeyourapp.com where we can have a more in-depth conversation about using SEO to maximize your ROI. Missed our first SEO post? you can check it out here: https://forgeyourapp.com/quotenerds-old/seo-and-why-it-matters-to-you/

Understanding SEO and Why It Matters for You

SEO and Why it Matters to you As we enter the digital age one thing becomes increasingly clear. Those who strive to stay ahead digitally will reap the benefits of the emerging technological era. Those who do not adapt will fall into obscurity. One way a company can strive to stay ahead in this fast-paced world is through SEO or Search Engine Optimization. So what is SEO, and why does it matter to you? Well as the next few weeks go by we will go over a new segment of SEO every week and how you can use it to help your business. What is SEO? SEO is the strategic manipulation of a webpage, and its contents to make sure that it follows specific rules, and guidelines that have been put forth by search engines like Google. While Google and other search engines are not technically “the internet”, they are the lens through which 4 billion people view the internet. 92.24% of all internet inquiries are done through Google, so you can see why it is so important to make sure your website follows its guidelines. Google’s Guidelines Google has very specific guidelines by which it deems websites suitable for viewers. A few of these guidelines include page speed, relevant content, and trustworthiness. According to top SEO strategies today if a website follows these guidelines it will be ranked accordingly in Google’s search results. So why does SEO matter to me? If you are a business owner that wants to make money in the digital age then SEO matters to you. In the old days, people relied on word of mouth and advertising campaigns to bring awareness to their business. While that still matters today, being ranked high on Google’s search can increase your ROI tenfold. If you are ranked on page one in a google search for a specific keyword it is a fact that your website will receive 90% of all traffic that searches for that term. Whether your business is insurance, running a local diner, or selling camping gear it does not matter. 90% of all searches for that term will eventually land on your website. So how do I increase my SEO? For that, you’ll have to stay tuned for our next segment on SEO, Basic SEO Best Practices. If you’re curious about how QuoteNerds can help boost your rankings in the SEO game shoot us an email at sales@forgeyourapp.com.