Whether you’re an experienced insurance agent or you’ve started out recently – we’re sure you know how important leads are. Yes, keeping your clients happy and nurturing relationship with them is a very important part of your job. Yes, closing the deals – or converting leads to clients – is crucial as well. But the moment you stop getting and finding new leads, your business stops growing, which, on the long run equals to drying out. Leads are like a fuel for your business’ engine!
However, if you’re not organized well, you might be missing out. Every time you miss an opportunity to convert a lead into a customer, you’re losing – time you’ve used to get it, or money you invested to purchase it… Sometimes, you need to react quickly, you need to strike while the iron is hot, and this means you need to be organized. Sometimes, you need to do a followup or revisit a conversation, and this also means you need to be organized.
Follow these 5 simple steps, and you can organize your leads like experienced pros right away.
#1 Database of All Your Leads + Your Clients
Once you get the leads in, either through your own channels, marketing activities etc. or through purchasing them, you need to create a database to store them and utilize them to the maximum. There are different programs that can help you do this, some more expensive than others, but a single spreadsheet can do the work. If you try CollaboraZon for free, you will be able to store your excel file or other documents online, share them, comment and more. Having a spreadsheet with contact info (name, surname, email, phone and address or a zip code), along with their status (e.g. “lead”, “client”, “not interested”, “to follow up” etc.) is basically all you need to have in your spreadsheet.
Pro tips:
– Adding a source, or where you got a lead from (e.g. “from blog”, “recommendation”, “bought from X”…) can help you see which leads are the most effective.
– CollaboraZon lets you create events so it is super easy to follow up, contact leads, have meetings and more.
#2 Keep It Up to Date
There’s no use of having bad data. Old or fake emails, bad leads, duplicates… this only creates a mess. Revisit your lists regularly, and clean up and update where needed.
You can set a certain date for this so you don’t neglect it (e.g. every two weeks). We know it can seem like one more annoying chore, but trust us – it can save you a lot of time and energy you would otherwise lose on working with bad data.
#3 Categorize, Categorize, Categorize
Once you have your spreadsheet with good data that’s up to date, you can separate leads into groups “hot”, “warm” and “cold”. You can also break down different phases for the leads you are actively working with, something like “1st email”, “1st phone call”, “live meeting” etc.
Remember that the smarter, the better. This means that you shouldn’t have too many useless categories just for the sake of it. For instance, “hot”, “warm” and “cold” are just 3, and they’re amazing for being more effective and knowing where you stand right away).
#4 Don’t Forget Small Details
Sometimes, some additional data can be crucial. Don’t forget it. Leave a column just for that – additional info. Do they have children? What they do? This type of information can be useful for up-selling, plus it’s a great for building a relationship with them that you “remembered” their spouse’s name or some detail. Of course, you can’t remember thousands or hundreds of names just like that… but that’s what you have your database for. Read the info and prepare before you talk with your leads.
#5 Keep a Monthly Overview
See how many leads you’ve gotten within a month, see how many you’ve converted, see how much you’ve earned from your database.
These are important indicators for your success, and they can also motivate you to work on your leads even more next month.
Good luck!