Perspiration & Inspiration: How To Handle A “Bad” Lead

Man holding a magnet learning how to handle a "bad" lead

16 Jul Perspiration & Inspiration: How To Handle A “Bad” Lead

To remain competitive in the evolving insurance industry, many agents invest time and money in purchasing leads. Agents rely on these leads for their prospecting strategy. Lead generation and prospecting can typically be viewed as a formula for growing an insurance agent’s business pipeline. A recent statistic noted that, “77% of marketers said improving lead quality was the most important goal.”

Often, bad leads are defined as contacts with phone numbers that do not work. However, this is not the end of the line. Usually, when an agent invests in purchasing leads as part of their marketing strategy, they receive more than a phone number to reach the prospect. If your leads come with additional contact info, you may be able to save the sale even if the phone number flops. Here are some items to consider when you encounter a “bad” lead.

Change Your Approach & Try A New Outbound Tactic

Remember the classic song lyrics, “She works hard for the money.” Before you toss out a pile of leads, make sure you’ve put in some extra work. If you invested in leads that give you multiple data points on a consumer, make sure you are using that data to your advantage. You lead data might include a phone number, email address or more information. If calling did not work, try texting the prospect and sending an email. Also, if you have the prospect’s home address, consider sending traditional snail mail. Before discounting a lead’s quality, make sure you’ve made multiple attempts to maximize your investment.

Offer Prospects Direct Information That Could Help Them

Leads might not be responsive because you are not giving them what they want. For example, if a prospective customer completed a form requesting an insurance quote, make sure you are providing that upfront. In your voicemail, text and email messages, be sure to quickly note the reason you are contacting them. Do no bury the solution at the end of your message. Be sure that your opening line makes an impact.

Consider Using Lead Scoring To Evaluate Your Leads

Before spending too much time working leads blind, commit to assessing each lead and assigning it a score or rank. Your lead scoring system could be as simple as noting leads with a hot, warm and cold rating. Depending on your definition of “qualified,” you can also consider assigning a lead a number from 1-10, that will help you easily identify their quality later. Scoring your leads can help you understand which prospects seem more likely to convert quickly. If you are able to connect with a lead, you may want to amend your initial lead scoring depending on the following factors: readiness to buy, financial position, and whether they are an information gatherer or decision maker.

Consider The Benefits Of Custom Lead Delivery

Utilizing your time effectively can strengthen your sales production, and being armed with varying types of outreach can help set you up for success even when handling so-called “bad” leads. ZipQuote’s agent-centric approach aims to deliver leads with a high propensity to convert. ZipQuote empowers insurance agents to select a series of target regions, demographics, and filters which create the ability to customize lead delivery, giving agents an immediate advantage and greater confidence in lead quality.

Click here to learn more about how ZipQuote can help you grow your business.

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