Prospecting - Resources

Once you know the prospecting opportunities available, it’s time to talk about resources.

There are two main resources that an agent can use for prospecting. One is time, and the other is money.

In other words, what do you want to put into the effort? What can you put into the effort?

Let’s say you have plenty of time, but need to keep your costs low. That’s okay and it doesn’t count you out of being able to market your insurance business.

Another approach is community involvement at centers of influence in your sales territory. Keep your focus on contributing in a location where you’ll find things in common with others. It could be a senior center, community organizations, churches and religious organizations, recreational clubs, shared interested groups, the list goes on and on.

As you get involved and start interacting, you’ll start talking and getting to know others. Conversation will naturally come up about what you do for a living, just be prepared with a quick elevator speech that focuses on how you help your clients. Prospecting using this method does take time, but the cost is low, while the probability of referrals and retention is high!

Similar to getting involved in your community, affinity partnerships are another low-cost way to get your name out there and get referrals.

An affinity partnership is an agreement with a local organization or business that would be able to refer clients to you. Think local banks, financial planners, CPAs, pharmacies, grocery stores, senior centers, gyms, churches, doctor’s offices, it’s really as simple as asking if you can put out some promotional materials in these places.

This strategy also works digitally! An affinity partner can link from their own website to your website, even your Shop & Enroll site as a way to generate leads.

And then there’s Shop & Enroll itself.

Your very own CMS-approved website at no cost, consumer-facing quotes, electronic Scopes of Appointment and Permission to Contact in one, online enrollments, and it can be branded with your logo, and that’s really just a high-level look at Shop & Enroll.

Most crucial to prospecting, though, it gives you that crucial online presence in addition to all of the marketing features we just mentioned, and it can exist in addition to your already-established website, or it can function as a simple but powerful website for your insurance business.

Now those are the options if you need to keep your costs low.

But what if you’re the opposite?

If you’ve got some money to spend but you don’t have the time to invest in the methods we just talked about, you’ve got some great options as well!

Probably the most familiar strategy is purchasing leads through a direct mailer. Targeted customers are sent a physical promo piece and if they’re interested, they return the mailer with their info so you can follow up and schedule an appointment.

You can also create marketing materials to put in local businesses, like business cards, slim jims, and table tents for example.

There’s traditional advertising in newspapers and magazines, spots on the radio, or on a billboard!

Then there’s online advertising with ads and featured posts on social media, display ads, and google search ads.

And if you don’t want to create your own materials, there are third-party creative and marketing organizations out there that will create the materials and market your insurance business for you, online and offline… for a price, of course!

There are plenty of ways to market your insurance business using the resources you have on hand, whether that’s time, money, or a combination of the two.

Take stock of your own resources and think about which methods you’d like to try! There’s no right or wrong answer here. Your prospecting plan will be completely unique to you and that includes your strengths and your resources.

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