Do 60 seconds make a significant difference in insurance sales? It’s such a small pocket of time, after all. Still, many marketing experts claim that “speed to lead” plays a significant role in whether insurance agents win or lose prospective clients. Let’s explore this idea of time micro-management and how it unfolds in insurance sales.
What Is Speed to Lead?
When a potential customer completes an insurance lead request for quote, either through a web lead form, social media channel or phone call, “speed to lead” is the time it takes a representative to respond. Unsurprisingly, a faster response typically means a higher conversion rate. Conversely, sluggish response rates frequently lose out on sales leads.
Reasons for Striking Fast
Distractions: Interests begin to wane each passing second that our wants or needs aren’t fulfilled. Keep in mind that we live in a society fueled by instant gratification, and something on your site or profile caught the prospect’s attention. Plus, research indicates that humans’ attention spans aren’t shortening; they’re becoming more selective. That said, people are usually still on their computers or devices when the agent receives the lead notification. Once they close the tab or leave their device, other tasks will undoubtedly sidetrack them. If a representative can reach the potential buyer before they become sidetracked, there’s more of a chance to close the deal.
Motivation Fuels Momentum
We firmly believe that when individuals contact agents via a lead form, they’re ready to buy. Perhaps this task has been on their to-do list for a while, and they’re only now getting around to crossing it off. Or maybe, they’ve experienced a significant life change and are under a time crunch to make appropriate insurance changes.
No matter the motivation, this particular emotion can help people pull the trigger on a decision. When you catch people searching for insurance solutions, you can typically give them what they want without many delays.
How Speedy Is Speedy?
Many believe that quickly responding to leads isn’t a priority; however, this approach is how opportunity is lost. It’s safe to say that the mindset of merely “getting to it” later isn’t ideal. Some say that 15 minutes is a sufficient response time, while others bank on 15 seconds.
Still, how fast do agents need to respond to leads? The short answer is the faster, the better. When it comes to speed to lead, under five minutes is excellent; under 60 seconds is ideal.
5 Ways to Improve Your Speed to Lead
Remember, a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works, so it's essential to use strategies that accommodate your whole operation. In looking for methods to contact potential customers more swiftly, consider the following ideas.
Speed to lead is no myth. Instead, it’s a critical marketing tool for insurance sales — but it can be a challenging skill to master. It all starts with having quality inbound leads.
Digital Market Media offers Exclusive Leads Generation as well as Inbound Call Generation to help start your sales process on the right foot. We place our click-to-call technology and phone numbers on relevant high-traffic mobile optimized sites, so we catch your new customers at the precise moment they’re most likely to buy.