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How To Get Insurance Referrals As An Agent
Collect dec pages upfront, write more new policies, and sell more multi-line policies. Sign up for an InsurGrid demo.
Insurance is a unique product. Individuals buy policies because they need them, but it's not typically a topic discussed in casual conversation. This means that insurance agents need to have a very specific marketing program to attract new clients. In the insurance industry, it costs 7 to 9 times more to attract a new customer than to retain one. That's why it's important to know that referred customers have on average a 25% higher retention rate within the first three years than customers who come from any other source.
Insurance referrals can be developed through a variety of methods. By learning about referrals and how they work, you can create a program to find new leads through your existing customers.
Insurance referrals are an important marketing tool that can provide these crucial benefits.
Grow Your Business
Insurance referrals are a way to introduce new customers into your marketing pipeline without actually targeting them. Essentially, the customers come to you. When your loyal customers lead new customers to your door, you can grow your business exponentially.
Easy Sale
Consider all the strategies you typically include in your insurance marketing plan. Most of these strategies work to lead customers to your business and insurance products. Insurance referrals take the acquisition step out of the equation. Instead of you seeking customers, these customers come to you in the form of warm leads or new clients, potentially prepared to make a purchase.
Make More Money
By capitalizing on an insurance referral program, each of your customers could lead to adding one or more additional customers to your list. This means that you can make more money from every lead. Furthermore, referrals can lead to multi-line policies, putting more money in your pocket with every sale. By utilizing business networks in your referral program, you can gain additional leads through sources other than your existing customer base.
What Is an Insurance Referral?
An insurance referral occurs when an existing customer gives you the name and contact information of another customer who is likely to be interested in purchasing a policy from you. So, it's essentially a lead that is more likely to convert than a cold prospect. A referral might be someone who is already in the market for a policy, someone who could be convinced to switch providers, or someone who is likely to need a policy for work or personal reasons. Referrals can be obtained through incentivized programs or provided voluntarily by customers impressed with your services.
How Do Referrals Work?
In an ideal situation, referrals are a voluntary contribution related to your excellent service. However, this isn't always the case. In fact, a consumer is 21% more likely to leave a review after a bad experience than after a positive one. When you translate this into voluntary referrals, it's easy to see that consumers might be more likely to tell their friends, family, and coworkers which insurance agents to avoid while remaining quiet about your service when they're happy with it.
However, referrals don't have to be your customer's idea. There are various ways you can ask for referrals. Some of them can be worked into your marketing program and you can even provide incentives. Depending on your process for getting them, referrals either send customers to you, or provide you with contact information to a warm lead.
Collect dec pages upfront, write more new policies, and sell more multi-line policies. Sign up for an InsurGrid demo.
How To Get the Referrals
Luckily, as an insurance agent, there are several ways to get referrals. Many of them will coordinate with your efforts to keep your existing customers happy, while others may seem like more of an extension of your current marketing efforts. Sometimes, your connections with other businesses in the community can lead to referrals as well. These are some of the most common ways to get insurance referrals.
Do an Amazing Job
The products and services you provide for your existing customers should speak for themselves. When you provide exemplary customer service, your customers want to share their experience with others and are more confident their friends and family will be happy with you too. Dealing with insurance policies and claims can be stressful. Offer high-quality customer service by always taking these actions.
- Provide thorough and honest answers to questions.
- Exceed the expectations of your customers.
- Follow up with clients after making a sale.
- Respond quickly to requests, phone calls, and emails.
Invest In Your Clients
Loyal customers are one of your most valuable assets. They're also the most likely to advocate for your business and provide referrals. To show appreciation for their loyalty, invest in these relationships so they continue to thrive. This can be accomplished by checking in frequently to ensure they're satisfied with their current plan and answering any questions that arise. In all communications, strive to deliver the best experience possible. When you invest in your existing customers, they're more likely to maintain satisfaction and eagerly offer referrals.
Rewards Program
Even when they're satisfied with your service, your customers might not consider providing referrals. However, when you offer incentives through a referral rewards program, satisfied customers may be eager to offer referrals. For every referral, offer a small gift or gift card to your customers.
Referral Cards
A referral card is like a special business card for a potential customer. It includes your contact information and a space for your customer to write their name before passing the card along to a friend or family member. When the referral visits your office, they present the card back to you. At this time you can offer a reward to the original customer.
Website
Your website is a valuable marketing tool. It can also be useful for gathering referrals. When you create an easy-to-remember domain name, it's easy for your existing customers to remember your site and share it with others. By placing referral information in a can't-miss location, you remind your clients how easy it is to share your information with their family and friends.
Social Media
In the same way you use social media for lead generation, you can use it to remind your clients to refer others to your office. Begin by staying active on these three main social media sites:
By occasionally commenting on posts and using social media to advertise when you begin something new, you can make casual connections with your customers. When you use your social media platform to provide essential content and information to potential clients, you can include your contact information and referral program link in a post or informative webinar.
Send Out an Occasional Mailer to Your Clients
Emails and flyers are a quick way to remind your customers of your services and can even do double duty as a customer service tool. When you include a link to your referral program in your email signature or a referral card with mailers, you can remind customers of referral incentives with every correspondence. Don't forget to use these methods to advertise new incentives or the launch of your referral program.
Join a Referral Networking Group
By connecting with other businesses, you can extend your reach and get referrals from outside your customer circle. Referral networking groups (also called lead clubs or business referral groups) are networking organizations that help various businesses give and get referrals to expand their customer bases. For example, BNI is a large referral networking group with chapters in many countries. Insurance agents can typically build a bigger client base by working with local businesses like mortgage brokers and loan officers. By partnering with a local referral partner finder, you can easily find relevant local partners.
Ask
It sounds too easy, right? Yet, that's not necessarily true. Simply asking your clients for referrals can be the hardest and easiest solution at the same time. If you ask the right way, it will be easy. You provide a valuable service to your clients, and they'll often be happy to share the value with others. Consider asking when you save your customer money with a new policy or after you help them with a difficult claim.
Don't Rely 100% on Referrals, But Make it a Priority
Referrals are a great way to generate leads with little effort. When you make the extra effort to provide your existing customers with outstanding service, they're more likely to remain loyal and eagerly offer referrals. No matter how you receive referrals from your loyal customers, remember to show your appreciation with a note of thanks.
Generating leads through referrals is an important tool to have in your skillset, but they're not your only option. By combining referrals with your existing lead generation efforts, you have the opportunity to grow your customer base and continually gain new leads. InsurGrid makes it easy for clients to share essential information for their insurance purchase in a few clicks. Remove friction from the sales process and convert more clients into binded policies. Sign up for an InsurGrid demo.
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