There’s a clear difference between good email marketing and bad email marketing. One version is helpful, it enhances the customer relationship, and creates a less transactional form of communication; while the other is intrusive, comes off as disingenuous, and can be downright annoying.
We are going to teach you how your insurance brokerage can leverage email marketing to make more impactful client interactions and waste less of your sales team’s valuable time that can be better spent on helping customers.
At NYB Creative, we use marketing technology to create better human-to-human interactions.
You’re probably thinking, “what the hell does that mean?”
Well, we’ve tried a mix of products and strategies over time – both internally and with clients – and what we have found is that you can’t beat human contact.
Insurance brokerages can totally empathize here. Think about the conversations you’ve had with carriers over the years. Specifically, ones that use quoting platforms online. Those generated quotes can never beat the comprehensive plans insurance brokers put together with clients.
We understand that!
We aren’t using email marketing to circumvent your sales team. We’re talking about using it to empower your sales team.
Instill Confidence & Start Your Brand Interaction Off Right: Confirm You Received Customer Outreach
You wouldn’t believe how many insurance brokerages don’t even deploy ‘Thank You’ pages after a customer fills out a form!
When a person comes to your site and gives up their information to request a quote or more information, you need to instill confidence from the get-go. In many situations, that form confirmation is your first interaction with them.
Even though they may have been interacting with your website or viewed your social media, you probably have not had the chance to talk with them yet.
Be empathetic. Be clear.
Think about this scenario with 2 different outcomes.
Judy is looking online for homeowners’ insurance because she is in the buying process. She needs to speak with someone about insuring a condo she has her eye on. She finds your website, navigates to your landing page on homeowners’ Insurance and proceeds to fill out the form. Contact information, location information, dwelling limits, and assessment of contents; Judy fills out her personal information and hits ‘Submit Info’.
What happens next?
Scenario A.
“Thanks” pops up in an i-frame.
Umm. So, what next? Does Judy wait for a phone call? Will someone be emailing Judy back? How long does that take?
Scenario B.
“Thank You for Reaching Out About Homeowners Insurance! Hi Judy, we’ve received your request to speak with someone at our insurance agency about homeowners insurance! Please check your email for next steps. Thank you, and have a great day!”
*Bing
An email alert pops up on Judy’s computer.
Hi Judy,
Thank you for reaching out to our agency, we’d like to introduce you to Tim who will be helping you get a quote for your home at 123 3rd Ave in Brooklyn.
Below is a link to Tim’s calendar where you can freely book time to speak with him further. In the meantime, Tim will be conducting some basic research to get you the best quote and will be reaching out in another email to connect with you further.
Have a great day.
You can easily personalize emails, or landing pages, like this using Dynamic Fields from form fill information.
What do you think makes a better impression with the customer about your brand?
Create More Time For People Interested In Working With Your Insurance Brokerage
How do you give your sales team more time to take care of leads that are bringing in money?
We run into this all the time in speaking with companies.
If you’re using marketing tactics that are driving leads from your website, you know that not everyone that reaches out via an online form is ready to buy. Sometimes they are just in the information-gathering stage. But, they submitted their contact information and you need to follow up with them. And more often than not, those follow-ups are big chunks of time for your team.
Don’t take our word for it. Ask your agents how much time they spend a week following up with leads that have gone quiet.
There are a few key points that we have found to be huge time sucks for insurance agents.
Follow up after form fill
The first is after initial outreach. A customer submits their information to receive a quote, you reach out to set up a meeting, and there is no reply from them.
How many times do you follow up with them? Not following up means you spent money on that lead and you’re letting it die right there. Following up can add significant time to your team’s week, and the result could be $0.
Follow up after presenting a quote
Another key point of drop-off4 in the sales pipeline for insurance agents is after presenting a quote that has not yet been bound coverage.
In some instances, the client has been clear about when to follow up with them. For example, if they are in the buying process and waiting for a close date. Other times they have just not answered your emails.
As a brokerage, how do you help your insurance agents?
Automating follow-ups
For some companies, we have identified these areas and provided automation to follow up with leads that have not responded. We can create triggers based on time in a pipeline stage to re-engage clients that have gone silent. This is a very unobtrusive email reminding the customer that you are there to help.
With this automation, you can save staff hours each week that they can reallocate to customers that are engaging with you.
Worried that the emails won’t be in your voice?
We love meeting with sales to help them uncover the best strategy that they are already deploying!
There are times companies will ask us to come in to better strategize with sales teams about what is working best.
It’s our time to help them shine!
Getting real emails their sales team sends and compiling the most effective language helps keep your team authentic but effective.
Using Form Info To Create Better Touchpoints That Are Less Transactional
How do you use customer information outside of the transaction?
We’re not talking about sharing data here. Or abusing customer privacy…
As insurance agents, you have information about key life moments of your customers. Let’s take a customer that has reached out about a homeowner’s insurance policy.
Birthdays
Wishing your customers a happy birthday, from their agent’s email, is a great way to increase your brand experience and make things less transactional. It sucks only getting emails from the company’s when a bill is due.
Closing Date on a Home
Buying a home is an incredible milestone in someone’s life especially their first home. You should have a close date in your online forms, and it’s an easy trigger to put in the backend of your email marketing software.
Expanding their coverage for family members
Whether it’s a marriage or the arrival of a child, there are so many ways for you to reach out to customers and congratulate them for years to come.
If you are only sending manual emails you are doing way too much work and more than likely leaving a lot on the table.
Only receiving emails from a company that is transaction taint your brand image and makes it seem like you only care when there is money involved.
Nurturing Leads With Behavior-Based Newsletters
Getting someone to give up their email address is a difficult task. Don’t waste that opportunity.
When it comes to newsletters many companies fail and inevitably get the dreaded ‘unsubscribe’ because they are using a buckshot method instead of being tactical.
By segmenting users based on what they are interested in will keep your newsletters relevant and useful.
What are some ways you can segment users for newsletters?
- Demographics
- Location
- Job industry
- Job Title
- Personal or business insurance
- Buyer Persona
When your marketing automation and CRM work together you can implement behavior-based newsletters.
Email marketing is a tactic that can be used to save your sales team time, enhance your brand experience, and delight your customers for years to come.
Have you yet to get involved in email marketing at your insurance brokerage? Reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you!
