The largest insurance companies are often regarded as examples to follow for business best practices. Yet, according to a new study by Velocify – Insurance Industry Online Buyer Experiences – a surprising number of inquiring buyers were completely ignored by some of the largest insurance companies in the nation.
“While the largest insurance companies spend billions on advertising, a luxury not afforded to smaller customers, the reality is, when buyers show up, the big guys often fall flat,” said Stuart Ganis, Insurance Vertical Director at Velocify.
In the study, 25 of the largest direct, captive, and independent insurance companies were evaluated to see how well they responded to online price quote requests. Multiple quote requests were submitted to each company during normal business hours and all quote requests had a standard or preferred risk profile. The study then allowed 22 days for the companies to respond. Performance was tracked on key performance indicators of speed-to-call, speed-to-email, number of call attempts and number of emails sent.
These results of the study may surprise you:
Number of call and email attempts:
17% never received a response (call or email)
Only 44% received both calls and emails
22% received only emails
17% received only calls
Most companies gave up after just one or two contact attempts by phone and email
Speed-to-call /-email:
The average wait time for a phone response was 2.3 days
The average wait time for an email was 22 hours
Most companies gave up on a lead after just one or two contact attempts
So what can you do to capitalize on the missteps of the largest players? Here are three strategies that can help you compete and win:
Show buyers the love they are looking for!
In a recent survey studying Online Buyer Expectations Velocify found that “no response” can be more harmful to a company’s reputation than “poor service or rudeness.”
Given buyers are likely to shop around for insurance after a bad customer experience, and especially if no response is given, providing superior service right out of the gate can give you an advantage, even over the largest competitors.
Follow up as soon as possible!
Placing an immediate call (within 60 seconds) with online insurance buyers increases your conversion chances by an astounding 391%, according to research from The Ultimate Contact Strategy conducted by Velocify.
Sending an initial email within 20 minutes can increase conversion by 49%, according to the same study.
Persist, but don’t annoy!
The optimal number of call attempts is between five and seven (after seven the inquirer often gets cold feet and usually starts to feel harassed), according to research from The Ultimate Contact Strategy conducted by Velocify.
Statistically, less than half of successful sales deals are closed with leads that were reached on the first phone call, according to the same study.
This means there is considerable opportunity for sales reps to continue to persist beyond the first couple calls, knowing competitors have long since stopped trying.
In summary, by implementing an optimized contact strategy that drives immediacy and persistence, likely through an intelligent sales automation or lead management system, you’ll be able to more than level the playing field and see that the giants aren’t that untouchable after all.
About the author: Arthur Bolinger provides insurance professionals and risk advisors with up-to-date topics and essential sales tips through the InsuranceAgents.com blog.