Episode Summary
This podcast episode features an interview with Chris Weir, founder and CEO of Lead Concepts, a company specializing in direct mail marketing and lead generation for insurance agents. With 31 years in the lead gen business, Chris shares his wisdom on marketing and prospecting strategies for insurance agents.
Chris emphasizes that as an insurance agent, you're really in the prospecting business, not the insurance business. He estimates agents only spend 10-15% of their time selling insurance policies. The other 80-90% of their time should be spent on marketing and prospecting for new clients.
He advises starting with retention - focus on your existing client base. Know exactly how many clients you have and mail them regularly. Send direct mail pieces like calendars, postcards, and reminders leading up to AEP to protect your book.
Next, Chris suggests going local. Be present at community events and farmers' markets. Wear branded shirts and hand out promotional items. This targets people who already know you but may not know what you do or that you sell insurance.
Contrary to popular belief, direct mail still works very well, especially when targeted to the right demographics. Chris shares that Lead Concepts will mail 40 million pieces this year alone. He's found that 64-year-olds have high response rates.
Seminars also work well when you provide a meal for $15 or less at a local non-chain restaurant. Make the content educational to draw more prospects in.
An exciting capability Lead Concepts is launching is lead nurturing for unresponsive leads. This allows agents to send a series of follow-up text messages to generate interest and create inbound leads.
Chris emphasizes there are no shortcuts to insurance sales success. It takes consistent hard work and prospecting daily over many years. Success comes from treating each customer like your only one.
In summary, agents should focus on retention, local marketing, direct mail, seminars, lead nurturing, and persistent daily prospecting efforts. Chris has found these strategies to work over his 31 years in the lead generation business.
For more prospecting wisdom, be sure to listen to the full podcast episode with Chris Weir of Lead Concepts. Just search for the "Broker Link" podcast in your favorite app.
Timestamps
(0:00:03) - Chris Weir talks to Broker link about direct mail marketing strategies
(0:00:39) - Chris Weir is the founder of Lead Concepts, which helps insurance agents lead generation
(0:01:47) - Chris started lead concepts 31 years ago and is still growing today
(0:04:38) - You spend about 15% to 20% of your time selling insurance
(0:08:06) - A website will not generate leads for you unless you spend years building it
(0:12:29) - Texas Medicare and ACA brokers to attend annual kickoff to prepare for 2023
(0:13:36) - What trends are you seeing in just the lead generation world right now
(0:19:56) - So let's talk about the different types of mail that you guys specialize in
(0:25:47) - If you're interested in working with lead concepts, what's next
