At one point, way back when, insurance telemarketing for leads was as effective as insurance direct mail. However, that was over ten years Are you still trying to make a living by thinking what worked then worked then must still work now.

So many misleading articles promote how easy it is for an agent to get on the phone, handle those objections, and make a profitable appointment. Did these article writers find these reports buried at the bottom of a vault a decade ago. WAKE UP! Are you selling insurance to make a decent living or to keep riding a dying horse? 20% of people have unlisted telephone numbers, another 55% are on the do not call list. If this is not bad enough, almost all of them have cell phones.

Did you ever think they feel your phone call is much more intruding than a piece of direct mail they can pitch out at their convenience? Are they taking a nap? Just out of the hospital? Having a quick romantic interlude? Devouring a delicious hot meal? On the other hand, are they just waiting to give hell to the next person that interrupts them? You must think they are just sitting around for a phone call that can make their day. Think again, because if you do not, you will pay dearly.

You may not consider everything you just read to be crucial information about insurance agent phone calls. But don't be surprised if you find yourself recalling and using this very information in the next few days.

You must have something better to do with your time. An insurance professional does not work at a wage ranging from minimum wage to $12.00 an hour. That is exactly what you are doing when you are making soliciting phone calls. Have you registered with the Federal Trade Commission before making even one single call? If not you are already a violator. Have you checked with both the State and National Do Not Call Lists about whom you are calling? Did you make sure you are not calling a cell phone number? Can you afford to pay the FTC a huge fine they are more than willing to collect on?

If you are the typical insurance agent, you earn about $40,000 a year. What would just one $11,000 fine do to your career? Chances are it would end it permanently. Quit acting like insurance telemarketing is the only way, or the most effective way, or even the cheapest way to obtain new clients. You are wrong on all three points.

Career life insurance agencies are the key suspect for implanting telemarketing for leads in your head. Why? It is so simple you can answer it yourself. How much does it cost the career life insurance agency to have you make hundreds and hundreds of phone calls? Now answer this. Do you know of a career life insurance agency that provides you with true leads? True leads are responses from people interested in looking at an insurance product you are comfortable at selling. With true leads, you should have a minimum 65% closing rate.

Career life insurance agencies are too cheap to provide a bounty of leads to keep you selling instead of insurance telemarketing for leads. Did you know that instead of an $11,000 fine, that amount of money invested in a quality lead acquisition program would have done miracles? Appointments from true leads would have given you substantial new sales and clients. Moreover, it should have jumped your yearly income up at least 25%.

Go ahead and let your career die with your dying horse. Just remember, there are quite a few experienced insurance agents riding high by changing their habits to meet the constantly changing insurance market.

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of jotting down a note will help you remember what's important to you about making insurance phone calls.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of insurance telemarketing. Share your new understanding about insurance telemarketing with others.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

It all often starts with the trade financial and insurance publications. Check out who is trying to attract the attention of the annuity brokers. The insurance publications rarely show annuity advertisements that deal with the benefits the prospect/client will receive. You would think that would be the insurance companies' main concern. WRONG. The insurance companies' goal is to make plenty of money. To achieve this goal they need the insurance annuity agent or broker to sell their products.In turn the use the emotion that attracts the most attention.

There is extreme competition for contracting higher producing annuity agents. My current analysis shows this: Direct mail solicitation for selling annuities is more than twice as high as any other product. In looking at financial and insurance publications, it appears advertising competition becomes around five times as great.

The annuity ads in these insurance publications only focus on two of the major six emotions. They are Greed and Need. The Greed advertisements to an insurance annuity agent focus on commissions and frequently the all expense paid trips or excursions. The Need advertisements are directed toward gaps or policy feature innovations that "none of their competitors" supposedly comes close to having.

THE MOST COMMON EMOTION Based on quantity of total annuity producers, the GREED emotion of an insurance annuity agent comes through the strongest. An annuity purchaser, who does not shop around, buys what the agent or broker offers. Therefore, the product shown is most often the one paying the seller the highest commissions. Here is why. The agent may have one annuity paying 4% commission and another paying out 6%. If the annuity policy sold is for $50,000, the commission would be $1,000 higher when 6% commission is paid. These agents make up 60% of all annuity writers, and have an average of 5.7 years experience. The majority of the Greed Emotion brokers tend to place their annuity business with one annuity insurer.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Yerke

Ten years ago, less than fifty percent of the population used the Internet. Five years ago, users of the Internet consisted primarily of business professionals. Today, retirees are the largest growing demographic of Internet users. Seven out of every ten people you meet in America uses a computer at least once a week. Considering this continual growth, agencies across the nation have begun to embrace the marketing potential the Internet has to offer.

To take advantage of these growing marketing opportunities upon the Internet, agencies must first develop an effective and visually appealing website. Your website must be more than just a business card on the web; it needs to be a functional tool that benefits both potential and current customers. To create a successful web presence your website should include the following:

Agency Information

Include information about your agency such as company origins, community reputations, testimonials and noted success.

Agency Offerings

What does your agency offer? Why do your product offerings standout from your competitors? Your website should convey your complete product offering such as each line of business and any additional services that would benefit your target customer.

Customer Service

A website is open for business, even when you are not. Provide your customers the ability to request quotes or policy change requests anytime, day, or night. Include a mailing list feature that allows your customers to receive your agency's newsletter.

Contact Information

If for any reason your new website cannot fulfill your customers needs you want to make it easy for them to contact you. Your website should include all forms of communication methods including local and toll-free phone numbers, fax numbers, driving directions, and e-mail.

Useful Experience

Build a useful consumer resource that will repeatedly draw customers back to your website. Incorporate helpful tools such as an insurance terms glossary, a frequently asked questions page, company links, document libraries, and a newsroom.

Once your website is up and running you must begin to market it as more than "just a website". Notify your customers that your website is a resource available to them twenty-four hours a day. Advertise the functionality of your website, not just the fact that you have one. To effectively market your website you should follow the

Printed Materials

Include your website address on all printed materials such as business cards, letterhead, and brochures. Include a brief statement promoting the fact your website is open 24/7.

Example: For policy service any time, day, or night, visit us on the web at...

Voicemail

State your website clearly in your outgoing voicemail - Inform customers and prospects calling your office outside of business hours that information about your agency as well as customer service options are available twenty-four hours a day via your website.

Yellow Pages Advertising

Maximize your yellow page presence by including your agency website along with phone numbers. By including your website address your yellow page ad opens your business up to possible business, even outside the hours you normally answer your phones.

Advertise for a Good Cause

Make a donation of school supplies to your local schools and have them imprinted with your agency web address.

Storefront Advertising

Prospects may drive by your office every day and may see the name of your agency and a phone number, why not your website as well? Many prospects are more likely to remember a website name than a phone number.

Search Engine Tricks

Include important links on your website. Search engines look for websites that link to other sites. Be sure to include links to the companies you write with, organizations you are involved with, links with information about your community, and insurance industry related news. Make reciprocal agreements with organizations to incorporate your web address on their website as well.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Burelsmith