- Thread starter
- #31
sbg_ben
Super Genius
- 241
Just a couple of observations from skimming this thread.
If you are mailing during (or just before) AEP your card/mailer will probably get lost in the crowd. The association for retired folks engages in MASS MAILINGS this time of year, comes in fat envelopes and they mail indiscriminately. (My 34 year old daughter who has not lived here in years gets mail from them along with my wife and I).
It is almost impossible to compete with the flood of mailings. Your piece has to really stand out. Most of the mail is tossed but LARGE POSTCARDS (like the ones politicians send) are easily scanned and either kept or tossed.
You might consider adding a phone number that goes to a recorded message and has the ability to "find" you if they want to talk at that time. Google Voice is something to consider.
If your mail message is intriguing enough some people might call, especially if you make it clear they will hear a recording vs talking to you.
Also consider a simple web page with information and a way to contact you.
Another thought is a YouTube video. This way people get to see and hear you then decide if they want to talk with you or not. When you call you are more than just a voice on the phone, they have a visual image of who you are.
Any message, regardless of the medium (print, web page, voice recording, video) has only one purpose.
To stimulate interest.
Messages are not designed to do the SELLING for you other than selling them on the idea of WHY they should talk to you.
Once you do get to talk to them if you come across as pushy or desperate to make a sale they will hear it in your voice. You are dead in the water.
The only reason they responded to your message is because they RECOGNIZE they have a problem and are searching for ANSWERS. You need to be a problem solver first and a peddler second.
Too many agents fail to understand that and move into selling mode from the start.
Until you know WHY they responded and WHAT they have done so far to solve their problem you will not be effective.
My marketing is designed to get people to either call or email me, or they provide information when they run their own Medigap quote on my site.
If the lead comes from my quote engine their first contact with me is via email.
If they email me I reply by email.
And if they call that is the best of all. That shows a real interest in what I can do for them.
My initial contact has two goals.
I ask HOW CAN I HELP and WHAT HAVE YOU LOOKED AT SO FAR?
How can I help is a leading question designed to get them to open up. It starts a conversation, not a sales pitch.
What have you seen so far is really two parts. It leads to how long have you been looking, and why haven't you made a decision.
Frankly, I get a lot of people who have been looking for a while but have not pulled the trigger for various reasons. Mostly because no one has really answered their questions. Many of the agents they have talked to immediately turned on the sales pitch and scared them away.
By asking questions and offering answers, they quickly see my approach is different.
If you can't do something to set yourself apart from the other agents selling the same product for the same price you will not win the game.
That is one hell of a post I will have to print that out for sure. I am definitely not a sales pitch guy at all. I am about as far from your aggressive sales type as you can get without being a pushover. I think my issue is that I am so used to people just being pre-qualified and ready to talk to me.
Currently the agency I work for specializes in employee benefits and I am the only medicare guy. I am really starting to wonder if I need to work on having my own website that is just for the senior market becasue my message gets lost in all the employer benefits stuff. I'm just not sure where to start and don't want to invest $1000's into a website if it won't really bring much new business..
I think I really need to sit down and come up with a better marketing strategy for next year.. Does anyone have some resources they can reccomend to help with that? I am going to be selling Final Expense starting in January as well. Trying to move away from ACA plans and employee benefits and focus only on senior products