Next Wave Marketing Strategies Calling-Clients-Weekends
There is a mentality in the marketing field that business should be conducted during business hours. This means taking the weekend off from such practices as cold calling and lead nurturing. Intuitively, this even seems to make sense. How many people want to discuss serious topics like buying insurance on their two days off from work?
The answer may surprise you. Statistics suggest that the number of insurance leads, or people who fill out an online form expressing willingness to be contacted for a free insurance quote, drops on the weekends. However, the conversion rate is actually higher on weekends than it is on weekdays. One study hypothesizes this is true because the people who browse insurance sites on weekdays are just casual lookers; whereas, the people who devote their time off work to pursuing insurance quotes are serious about becoming purchasers.
If you are working with a telemarketing company or have a website that generates insurance leads, it’s a good idea to make contact with the lead as soon as you receive the information, even if that’s outside of regular business hours. The Insurance Journal suggests that speed-to-call is the largest driver of lead conversion. Leads also have a tendency to ultimately buy from the first company that contacts them.
There are a few other reasons why cold calling over the weekends can be a wise strategy. First of all, leads are more likely to be home. You’re far more likely to make a sale if you can speak to an actual person than if you leave a voice message on an answering machine.
Also, far from being annoyed at the “interruption” of your call, leads may actually be more receptive to hearing information about insurance on the weekends. This is because weekends are typically a less busy time for leads. They don’t have to worry about getting back to work or picking the kids up at school, so they actually have time to listen to what you are saying and reflect about how your insurance program could help them. When you call on the weekends, you can take some time for lead nurturing as opposed to trying to make a sale as fast as possible.
Finally, calling leads on the weekends makes sense, because most insurance companies don’t do it. This means less competition and potentially more sales for your company.
Will you ever encounter a lead who is grouchy about being called on his time off? Certainly. Anyone who has experience with cold calling knows that not all leads will be warm and enthusiastic. The latest studies suggest, however, that even if you run into the occasional curmudgeon, calling insurance leads on the weekends makes good sales sense.
