Calling people and leaving voicemail messages can be a very time-consuming process when you are trying to generate insurance leads.
You may spend all day on the phone and then only talk to one person as a result. You may talk to no one at all.
The problem is not that you are selling a bad product — everyone needs insurance for one purpose or another. The problem could instead be with the way that you are leaving the voicemail messages.
Consider the following insurance sales tips to get people to call you back more often. With a little tweaking of your technique, you can have a lot of success.
1. Don’t exceed 40 seconds
When you leave the message, try to keep it around half a minute long. Most people will not want to listen for much longer than this.
Do not forget that people are busy. They may want to be done checking the messages as soon as possible so that they can get on with their life. They may have other messages that they want to get to.
Whatever the case, they will not want to listen to you for more than 40 seconds. If you keep the message short, they will be more likely to listen to the whole thing, and therefore more likely to call you back.
2. Provide incentive for a return call
Most people see no reason why they should call back, even if they are interested in what you’re selling.
They may think that buying insurance is a great idea, but they’ll want to do it on their own time.
Give them a reason to do it on your time. Tell them that you can get them a deal if they call back in the next twenty-four hours. Tell them about a sale that is going to expire soon. Give them some information that will make them want to get in touch with you sooner rather than later.
Generally, telling them they will save money is a good way to do this.
3. Say things that relate to their specific situation
If you’re calling someone whom you already have a bit of information on, use that information in the message. This can start with using their name, but should not end there.
For example, maybe you know that they want to have a health insurance policy because they are about to have a child. Mention their child; ask how the pregnancy is going. Ask if they are ready to get a policy to keep this new life safe.
These sorts of triggers are things that people care about — this will also make them see that you care about them and remember them, which will make them more prone to do business with you.
4. Keep a friendly tone
You don’t want to come across as “just another” insurance salesperson. You want to show the person that you’re friendly. You want to show them that you care about their well-being.
Concise is a good thing (see above), but don’t let that get in the way of keeping a friendly tone.
5. Repeat your phone number twice
This is one of the biggest mistakes new insurance agents make. Don’t assume that a prospect will catch your phone number the first time you say it. And of course, you should never assume that they’ll listen to your message twice to write it down.
Say your phone number at the beginning and end of your message. This gives the person two opportunities to write it down.
6. Provide more than one way to get in touch
Even though you’re reaching out via phone, give the person the opportunity to connect with you in another way. Are you okay if they text you? Are you comfortable leaving your email address in a voice message?
The more ways a prospect can get in touch, the better chance there is of them doing so. That’s especially true among people who don’t like conducting business over the phone.
7. Personalize your message
Not only is it okay to use a sales script, but it can help keep you on track (see #10 below). However, this doesn’t mean you want to read off the script. Personalizing your message goes a long way in hooking the prospect.
Greet the person by name and sneak in a detail about them, such as something you discussed previously. This can be anything from their favorite sports team to an upcoming vacation.
A personal touch can be the difference between getting a call back and the prospect deleting your message.
8. Make calls later in the day
Most people are busiest during the morning hours. This is when they’re most productive at work. For that reason, you’re less likely to get ahold of them. And they’re less likely to listen to your voice message and call you back.
When you make calls later in the day, you do two things:
- Increase the chance of the person answering the phone.
- Increase the chance of the person listening to your message and calling you back before the end of the day.
Make calls at different times of the day to see what works best for your audience. You can then adjust your approach accordingly.
9. Share your availability
Give the person a clear idea of when they can get in touch with you. For example:
- I am available today until 5 pm, so feel free to call me back any time before that.
- I am available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so don’t hesitate to call me.
- Call me back any time, or if easier, shoot me a text message or email.
Sharing your availability leads the prospect to consciously think about when they can connect with you.
10. Use a script
Even if you’re experienced communicating with prospects by phone, it’s easy to get off track. That’s one of the many potential pitfalls of cold calling. This is where a script comes in handy.
Create several different sales scripts to use when it’s time to leave a voice message. Choose the best one, track the results, and continually tweak your language.
Insurance voicemail techniques summary
Are you ready to experiment with these insurance voicemail techniques?
The more leads you have, the more calls you’ll make. And the more calls you make, the more voice messages you’ll leave.
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With more than 21 years of serving the financial services industry and an A+ BBB rating, you can rest assured that we’ll help you grow your business.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
