Insurance Referral: 10 Hidden Tricks for Guaranteed Triple Sales

According to a case study by GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, referred customers are 25% more profitable than the customers acquired by other means. Is your insurance referral system bringing you more clients? Silence is not louder than words in the insurance industry. In fact, if your clients are not talking about you with their friends and family, you’re not doing a good job as their insurance agent. While there are several ways to drive insurance sales and generate interactive marketing, basic referrals are the great driving force in generating leads.

Just like any marketing campaign, there are tips and tricks to adapt a method in your own way and generate desired interest. Here are ten tried and tested ways that can help you stay ahead of the game. Read on until the end for a secret bonus industry tip.

Insurance Referral Tip #1: Don’t Shy Away from Asking Your Clients for referral

A lot of agents think that asking for referrals from their clients is unnecessary or bothersome. An experienced insurance agent would say that is a rookie mistake. While big companies spend a lot of money on ads and campaigns, you are an independent agent without thousands of dollars at your disposal to advertise yourself. Thus, word of mouth may be your best bet at attracting customers. Also, keep in mind that listening sends a strong message that tells customers that this relationship will be more about their needs than ours.

Replace “I am asking my clients for too much and I should be ashamed of bothering them for a favor that may not be useful to me at all” with “I am confident in my services and products, so there is no harm in me asking my satisfied clients to refer me to their circle.”

According to research from ResarchGate, referral marketing results in a superior advertisement as the marketing is carried out by friends and family. It also provides access to new customers that wouldn’t;t have been possible through traditional marketing.

Insurance Referral Tip #2: Reward Your Clients for Referring You

If you still don’t feel confident in reaching out to your customers for referrals, you can implement a ‘Referral Rewards System’ in your network. When new clients come to you through an old client’s recommendation, make sure to reward your referrer for their help. It doesn’t have to be too extravagant. For example, flowers, a gift card, or a nice gift basket can go far in showing your appreciation.

Insurance Referral Tip #3: Define and Find Your Target Customers

Most people do not like making referrals because they’re not sure if their friends and family would find the services useful or worth it. To make sure you are marketing to the right crowd, first and foremost, you need to recognize who your core customers are and what type of customers you are trying to attract.

Research and analyze your products and the people they attract. For instance, you could be the only independent agent in Ohio selling mobile home insurance while it is in transit. Thus, you can specifically ask your clients to refer your services to their friends who own mobile homes.

Insurance Referral Tip #4: Dedicate a Space on Your Social Media for Your Referrers

Gratefulness goes a long way when you are working directly with your clients on a daily basis. In addition to implementing a referral rewards program, you can also dedicate a space on your Facebook page or website where you give shout-outs to your referrers (with their consent of course). People love to be seen, heard, and appreciated. Customer retention 101—It is always a good idea to stroke the egos of your clients to keep them coming back. The presence of insurance agents on social media is more powerful than you might think.

Insurance Referral Tip #5: Invest in Marketing Automation

As iterated above, big companies have made much use of marketing automation for their business. As an independent business owner, you can also get affordable marketing automation tools to help you save time.

Email marketing is a great way to generate leads, but it may not be a viable option if you’re giving hours of your day into preparing copies after copies to personally send out to people. Instead, get an email marketing tool that automates newsletters and sends them out to interested parties.

These tools will help you save time and generate leads while you make connections and widen your customer pool. You can also use these tools to send out free and helpful content to your clients effectively and consistently. Most clients appreciate freebies. That way, you gain goodwill. You can ask these clients for insurance referrals in exchange for your quality content.

Insurance Referral Tip #6: Educate Your Clients About Your Products

Many times, your clients only look to you as the guy who sold them car insurance and nothing more. Meanwhile, you carry more than 30 different products and bundles. In this case, it can be harder for you to get referrals since your clients aren’t aware of all you offer.

Print out attractive brochures, email your clients about your portfolio, and tell them about the products you carry so that they know to come to you or refer you for any insurance needs.

While you may think that harping to your customers may turn them away, it is an effective form of marketing. Instead of thinking “I am being repetitive and bothering my clients”, think of it as “Next time my clients buy a car or a friend complains about their expensive premiums, they will think of me as their solution.”