Insurance Agents: 7 Tips for Placing the Perfect Cold Call

Although many insurance agents forgo creating a sales script and cold-calling their potential customers, the importance of cold-calling cannot be understated.

Sure, if you’re calling without a plan or a technique, a cold-call can be a daunting and ineffective pursuit. However, with a solid cold-call script, any insurance company can reap the rewards of this tried-and-true tool.

If you’ve wanted to improve your bottom line with cold calling, read on. Below, you’ll find seven infallible tips that will bolster your company’s success:

1) Consider Your Call’s Timing

In general, calls should be made within the receiver’s business hours. Ensure that your company invests in a solid lead generation platform that can chronicle information, like zip codes, too. This way, you can always call your customers at a suitable time.

Also, try to call earlier in the day or in the afternoon. There’s nothing worse than receiving a call when you’re trying to go to lunch …

2) First Impressions Matter

Whether you’re on a first date or calling a stranger for the first time, one principle remains true: The first impression is key to success.

On a first date, you might tell your partner something desirable about yourself to pique their interest. Similarity, during a first call, you want to explain your value. Clearly tell the customer how your insurance plan(s) will improve their current situation.

3) Stick to the Script, but Stay Lively

Par the course with most things in life, planning is critical, and when it comes to cold-calling, the ultimate plan is a sales script.

Establish an effective cold-calling script, but realize that it is only an outline.  You need to hit the points on the script, but leave some space for normal conversation, too. 

4) Practice Makes Perfect

Let’s face it: First connections are often awkward. Many people have trouble connecting face-to-face, and voice-to-voice is even more challenging.

Due to this fact, you must prefect your tone. Consider recording yourself, listen to how you sound and imagine how you would feel if you received your call. Do you sound happy, and is your information interesting? If not, re-organize your insurance cold-call script, and try again.

5) Get Comfortable

Before you dial, make sure you’re ready to give the call’s recipient your undivided attention.

With your cold-calling script in front of you, dial your lead and get ready for a conversation. Although many people don’t answer calls from unknown numbers/insurance agents, some do, so you must be prepared to strike up conversation at any point.

6) Find a Work Flow

Everyone works differently, so figure out what schedule works for you. Some people like to crank out x amount of calls over a specific period of time, but we generally recommend staying away from this technique.

Although quantity is important, if you’re cold calling simply to boost your call count, you can miss out on a genuine connection and conversation—which, ultimately, bolsters insurance sales.

7) Intent to Follow-Up

Remember, the entire goal here is to secure more time with the customer. After you’ve connected with them and discussed your value, ask them when they can talk again.

If you feel you’ve established a good relationship, you might leave this part more open-ended; if your connection wasn’t too strong, though, get specific. Ask them, “Would next Friday at 10 a.m. be a good time for me to call you/meet you? It won’t take more than 15 minutes of your time.” 

Cold-calling is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and for good reason—it’s effective! With the right sales script and the aforementioned tips in mind, every insurance company can utilize the power of the cold-call to grow their business.