When used effectively, Facebook can be a great way for you to increase your visibility as an agent to your prospects, which is an important step in securing more sales.

If you’re serious about improving your social media standing as an agent, make sure to avoid these 5 common Facebook mistakes:

1. Posting Too Much About Insurance

Facebook is a great platform for you to share about your services but remember: nobody likes to be sold to. Don’t turn your prospects off by posting hard-sell insurance information all the time. It won’t make them suddenly realise they need insurance, but it WILL make them very annoyed.

What to do instead: Look at how you can create value for your prospects, and share content that people care about. For example, if you’re an motor insurance agent, you can look at posting car maintenance tips, or sharing a simple poll on favourite car brands. If you’re a life insurance agent, you can try sharing healthy recipe videos, or even simple hacks to quit smoking.

The more your prospects enjoy the things you post, the more receptive they will be to your services.

2. Getting Too Personal

Your profile is basically an on-going advertisement of who you are, which is exactly why you should think twice about sharing every single detail of your life online. If you think it’s harmless to rant endlessly about a recent breakup, think again. Everyone’s looking for a reliable agent, after all, and all that over sharing isn’t helping.

Going through a heartbreak? You may want to think twice before sharing the details on Facebook.

What to do instead: Yes, it’s your personal profile after all but if you’re serious about being considered by your prospects, don’t be so quick to hang all your dirty laundry out on Facebook. Focus on being positive and professional.

3. Being Insensitive

We’ve all seen the tragic posts about someone having to undergo a medical operation costing hundreds of thousands. They often come with a humble plea for donation. We’ve also seen insurance agents dropping comments offering their services to “avoid being in a similar situation.” Using someone else’s suffering as a sales platform is just unethical. Don’t be that person.

What to do instead: Be sensitive when sharing your services. Above all else, put someone else’s feelings first.

4. Resorting To Rude Behaviour

There’s bound to be people who are just rude to you on Facebook for no apparent reason. While it might be tempting to fight fire with fire, don’t – responding negatively to a terrible comment doesn’t solve the issue and it puts you in a bad light.

Do the right thing, take the high road.

What to do instead: If you ever receive hate comments, assess the situation. Is the person’s comment based on a lack of awareness on insurance? If so, be the bigger person and kindly offer to help them understand better. However, if the comment is downright offensive, put the unacceptable behaviour to an end by reporting them.

5. Judging Your Prospects

Have you ever requested for a sales appointment with a Facebook friend, only for them to say no? Or perhaps you’ve met them and explained to them the plans available, but they still insist on not signing up? While these situations are not pleasant, it’s still important to remember that you should never express your bitterness by being condescending especially on Facebook. It’s all part of the job, after all!

What to do instead: Understand that you’ve done the best you can to help them but if they refuse to take up an insurance plan, that’s their right. They are under no obligation to sign up with you even after you’ve explained to them about the plans. Never be condescending to your prospects, always choose to be kind and helpful.

6. Coming Up With Predictable Promotions

While it’s good to post about the company’s latest products and promotions to create awareness, chances are they’ve seen the same ads somewhere else. Pay attention to your audience – what they like, what they don’t – and use that information to stand out from the crowd.

Be creative! Think of exciting ideas to attract your prospects.

What to do instead: Think of fun, exciting ideas to attract your prospects. For example, you can partner with a local coffee joint and offer a free cup of latte for the first 20 people to request for a quote from you.

Want more articles like this? Check out iBanding’s News & Blog section for helpful guides on everything insurance.

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