Yes one of our main responsibilities as insurance agents is to add value to the lives of those we serve. But let’s admit it, we need sales. After all, we aren’t doing this for free.

Sure we can be best friends with all our prospects and customers, but if we aren’t closing any sale; or if our existing customers are leaving us for another agent, being best friends alone isn’t going to cut it. There’s obviously something wrong with what we are doing.

Traditional sales methods practiced by the earlier generation may no longer be as efficient and effective today. The millennials being born into the digital era has completely transformed how sale is being carried out. What this means is that sales people today need to keep themselves abreast with the current digital trends and developments.

Now the good news. With these technology advancements also comes wonderful tools for statistics generation that offer us insights into how effective (or ineffective) some sales methods are. So here are some important sales statistics that can help us become better insurance agents.

 Sales Statistics Every Insurance Agent Needs to Know

1. The importance of social media

• Online adults aged 18-34 are most likely follow a brand via social networking (95%). (Source: MarketingSherpa)
  Not all social media platforms may suit your style of branding. So it is important that you identify your branding method and use the best social media channel to amplify it. For instance, if you love sharing insurance related information and anecdotes, make Facebook your best friend.

• The best time to post on Facebook is 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Other optimal times include 12:00–1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and 1:00–4:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. (Source: HubSpot)

• Facebook live videos are watched THREE TIMES (3x) longer than videos that aren’t live while comments are TEN TIMES (10x) the rate of regular videos! (Source: Mediakix)
  Facebook live is already a popular tool among the Malaysian insurance and takaful agents. But a word of advice, make sure you know who your target audience is. Streaming a live video of your energetic sales training may not be interesting to your potential customers, but they may attract new recruits to your agency.

2. The power of referral

Any insurance agent knows that being referred to client’s family members, friends and colleagues makes it a lot more likely for a sale to happen compared to if you were pitching to a complete stranger. So here are some statistics to back it up.

• Customers are FOUR TIMES (4x) more likely to buy when referred by a friend. (Source: Nielsen)

• 61% of buyers consult third party sources before consulting a company’s sales force. (Source: Avanade)

3. The numbers behind cold calling

Hold on. Cold calling may not be dead yet. If you aren’t experiencing any success, you’re probably doing it wrong. Here are some stats that may help you improve.

• The best days to call are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:45 to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. (Source: RingLead)

• It takes at least five follow-up calls after the initial sales contact before a customer says yes. Sadly 44% of sales people give up after the hearing the first ‘no’. Persistence is key people! (Marketing Donut)

When it comes to cold calling, persistence is key!

4. Timing is critical

Although the buyer may still rely on referral, there is no reason for the agent to feel he is safe once he is referred to by clients, as there are no guarantee that the prospect only requested for only 1 agent. And with the easy access to thousands of trusted agents via online agent directory,  prospects can quickly get in touch with the agents of their choice. The question now is who among those agents that can response the fastest.

• Research shows that 35% to 50% of sales go to the agent who responds first! (Source: InsideSales)

• There is a 10x drop in lead qualification when you wait longer than 5 minutes to respond, and a 400% decrease when you respond within 10 minutes versus 5 minutes. (Source: Harvard Business Review)

So many insurance agents, so little time!

5. Lead nurturing is the way to move forward

What is lead nurturing? :

Lead nurturing is the continuous process of relationship development with your prospects at every stage of the sales funnel, even though they may not be interested in buying anything from you currently. Leads are nurtured by the occasional marketing and communication efforts that offer the right information to the prospects that aims to establish branding and trust.

Lead nurturing today is most efficiently carried out with the help of technology such as customer relationship management tools.

• However, 22% of salespeople still don’t know what a CRM is, and 40% still use informal methods like spreadsheets and email programs to store customer data. (Source: Hubspot)

• 74% of users said their CRM system gave them improved access to customer data. (Source: Software Advice)

Have you heard about the CRM offered for free when you sign up on iBanding agent directory?