Last week, Insurance Business took on the hot topic of cold calling, and a lively discussion soon followed. While ArCompany Vice President Andrew Jenkins told brokers that cold calling is effective just 3% of the time—versus social media’s 20% success rate—one IBA reader added an important caveat.
User Kurt Shaver of The Sales Foundry told readers it takes more than just a new, shiny social media tool to close a sale:
Business insurance is a relationship business and genuine human connections are what social networks like LinkedIn SHOULD be all about. Achieving that level of proficiency takes more than just the tool, it takes training and coaching from people who have done it before.
Meanwhile, independent agent Brent Kelly agreed with Jenkins, commenting:
I 100% agree. I wrote a blog post about this a couple months back and took some flak about it, but I truly believe consumers are fed up with interruption marketing.”
One of readers’ most popular choices for social networking was LinkedIn. Jenkins told producers LinkedIn traffic spikes between 7 and 9 at night, requiring independents to be able to engage potential users through the networking tool at the right time.
Reader Dan Swift recommended agents utilize sales apps through LinkedIn, such as the LinkedIn Sales Navigator. He said:
We believe so whole heartedly that we have developed a premium subscription available on an enterprise for Insurance agents and brokers.
Indeed, LinkedIn has been connected with enhancing producers profits. According to a report from Putnam Investments, 66% of financial advisors said LinkedIn is their go-to tool to meet new clients as most of their target audience is active on the site. A full 85% of business owners even permit their employees to access LinkedIn at work.
Thanks to all our readers who commented this week!
