Selling Insurance Online: How to Bowl a Strike
By: Peggy Mace

I started selling life insurance on the internet in January of 2001. Online direct response marketing was a fairly new concept at that time so gradually Im becoming a person people go to when they are trying to decide whether to get into this career. Recently someone went so far as to ask me for ten practical steps to establishing a successful online life insurance business. Ten steps. How does one convey the vision it takes to succeed in ten steps How can the steps be practical without becoming drudgery

I started subbing on a bowling league in January of 2005. Some simple tips offered by my teammates helped me discover the thrill of making strikes. Whether those ten pins scatter like buckshot or trickle down like dominoes strikes make you feel great. I found myself excited to repeat the steps that enabled me to bowl strikes. And suddenly my tenpin/tenstep analogy was born.

Making life insurance sales online feels at least as exciting as making strikes and has the added bonus of making you money! Having a goal that rewards you emotionally is what will enable you to follow with enthusiasm these ten steps to success. So here are ten pins to get down to experience the thrilling achievement of consistently making strikes in the direct response market.

1) Understand the game. Selling life insurance online is not the same as selling in an office. I have heard many traditional life insurance agents say that the hard part used to be getting someone in the door the easy part was making the sale. The easy part of selling online is getting the client in the door; the hard part is making to the end of the process with a check in your pocket.

So what are online leads like That can depend on how they came to you. If they were using a search engine that led them to a web site where they filled out requests for a quote or application they are most likely motivated to buy. They are already your customers and you had best serve them efficiently and expediently because they will go on to the next web site if you dont!

Perhaps your leads were prompted to request a quote as the result of reading or hearing an ad. Others are incentive leads which means theyve filled out a quote request form as a hoop to jump through in order to get some type of other reward. You may think that kind of lead is not serious and some arent. However most are asked to give enough info that the truly uninterested ones will usually bow out before their form is submitted.

Youve got to put yourself in their shoes to understand how to approach them. If you dont answer leads promptly they may get the feeling the ad or form was insignificant and blow you off. Some will see the ad or form as a nudge; youll want to assure them that you can easily help them get the coverage they have been putting off. Some incentive leads will hear you out because they know every prize has a price. They may be pleasantly surprised to find that theyve received a good insurance price along with their other prize!

It takes some conversation to get to know your leads and to build their trust. But you also have to respect their time because people use the internet to save time and fuss. Unless they have complicated needs its best to start by offering the simplest solutions possible. No matter how your leads came to you they did ask. So you have every right and every chance in the world to make that sale. And you WILL make strikes with internet leads.

2) Know the rules. Youve got to have knowledge of all the products being offered at your fingertips to be successful in online life insurance sales. Leads often arent willing to wait for answers so you have to give them as much as you can on the first call. If you need to delay the quote due to needing medical records or having to first obtain a preliminary offer based on their health its important to explain that if anyone else is giving them a quote without that step that quote will most likely be wrong and could end up with a blot on their MIB.

Ordinarily you will find the best quotes for those with perfect health from about 35 competitive carriers (rated at least A by AM Best) that use traditional underwriting. Likewise the best quotes for those with health problems will come from about 3 impaired risk carriers. Youll want to know which 3 instant issue carriers offer the best rates for those of good health and about 3 simplified or guaranteed issue carriers for those of poor health. Those choices will more than satisfactorily meet almost every need and anyone can learn the underwriting guidelines ratings etc. of a dozen carriers. This also helps you approach your leads from a point of wisdom building their trust in you and enabling you to serve them most responsibly.

Along with understanding the underwriting guidelines you need to get familiar with how each carrier works i.e. whether they require a preliminary offer whether the app can be filled out online etc. You also need to know what health conditions are best met by what carriers. This sounds like a lot but within 6 months youll have it down. Knowing the rules of the game will help you get many more strikes.

3) Have good equipment. Good bowlers know they will get more strikes with the right ball shoes etc. It is essential to getting sales to have a well equipped office. An all in one fax machine (fax copier and scanner) is great for a small office. A phone headset is a must with todays online apps. Its nice to have an auxiliary color printer but mainly using a black laser printer will save cost. I dont waste one sheet of paper on a lead that isnt at least somewhat interested. Therefore a good computer and some way to organize leads is essential. Its to your advantage if your lead provider offers software designed to manage your leads. If not My Documents an online calendar and/or Mail Merge can help. Its important to get a system set up to systematically keep track of your leads because it takes lots of leads to make lots of money and otherwise youll get overwhelmed.

I would have business cards and stationery printed for the apps you send out by mail and to include with policies. You have very few chances to make an impression and your mail is one way to make one. Use a phone with Voice Mail. Have a toll free phone and fax number. Be sure you have Adobe Acrobat Professional. Try to have an email address that identifies you with insurance. Have a web site if possible. Good equipment is not only practical but identifies you as professional and that is a big part of consistently making strikes.

4) Invest in the game. You have to go bowling to get strikes and you have to work leads to make sales. That means setting aside the time and/or money to work at least several leads per day. It will take at least 2 months before commissions start coming in and about 6 months until you