Login Contact Us 5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Results in 2008 Step 1 -- Beyond the First Call While it's important to call the consumer quickly, it's just as or more important to develop a consistent process that includes both calls and e-mails. Here are two ideas on follow-up from our most successful agents: "I call every 2 days until they buy or tell me to stop calling. The key here is consistent, ongoing follow-up." "In my first e-mail, I send more than just a quick intro and the quote. I include a question that asks a simple underwriting question like, 'I see you haven't had any accidents. Did you know you can really reduce your premium by slightly increasing your collision coverage? I'd be happy to talk to you about how that works." Step 2 -- Track Your Results Tracking sales by marketing channel or specific source can help identify where you should increase or reduce your marketing budget. Most agents think it takes just too much time and effort to do; however, the agents ahead of the curve realize it's pretty easy and can save a lot of money. Here are some quick ideas: Lead management systems - These software programs already have this intelligence built in. The good news is NetQuote already has partnerships with two leaders in the market - Agency IQ and Hawksoft. Give us a call to see if this is the right solution for you. Unique phone numbers - You don't need a call center to support this kind of tracking. Instead of using the same number in all your ads, use a unique number for each marketing campaign and track how many come in - you'll be surprised! In fact, one of the best places to start is that expensive yellow page ad. Step 3 - Hold Your Producers Accountable If you pass your leads to a producer or CSR, do you know what they are doing with them? If not, you could be throwing money away. Ensure they have the process down, that the message is crisp, and that they are doing what they tell you they are doing. Step 4 - Redefine Success Often, the first question is - well, what should my close rate be to know if a program is successful? While close rate is important, there are other critical factors in understanding a marketing program's value - including cost and profit. Here is an example: Example Return on Investment (ROI) for Auto Leads Cost per auto lead: $10 Agent purchases 10 leads: $100 cost Close rate: 10% (1 out of 10) Cost to close: $100 While this might seem high, you're not done with your analysis. Now it's time to add in profit: Average auto premium: $1,200 First year commission: 14% ($168) This means you've made $68 for every $100 you spent! Another way to think of it is - your return on investment was 68%! Renewal commission = 10% ($120 each year) Total commission after 4 years: $548 After four years, you've made more than $500 - not even counting the possible cross-sell opportunity. In other words, for every $1 you spent on this marketing channel, you made $5. That's a 448% return on investment...not bad! So, as you can see, it's important to look at the total profit for a policy and the amount you spent to get it. Because, even though a 10% close rate may seem low, the addition of cost and profit is what tells the true story! Step 5: Don't Forget the Cross Sell When you close, let's say, an auto policy, don't forget to sell ALL the potential insurance products relevant to that customer. While it's not free money - since you had to pay for them to come through the door - you can greatly increase your total return on that marketing campaign by getting a higher commission and increasing the life of the policy through additional product sales.