How Insurance Producers can use Social Networking to Increase Sales – Part II

Welcome back!  Earlier this week I started a post about how insurance salespeople can use social networking to their advantage.  In the first part I discussed the value of creating an on-line identity.  You can read the first part here:

How Insurance Proudcers can use Social Networking to Increase Sales - Part I

2.  Prospecting

I’m a big believer that the more things change the more that they stay the same.  What I mean by this is that there will never be a surefire way to replace good old cold calling.  Some people might be more refined and call it “networking” but at the end of the day if you are in sales you are going to have to introduce yourself to someone that doesn’t know you.  More experienced people might have the ability to generate leads through referrals but it is still cold calling.  So the real question is how can you use social networking to make your cold calls more successful?

To me the real value is that you have alternative ways of contacting someone.  To be clear, I am not suggesting that you should use outlets like LinkedIn and Facebook to make cold calls.  Instead I’m suggesting that you use them to augment your cold calls.  This is partially why it is so important to have an online identity.  Before you make a cold call look up the person on Facebook and LinkedIn.  After you make the call follow up with a message on Facebook and LinkedIn.  You can choose which one makes  the most sense based on what you see in their profile.  If they have a bunch of pictures about hunting in their profile and you are a big hunter – reach out on FaceBook.  If you went to the same college – use LinkedIn.  If you can create a sense of shared interests there will be a higher likelihood of a call back.

3.  Position Yourself as an Expert and Trusted Resource

A wise person once said that experts do not feel the need to identify themselves as an expert – they just are.  I think that this concept is really important as there are so many people out there that are self proclaimed experts in their field.  To me this is similar to that guy that owns his own consulting firm and calls himself the CEO – that’s great but nobody really considers you to be a CEO.  Being an expert is viewed in the same way and social media can help you do this.

One of the biggest values of social media is that you can share your thoughts and ideas and help others out.  For instance, LinkedIn offers the ability to answer other’s questions and share your knowledge.  Facebook and other blogs allow for you to share you thoughts on specific issues and offer tips.  Doing these things will create the perception in the marketplace that you are an expert.  Please bear in mind that you can’t just start blogging and be considered an expert the next day.  It takes time and effort to build up credibility.  However, if you take the time to do this you can build relationships that you can turn into sales. 

That’s all that I have on this issue today. As always please feel free to leave any comments below or email me with questions at sthompson@insurance-csg.com.

 

Have a great day!

 

Also if you are interested in any of my other articles you can check out last weeks article – The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Recruiters by clicking on the link below:

Six Biggest Challenges Face by Insurance Producers