How Can Automation Increase Medicare Insurance Sales?
Insurance agents are busy professionals who wear a lot of hats, making time one of their most precious commodities. Agents can save time through marketing automation which is, in a nutshell, the process of having software perform repetitious tasks.
Agents who invest in automation experience many benefits and often: operate more efficiently, increase the speed in which many tasks are performed, provide a more holistic client/prospect experience, create more sales opportunities, reduce common mistakes, and improve productivity and communication.
Automation has become so important to so many industries that the sheer number platforms and available options can be overwhelming. Today’s article covers categories in which automation may be most beneficial to independent insurance agents selling Medicare plans.
CRM. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is designed to streamline many actions small businesses take in relation to lead tracking, customer service interactions and data organization. Most FMOs/NMOs provide agents with a free CRM—though features and functionality can vary greatly.
Check out: Hubspot
Social Media Scheduling. Agents want to grow their online presence and social media audiences; the catch is: doing so takes a lot of time! Social media automation tools allow agents to schedule posts weeks or months in advance and manage all their profiles in one place. These tools also gather data and can inform agent decisions in terms of best times to post and what types of content audiences prefer.
Check out: Hootsuite
Appointment Setting. Agents who can automate the majority of their schedule find it to be a game changer. In addition to countless hours saved, benefits to this automation process include eliminating double-bookings and avoiding many last-minute schedule changes.
Check out: Calendly
Messaging. Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective methods for retention. Additionally, more and more prospects are opting to communicate via text messages, especially during the initial outreach phase. Automating these communications can significantly improve campaign performance.
Check out: Thryv
Form-Filling. Filling out endless forms, many with duplicate information, just might be an insurance agent’s least favorite activity. Mitigate the monotony, increase efficiency and improve response times with automated form filling! Agents who want to avoid replacing one headache with another may want to consider solutions that don’t require complicated back-end coding…
Check out: Frevvo
Feedback & Referral Requests. Surveying current clients to identify customer pain points, asking for feedback on personnel or processes, and requesting referrals can all be daunting tasks for agents. Automation simplifies these processes and makes them feel less intrusive.
Check out: Pulse
Cloud Storage. Agents who need to access important work files anytime/anywhere can benefit from cloud storage solutions. Many of these solutions also allow team members to work on projects collaboratively online.
Check out: Dropbox
Automation is achievable and beneficial for individual agents and agencies of any size. The automation process may take some time to set up and, despite free trials or no-cost entry-level memberships, may require monetary investment to utilize all of a platform or service’s most helpful features. That said, we all know the mantra ‘time is money’ and the initial investments to set up a robust automation system usually pay for themselves in short order and produce long-term dividends.
As a National Marketing Organization that works with thousands of independent agents, we understand you must generate leads in order to grow your business. That’s why we work diligently to provide the resources necessary for successful marketing. If this information is valuable and you want to know more about the services we provide our Medicare agent partners, please contact us at marketing@berwickinsurance.com or 888-745-2320.