Possible Effects Of Continued Healthcare Reform On Insurance Leads

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

It’s been almost a month since the Supreme Court ruled to keep Obamacare in place and many people are still unsure as to what this could mean. One thing is clear though. It will still impact the B2B insurance market and might even alter the eligibility of some businesses as qualified leads. This video from FoxBusiness tries to present these effects and whether or not you believe it, there are some things you can still do in case it proves true:

The following effects mentioned in the video are as follows:

Changes in Insurance

Both the effects on private consumers and on businesses are spelled out here. Now, should there really be a significant change in your plans, you would obviously watch out for reactions from the business community. If this is right, this might cause them to change their minds. Leads qualified previously are now bust because the changes of have made your offers ‘uneconomical’. Still, maybe that’s just their perception. Try and set an appointment with the insurance prospect with the offer of showing how your business isn’t as compromised by the law as they think.

Rising Premiums

The rising costs of healthcare is becoming less and less disputed. However, there’s still a possibility that some forms of it will only get more expensive. These factors may not be within your control as a health insurance provider but that doesn’t mean there aren’t costs within your control at all. For example, start outsourcing non-core functions that seem to take up too much money. If your own business just can’t afford the time and money to invest in processes that aren’t close to its core, then you’ll save more if you just let a more experienced company take the wheel.

Big Changes in 2014

The so-called big changes here appear to only affect your market but then again, that should only give you more reason to make it your concern. Fortunately, this simply means you have a sort of deadline to find as many leads as possible. And not only that, you should be ready to pursue them and close the deal before the penalties start to hit. Try to coordinate with your prospects and use the set appointments to help plan things out.

“A Whole New Ball Game”

Last but definitely not the least, you have the possibility put forth by the coming elections. Should Obama’s political opponents succeed and repealing the healthcare reform is the natural consequence of that success, then you need to prepare for that as well. At this point though, it does beg the question on how much your plans should depend so much on the political atmosphere. On further reflection, isn’t it too unstable? Given that, perhaps the best course of action for marketing is one that’s willing to adapt without necessarily changing anything integral. Granted, there might be some changes provoked by these plans that should be mentioned in your marketing messages. Despite that, perhaps all you need is to simplify the other three adjustments mentioned above into a more consistent model:

Use appointments to set things straight.
Outsource non-core processes.
Have a deadline when generating and pursuing leads.

B2B Leads – Don’t Let New Methods Make You Idle!

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

With internet marketing, even B2B insurance companies can benefit from increased online exposure. Corporate packages are a strictly required staple for any company, big or small. A demand for the service is already a given. Putting up a webpage can come both to your convenience and to the convenience of your prospects who use the internet as a fast means to locate solutions. You can also invest in a bit of email marketing and seemingly replace old direct-response methods like telemarketing.

However, if you think that things will be completely smooth sailing from here on, think again. You’d be surprised at how many obstacles have risen along with the birth of the online frontier. This may sound pessimistic but no matter how new an approach seems to be, it’s not without its own flaws and its own obstacles. On the other hand, that’s doesn’t mean you should discard new methods either. You just have to make sure they don’t make you idle and closed off from different ideas.

Still, what are these supposed obstacles faced by those marketing online? Ironically, these obstacles have strong parallels with that of the previous ones (email marketing in particular). Whereas professional telemarketers used to deal with gatekeepers and voice mail, email marketers find similar situations risking the blockage of spam filters. There’s also the threat of unfeeling programs tracking their activities and labeling them as such. And even if you do manage to engage a prospect, what’s stopping their messages from getting swamped out of the dozen other inquiries you’ll be getting? It’s not surprising to find that people find SMS still slower than a live conversation (be it over the phone or face-to-face).

Exposure on the internet also exposes you to hackers just as much prospects. If they hit your website, your lead generation might suffer from the lack of activity (however brief). You should be prepared to have a back up plan that doesn’t rely on the internet too much.

There’s never room for idleness when it comes to getting B2B leads. Do take note that your prospects aren’t just regular people who need insurance for themselves. It’s for every person of their entire department. Planning for even a small business organization takes time. They need to be contacted, qualified, and then set with an appointment. If your appointment setter is exclusively internet-based, you’ll run into the problems cited above because there’s no other way to inform your prospect (or yourself for that matter).

Cost shouldn’t even be an issue. The issue is not allowing new methods be an excuse to lose vigilance. You don’t even have to invest in two separate methods for it. There are telemarketing companies out there who also know how to use email marketing to their advantage (and vice-versa). If you want to get the whole package without breaking the company piggy bank or just want to focus on you main tasks, then just outsource them. Goodness knows you might not regret that you did (especially if you don’t have a lot of experience knowing how to combine the two methods effectively). Again, don’t let new methods be a cause of idleness!

Find An Insurance Prospect In A Growing Economic Tide

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

Countries like Singapore are hailed as shining examples how fast a country develops from a rapidly rising economy. Such economies are also naturally ripe for B2B insurance firms because the companies which arise from such growth seek to insurance as one of the first needs they need to address.

Whether it’s commercial insurance or life insurance, corporations big and small find them vital even in prosperous times because it still pays to be prepared. However, with such a high demand, competition is also bound to arise among insurance groups. The tide may be high but so are the chances of you getting caught up and lost in it.

Now one critical factor that will determine your place among your competitors is time. More specifically, it’s how you handle it both for yourself and for your targets. Applying insurance for oneself already takes up a lot of time. How much more when you’re talking about the insurance of an entire company? This makes it difficult because you need to be careful with how much you give out information and all with the pressure of doing it fast.

Perhaps a rough outline is in order so you can at least have a basic idea on what to do. First you, concern yourself with how to make initial contact. Do you make a call? Do you send an email? Another thing to keep in mind is establishing how much you already know about your target. This not only helps you give a good first impression, it gives you more information that you can use in the future when engaging the prospect.

The second step is qualification. Again, what do you do? Do you keep calling? Tell them to expect an email with more details? How about giving the option to choose one or the other? This step is probably the longest because some decision makers are simply not yet ready. They need time to decide and to consider other options.

Finally, you still haven’t given everything away so you need to discuss with your target about a proper time and place to do so. This means that appointment setting will play an important role during these last few steps. It’s not just about finalizing the lead’s interest. You also need to keep strong tabs in case there are unexpected changes. It also keeps your from wasting time, the very thing you don’t want to lose in a race against competitors.

Some people would express concern over the costs. And yes, there’s a good reason because they’re high. However, that is only so far if you decide to invest in it yourself. Hiring professionals, getting them the best equipment, and maintaining a database naturally come at a high price.

Fortunately for you, that price has already been paid by many lead generation companies who can perform lead generation campaigns for you (like telemarketing in Singapore). All you need to do is find the nearest one available and you’re all set to finding many possible B2B insurance clients in a growing economic tide.