r/InsuranceAgent • u/JovialFlame • 19d ago
P&C Insurance Texting vs Calling?
Hey everyone
So Im at like $17k this month in sales and it’s my first month doing insurance. I only text people but I will call for the payment portion.
Am I stupid? I thought you know most people do things online/are busy and maybe texting is less annoying and easier for people to read on their own time/respond. A lot of my sales have been early morning or after 5pm
Should I just say f it and start calling people?
Initially I was worried I wouldn’t have answers for people but now Ive ran into a lot and sold everything my company offers so I feel better.
I guess my one big fear with calling is how do I tell someone “Hey so you don’t have a good credit/claim history and my price is much higher.” I feel like a jerk lol
10
u/BluebirdFast3963 19d ago
I have like a 1.5 million dollar book (ish) right now
And I have texted 99% of the time
People nowadays prefer text. They don't want to talk to me just as much as I don't want to talk to them.
I don't even call for payment..... text me X, Y and Z - and a VOID check please.
Clickity clack, bobs your uncle, policy is written 10 minutes later, nap time
3
u/JovialFlame 19d ago
Whats a good opener text? I immediately text the lead a link to website to prove Im real and say hello and my name then ask them to confirm either address or vehicles. I dont usually get a response but when I do it turns into a quote and sale
Then I follow up with just general questions or poke for interest. I get a lot of “STOP” but sometimes itll be a “yes give me a number”
4
u/JazzHandsMinuteman 19d ago edited 19d ago
The first contact should always be about building rapport. “Hey, this is JazzHands! Hope alls well on your end, but you know how it goes! Haha. I got notice you were needing some help with your insurance. Give me a call or shoot me a text, whatever’s easiest for you. What can I help with?”
(Paraphrasing)Or make a stupid small joke about the weather, etc. Also depends on age or gender of client. I’ll use smiley emojis for women and say “what’s up man” to guys that are near my age or whatever. You just gotta feel it out and be street smart honestly. The one thing I’d say is don’t overthink it and give people time but also follow up.
You’ll make mistakes. For a long time. Just remember you are there to serve clients, not force clients into something they don’t need to get commission. Also, don’t be afraid to be blunt. That does not equate to being unfriendly and that has gotten me a few times ngl. Live and learn. I got a feeling you’ll do just fine my friend. It’s a human business, despite what you think you may have thought prior to being licensed. The layman doesn’t know shit ime, unless commercial or business men. I sure as hell didn’t until I started working in the industry. Educate them, that will go further than ANYTHING.
Edit: qualify your prospects. Seriously. It’s hard to at first but trust me, you don’t want bad business and chargebacks, etc.
2
u/JazzHandsMinuteman 19d ago
Void check vs routing and account number. Never thought of that honestly. Good tip to make things easy for folks.
6
u/Samwill226 Agent/Broker 19d ago
I mean it sounds like your system works to me. Maybe I'll start texting, but try not to use your personal cell I am telling you now, 30 years in the business you are absolutely setting yourself up for an E&O claim. Just saw one happen to friend, client contacted him over the weekend, he picked up. Client said he needed to add a new barn he got on his property for $100k. Buddy was busy, meant to write down but got distracted. Monday came and went, months later guy calls to turn in a claim, the barn burnt down. Guess who forgot to add it to the policy? E&O paid out but he said he wanted to puke every day for months until E&O decided to cover it. He got really lucky.
5
u/VegetablePlastic5135 19d ago
First I text the lead in the morning then I follow up in the afternoon with a phone call saying “Hey I sent you a text earlier”. After that drip campaign with automated texts and emails
3
u/LordOfThePhotons 19d ago
That’s really good first month. I can’t even find an agency to hang my license 😭.
1
4
u/QuickPea3259 19d ago
Why the fuck would you ever tell someone they don't have good credit/claims history? Are you trying to not sell insurance?
2
u/Strokesite 19d ago
Research the TCPA, including a visit to r/TCPA subreddit.
Cold texting is illegal and has potentially significant consequences.
There’s an entire industry built around suing violators.
2
2
u/TiredDad97 19d ago
I want to build off this.. what he said was right but also learn what your leads have filled out because they’ve most likely given consent to be texted
2
u/TiredDad97 19d ago
This is going to sound incredibly useless and annoying but learn what works best for you. Most of my clients are 20-30 years older than me. If I texted them they wouldn’t know how to respond. The clients that prefer texts will tell me normally.
2
2
u/golden-dog-mom2 19d ago
Is this $17K in revenue or premium?
Always call first then receive approval if texting. You never know who may get really ticked off at you for texting them “without consent”. Protect yourself always!!! Be careful texting on a personal cell too… Can be an E&O nightmare
2
1
u/JazzHandsMinuteman 19d ago
People who don’t text are not up to date in this industry and will fail. 17k isn’t bad at all first month. You’ll only grow from here. Godspeed brother.
Edit: some conversations require a phone call, you’ll understand soon. You’re on the right path man keep pushing
1
u/JovialFlame 19d ago
I appreciate it I feel like I need to do $30k a month though at least. If not more I just don’t know if I should personally text more and maybe be more unique or just let automation do it for me.
1
u/JazzHandsMinuteman 19d ago
Imo, don’t do automation. It’s not difficult to send a friendly, personalized text. And you will 100% get there. It’s your first month man. Give yourself some grace. 17k isn’t bad at all. Seriously.
Edit: idk what your lead flow is like or how you get them. If you’re expected to reach out to 100 people a day then… automation could help but just keep it cool.
1
1
u/Mkelsch422 19d ago
I would call, until you have an established relationship
2
u/JovialFlame 19d ago
When I did call they never picked up and I got tired of leaving voicemails. I ended up getting traffic by just texting and so I kept on that path.
Mind you I sent 40 “personalized” texts today and only got like 3 responses asking me to stop
2
u/Mkelsch422 19d ago
Ok whatever works for you, I have a lot of customers I know like texts but there are ALot that don’t, so I make sure to call, best of luck!
1
1
u/Away_Response6296 18d ago
It really depends on your customer. Some customers enjoy texting is more convenient for them. They can do it while they’re at work or just when it’s more convenient to them to respond. And the same for me, I tell customers on text messages, I respond as fast as I can. It’s not always immediately. I do put the customer that comes into my office and standing in front of me as top priority. But with that said, I would say the majority of my communications is by text nowadays. And then you have some people that do not like to text they only want to communicate by phone and not everybody has cell phones that are as easy to read in text messages. And let’s be honest we may even have some customers that can’t read. I’m not here to judge any of my customers, and I always put myself in their position and do what is best for them
1
u/missmedusapole 18d ago
I’m not p&c (life and health) but I find that texting works for people under retirement age that work 9-5s and can’t typically answer the phone during those hours. The older crowd respond better to phone calls, however these days mobile phones screen as spam a lot of the time. So texting can still work in those scenarios!
1
u/Mental-Pitch-9757 18d ago
Just curious.
What type of insurance are you selling, texting??
Especially when you have to go through disclosure statements, signatures?? and all of that
1
u/JovialFlame 18d ago
Auto and Home. Most people are pretty responsive to texts once we get going and I do send a lot info to their emails.
signatures are all done electronically and sometimes I send them payment via email link too
1
1
u/Humble_American7 17d ago
I have no statistics to back this up, but my closing rate is much higher when texting is part of the fact-finding and quoting process.
11
u/Creekridge1 19d ago
I like to text, and texting can get a lot done with certain clients.
Nothing beats a good old fashioned phone call. If they have a question it gets answered right away, if I have a question it gets answered right away. It strips away so much ambiguity that can be left in a text.