How self-employed insurance agents can get clients

Finding new clients is an ongoing challenge for self-employed insurance agents. You need to find them, connect with them, and convince them you’re better than the rest. 

Not to worry, though. There are plenty of ways to improve your odds and find a steady stream of clients for your business. Just follow these steps:

• Find your niche
• Go prospecting
• Attend networking events
• Sign up to freelance sites
• Follow up on leads
• Offer free consultations
• Ask for referrals
• Promote your business on social media
• Use online directories
• Update your business website
• Improve your search engine results

Once you’ve found those elusive clients, you might be interested in our other article on how to negotiate price with clients.

Because the insurance game covers just about every single industry. The largest companies have the resources to cover multiple sectors and types of cover, but your best bet is to stick to a couple that you know. 

If you’re trying to choose an industry, ask yourself:

• What sort of industries do you enjoy dealing with or find interesting?
• What industries do you know a lot about?
• What industries do you see potential in? Maybe you’ve noticed a large concentration of one type of business popping up more and more often. 

If you plan on dealing with a specific type of insurance policy, you need to ask yourself similar questions about different kinds of cover. 

For example, you might want to specialise in:

• Car insurance
• Health insurance
• Property insurance 
• Business insurance

It’s all about understanding what area you feel you’ll be able to add value to. So let your personal interests and skill-base guide your decision.

Keep an eye out for new businesses opening in your area. If you feel like you could help them out, drop in, introduce yourself, and leave them a business card. 

Most of your new contacts won’t lead to anything right away, but you never know how these relationships can pay off further down the line. 

Maybe they have other contacts looking for an insurance agent. Or maybe their current insurance company will raise their rates in the future. If so, they’ll know that there’s a friendly local agent that can help them out. 

Networking events are the perfect opportunity to make new professional connections and meet potential clients. 

You can find loads of great remote and physical networking events online:

• For insurance-specific events, check out sites like TheInsuranceNetwork and Meetup
• If you’re focusing on specific industries, try searching on sites like Eventbrite 

If you’re feeling confident, you could even volunteer to speak at an event or even host your very own. 

Signing up with freelance sites is a great way to reach a large online customer base. 

Once you create a profile, sites like UpWork and Freelancer allow you to advertise your service, apply for jobs, and connect with other professionals. 

Whenever you find a new lead, whether it’s from prospecting, networking events, or social media marketing, make sure you nurture the relationship with regular contact. 

That doesn’t mean you should spam them with sales pitches and promotional offers. Send them things you think they’d be interested in, such as:

• Upcoming industry events
• Newsletters
• Interesting stories or case studies

Again, it’s all about nurturing relationships in the hope that they turn into something more fruitful later on. 

Customers have a lot of options when it comes to insurance providers, so why should they choose you?

One way to get potential clients through the door is with a free consultation. Offer to meet up face-to-face or via video chat so you can give them your expert opinion. It will cost you time, but it’ll be well worth the investment if all goes to plan. 

Once you’ve built a strong relationship with your existing clients, don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. Most people don’t mind doing it – they understand how business works, and they’ll probably be happy to help out an independent business owner. 

Just make sure you ask them at the right time. Wait until you’ve finalised their cover and they’re delighted with the service you’ve provided 

Most social media sites have marketing and sales features for business profiles. Your strategy for each platform will be slightly different, so check out our individual social media marketing guides:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter

Because so many people will be looking for an insurance agent online, you want to ensure you turn up in search engine results. 

Setting up a Google Business profile is a great place to start. It’ll make sure you appear when people Google search for insurance agents “near me” – it’s completely free, and you’ll still appear even if you don’t have a business address. 

There are loads of services like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress that you can use to build a professional website. Check out our article for a comparison for the Best website builders for small businesses. 

The look and feel of your website should reflect your brand identity. A few good areas to think about are:

• Your colour scheme and logo – what impression do they give?
• Your website layout – is it easy to use and navigate?
• Your copy – is it easy to read, and does it reflect your tone of voice?
• Your features – what level of customer support do you offer?

If you need some inspiration, check out your major competitors and see what they’re doing – you might get some good ideas for your own. 

Or, for a more detailed guide, try our guide on How to build a business website.

Building an online presence is a good strategy, but you need to make sure people find you when they search online. 

Here are a few strategies you can use to improve your search engine rankings:

• Create original content – blogs, case studies, and podcasts will help drive traffic to your website while showing you’re an expert in your field. 
• Backlink – Google’s algorithm takes relevant backlinks into account when reading your sitemap. So include plenty of links to your website whenever you post online. 
• Do keyword research – Search engine algorithms match searches with websites by using keywords. Sites like SemRush can show you the most commonly searched phrases online.
• Ask for customer reviews – Search engines consider customer reviews when raking their page results. Good reviews will also attract clients on their own. 

When you’re running your own business, you need a current account for all your business finances.

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place, making it the perfect companion for any business owner. 

Start your three-month free trial today. 

Find out more here.