<strong>and</strong> when they used a search engine.Because consumers are bombardedwith matches after a search, they startbrowsing around the results <strong>and</strong> neverquite make it to the site they originallyintended to visit, according to the Yahoosurvey. The point is, when a consumeruses Google to shop for insurance, evenif they know exactly who they are lookingfor, the Google results page will displaymyriad <strong>of</strong> other choices.Given that Internet consumer searcheshave become so congested with confusing,<strong>and</strong> sometimes irrelevant results,it would seem the search engines willeventually have to adapt so the consumerexperience is better. Usually when somethingpopular or useful becomes unwieldy,the market will develop a bettersolution. For the time being though, thesituation is as follows: when consumersuse search engines, they get millions <strong>of</strong>results in the insurance category, therebyeasily exposing them to new br<strong>and</strong>s.Managing the Online MarketFor the present, what every marketingcompany <strong>and</strong> sales person faces is anInternet consumer market that is inundatedwith competitive <strong>of</strong>ferings. Witha generic insurance search, the consumeris probably not going to have much luckfinding a local agent <strong>and</strong> worse, the agentis not going to have much luck findingtheir local geographic market online.Controlling your online presence has createdan industry <strong>of</strong> its own – “ReputationManagement” – because <strong>of</strong> the rampantsearch engine results.The industry is at a point where marketingonline requires a level <strong>of</strong> Websitedesign <strong>and</strong> Internet ad buying that is farmore sophisticated than the marketingsavvy <strong>of</strong> the average insurance salesperson.And, to make matters worse, thereare questionable companies who claimthey can set up a Website to guaranteebetter search engine results. They mayhave just a little more knowledge aboutsearch engines than the average person,but they portray themselves as experts.Some use what are called “black hat”practices - trying to manipulate the searchengine results. These black hat techniquesare eventually detected by the search engines<strong>and</strong> then “punishment” is meted outby moving the company to near the bottom<strong>of</strong> the results page (for car insurancethat would be at the end <strong>of</strong> 98 million listings).So it is important to hire help that isknowledgeable, reputable <strong>and</strong> referencedby others. Otherwise, their “help” couldbe worse than nothing.Selling to the Online ShopperJust as the online shopper is difficultto track down, the shopper has differentexpectations <strong>of</strong> the sales process too. Ifyou are contacted by an online shopper,or if you buy from online lead generators,you need to react differently. First <strong>of</strong> all,you must react very swiftly. Users <strong>of</strong> theInternet expect quick, if not immediate,results. They want a quote right away, <strong>and</strong>expect you to produce it when you callthem. Also, they have been exposed tomany competitive <strong>of</strong>fers via the Internet,<strong>and</strong> they will comparison shop. You mustbe prepared <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong> that they willprobably be considering other options, soyou should provide your best <strong>of</strong>fer.In a survey <strong>of</strong> online insurance shoppers,InsureMe reported that many consumersdid not receive a follow up call,<strong>and</strong> would have bought if they had acall back. Other consumers complainedthey had to repeat their information so,if you purchase leads, try not to ask theconsumer the same questions that are onthe quote request form. In another surveyby InsureMe, consumers mentionedthat some agents were rude <strong>and</strong> pushy. Itis possible that since online shoppers arenot meeting face-to-face with agents, theagents might not being as gracious as theywould be in person. So even if the lead isfaceless, you need to have your game faceon <strong>and</strong> present yourself <strong>and</strong> Allstate in thebest possible light at all times.The online lead will never be the sameas the friend referred by your mother, butbecause there are so many <strong>of</strong> them, theonline market is too big to ignore. It isimportant for agents to allocate some <strong>of</strong>their marketing dollars to online prospecting<strong>and</strong> when a lead comes in, workit quickly <strong>and</strong> politely. Until the nextgreat marketing phenomena, the Internet<strong>and</strong> its search engines will continueto be your best friend <strong>and</strong> strongest competitor.It’s up to you to leverage it toyour best advantage.Lori Reed is Director <strong>of</strong> Marketing for InsureMe,a Bankrate company. InsureMehelps millions <strong>of</strong> consumers find the rightinsurance, while providing thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> insuranceagents with high-quality, real-timeleads. For more information, go to www.insureme.com.I Want to Help You sell More AFS!I Have Some Tipsthat Can Help You Achieve Your Expected Resultsthis Year. Learn from a Pro when You Join NAPAA.Ranked #1 in AFS Production Credit in4 <strong>of</strong> the past 5 Years.To Learn More Contact Gerry Flores at(563) 564-1800 or at GERBEAR_61@HOTMAIL.COM22 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2009
Summer 2009 Exclusivefocus — 23
Change language