Understanding the importance of following up with leads is crucial for maximizing a business’s potential, particularly in the competitive realms of financial advisement and insurance.
At Evolvd, we have honed our follow-up skills over the last eight years, working with over 18,000 leads from across the United States since 2016.
Each financial lead presents a unique challenge and opportunity. Not all leads are the same.
As a small business owner & financial advisor, recognizing the type of prospect you’re dealing with allows you to efficiently allocate your limited resources and to connect effectively with those you can most help.
🗣️ “The fortune is in the follow-up!” observes sales expert Jim Rohn. Highlighting that persistence and a structured follow-up system are key to sales success.
Our follow-up system functions as a funnel, categorizing each lead into one of three stages: hot, warm, or cold.
While classifying leads into hot, cold or warm isn’t new – the funnel portion we are sharing takes follow-up a step further.
By utilizing the 3 stages to effectively follow up, you can deploy the right strategies to convert your leads into financial clients.
I. Hot Financial Leads (Immediate Follow Up)
Identification: Financial prospects that have interacted with your marketing efforts and have shown immediate interest or need for your services. These leads have typically attended a related seminar or webinar and shown a readiness to engage further.
Follow-Up Strategy: The focus should be on immediate engagement. If an appointment wasn’t set at the initial event, prompt communication is crucial. Offer these hot leads an easy way to book an appointment, ideally while the need for a solution is still fresh in their minds.
Expected Timeline: Hot leads often convert quickly, making them a priority in your follow-up process. The better you know your leads, the better you know the expected timeline. And can consequently focus your time/energy to meet their needs.
Pro-Tip: If you cannot personally follow-up (within the appropriate timeframe); make sure your assistant can.
II. Warm Financial Leads (Mid-Term Follow Up)
Identification: These are prospects who have acknowledged a need for your service but are not immediately ready to proceed. Reasons might include needing time to organize finances or waiting on external factors like settlements, distributions or personal matters.
Follow-Up Strategy: Patience and planned scheduling are key. Have systematized follow-up. This gives them time to sort out their affairs, while keeping you top-of-mind.
Expected Timeline: Engagement could take a few weeks or months, and requires nurtured, informative communication throughout that period. Being responsive when they are ready, but also ensuring you’e not spending your personal time with people not ready today (outsource as needed).
III. Cold Financial Leads (Long-Term Follow Up)
Identification: Leads in this category either did not respond post-event, or responded negatively. However, their circumstances and needs might change, possibly making your product or financial service relevant in the future.
Follow-Up Strategy: Move cold leads to a low-cost, long-term follow up method like monthly email marketing. This helps maintain presence, ensuring you/your financial business is what they think of first when they’re ready.
Expected Timeline: These leads may take a considerably longer time to convert, if they do at all. Continuity and relevance in your follow-up content are crucial.
Having worked with over 11,000 Financial leads in the past eight years (across the U.S), our experience at Evolvd has shown that all leads invariably fall into one of the three aforementioned categories.
Effectively managing your financial leads requires a robust follow-up system, executed with consistency and precision.
There are no shortcuts in the follow-up process.
By using a systematic approach to identify the readiness of each lead – hot, warm, or cold – we provide financial advisors and insurance agents the tools they need to efficiently prioritize and engage with their prospects.
With our sales-focused support, financial advisors can easily sift through their leads; engage hot prospects immediately, nurture warm leads appropriately, and keep in touch with cold leads for potential future gains.
This comprehensive approach ensures no opportunity slips through the cracks and helps our clients maximize their resources & do what they do best!