50 best ways to generate leads: 31-40

34. Talk to new homeowners.

The main life agency I work with contracts with a company to solicit new homeowners for mortgage protection to protect their families in case of death or disability. If a homeowner fills in, signs and returns the lead, it is passed to the agency to funnel down to agents working in the homeowner's area. With the lead in hand, we call the homeowner and quality them over the phone, verifying name, address, birth date, mortgage amount, medications, any illness, height and weight. From that, we can compile quotes of varying face amounts of term, whole life and universal life — depending on the person's medical condition and which insurance company does the best work with any particular type of medical issue. The idea is to give clients an assortment of choices so they can pick the plan they believe will best meet their needs and budget. That's key: Meet the client's needs and budget, not the agent's. Keeping the client's needs first will give the agent the best results sooner or later.

—James Katzaman, president, James Katzaman Associates Inc.

33. Name someone specific. 

Engage your clients in conversations about friends and family and note who they talk about. See who their close friends are on Facebook. Find their connections on LinkedIn and do a little research. Studies have shown that even clients who are reluctant to give referrals welcome the opportunity to exercise their "influence muscle" when you ask about someone specific. Tell a client that you believe you can help his friend Joe and ask him if he'd be comfortable making an introduction. Most likely, he will.

— Sandy Schussel, JD, RFC, sales and marketing coach, Sandy Schussel, LLC

32. Respond to the leads you get promptly.

A study by Harvard Business Review showed that companies who respond to user queries within an hour are seven times more likely able to turn the correspondence into something profitable. Responding within a short time period shows that you are dedicated and interested in providing something to potential customers. When we have a verified lead, we make it a point to provide follow-ups as soon as we can.

—Juan M. Alvarez, insurance agent/manager, Shelly Alvarez Insurance & Financial Services PLLC

31. Spend four hours a day prospecting.

In order to get a sufficient number of leads, you need to spend a significant amount of time prospecting. For most salespeople, spending far too little time prospecting is their primary issue. If you're wondering where you'll find four hours in a day, the answer is simple:

First, stop wasting time on unqualified prospects you'll never convert. You know who these people are; you've been calling them for months, maybe even years. Get rid of them immediately, or give them one final call and tell them this is the last time you will contact them. It's now or never.

Second, stop over-contacting and irritating qualified leads. The reason salespeople keep unqualified prospects in their funnel and harass and over-contact the qualified leads is because they have no one else to call. Spending a lot of time prospecting will give you an abundance of prospects and solve both these issues.

Third, cut out all the busy work you do to avoid the hard work of prospecting. Most of us are very creative at coming up with ways to avoid hard work from cleaning up our desks and doing paperwork in the middle of the day, to scheduling doctor appointments and other personal items during prime calling times. Stop it!

Finally, schedule your prospecting time and stick to the schedule. For example, block off 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for prospecting and don't allow anything to infringe on that time.  

I realize that if you are doing little or no prospecting, four hours is a big jump. Start with an hour or two and build from there.

— John Chapin, award-winning sales speaker, sales trainer, coach, author, www. completeselling.com

For more lead generation tips, visit www.LifeHealthPro.com/50best