Turn cold leads into hot prospects with a few questions

Many people, thinking it’s easier than cold calling, begin their insurance career prospecting with the people closest to them. But does it work that way in reality?

In the beginning of my career, I didn’t know this profession is full of rejection. And at that time, I happened to move to a new city by myself far from my family. Therefore, there was no opportunity for me to approach my family and close friends. 

At this point, I wondered, How could I start conversations with strangers so I could help them? I had no clue, yet I saw so many strangers around me. I knew I had to find a way to break into the cold-leads market.

“Just start doing it first” is a slogan I always tell myself when I feel shy about trying new things. In this case, I practiced talking to new people every day and I still do it now. I’ve realized that communicating with new people is interesting, once they start talking. And I’ve found a few techniques that work for me. This even led to me closing a case worth more than $35,000 annually. Furthermore, I continue gaining new clients and cases with these questions.

 There are three practical things you can do to approach strangers:

 1) Do a visual fact-find of what they’re wearing.

 2) Start with a unique question.

 3) Find a way to reconnect again.

For example, I saw a man jogging around a track. I used these questions to start a conversation with him, and he later became a client: “How many laps have you done so far?” And “Do you usually jog here?”

These are some other questions I use when meeting strangers:

• “Are you a regular customer at this restaurant? What are your favorites on the menu that you recommend?”
• “Do you and your family prefer traveling overseas or domestically during school holidays?”
• “What does family mean to you as a mother or father?”

You may want to come up with a few conversation starters of your own for next time you’d like to talk to strangers and turn cold leads into clients.

Kennedy Sumarlie is a five-year MDRT member from Jakarta, Indonesia.

For more networking ideas:

• Read: How to start conversations with strangers at events
• Watch: Networking with centers of influence and referrals [MDRT member exclusive]