Should You Buy Home Insurance Leads For Your Agency?

The majority of insurance agencies buy leads—it’s simply a fact of doing business for contemporary agents.

However, have you ever stopped to think about whether you might be able to optimize the type of leads you buy on a regular basis?

If you’re like most agents or agency owners, you probably default to buying auto leads in large part because that’s just commonly accepted practice. If you’re in the insurance business, you buy auto leads; it’s a no-brainer.

Interestingly, though many agents go their entire careers without questioning this approach, it may not actually be the most efficient or lucrative strategy. In fact, you could be leaving a significant amount of money on the table if all you ever buy is auto leads.

If that piques your interest, stay tuned. We’re about to discuss why you might want to buy home insurance leads instead to make sure you’re staying competitive, providing the best value to your customers, and bringing in the most revenue possible for your situation.

Reasons to buy home insurance leads for your agency

Buying home insurance leads is a unique, fresh approach that could lead to more sales.

Most agencies purchase auto leads more than any other type.

The theory is that auto insurance sales are fairly quick, relatively simple, and straightforward. Every driver needs auto insurance to drive legally, so the decision to buy auto insurance is logical and easily justifiable. Plus, most auto insurance plans fall into roughly similar categories no matter the agency, covering collision damages, liability, injuries, and so on. Because auto insurance plans are simple, purchasing auto leads is a popular way for agents to drum up some business without too much effort.

If the agent is savvy, he or she may use existing relationships with auto insurance customers to pivot toward conversations about home insurance or incorporate a multiline pitch into their strategy when selling to auto leads.

Discussing home insurance is slightly more complex and emotional, but many customers are willing to at least talk about it because of attractive bundle deals and the simplicity of having both home and auto covered by one agency.

However, let’s turn this traditional model on its head for a moment.

While going straight for auto leads seems straightforward, in reality it can be hit or miss. Not every lead will be interested in signing a contract, and if an agent can’t secure a simple auto insurance plan with a customer, chances are that customer won’t progress toward buying home, life, disability, or any other type of insurance the agent may offer. Unsuccessful leads turn into dead ends.

But as many experienced agents will attest, home insurance customers frequently do take the leap toward bundling other insurance plans into their current contract.

After all, they’ve already made the emotional commitment — and gone through the sometimes complex process — of itemizing their belongings and trusting an agency to insure their most valuable possessions. It’s a much smaller and easier jump to package in an auto plan or even a life insurance plan, if the financial incentive is motivating enough.

In other words, if you have a solid pipeline of interested home insurance leads, those potential customers might actually open the door to far more sales than you’d think at first.

Signing more home insurance plans can lower your churn rate.

Home insurance customers tend to be a “sticky” bunch.

If someone purchases a home insurance policy with your agency, that means they’ve trusted you to insure what is probably their largest asset, along with all of their personal belongings that stay inside the house. That’s an emotional decision for most people, and therefore it’s not one that they’ll want to revisit on a regular basis.

Even taking the emotions out of the transaction, purchasing home insurance is often a complex and cumbersome process for the average consumer. Policies are complex, so once the customer gets their coverage just how they want it, they’re likely to leave it that way.

On the other hand, another segment of home insurance customers actually puts very little thought into choosing a policy. These are the customers who buy a new home and then default to whatever agency contacts them first, just so they can get that step of the process out of the way quickly. Once the dotted line has been signed, the insurance policy is “out of sight, out of mind” for perhaps years if not decades.

These folks are busy, and they don’t have the time or the desire to comparison shop and switch plans on a regular basis.

Regardless of which category a home insurance customer falls into, the fact remains that they’re unlikely to change their minds once they’ve picked a plan. That means you can often count on home insurance customers to stick around for the long haul, which can dramatically decrease your churn rate over time.

In comparison, plenty of auto buyers switch cars every couple of years. With cars, it’s far easier to pick up the newest model, try out something completely different, or even switch vehicles on a whim whenever the mood strikes. As a result, auto insurance customers have plenty of opportunities to reevaluate their plans, which can keep your churn rate high.

If you dream of a stable, reliable client base that stays with your agency for years on end, I’d recommend placing more emphasis on buying home insurance leads over going for the quick-churn auto insurance customers.

Bundles are more incentivized than ever.

As of 2023, the United States is in a uniquely difficult spot economically speaking.

For one thing, home and vehicle prices have skyrocketed to levels that make average consumers reluctant to buy unless absolutely necessary. Layering the price of insurance plans on top of the purchase price is just one more straw breaking the camel’s back for many consumers.

However, this also means that when customers do purchase new homes and cars, discount bundle deals are likely to be even more enticing than usual.

The discounts most customers can achieve by signing multiline contracts for bundled plans typically far outweigh what customers could find by shopping around for even the cheapest individual policies.

On the agency’s side of things, this emphasis on bundling makes it more important than ever to find customers interested in purchasing home insurance, rather than strictly auto plans. As we mentioned, customers who buy home insurance as a primary transaction are far more likely to bundle in other plans such as auto, life, or disability than customers who solely seek out an auto plan.

Therefore, buying warm leads of interested home insurance buyers gives your agency an “in” for finding those customers most incentivized to purchase a bundle.

Competition will likely be lower when buying home insurance leads for agents as opposed to auto insurance leads.

Since most agencies still focus on buying auto leads, and auto insurance customers are less likely to bundle in home insurance right off the bat, it logically follows that there is a large customer base of new homeowners—or folks looking to switch plans—who need insurance. If your agency primarily or only buys auto leads, it’s missing out on a large, fairly untapped market.

Diversifying your portfolio is almost always a good thing.

Your agents might be a team of highly accomplished auto insurance salesmen and women, but plenty of external factors are outside the agency’s control.

If the economy continues to struggle, for example, or if the supply of new cars dwindles even further due to the ongoing microchip shortage that has seen dealer lots sitting empty for years now, even the best auto insurance agents will eventually reach a point where they’re struggling to find new business.

When those tried-and-true pipelines dry up, it will pay to have other avenues to bring in business. The key is to start establishing your home insurance pipelines now, before every other agency gets the same idea and you find yourself fighting against ruthless competitors who all made moves at the same time.

Wondering where to find high-quality home insurance leads?

EverQuote has you covered.

We provide agents access to warm leads within seconds of those potential customers signaling their interest in a quote. That means you can reach out quickly, before other agents snag them.

It’s worth noting that every lead we pass along to you comes directly from a customer who filled out a lengthy form and provided their information. These are not your average leads where customers haven’t provided all their contact information and may not even know why you’re calling. You can even set your own filters to find the absolute best matches for your business.

Contact us and we’ll help you start boosting your business today.