8 tips to a better email signature

Have you given much thought to your email signature? It’s a simple yet great way to improve your communication. But there’s a fine balance between a signature that helps insurance sales and one that hinders it.

To help you get it right, we’ve prepared these eight tips you can use to improve your email signature.

1. DO always include your phone number

If you do one thing after reading this post, make sure to add your phone number. After all, you want your insurance prospects to call you. They won’t always have your business card handy, and may forward an email from you onto a friend or family member as a way of referring you. So, it’s critical to always include your phone number.

When you add your phone number, don’t get fancy - don’t use periods, asterisks, or other special characters to break the number up. Your prospects will often be reading your email on their smart phone and the phone will make the number “clickable” only if it recognizes the format.

2. AVOID cluttering your signature with too much information

Try to give people just as much information as they need to contact you or look things up. If something is easily found on your website, you can consider removing it from your signature.

Consider removing your fax number, product lists, inspirational quotes, requests to consider the environment before someone prints the email, or anything else that is not essential contact information.

3. DO add a clickable link to your website

Make sure that you include your insurance agent website and that it shows up as a link people can click on. As with your phone number, you want to make it easy for your prospects to get to your website to learn more about you. Often, your email will get forwarded by your customers to referrals.

4. AVOID using images, especially when text can do

Images can be blocked or show up incorrectly in some email programs. Plus, they are often dropped when forwarded. Use as few images as possible, and keep text such as your company name, phone number, or website off the image.

5. DO call out a product, blog post, or download of interest from your website

With a clean, simple signature, you gain space to call out one item of interest on your website. It’s an especially great way to link to downloadable guides, new blog posts, or other calls to action. Keep it focused, simple, and short.

6. AVOID the legalese

We’ve all seen the lengthy legal disclaimers, terms, and more at the bottom of emails. Not only do these distract from your important content, there’s little evidence that they actually do anything beneficial. According to The Economist, "no court case has ever turned on the presence or absence of such an automatic e-mail footer in America.”

7. DO keep it professional

It’s tempting to add a bit of personality or fun to your email signature. Our advice: don’t. What you think is cute, a prospect may view as “unprofessional”. This can cause you to lose a sale. So don’t get fancy with fonts, smileys, animated unicorns, Dilbert cartoons, religious or political references, or quotes. Just don’t do it.

8. DO include links to your social media profiles

If you have active social media profiles, consider adding links to them in your email signature. We especially recommend linking to your LInkedIn profile because this is a way for insurance prospects to see your credentials, read references and more. And, if you use AgentMethods social, you have an easy way to keep your social media profiles fresh so there’s always something that will engage your prospects.

Closing

Take 10 minutes today to follow these eight tips. It will help you present a more professional image to your clients and prospects, make it easier for your customers to refer you and your prospects to contact you, and can help increase insurance sales. And, isn’t that what this is all about?