Why rate comparison sites are the lowest cost way for brokers to grow their business
Brokers looking to grow their business have always had plenty of ways to do it.
Traditionally, if you wanted to grow fast, there was no quicker way than buying an entire book of business. Scoop up another brokerage and you could easily double your customer base.
These days, many brokers have been expanding into SEO, hiring writers, designers, consultants and marketers to try and land themselves in Google search results and grow their business online.
But both options are expensive, and they also present a lot of risk to a business whose expertise is built on providing customers sound advice about insurance.
That’s where LowestRates.ca comes in. The rate comparison website, which has been recognized as one of Canada’s fastest growing companies, offers brokers and insurers the lowest cost way to acquire new customers. Millions of Canadians visit LowestRates.ca every year and that number continues to grow rapidly.
Rate comparison sites are growing fast
Canadian consumers are rushing to use online financial technology companies. The EY Fintech Adoption Index, which tracks the use of online financial websites around the world, has found that 50% of Canadians have used a site like LowestRates.ca in the past year.
That’s up from just 8% back to 2015, according to the index. And yet, Canada still has a lot more to grow as other countries have far higher adoption: for instance, 71% of those in the UK have used a fintech site, while 87% of those in China have.
It’s clear the trend in the future is more and more Canadians going online and looking for financial products, including insurance. Sites like LowestRates.ca are viewed with especially high trust by Canadians, because they offer an unbiased way to compare the price of financial products.
They also represent the lowest cost per acquisition
Buying leads from a rate comparison website is hands down the lowest cost way for brokers to grow their business in a scalable fashion.
“Yes, your friends, family, and referrals are still your lowest cost per acquisition of a client, but that just isn’t scalable” say Sean Widdess, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at LowestRates.ca.
Some brokers have tried growing through online marketing, but that requires scaling up a creative team that can create content, design it and use SEO tactics to effectively compete against much larger and much more established companies. There’s also a high risk of failure — just because you build it, doesn’t mean that they will come.
Then all you’re left with is sunk costs.
In the past, brokers also looked to scale by buying other brokerages and acquiring existing books of business. But this is a costly move and it can be hard to find a book of business that’s at the right size for your company. For instance, it may not be economical to buy a book of business that’s four times your existing size, but you may not be able to find something smaller than that when you’re just starting to scale up.
Leads from LowestRates.ca, meanwhile, represent a low cost alternative that can be scaled. We work with brokers who only buy a small amount of leads a day, to those who buy hundreds of leads per day.
“A major benefit of using LowestRates.ca for home and auto insurance leads is that you can grow at a measured pace,” says Widdess. “No other marketing dollar spend will provide you with the comfort of knowing exactly how much you will be spending per day and exactly how many leads per day you will be receiving. This certainty then allows you to staff accordingly and grow your staff in a controlled fashion as you grow your lead purchasing — all while having a consistent and steady known ROI.”
Millions of Candians visit LowestRates.ca every year, and the website places more leads with insurance companies and brokers than any other rate comparison website in the country, says Widdess.
“We expect rapid growth of Canadians using comparison sites for financial products and we will ensure we can assist insurance companies, brokers, and direct writers all win by working with us,” he says. “Plenty of opportunities ahead for all.”
