How Howard Beatty IV Insurance Agency Turned Cold Leads Into a Revenue Engine

Howard Beatty IV Insurance Agency (HBIV), a family-owned agency based in Troy, Michigan, came to Lumifi with a familiar problem in the insurance world: leads were coming in, but there was no system to track them, follow up with them, or bring them back once they went cold. Like many agencies, HBIV had been treating leads as a one-time transaction — work it once, and if it doesn’t convert, move on. Lumifi partnered with HBIV to build a custom CRM and automation system that changes that equation entirely, turning every lead into an ongoing opportunity instead of a dead end.

The Challenge

Before working with Lumifi, HBIV’s team had no centralized way to:

• Track incoming leads or see where each one stood in the sales process
• Apply a high-converting and tested sales framework the same way on every lead to optimize conversion rates on warm leads
• Log sales conversations or follow-up tasks in one place
• Remember to circle back with leads who didn’t convert on the first attempt

The result was leads slipping through the cracks. A lead who wasn’t ready to switch auto insurance today might be ready in six months when their policy renews — but without a system to track that, HBIV had no way to catch that window. Every unworked lead represented money already spent to generate it, with no plan to recover that value.

The Strategy

Lumifi’s approach centered on one core idea: a lead is never really dead, it’s just not ready yet. Instead of a single follow-up attempt, we designed a system where every lead gets worked continuously, automatically, based on real-world timing — like when their auto insurance policy is actually up for renewal.

The strategy had three pillars:

1. Centralize everything. Give HBIV’s team one system of record for every lead, every conversation, and every follow-up task.
2. Automate the follow-up no human has to remember. Build logic that re-engages cold leads on a 6-month cycle tied to their renewal timing, so no one on the team has to track that manually.
3. Make re-engagement feel natural. Use human and natural-sounding SMS marketing best practices designed to spark real conversations rather than feel like a mass blast, improving response rates.

Implementation

Lumifi set up the full Lumifi CRM system for HBIV, built specifically around how an insurance agency actually sells:

• Full lead tracking pipeline — every lead, from first contact to sale, now lives in one system instead of scattered across memory and spreadsheets.
• Custom-built X-date lead follow-up automation — leads that don’t convert immediately are automatically re-approached every 6 months, timed to when their auto insurance is likely up for renewal, rather than on an arbitrary schedule.
• SMS re-engagement built for real replies — messaging is written using current SMS marketing best practices to prompt natural, two-way conversation instead of reading like a script.
• Sales agent notifications — when a cold lead responds and re-engages, the assigned sales agent gets notified immediately and can jump straight back into the conversation with full context, instead of starting from scratch.
• New/warm lead nurture — separately from the cold-lead system, new and warm leads are automatically followed up with via email and SMS, with the cadence and messaging adjusting based on how the lead is actually interacting with the agent.

The result is a system where no lead is worked just once and forgotten. Every lead is worked, and worked again, automatically — with no manual tracking required from HBIV’s team.

The Results

Since moving to Lumifi CRM, HBIV’s dashboard shows a pipeline that’s fully tracked and actively working, rather than a backlog of unworked leads:

• Referral leads are converting at a 100% win rate in the last 3 months- a strong signal of the quality of relationship-driven leads once they’re properly tracked and followed up on.
• 3,945 leads are now being continuously worked in the system. Every 6 months when their renewal comes around, they will receive communication automatically to reengage the conversation on their insurance needs. 
• Instead of purchasing leads over and over again, HBIV is now able to reallocate marketing costs or stretch their advertising budget as they are now reworking their previously purchased leads. 

Key Takeaways

• Most agencies buy a lead and work it once. HBIV now works every lead repeatedly, automatically, maximizing the return on every dollar spent generating that lead.
• No lead goes unworked. Automation ensures follow-up happens on schedule, every time, without depending on any one person remembering to do it — reflected in a dashboard with zero pending manual follow-up tasks.
• Sales agents work warm conversations, not cold outreach. By the time an agent gets a notification, the lead has already re-engaged — the agent just needs to continue the conversation.
• Timing matters in insurance. Tying follow-up to actual policy renewal windows means HBIV reaches leads at the moment they’re most likely to be receptive, not just on a generic schedule.
• Not all leads are created equal — and now HBIV can see it. With full lead-source tracking in place, HBIV can clearly see referral leads far outperforming purchased leads, giving them real data to guide future lead-generation spend.

Conclusion

For HBIV, the shift wasn’t just about getting organized — it was about changing how much value they get out of every lead they already paid for. By combining a real CRM system with automation built specifically around insurance renewal timing, Lumifi helped HBIV stop leaving money on the table and start turning cold leads into an ongoing source of revenue.