Quick Take: The fastest agent usually wins. Zero in on cancellations and renewals, use real-time data to spot prospects early, and filter for your appetite. The result: fewer dead ends, more bound policies, and a book that grows faster.
Let’s be honest. Few things in this business are more soul-crushing than chasing a lead, quoting it, and finding out the policy renewed last week.
Unless, of course, you’ve spent two hours quoting a risk that turns out to be way outside your appetite. That one hurts too.
If you sell commercial insurance, especially in the commercial auto or trucking insurance space, you already know the reality. The agent who gets there first with a relevant quote usually wins.
The problem? Most agents are working from the same tired lead lists. By the time you call, the coverage is bound, the prospect’s appetite changed, or the lead went stone cold.
You’ve probably been there — staring at a list that looks perfect on paper: company names, DOT numbers, phone numbers. But once you start dialing…
It’s like showing up to a party with a bottle of wine, only to realize it ended hours ago. Everyone’s gone, the lights are off, and you’re standing there with a corkscrew wondering what happened.
The reality is simple: commercial insurance leads are not created equal. The best ones fall into two high-opportunity categories.
The truth is, commercial insurance leads are not all created equal. The best ones fit into two categories.
Most businesses start shopping 30 to 90 days before their renewal date. This is your sweet spot. You can get in early, position yourself as a trusted advisor, and avoid being lumped in with the last-minute quote hunters.
When a policy gets canceled mid-term, that business is in a jam. They need coverage now, which means they might actually be happy to hear from you. These are some of the warmest real-time insurance leads you can work.
The catch? If your data source updates monthly, you’ll never hear about these opportunities until it’s too late.
Working outdated leads is not just a minor inconvenience. It is a hidden drain on your time, your energy, and your reputation.
Here is what works in the real world.
If you are still manually downloading spreadsheets or paying for a monthly list, you are already behind. You need a feed of real-time commercial insurance leads so you can act on cancellations and renewals as they happen.
Not every lead is worth your time. Use filters for state, fleet size, BIPD limits, and cargo classification to match your appetite. If you only write fleets under ten trucks, there is no reason to call a 50-truck carrier.
Set up your data so leads flow directly into your CRM or inbox every morning. The less time you spend on admin, the more time you can spend on conversations that lead to quotes.
Large agencies have marketing departments, assistants, and people whose full-time job is to find prospects.
Smaller agencies? We wear every hat, often at the same time.
A steady feed of insurance policy cancellations and upcoming insurance policy renewals levels the playing field. It’s like having a personal lead-gen assistant who works 24/7, never hands you junk, and only brings you prospects who are worth your time.
Do this for 30 days and you’ll notice the shift. More warm conversations. More quotes in the buying window. More deals closed.
The bottom line is simple.
In this business, being early is the whole game. The agents who close more aren’t lucky — they’re working fresher, better-targeted commercial insurance leads. If you want to stop chasing yesterday’s news, get the real-time data that tells you exactly who to call and when.
Scott Schubert
CEO & Co-Founder, Carrier IQ
Scott is a serial entrepreneur and technologist who builds software that makes business workflows faster, smarter, and more effective. After hearing countless frustrations from independent agents trying to grow their trucking book, he co-founded Carrier IQ to solve one specific problem: the time suck and uncertainty of finding quality commercial trucking insurance leads. Today, Carrier IQ helps agencies across the country quote faster and close more deals with real-time motor carrier data.