Auto Insurance Leads - Quantity Over Quality?

[DreamOfGenie]

If you're looking to write more auto policies, are you concerned more about the quality of the customer or is it just a numbers game? I've spoken to agents who buy auto insurance leads that aren't exclusive (aren't most of them shared anyway?), and spend a lot of money per month buying those leads, but they work them longer than the average agent so their lead to customer conversion rate is higher. I've also spoken to agents who prefer to target higher quality customers -- for instance homeowners -- and then bundle auto & home together or cross-sell auto at a later date.

For those of you who buy leads, which approach do you find works better for you? And if you do work the leads longer, do you use a drip email marketing system to stay in front of them or just a CRM to help you check back in periodically?

 

[djs]

Are you talking internet leads? I assume so, but its unclear.

If so, most people refer to quality as the quality of the data provided, not the quality of the insurance or potential prospect. For instance, is the phone number correct? Did the person actually submit the request? Recently?

Are they shopping for insurance or is it an 18 year old dreaming of one day owning a Ferrari?

Also, quantity and quality are not opposites like we are frequently told, at least not at an agent level. Problem is, there isn't really enough quantity of quality leads to go around for all the agents who want them, so lead vendors resort to using affiliates to get leads who resort to tactics to get leads that don't produce quality, just quantity.

Yes, some sort of CRM system (even if its just on paper) is required to keep the leads sorted.

Dan

 

[DreamOfGenie]

Hey Dan, thanks for answering. I guess I'm thinking in terms of ROI. A lot of agents I talk to spend quite a bit of money buying leads every month but typically see a very low return, and many of them consider it a waste of time/money. I was hoping to find out from some of the agents on this forum who buy leads whether they see a better return by targeting a certain type of customer or just working the leads longer.

When I refer to the quality of the customer, I'm thinking in terms of customers who are more serious/stable and tend to stick around for a while (because they care more about the level of service and the relationship), pay their premiums every month, etc. vs. someone who's just looking for something cheap that they can get fast and easy to prove they have auto coverage, and then stop making their payments after the first couple months. Because so many people go online for auto insurance quotes now, the internet leads you get for auto insurance specifically could be a completely mixed bag. I would think, however, that if you buy a certain type of lead to target a specific audience/market (like homeowner's insurance leads), you would reach more serious buyers and could then sell them on an auto policy as well.

Some agents I've spoken with about this, prefer this approach when it comes to buying leads because they see it as a way to keep from "wasting money on crap leads" that only bring them a type of customer they don't really want to deal with. Then there's other agents that I've talked to who seem to care less about the type of customer they're reaching and more about the number of customers they're reaching, because they feel that if they buy a higher number of leads and work those leads for a longer period of time they'll eventually get a better return on that investment.

I was curious to see if some of the agents on here have a certain preference when it comes to their approach in buying leads, or if they just spend the money without even really putting much thought into it...

 

[Josh]

I was curious to see if some of the agents on here have a certain preference when it comes to their approach in buying leads, or if they just spend the money without even really putting much thought into it...

They think about it a great deal.

 

[Guest]

It really depends on your carriers and target market. I don't see a statefarm agent being successful on unfiltered leads and don't think its worth it to pay more for "higher" quality leads if all you sell is non standard auto. Maybe you should provide more specific details about what u sell otherwise you'll just get a bunch of opinion

 

[Dglossoplend]

I'm curious as to what the average agent who buys leads spends per month? I am also curious how many leads that gets you and what your closing % has been this year.

 

[Josh]

I'm curious as to what the average agent who buys leads spends per month? I am also curious how many leads that gets you and what your closing % has been this year.

When does your site launch?

 

[Dglossoplend]

When does your site launch?

Provider side will Launch around middle of next month. Consumers to follow next year once providers are established.

 

[Josh]

Provider side will Launch around middle of next month. Consumers to follow next year once providers are established.

That's a pretty long launch. How many providers do you think you'll be able to get onboard to stick around that long? How many do you have in the wings now?

 

[Dglossoplend]

That's a pretty long launch. How many providers do you think you'll be able to get onboard to stick around that long? How many do you have in the wings now?

I have thousands interested and believe I will have no issues getting people to sign up there is no cost nothing to lose. Now I might have some fall out because of lack of consumers right away but, that is ok.
I can always get them to sign back up again telling them consumers are on board now. And how can I launch consumers with no providers....? I think I can get 10k agents to sign up.