Desparately Seeking Advice: Intimated by Old Leads

[ims01]

There is tons of business in old leads. We have some agents who actually prefer working 90 day to one year old leads.

The key to being successful with any lead is to be prepared to handle whatever you may encounter. Some ideas for different situations:

"All ready bought"- Do you feel you got the best value?
"No longer interested" - You no longer need to provide protection for your family?
"Don't remember" - No problem. The cost of protecting your family has actually gone down in the last year. Let's see you indicate here your mortgage (or you were looking for $XXXXXX)

Those may not fit your personality, but come up with some that do. Remember, you are filtering through these leads looking for the people you can help. You will just need to make more calls to find them when working older leads.

But, I will offer a word of warning; scrub your leads that are more than 90 days old against the Do Not Call list. Call the work number if they provided one.

 

[newindc]

Delta76,
Right now, the leads are all that I have used. I am trying to arrange for two financial seminars with hope that they will generate fresh contacts. I am at a loss regarding any additional marketing especially one that is not expensive.

HomeService,
You are absolutely right. There is something about saying "you sent in a card to our mortgage services department" that gets me especially when it was a year ago. Call me and start talking to me about something that I sent in a year ago but acting as if it was yesterday (and especially if you are the fourth person to call saying the same thing), I may hang up on you too.

I just heard of an agent that never uses leads but just walks up to people and starts talking. HomeService, how do you start your conversation. Do you just walk up to any person and ask if they need life insurance, or do you have your card and some material in hand when you do?

 

[newindc]

j1a2m3a4,

Unable to directly reply. I am in the Northeast. vbmenu_register("postmenu_65189", true);

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

About 10 years ago, we had a broker that would call people (cold) and simply say "Hi. My name is Chad H... Would you like to buy some life insurance?"

That was it. He didn't mind sitting at his desk and calling for hours at a time. He wrote a lot of policies, but not big face amounts. Eventually, he got married and went to work for Verizon.

It really was questionable at best. "Kneeing" is rarely called, let alone with a minute to go in regulation of a playoff game.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Eventually, he got married and went to work for Verizon.

Sounds like he entered his own private hell...

 

[HomeService]

newindc: Basically I found a niche or a market that I am very comfortable with, but to be honest it's not huge money to be had. I sell mainly to the lower income, or maybe working class or middle income. I can walk into any tire shop and ask the guy if he has an accident plan if he cuts his hand-or life insurance. If he tells me to get with his family {wife handles it } over at the house, I get his address. I also just knock on doors, or go through neighborhoods where kids are outside with the moms and such. Everywhere I eat lunch I ask the waitress if she has life insurance.

Now, I realize if you are in DC, there are probably some dangerous hoods, but we have them in TX as well, but I drive around and get to know the neighborhoods a little. When I knock on a door I ask "who they have their life insurance with...?" Poor grammar and all.

That's just me and how I do it. But, if I were to step it up a little and go after a little bit of a higher earning crowd, I would go business to business and ask to get with the business owner. If they have a "gate keeper" or receptionist, she needs life insurance, probably. So the conversation could be more about that after she tells you the owner is "out" or in a "meeting" or whatever. Or I would get with a mortgage broker or home builder or some such person. Or I may try young moms, or young new homeowners. { red flag, like mentioned above, not much money, but hey, $20 a month for small term policy, they should be able to handle.}

Or get with a P&C only agent who hands of life leads because he does not mess with it. I once new a disability insurance agent who had an investment advisor who gave this particular guy- all his disability leads. I guess the investment guy did not want to mess with writing it. I know another financial planner who does not write med supp and hands all that business off to another agent.

Find a niche, like the guy a few posts above up there- who finds people with paid off houses, or the lower income or working class-like I do, or business to business, whatever it is, find a niche and get with it. Maybe it's inside of a country club. Maybe it's inside of a certain genre of business owners and employees. Maybe it's the telephone workers union. Maybe it's certain neighborhoods or small towns. Be the "life insurance guy" inside the niche. The mortgage protection thing is not for me, but some have made it their niche and they are fine with it and have figured it out. You could work two things at once, like say, the country clubs and the mortgage leads, both at once, but I would say if you try to mess with too much on your plate at one time, one can get frazzled a little. Once you find a comfortable niche, the words just roll off of your toungue very naturally, and you are asking people about their life insurance, and many people are telling you they have none -and need a quote.

Actually, old leads are great, if they actually are a lead and not just a random name of some mortgage buyer. Maybe some of those old leads fall within that niche that you build, then you have something in common to discuss with them, because you know where they are coming from.

 

[The New Guy]

I personally have never made a cold call in my life. However, my alter ego loves to make cold calls, and makes a game out of it.

His name is Juan. Juan Ralph

 

[Peter Ryan]

Calling old, worn out, cold leads is probably a waste of time.

No matter what people tell you, the newest, most recent leads are going to convert at a much higher rate than those old leads.

However, if you don't have any way of developing new leads, these are probably worth following up with as long as they are still prospects.

The question you need to find out is "do they still need your stuff?" If most of the leads you are calling are no longer prospects, then don't waste your time.

Generate your own leads by working with another non competing agent who can refer you to their clients. (This is NOT the best case scenario, but is a way to get some business without spending a fortune.)

 

[bluemarlin08]

who they have their life insurance with...?


I use that question ALL the time. Doesn't matter what the answer is I have a path to go on. You wouldn't believe how much business that question generates for me each month.

 

[DarrylVK]

As I am also a new agent, I took the advice of someone here and acquired a set of Don (the Lead Guru) Runge's cd's . He can help you with that problem. I stole mine on ebay but you can find them here:
Don Runge : Lead Training

Greetings All,

I am very new to the insurance industry (mortgage protection/life insurance) and I really want to make it as my career. There are many things I love about the industry, but there is one thing that I hate--calling old leads.