Did Bankrate Buy Insuranceagents.com?

FL P&C Broker

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Did bankrate buy insuranceagents.com? Looks like they have practically cornered the insurance leads market. Maybe this is old news and I just missed it.
 
We need to get big corporations out of the lead business, you know they are selling their leads to multiple agents and thats no good for anyone but them. I say it all the time use pre-set appointments that are customized to you and you WILL get more bang for your buck.
 
I agree in theory, but your program, as good as it seems to be, only focuses on commercial lines mainly, and you do not advocate telemarketing for personal lines, and some of us only write mostly personal lines....so we have to use I-leads as larger part of our marketing/advertising strategy/budget than we may want to...direct mail is hit or miss based on geography (it is awful in my tech driven market), most of the B&I groups have super long waiting lists, and door to door is challenging as well...we are still growing and doing well overall, but it is mainly with I-leads, selling deeper into our existing book, and working hard for referrals

We need to get big corporations out of the lead business, you know they are selling their leads to multiple agents and thats no good for anyone but them. I say it all the time use pre-set appointments that are customized to you and you WILL get more bang for your buck.
 
I agree in theory, but your program, as good as it seems to be, only focuses on commercial lines mainly, and you do not advocate telemarketing for personal lines, and some of us only write mostly personal lines....so we have to use I-leads as larger part of our marketing/advertising strategy/budget than we may want to...direct mail is hit or miss based on geography (it is awful in my tech driven market), most of the B&I groups have super long waiting lists, and door to door is challenging as well...we are still growing and doing well overall, but it is mainly with I-leads, selling deeper into our existing book, and working hard for referrals

I 100% agree. The reason we only do B2B is the cost is only warranted for that market due to premium size, while we could be very effective on the personal lines it still would not be in the best interest of the client and we all know an unhappy client is a sure fire way to insure that you don't stay in business. If I feel we can't benefit a producer it is easier in the long run to be upfront and tell them that and hope for a good referral rather than take their money for 30 days and in my eyes FAIL, and I am not in the habit of failing in business. The problem with I-Leads is that there is no personal touch you are just a number on a check. We all know if our clients are happy we grow, and to me it is really that simple, unfortunately that is not the case in the lead industry as a whole.
 
there is no way to get rid of big corporations. its impossible, never going to happen. work AROUND those big corporations with companies that WILL VALUE your long term business. That's the only way that they are going to be able to provide us with the service that we need to strive in todays market ... as for us, we value keeping our clients....a company that buys one product and sells it 10 times isn't going to have a problem letting you go.
 
InsuranceStep.com is reporting that Bankrate did indeed buy InsuranceAgents.com.

In an email to some of their partners, Bankrate confirms that the deal has been closed. The email goes on to say that over the next 90 days InsuranceAgents' operations will be transitioned to Bankrate's Denver office.
 
As long as there is a demand, the big money will always be there. It's concerning for them right now with their quality, and they know it. If you're the CEO of Bankrate, how to you balance quantity and quality? Personally, I have no idea how they will get that accomplished, especially as a stock company whose sole mission is to return profit for shareholders...

The biggest risk to the big lead companies, IMO, is big carriers dropping them, and spending the money on PPC adds. Why buy a crappy block of leads when you can spend the money on driving people directly to your site?

Brokersweb.com, in my opinion, sees this the best, and just might explode over the next year. We shall see. Who knows, maybe Bankrate will buy them, too. (If they haven't already.) :)
 
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