Direct Mail Final Expense Leads

[Jim Jenkins]

I was speaking with the powers that be today and allegedly even though they haven't updated the appraisals lately, what they've done is used a multiplier to estimate based on old values. i.e., estimate that a home in Arlington, VA is probably worth 80% of what it was before (I'm just picking numbers, they have more science behind it). So if you had a guy with a house worth 500k 3 years ago, they're going to multiply it by what they think makes sense for the area and use that as a value. That being said, some areas have been updating their tax assessments and if that's available electronically a lot of times the powers that be will use that which helps. The values can definitely be off, but not by any drastic amount.

Have you compared data in areas you know what housing values are?

 

[Josh]

Have you compared data in areas you know what housing values are?

Not really. To give you an idea of what compilers are up against you can go to zillow.com and check out the property values in your area. Frankly, home values are something of a moving target and so I'd guess that most of the time they're within 10%-15% of what it actually is.

For grins and giggles if you want to shoot me your zip code I can send you 100 records in your area to give you an idea of what they are like. There is no guarantee that the sampling would be a good indicator of what it's like nationally, but if you're interested just let me know and I'll kick that out to you.

 

[agentexhorter]

I have a question regarding income parameters in regards to the lists for the leads agents are purchasing. Where do these lists come from and how accurate are they in regards to income?


I worked in the mortgage and car business for 35 years and am very familiar with credit reports but they have never been even remotely accurate regarding income. Most of the time they don't even report the most recent job for the applicant. where do these lists come from and how accurate are they?

The accuracy of the lists being used is critical.

Keep in mind that lists are bought from two types of vendors; compilers - (the company gathering the records and verifying the demographics such as age, income and many others) and re-sellers who simply offer counts and then re-sell the data they acquired from the compilers.

Accuracy of data is tracked by the compilers and one of the key elements that are tracked is the percentage of "marketable records."

A marketable record is defined as a record sent to the right person at the right address and that there were no duplicates of that record.

There are 5 major compilers which account for the vast majority of all records insurance agents either buy for themselves or buy via a mail house when they order a mailing.

An independent third party conducts studies regularly on the percentage of marketable records for each of those 5 compilers and the results are telling.

The best performance was 95.4% accurate; with the other 4 compilers coming in at 93.0%; 91.4%; 85.9% and 84.5%.

The difference is significant. Here's what it means to an agent...

The best of the 5 is 95.4% accurate which means that if you sent out 1,000 pieces of mail to records from that compiler - 954 of them would actuall get delivered to the person on the list.

The worst of the 5 is 84.5% accurate so that means that of 1,000 pieces mailed to a list purchased from that compiler only 845 pieces would actually be delivered.

Let's say the mailing house charged, or your in-house cost to mail was, $385 per thousand. If your list came from the best of the 5, your effective cost per 1,000 pieces of accurate records would be $405 ($385 divided by 95.4%); compared to an effective cost per 1,000 pieces with data from the worst of the 5 being $455.

Which would you rather pay? $405 per thousand or $455 per thousand.

The accuracy of the list is critical, because accuracy has a great affect on the effective or true cost per 1,000 piecss of mail you send out.

 

[Josh]

That was a nice copy and paste.

Do you have more info about the study and who the five compilers are?

 

[Mark]

The accuracy of the lists being used is critical.

Keep in mind that lists are bought from two types of vendors; compilers - (the company gathering the records and verifying the demographics such as age, income and many others) and re-sellers who simply offer counts and then re-sell the data they acquired from the compilers.

Accuracy of data is tracked by the compilers and one of the key elements that are tracked is the percentage of "marketable records."

A marketable record is defined as a record sent to the right person at the right address and that there were no duplicates of that record.

There are 5 major compilers which account for the vast majority of all records insurance agents either buy for themselves or buy via a mail house when they order a mailing.

An independent third party conducts studies regularly on the percentage of marketable records for each of those 5 compilers and the results are telling.

The best performance was 95.4% accurate; with the other 4 compilers coming in at 93.0%; 91.4%; 85.9% and 84.5%.

The difference is significant. Here's what it means to an agent...

The best of the 5 is 95.4% accurate which means that if you sent out 1,000 pieces of mail to records from that compiler - 954 of them would actuall get delivered to the person on the list.

The worst of the 5 is 84.5% accurate so that means that of 1,000 pieces mailed to a list purchased from that compiler only 845 pieces would actually be delivered.

Let's say the mailing house charged, or your in-house cost to mail was, $385 per thousand. If your list came from the best of the 5, your effective cost per 1,000 pieces of accurate records would be $405 ($385 divided by 95.4%); compared to an effective cost per 1,000 pieces with data from the worst of the 5 being $455.

Which would you rather pay? $405 per thousand or $455 per thousand.

The accuracy of the list is critical, because accuracy has a great affect on the effective or true cost per 1,000 piecss of mail you send out.

That is food for thought! Good Post!

 

[RonRoberts]

It's the list.

What 65-80 year old making $50k+ would need a burial policy?

We did a drop in an affluent town and the return and quality of leads were poor. Income cap was probably around $50k or so and we still got massive houses sending the card back.

More recently we did a drop on a working class manufacturing town and the return/ROI was great.

That's what I mean about getting the right list.

What was the age and income demographics that you used for your great return/ROI?

Ron

 

[agentexhorter]

That was a nice copy and paste.

Do you have more info about the study and who the five compilers are?

Actually it was not a copy and paste, but you are close.

As I was typing my reply I realized that it would make a great page for my site. My policy for content on my site is that it must be completely original content.

So, I completed typing the reply you saw but did not submit it. Then I created a new page on my site with only a few changes made from the post you saw. I published that page on my site then posted the reply you saw.

Creating that page on my site took about 15 minutes and it is now available for all those who visit my site. I believe it will help many agents get the most from their lead generating expenditures.

That way there is no question that the information on my site is original and if ever questioned by search engines or any one else for that matter, my site will have the first published content.

By the way, I do indeed have the study I mentioned and I will check with compliance to see if I can post it on my site, and if I can, I will then post it here also.

 

[0b1kanobee]

Then the only question I have is where do I get the 95.4% accurate information?

 

[Josh]

I'm curious to know more about this study. Those are some pretty precise numbers and a random sampling is going to have a margin of error of I would imagine at least 2%, but it's tough to know for sure until the actual study is shown.

The five compilers doesn't sound right either. I believe Sales Genie compiles their own data and the 85% number sounds about right for them, but 85.9% vs 84.5%? Unless they did a sampling of at least 100,000 records, I'm not thinking there is much legitimacy to that study. If the organization regularly checks the integrity of the data, there should be tons of information available though.

agentexhorter, you can't even give the name of the organization that allegedly did the study? That seems odd. Your math is sound, but if you don't have names of the organizations and can't name the compilers, it's tough to gauge the validity of your statements.

 

[nfl72]

Re: Direct Mail Final Expense Leads Go to Top Originally Posted by nfl72

... I guess when your selling FE income is not an issue anyway. People all the time living on $635 a month buy $75 a month policies...
​

I think it is an issue.

The agent may be able to sell it and the prospect may buy it but how long do you think the new client will keep it? That's 12% of their income.

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I guess when I am trying to determine if they can afford what I am selling, I look at income but in all honesty, these people are all over the board. Many of them have other incomes, under the table that they don't want us to know about. They baby sit, they get food cards they have friends living with them. One lady whom I wrote yesterday makes $500 a month under the table whild getting disability from the state.

The old saying seems to apply. If you throw enough **** against the wall some of it is going to stick!

I often hear about guys cross selling annuitites etc from final expense. They work in Detroit and I think they are working little pockets where people actually do have money. I work in Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Kalamazpp and Jackson. Mostly very poor folks that don't havehardly any income at all. I did today actually have a client today who had internet access. The odds of that happening are under 25%.

Then when we talk about housing values. The vast majority of all my leads are renters. they usually pay $400 to $600 a month in rent, if they are not on SEC 8. I have a sneeky suspicion that most of you guys selling FE are working a slighly higher class of client. But I could be wrong.