How Many Weekly Leads Per Week?

[jdeasy]

I have idiots that think it is free no matter what mailer I have tried, and to be honest, the old stand by $255 soc sec benefit as crappy as the mailer is, has given me the best results.

I designed my own mailer about 4 years ago. It was written the way every agent would want it. it said by sending it in you wanted to contacted by a life insuracne agent to discuss final expense/burial plans.

Getting 2 back out of a 1000 was a great return. I believe I sold almost every one of them, but at that time it was costing $360/1000 so I was paying $180+ per lead.

The reason so many companies use the $255 mailer is simply because it works.

 

[billyg]

I have idiots that think it is free no matter what mailer I have tried, and to be honest, the old stand by $255 soc sec benefit as crappy as the mailer is, has given me the best results.

I'm using a different mailer right now, but I agree with your statement. I still have people say they thought it was a free gubment program even though it doesn't mention $255.

 

[Rearden]

I'll pay $100-$200 a lead for a well-qualified lead, I could close 75% of the time.

I'll spend twice as much time with a well-qualified lead versus driving around, burning gas, door-knocking people who thought it was a "government program" or "free" or "already took care of that."

It's not about lead cost or response rate -- it's about return on your investment of money AND time.
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I'm using a different mailer right now, but I agree with your statement. I still have people say they thought it was a free gubment program even though it doesn't mention $255.

Same here. The Securus lead doesn't mention $255 Social Security benefit. It does say life insurance that costs pennies a day.

But... you still have the hot-button words that fire up seniors' greed glands -- "Benefit Update", "Guaranteed," "FREE (fill in the blank)".

It does work -- the deliberately deceptive lead piece campaigns work because it attracts prospects with a need. But you have to accept the fact you have to sift through a bunch of dirt to find the gold.

 

[TDFnCali]

30 leads -- over the long run -- a week will average me $4000AP to $6000AP a week.

It takes me 5-6 days a week to do it (3-4 all-day long, 2 half days (9AM-5:30PM).

Weeks like this everybody swears they didn't send in the card...

Readon,

Im curious, at 30/lead & I believe Securus lead costs are $25ea, if not $20...that's $600-750 a WEEK in lead expense, or $2500-3000 a month, wow!! Add in gas, thank you cards, misc materials/supplies....and Im guessing that adds another $500.

Well then I guess if I do the math, 20k/mo @ 90% is $18k, about 13k upfront - $3000-3500 in costs....is a 10k month!! Sounded bad when I 1st went to write this, now sounds about right....CONGRATS!!

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Jd, I think by having a more specific mailer you will get a lower response rate. If they're more qualified and do buy then I think it doesnt matter what the lead costs as long as the ROI is there.
Drop more mail and spend less time and money sifting through the garbage. If your ROI is 3-1 then that is sustainable. Would I spend 350 to sell 3 plans at 600 a pop? All day long... Especially with gas being what it is...

 

[TDFnCali]

I designed my own mailer about 4 years ago. It was written the way every agent would want it. it said by sending it in you wanted to contacted by a life insuracne agent to discuss final expense/burial plans.

Getting 2 back out of a 1000 was a great return. I believe I sold almost every one of them, but at that time it was costing $360/1000 so I was paying $180+ per lead.

The reason so many companies use the $255 mailer is simply because it works.

JD, u posted that before & I meant to ask did u try diff areas?? Cause from my memory, u also said the return rate from mailers is bad period, thats why using EFES leads works, u dont have to worry about a return rate. So as long as thr ROI is good, like others have said, & maybe u can tweak it or just try a diff area, maybe the respone could be .5% or 5 per 1000. And if u can close 4 or them, all ud need is to mail 2000 a week, get back 10, close 8 & live life happy....NO??

For about $800 in cost, ud have about $5k in AP!!

 

[billyg]

Cause from my memory, u also said the return rate from mailers is bad period, thats why using EFES leads works, u dont have to worry about a return rate. So as long as thr ROI is good, like others have said, & maybe u can tweak it or just try a diff area, maybe the respone could be .5% or 5 per 1000. And if u can close 4 or them, all ud need is to mail 2000 a week, get back 10, close 8 & live life happy....NO??

For about $800 in cost, ud have about $5k in AP!!

But with EFES & Securus, the monetary risk of a poor response is on the shoulders of the FMO, not the agent. Whereas doing your own mailing, the agent bears the risk of poor/no response.

I give JD credit for being willing to experiment with his own mail piece design. And maybe he made money with 1 or 2 per thousand returned. But with that low a response rate, what would happen if he spent $800 for a particular area and didn't get back a single return. I don't blame him for going a different route.

 

[RonRoberts]

But with EFES & Securus, the monetary risk of a poor response is on the shoulders of the FMO, not the agent. Whereas doing your own mailing, the agent bears the risk of poor/no response.

I give JD credit for being willing to experiment with his own mail piece design. And maybe he made money with 1 or 2 per thousand returned. But with that low a response rate, what would happen if he spent $800 for a particular area and didn't get back a single return. I don't blame him for going a different route.

While I am not with EFES I must say that I believe they have a good model going. 90% contract and they do the mailing for you while you have an opportunity to work your lead cost down to $11. If a 2 hour radius was available in my state I would be on their lead program today.

 

[Rearden]

$20.95 per lead -- Securus has you pay on mail drop, not as you receive leads. There are pros and cons.

Don't forget to add in lapse rate (80%), too.

Readon,

Im curious, at 30/lead & I believe Securus lead costs are $25ea, if not $20...that's $600-750 a WEEK in lead expense, or $2500-3000 a month, wow!! Add in gas, thank you cards, misc materials/supplies....and Im guessing that adds another $500.

Well then I guess if I do the math, 20k/mo @ 90% is $18k, about 13k upfront - $3000-3500 in costs....is a 10k month!! Sounded bad when I 1st went to write this, now sounds about right....CONGRATS!!

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No, it's the other way around.

If you really think about it, the agent is paying for the right for subsidized leads through splitting the commission with the lead-subsidizing IMO. And the agent bears the financial risk on the front-end.

The IMO's goal is to provide acceptable leads equal to what the average agent invests, or as close as possible. As the IMO has its own mail shop -- or it outsources its mail at a much better cost than the individual agent could get -- it has the possibility to get as close to cost-free on the mailers as possible.

Great business model.

But with EFES & Securus, the monetary risk of a poor response is on the shoulders of the FMO, not the agent. Whereas doing your own mailing, the agent bears the risk of poor/no response.

I give JD credit for being willing to experiment with his own mail piece design. And maybe he made money with 1 or 2 per thousand returned. But with that low a response rate, what would happen if he spent $800 for a particular area and didn't get back a single return. I don't blame him for going a different route.

 

[billyg]

No, it's the other way around.

If you really think about it, the agent is paying for the right for subsidized leads through splitting the commission with the lead-subsidizing IMO. And the agent bears the financial risk on the front-end.

The IMO's goal is to provide acceptable leads equal to what the average agent invests, or as close as possible. As the IMO has its own mail shop -- or it outsources its mail at a much better cost than the individual agent could get -- it has the possibility to get as close to cost-free on the mailers as possible.

Great business model.

I see what you are saying, but you may have missed my point. When you pay for the mailing, you bear the financial risk of a poor return. Lets say you spent $800 for a drop to 2,000 addresses. If you get a poor return, your cost per lead could be very high $40, $50, $60, or even higher per lead. When the agent does his own mailing, there is the risk of a poor return and thus, higher per lead costs.

When the agent is paying EFES or Securus (or any other similar FMO) on a per lead basis, he sifts the financial risk for the lead to the FMO. If the mail drop only had a 0.5% return, the agent is paying the same price per lead that he would if the drop returned 2.5%.

So, my point was specific to JD's example of experimenting with a very specific custom lead for which he got something like a 0.1% or 0.2% return. When you get that low, there is a real risk that on any given mailing you might get a 0.0% return. Even if your closing ratio is 100%, you would still come up short. So I think he was probably wise to drop that approach.