Lead Costs & Conversions

[ComeCorrect]

I'm curious to know the lead costs for Medicare Supplement & Final Expense also the conversion rates (i.e. how many leads do you need to result in a sale). Whether you use internet leads, mailers, telemarketed leads or any other type of lead I would like to know the numbers from active and producing agents.

Thanks

 

[Tampa Teddy]

I'm curious to know the lead costs for Medicare Supplement & Final Expense also the conversion rates (i.e. how many leads do you need to result in a sale). Whether you use internet leads, mailers, telemarketed leads or any other type of lead I would like to know the numbers from active and producing agents.

Thanks

Internet leads bite and are sold to 20 agents. Yeah I know that told you 3... they lied! Mailers run from $375 to $425 per thousand. Responses range from 1%-4% depending on your list and mailer copy. Conversion and closing ratios vary greatly. One agent will close none while another agent could run the same 100 leads and close half.

 

[Frank Stastny]

I'm curious to know the lead costs for Medicare Supplement & Final Expense also the conversion rates (i.e. how many leads do you need to result in a sale). Whether you use internet leads, mailers, telemarketed leads or any other type of lead I would like to know the numbers from active and producing agents.

Thanks

In the past I have run thousands of direct mail "leads". I would conservatively say that 98+% or more of them either don't have any recollection of sending in the card or refuse to admit having done so.

They are nothing more than a name, address and phone number that you will pay $25 to $30 for. (1,000 cards sent out, cost $400, return 1.5% = $26.66 per returned card.) Make no mistake about it, it is still Cold Calling!

If you call from a list you can get 1,000 names for as low as $.03 to $.035 each. The "conversion" rate is going to be just about the same as the "lead" cards you pay for, maybe even better or at least I have found it better.

Unless you have more money than you know what to do with, I would explore other ways of marketing Med Supps. Regarding FE, cross sell it to Med Supp clients. It is so much easier that way.

Tampa Teddy is spot on regarding internet leads. I have run every kind of "lead" imaginable and they are all nothing more than a name, address and phone number of, at the very best, someone who may have been nothing more than curious when the filled out the card.

Not one person I have ever talked to from any kind of a "lead" was sitting by the phone waiting for me to call. It is a myth that just because an agent has a card they paid $25 for in front of them that the person who sent it in is really interested in making a purchase.

The people I call from a list are just as interested in buying a policy if not more so interested. I am the one who generates the interest. The interest is not generated because they returned a card.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

It's going to be very difficult for you to obtain accurate data about any agent's conversion ratio with internet leads:

No one is going to tell you the lead vendors that work well.

You need to know if it's a shared/exclusive/SEO/PPC lead, and the price point.

Which filters if any, are being used.

If they are closing over the phone or in person.

What the average time is takes from first contacting the lead to submitting an app.

 

[VaDwayne]

I'm curious to know the lead costs for Medicare Supplement & Final Expense also the conversion rates (i.e. how many leads do you need to result in a sale). Whether you use internet leads, mailers, telemarketed leads or any other type of lead I would like to know the numbers from active and producing agents.

Thanks

The answer to your question has to do a lot with you ability to sell. There really is no right answer to your question.

Telemarketing for yourself is defintiely the cheapest way to go and until recently thought it was the ONLY way to do this. As I get deeper and deeper into this insurance career I continue to find new ways of doing things even though I still feel that creating your own leads is still the way to go. However, I also know by looking at my sales numbers and income for this year, that I should have been more diversified in my marketing plan, no just relying on cold-calling but using other avenues as well.

However, I can only start doing this because of the renewal commissions that will be coming in this year.

As far as direct mail, I have found the most important thing is to have the proper wording on the mailer. Many of today's mailers use the same approach, which is, "Medicare Changes, Would You Like More Information," or some kind of crap like that. They resort to trickery by making it look like the mailer is coming from a government agency, and that is who the prospect thinks is going to call them with information. In my opinion, most direct mailers are so vague about who you are and what you want, that they are basically cards of useless information. I have come up with a mailer that will bring in a smaller percentage of leads per 1000, but will be better quality because of the information on it, the questions asked, how it is delivered, and the direct approach taken. It will be a little more expensive than the typical mailer, but the ROI should be more per dollar spent.

Beginning January 1, 2010, I will also have several telemarketers calling folks, using the same basic information and questions that are on the mailer.

I really hope that I am correct about response, I guess that remains to be seen, but I have a good idea that it will produce the results I am looking for.

 

[Frank Stastny]

It's going to be very difficult for you to obtain accurate data about any agent's conversion ratio with internet leads:

No one is going to tell you the lead vendors that work well.

You need to know if it's a shared/exclusive/SEO/PPC lead, and the price point.

Which filters if any, are being used.

If they are closing over the phone or in person.

What the average time is takes from first contacting the lead to submitting an app.

Don't forget the agent's ability to use the phone. That has a lot to do with the agent's conversion rate. Most agents who I have talked to in the past just "wing it" when they get on the phone. They begin the phone call by asking questions they don't know the answer to. In doing so they allow the prospect to assume control of the phone call.

Once they lose control it is very difficult to regain control and transition it to a conversation. Nothing is ever sold during a phone call. Without excellent phone skills most calls will not be converted to sales.

Give all of the "not interested" cards to an agent who knows how to use the phone and he will make sales.

 

[HarryRenard]

I have come up with a mailer that will bring in a smaller percentage of leads per 1000, but will be better quality because of the information on it, the questions asked, how it is delivered, and the direct approach taken. It will be a little more expensive than the typical mailer, but the ROI should be more per dollar spent.

Now your starting a mail house too.
You were right about this forum being as funny as the sunday comics.

 

[VaDwayne]

Now your starting a mail house too.
You were right about this forum being as funny as the sunday comics.

Have a great day!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget the agent's ability to use the phone. That has a lot to do with the agent's conversion rate. Most agents who I have talked to in the past just "wing it" when they get on the phone. They begin the phone call by asking questions they don't know the answer to. In doing so they allow the prospect to assume control of the phone call.

Once they lose control it is very difficult to regain control and transition it to a conversation. Nothing is ever sold during a phone call. Without excellent phone skills most calls will not be converted to sales.

Give all of the "not interested" cards to an agent who knows how to use the phone and he will make sales.

Have a great day!!!!

 

[theinsuranceman]

For FE be careful! If your lead piece is worded very, very directly you will find the lead costs approaching $100 per lead! (Why you could even put on the mail piece "must have a bank account to qualify" and your lead costs go even higher).

A generically worded FE card's purpose is to find someone who has some slight interest or curiosity or questions about FE. Then the accomplished agent (CLOSER) can take that card, start a conversation about FE, stimulate interest, show benefits for the remaining family after death, etc. and hopefully end up with a sale.

Will your conversion be higher on the very, very directly worded lead card? Of course. Will the conversion rate be improved enough to overcome the $100/lead cost? Hardly ever. The CLOSING abilities of the agent is what makes the numbers work out on the more generic type lead card. Most agents can NOT sale and close (not to mention lack of work ethic) and thus the high failure rate of agents entering into this business.

If the very, very directly worded lead card was viable, don't you think all agencies would already be using them? The only delivery system I have ever seen where the very, very directly worded advertisement worked was using voice broadcasting (pre-Sept.).

The reason voice broadcasting worked was the MUCH cheaper costs to deliver the ad as opposed to direct mail costs. Why, in the good old days with voice broadcasting we actually said to qualify "you must have a checking or saving account to qualify".

 

[VaDwayne]

For FE be careful! If your lead piece is worded very, very directly you will find the lead costs approaching $100 per lead! (Why you could even put on the mail piece "must have a bank account to qualify" and your lead costs go even higher).

A generically worded FE card's purpose is to find someone who has some slight interest or curiosity or questions about FE. Then the accomplished agent (CLOSER) can take that card, start a conversation about FE, stimulate interest, show benefits for the remaining family after death, etc. and hopefully end up with a sale.

Will your conversion be higher on the very, very directly worded lead card? Of course. Will the conversion rate be improved enough to overcome the $100/lead cost? Hardly ever. The CLOSING abilities of the agent is what makes the numbers work out on the more generic type lead card. Most agents can NOT sale and close (not to mention lack of work ethic) and thus the high failure rate of agents entering into this business.

If the very, very directly worded lead card was viable, don't you think all agencies would already be using them? The only delivery system I have ever seen where the very, very directly worded advertisement worked was using voice broadcasting (pre-Sept.).

The reason voice broadcasting worked was the MUCH cheaper costs to deliver the ad as opposed to direct mail costs. Why, in the good old days with voice broadcasting we actually said to qualify "you must have a checking or saving account to qualify".

Thanks for he advice, it is really appreciated. I am only going top market med supps in 2010 and am going to branch out a bit in my marketing for 2010 just to increase the amount of people being contacted. I am still going to do phone work but also pursue other avenues. I guess we'll have to see how 2010 goes.

I wouldn't say that my new mail peice is too specific, but it doesn't look like it came from a government agency either.