Lead Generation

[Crabcake Johnny]

One of the nastier emails they send to clients is "your application has been approved!"

Of course, this sparks an immediate call from the client stating they didn't fill out the app....but now they have them on the phone. Health and Life is a priceless bunch.

I stated in a previous post that I got one of them on the phone and found out they didn't have an insurance license. The rep said he didn't need one since he submitted business through his manager.

 

[Sam]

John, I think that is a different company. this one is a lead generator, not a buyer.

 

[Sam]

Bob, are you saying that you got 2 calls from prospects already?

 

[somarco]

Nope, got 4 calls from agents.

3 of them with Health & Life direct.

I didn't sign up for the leads. Just wanted to check out the submission form for health prospects to see what kind of qualifying was done and who called.

I have always suspected these lead generation sources sell information multiple times. Now I know for sure, at least in this example.

It really doesn't matter that much to me since I know a bunch of the folks are tire kickers, regardless of how the lead is generated. I also know that most folks will not do their homework (even though I give them step by step instructions in my autoresponse) and will buy from the one that sounds glitzy.

I get enough really good prospects that filter down that I am still satisfied. Out of 100 leds generated by telemarketing or internet sources, about 80 will be worthless. If I can close half of the remaining 20 I am doing well.

Some weeks that happens, sometimes not. Went thru a real dry spell a few weeks ago when you would have thought I was selling belly buttons and everyone already had one so no need to buy another from me.

Things are picking up again.

Fortunately I have enough residual income & referral leads to pick up the slack in the slow times.

 

[Sam]

Sorry, I had misunderstood you.
I guess there really is no silver bullet huh!

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I still can't understand how lead companies make a profit. I made a good run at AdWords through Google over a year ago. Had my site right on the first page of the seach paying $3.25 per click. Many companies were still above me like Netquote meaning they paid more per click.

When the dust settled my average lead cost $28 but that didn't mean they were insurable and the contact info was good. That was just leads submitted through my site. Lead companies have to return those leads for credit.

At $28 per lead if you selling it to 3 agents at $8 a pop they're losing money. At 4 agents they're barely making money. So I haven't figured it out.

 

[Sam]

Their ad being above yours does NOT mean that they are paying more for it. Google prices their clicks based on a quality score that factors in what the ctr is, if the landing page is optimized for the clicker, keywords in the ad title and several other factors.

You could pay 3.50 per click for a space that may cost someone else .50

These companies spend a lot of money on optimizing their sites for click through as well, so that they convert a better % of visitors than you or me.

Also, they may have 3 million keywords uploaded, and that long tail also helps keep their costs down.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

It's also based on your daily spending limit. I had mine capped at $50 a day while companies like Netquote might not have any cap - that would also factor into the price per click. The end to the story is the "little guy" really can't compete. When I figured out what my true cost was per lead factoring in bogus info and uninsurable people it was insane.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

The "Insurancelister" website is a company located about an hour from me (Columbus).

I spoke with one of the people there. Interesting concept, but when I asked for the number of leads for particular zip codes, he said he did not have that information. Maybe 20 per month. Maybe NONE!

I'm passing for now.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I got cold-called over a year ago to "purchase" zip codes for a monthly fee and I'd get every lead, exclusive to me, for no charge past the monthly rate. I passed. Maybe that would have a been a good deal.