Leads, Leads, Leads...(Questions)

[N2TAgent]

Hi all! So, I'm narrowing down the IMO I'll be going with (after a less than favorable experience at one of the MLMmy type IMOs). Obviously, everyone seems to offer the greatest leads in the world. I wanted to run this scenario by you guys to see if it sounds normal (since I haven't seen this exact scenario in this industry yet):
Direct Mail Leads: I'm being asked to provide a deposit to get started, but the deposit doesn't count towards the lead cost. It just sits there. It's significant (less than 1k, more than $400) for just a deposit. So, I'll have to pay the deposit, plus a commitment for the leads. It sounds like it may take a few weeks to get the leads flowing as well.

Does this sound reasonable? Or should I just go to a lead vendor?

Additional info: Lead type: FE, Direct Mail, Exclusive, & Fresh.

My thought is that they aren't currently generating leads in my area and have to start dropping the mail to get the leads incoming which may be the reason for the delay & also they want to see some commitment from me. At the same time, not even the MLMmy IMO I was with asked for a deposit on the fresh/exclusive leads.

As always, you guys have been great & much appreciated.

 

[N2TAgent]

Just thought I'd clarify my question:

Is it normal to pay a nearly $1,000 deposit to an IMO just to be able to receive direct mail leads? The deposit doesn't count towards the leads. The lead cost itself is in the realm of what's normal. The large deposit just seems pretty large. I'm not necessarily "mad" at it , just haven't seen it before and want to avoid an unnecessary charges.

 

[goillini52]

Just thought I'd clarify my question:

Is it normal to pay a nearly $1,000 deposit to an IMO just to be able to receive direct mail leads? The deposit doesn't count towards the leads. The lead cost itself is in the realm of what's normal. The large deposit just seems pretty large. I'm not necessarily "mad" at it , just haven't seen it before and want to avoid an unnecessary charges.

Newby at Fexcontracting would be a good one to ask about that.

 

[DayTimer]

Is it normal to pay a nearly $1,000 deposit to an IMO just to be able to receive direct mail leads?

The deposit lets them start your mail. As the leads come in, you pay for the leads that come in as you take them. The reason for the deposit is that if you leave and decide to no longer pay for your leads, the IMO will recoup some of the cost of the mailing and the leads that come after you have left or quit the business.

Perfectly normal. When I started my deposit was for four weeks at $900/week. So I had about $3600 on deposit with my IMO.

About the fourth week, I started getting my leads, and I would be charged for the 32 leads that were sent to me. When I decided I no longer wanted to be on their lead program. They held the deposit for a time, and I continued to buy the leads that came in. Once the leads had slowed to about one lead every 3 or 4 weeks, they released my deposit back to me.

That was with Matt Mungia (@SPUR CITY on the forum) and The Insurance Squad.

I can't guarantee that whoever you're talking to will be as fair and on the level as Matt was to me. I would bet you'd get a fair treatment from Scott Burke (@Newby on the forum) as well.

 

[Newby]

The deposit lets them start your mail. As the leads come in, you pay for the leads that come in as you take them. The reason for the deposit is that if you leave and decide to no longer pay for your leads, the IMO will recoup some of the cost of the mailing and the leads that come after you have left or quit the business.

Perfectly normal. When I started my deposit was for four weeks at $900/week. So I had about $3600 on deposit with my IMO.

About the fourth week, I started getting my leads, and I would be charged for the 32 leads that were sent to me. When I decided I no longer wanted to be on their lead program. They held the deposit for a time, and I continued to buy the leads that came in. Once the leads had slowed to about one lead every 3 or 4 weeks, they released my deposit back to me.

That was with Matt Mungia (@SPUR CITY on the forum) and The Insurance Squad.

I can't guarantee that whoever you're talking to will be as fair and on the level as Matt was to me. I would bet you'd get a fair treatment from Scott Burke (@Newby on the forum) as well.

Yes that’s exactly how I’ve always done it. $1200 for 15 leads weekly. $1600 for 20 and $2000 for 25 or 30.
But you only put a deposit if you are wanting to get on a weekly set-cost lead subscription.
You can always buy individual lead drops with no deposit. Because you pay for those up front anyway.

 

[Newby]

Hi all! So, I'm narrowing down the IMO I'll be going with (after a less than favorable experience at one of the MLMmy type IMOs). Obviously, everyone seems to offer the greatest leads in the world. I wanted to run this scenario by you guys to see if it sounds normal (since I haven't seen this exact scenario in this industry yet):
Direct Mail Leads: I'm being asked to provide a deposit to get started, but the deposit doesn't count towards the lead cost. It just sits there. It's significant (less than 1k, more than $400) for just a deposit. So, I'll have to pay the deposit, plus a commitment for the leads. It sounds like it may take a few weeks to get the leads flowing as well.

Does this sound reasonable? Or should I just go to a lead vendor?

Additional info: Lead type: FE, Direct Mail, Exclusive, & Fresh.

My thought is that they aren't currently generating leads in my area and have to start dropping the mail to get the leads incoming which may be the reason for the delay & also they want to see some commitment from me. At the same time, not even the MLMmy IMO I was with asked for a deposit on the fresh/exclusive leads.

As always, you guys have been great & much appreciated.

Yes. I am actually the creator of that system that all the RGI mailers use now. It’s definitely the best way for you and for the IMO.
Before I started that the IMOs were having you pay for weekly lead orders when you started your order. So you paid your first weeks leads today and get no leads this week. You paid again next week and the next and had no leads.
When your leads started coming in you might be paying for 20 a week and you only got 18. So you have to keep track of all kinds of stuff. Then 3-years later you decide to stop your lead orders and when you tell the IMO they magically don’t owe you a penny. Huh? How did that happen?
So what I did is you pay a set amount of a deposit up front. You never prepay for any leads before you receive them. And you always know exactly how much is owed back. To you in the end. And eVery week when you get your leads you multiply that number by your lead cost and you know that is your correct lead bill. No guesswork. No mystery.
If FexContracting is not one of the IMOs you are considering you need to give me a call. We do more than leads right. We make sure the agent has a great experience with transparent commissions, great training and the tools you need too. I hope to hear from you.

 

[N2TAgent]

Wow, you guys, this has been immensely helpful! It's good to know that my line of thinking wasn't off, but I'm also glad I verified. After my less-than-favorable experience at the other IMO (which I pulled the plug on VERY quickly), it's so refreshing. Everyone's contribution is appreciated and, as I get more seasoned in the business, I will contribute as well.

Thank you so much - I just spent the better part of 90 minutes on FEXContracting's website & will reach out tomorrow as it's after hours now. It is quite dizzying getting started in this space. Much different that my old industry (which was also sales, but it wasn't quite so "wild wild west" as insurance). I do have a budget set aside for leads, but I also don't have unlimited funds set aside so being able to generate income & cash flow as early as my first month is going to be crucial for me. I'm new to FE, but not new to sales - willing to empty my cup in terms of learning the steps for FE, but want/need to learn to become competent as fast as possible.

Would you say my expectation of seeing income my first month is on target? (Assuming I'm buying 15 - 25 leads/week & working them.)

At the first IMO, most of what they did was MP which is fine. It seems that there is a real income opportunity with FE and, while learning the product and having solid sales skills counts, it doesn't seem like rocket science.

As a side note, I did speak with the Digital Agency, forget the name now, but it didn't seem like a great fit for me, although, I did see value in what they have going on.