Looking for a Better Way to Sell Leads

[Jeffrey_S]

I currently run an insurance-based content site, and have relied primarily on third-party lead buying/selling companies to offload the leads. These services are nice from the simplicity standpoint, since you usually just host a form and do not have to worry about anything else.

But I am not happy with them anymore.

The user experience is, in my opinion, horrible - Most of the web forms available to capture user data are designed in a way that make it look like they are going to get actual quotes after submitting their personal info. They usually do not, and then get called by a lot of insurance agents.

The lead is sold over and over - I probably do not have to even mention this one on this board, but leads are typically sold many times. The lead gets bombarded with calls, which is often not what they expected.

The pay per lead is low - Unless you are a high-volume lead producer, the default tiers are a lot lower than the companies are making on the lead. If they pay $10 for a premium life lead, they sell it 6-10 times at that price.

The hurdle with trying to work directly with agents or agencies is that most are licensed for a specific state. That is where the third-party companies come to the rescue.

I have leads that come in from every state, but managing 50 different relationships would change the dynamic of my business altogether. Not to mention, some states would not produce enough leads to justify maintaining a relationship with an agent or broker.

In a perfect world:

1-5 buyers - A handful of buyers that could sell to the majority of the US.

Leads are only sold to one buyer (possibly 2 or 3) - Leads would not be sold over and over. This makes the lead more valuable for me and the insurance agents, while keeping the customer's expectations in mind. This can also be presented before the user inputs their info, so they know what will happen.

I see agents complaining about internet leads, and I completely understand it. I think the entire model is a little deceptive, which turns the customer off from the beginning.

My business is about building trust, and throwing their personal information into the current lead selling system is not congruent with that. I am looking for an alternative, and figured this would be a good place to start looking.

Is doing something like this even possible? Are there any third parties that are interested more in quality rather than quantity?

 

[Texasproducer]

I currently run an insurance-based content site, and have relied primarily on third-party lead buying/selling companies to offload the leads. These services are nice from the simplicity standpoint, since you usually just host a form and do not have to worry about anything else.

But I am not happy with them anymore.

The user experience is, in my opinion, horrible - Most of the web forms available to capture user data are designed in a way that make it look like they are going to get actual quotes after submitting their personal info. They usually do not, and then get called by a lot of insurance agents.

The lead is sold over and over - I probably do not have to even mention this one on this board, but leads are typically sold many times. The lead gets bombarded with calls, which is often not what they expected.

The pay per lead is low - Unless you are a high-volume lead producer, the default tiers are a lot lower than the companies are making on the lead. If they pay $10 for a premium life lead, they sell it 6-10 times at that price.

The hurdle with trying to work directly with agents or agencies is that most are licensed for a specific state. That is where the third-party companies come to the rescue.

I have leads that come in from every state, but managing 50 different relationships would change the dynamic of my business altogether. Not to mention, some states would not produce enough leads to justify maintaining a relationship with an agent or broker.

In a perfect world:

1-5 buyers - A handful of buyers that could sell to the majority of the US.

Leads are only sold to one buyer (possibly 2 or 3) - Leads would not be sold over and over. This makes the lead more valuable for me and the insurance agents, while keeping the customer's expectations in mind. This can also be presented before the user inputs their info, so they know what will happen.

I see agents complaining about internet leads, and I completely understand it. I think the entire model is a little deceptive, which turns the customer off from the beginning.

My business is about building trust, and throwing their personal information into the current lead selling system is not congruent with that. I am looking for an alternative, and figured this would be a good place to start looking.

Is doing something like this even possible? Are there any third parties that are interested more in quality rather than quantity?

Love this idea. I've worked internet leads off and on for years. Most customers expect a quote on the screen after they submit their info. Immediately I have to regain their trust in hopes to establish any credibility.

The problem you will inevitably face is finding agencies that can handle the diversity of your referrals. Most agencies only represent 1 or 2 states and the process of obtaining licenses and appointments in multiple states is both time consuming and expensive to establish and maintain. The agency I work for is relatively large and based in the Dallas area. We are licensed in just over 30 states and while we have a slew of appointments locally, most other states are limited to 2 or 3 carriers. Also, it's difficult for an agent to be educated on different coverage forms, coverage terms, tort coverage, and any other nuances among different states to adequately educate a client on their insurance needs in their respective area.

Your best bet would be to establish leads by state. I would assume this process could be easily automated to make it less time consuming for you. I personally would love to purchase the type of lead you could offer for the Texas market.

 

[Eric_S]

Love this idea. I've worked internet leads off and on for years. Most customers expect a quote on the screen after they submit their info. Immediately I have to regain their trust in hopes to establish any credibility. The problem you will inevitably face is finding agencies that can handle the diversity of your referrals. Most agencies only represent 1 or 2 states and the process of obtaining licenses and appointments in multiple states is both time consuming and expensive to establish and maintain. The agency I work for is relatively large and based in the Dallas area. We are licensed in just over 30 states and while we have a slew of appointments locally, most other states are limited to 2 or 3 carriers. Also, it's difficult for an agent to be educated on different coverage forms, coverage terms, tort coverage, and any other nuances among different states to adequately educate a client on their insurance needs in their respective area. Your best bet would be to establish leads by state. I would assume this process could be easily automated to make it less time consuming for you. I personally would love to purchase the type of lead you could offer for the Texas market.

I'm having an issue with my original account (Jeffrey_S), so this is my new one. I am the OP.

The hurdles you mention have been my concerns for a while. That is why I haven't explored this possibility until now.

At this point in time, state-specific would be a nightmare to handle. Especially because overall volume probably wouldn't justify it. Not to mention there would be states that may only get one or two a month.

Ideally, I would want to work with a single company or small group of them. Direct communication would be great, and I could customize things like lead delivery to suit their needs. Rather than just dealing with whatever a lead system has in place.

I currently have leads for auto, home, life, health, and business. I would like to try with life first, as it is currently the most under-monetized for me. I'm looking at between 100 and 200 life leads a month, so it is not high volume. However, the quality is high and they would be exclusive. Not to mention, if it works, I could potentially unload auto, home, health, and business leads to the company or companies.

The state licensing requirements seem to be the big hurdle here.