I talked to a guy from Insurance Lead Services, he said they will send out the customized letters to prospects for $690 for a 1000 with a 1-2% return. Anyone had success with these letters or know of any other companies that will do these cheaper? I am an independent agent.
Mailers for Homeowners
- Thread starter Zimbo1980
- Start date
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- homeowners
What state are you in?
If you are not in Florida I can send you a contact that I've been using. And let's just say that the mailer - if you know what you're doing - more than pays for the investment.
- Thread starter
- #3
I've done them, though I did the letters myself.
For me, I got about a 1% response rate, with a 75% close ratio on the responses. My actual out the door cost, including postage, ink, paper, envelopes, data, etc, was $0.49, give or take a half a cent.
To do a 1000, it would cost me $500. I did send them out standard mail.
Figure I would get about 10 responses (sometimes a bit better, sometimes worse), I'd sell 7. Total commissions would be around $750-$800. It was a lot of work for very little return. (This assumes about $100 commission per policy written, remembering that the way you are selling these are by saving them money, frequently with a high deductible).
Then, all of the foreclosures started to happen. My response rate went down and some of the business I wrote was going south. I quit sending the letters.
The trick to getting any response is controlling the list they are sent to. Some simple rules:
- Homeowners only
- List scrubbed against NCOA (National change of address). No sense sending it if they have moved.
- Ideally, people who have lived in their house 5 years or less. Longer than that, the response rate will diminish greatly.
- Middle class neighborhoods. Affluent will have a low response rate.
- If possible, married homeowners, in between 30-55.
- Houses only (skip townhomes, condos, mobile homes, etc).
- The mail piece has to be actionable, not just 'call me'. Mine were actual quotes based on public record data.
Dan
For me, I got about a 1% response rate, with a 75% close ratio on the responses. My actual out the door cost, including postage, ink, paper, envelopes, data, etc, was $0.49, give or take a half a cent.
To do a 1000, it would cost me $500. I did send them out standard mail.
Figure I would get about 10 responses (sometimes a bit better, sometimes worse), I'd sell 7. Total commissions would be around $750-$800. It was a lot of work for very little return. (This assumes about $100 commission per policy written, remembering that the way you are selling these are by saving them money, frequently with a high deductible).
Then, all of the foreclosures started to happen. My response rate went down and some of the business I wrote was going south. I quit sending the letters.
The trick to getting any response is controlling the list they are sent to. Some simple rules:
- Homeowners only
- List scrubbed against NCOA (National change of address). No sense sending it if they have moved.
- Ideally, people who have lived in their house 5 years or less. Longer than that, the response rate will diminish greatly.
- Middle class neighborhoods. Affluent will have a low response rate.
- If possible, married homeowners, in between 30-55.
- Houses only (skip townhomes, condos, mobile homes, etc).
- The mail piece has to be actionable, not just 'call me'. Mine were actual quotes based on public record data.
Dan
- 171
cold call..... tell them your a local agent, from some reason this always helps a lot.
avaloninsurance
Expert
- 64
You may be better off trying to establish a few good relationships with mortgage brokers and realtors. I have spent a majority of my time doing this with a cost of $$$ other than the time it took to network and have been very successful in getting referrals that close 90% of the time.
flsupraguy
Expert
- 26
I would at least give it a try, if it is anything near break even I would say its a go. Most things you have to try a few times and stick to what works.
- 166
It sounds like this company has spent some time testing and developing list criteria and ad copy. They may be able to deliver qualified prospects more efficiently than a mail shop attempting to sell to your market for the first time.
You could find many companies that might be cheaper as defined by in the mail costs. You might fare better by focusing on cost per responder - and response rates drive this number.
At $690 you can test the approach without going broke. If it works well enough, try a bigger test. If the bigger test works, roll out out a full blown campaign and pat yourself on the back for finding a sustainable new account acquisition process.
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- 603
If doing a mailer is not effective for you, here is an interesting thread where 669comche talks about he effectively uses internet generated health insurance leads for his P&C prospecting. He said he found the health leads more effective in getting P&C business than buying P&C leads to get P&C business. His comments on this can be found on this thread:
Internet Leads for P&C
Internet Leads for P&C
devonhackney
New Member
- 9
I like @djs tips. Very practical and so much more actionable!
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