Midyear-2008 Lead Company Update

[indmedins]

I'm glad that some of you guys don't run a retail store.... I'd hate to be one of those "just looking" ..... who'd you complain to then?

Smart Signature NHS

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'm glad that some of you guys don't run a retail store.... I'd hate to be one of those "just looking" ..... who'd you complain to then?

And we present an insurance agent running a retail clothing store:

owner: "wait....where are you going?"

customer: "ummmm, I'm leaving the store"

owner: "but you spent 30 minutes in here trying on several outfits"

cutomer: "okay, aaaaand?

owner: "did you come in from the sale ad I put in the paper"

customer: "sure, but I was just shopping around, bye."




owner: "hello, ad company?"

ad company: "yes?"

owner: "we have a problem, I ran a $3,000 ad with you last week."

ad company: "and?"

owner: "well a whole bunch of people came in who didn't buy anything which means you did something wrong with the ad. On my math 500 people came in and only 55 bought something so we need to work out how I'm going to get money back from the other people who didn't buy."

ad company: "are you on any type of medication?"

owner: "No but you advised me that the best ad to run was this huge "50% OFF WEEKEND BLOW OUT SALE" ad but small print that only certain items were half off."

ad company: "yes, ads are designed to drive the most traffic to your store"

owner: "well upon looking at it that was deceptive. I think our next ad should be "POSSIBLY 50% OFF BUT IT REALLY DEPENDS SO CALL BEFORE YOU COME IN." And any suggestion on how we design an ad so the only people who come buy something?

 

[dmiller90]

Please speak for yourself, not for me. I don't really care about health quotes, but auto and homeowners are the real money (for me). Please don't generalize for everyone.

Dan

If you read the entire Thread, it was directed around Health Insurance Leads, Then MR. HTQ jumped in, and I proved they are Targeting P&C. I am glad he could put a spin on it.

 

[dmiller90]

Nice.

The original Thread, untill you jumped in, was Mid Year 2008 Company Update, and it was discussing HEALTH LEADS by CHUMPS. (Which you never answered his question about the E-Health Link, I dont think E-Health competes with P&C.

So dont put a spin on it, No one was discussing P&C leads, but once I pointed out your Major Keywords, then you switched to P&C. The thread was discussing HEALTH LEADS, maybe you need to read the full Post.

 

[bill3173]

If you want to work leads you need a pipeline. Far too many agents cancel before or at the 20 lead mark. You need far more than that before you start writing consistent business.

Even the worst sources provide a return on investment. You can close 1 out of 30 at $7 and still net a decent profit.

The issue becomes agents on a budget receive low volume - 5 or less leads a day then go crazy to "close" the few leads they're receiving. Then everything sucks - the leads suck, this business sucks, etc...

Sad to say but this is a business you're running. Without at least $300 per week (BARE minimum) at a six week time frame before commissions start coming in (and that's with advances) you're either cold calling or you're out of the business.

I agree with your opening statements, patience, volume, roi, but going out of business on 5 leads a day, I have trouble comprehending. If you take 5 leads per day, and really work them, you can place 15% of them in health and you will sell some ancillary health products as well and life. 5 leads per day will get you into $100K+ range fairly quickly.

When you make statements like that, I keep waiting for the sky to fall.

Another thing, that I don't get, is about the cold calling. I started out cold calling and it was a crappy way to work for me. I brought in $50K in fyc my first year in the biz doing it, and when I discovered the internet leads, didn't look back. The client base that I generated from the net is by far a better quality(professionals of all types) than anything I did cold calling. I still have most of my first customers and referrals from these people. There is no such thing as working only leads. You do that for a couple of years or so, and pretty soon you are talking to referrals 50% of the time.

 

[dmiller90]

I agree with your opening statements, patience, volume, roi, but going out of business on 5 leads a day, I have trouble comprehending. If you take 5 leads per day, and really work them, you can place 15% of them in health and you will sell some ancillary health products as well and life. 5 leads per day will get you into $100K+ range fairly quickly.

When you make statements like that, I keep waiting for the sky to fall.

Another thing, that I don't get, is about the cold calling. I started out cold calling and it was a crappy way to work for me. I brought in $50K in fyc my first year in the biz doing it, and when I discovered the internet leads, didn't look back. The client base that I generated from the net is by far a better quality(professionals of all types) than anything I did cold calling. I still have most of my first customers and referrals from these people. There is no such thing as working only leads. You do that for a couple of years or so, and pretty soon you are talking to referrals 50% of the time.

Correct, 5 Solid Leads from a Solid Vendor, will produce many rewards, and like you said, Work the Leads, not just call twice and give up. Its a skill set, and Internet Leads are far better in my opinion, than any other lead source you could develop.

John knows the buisness, he was basically saying to the New individuals and not experienced with Internet Leads, they would need more than 5 a day to make it work, and I agree with that statement as well.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well that's qualify that - 5 leads per day works....eventually. ROI will still be there however you need to determine how much you need to make a living.

25 leads per week and say a new agent - even a skilled one submits 2 apps - possibly $1,200 for the week minus all expenses = not the pay most agents are looking for.

That said, when you're new, don't buy any leads until you have your product knowledge down. I talk to too many agents blanking on 30 leads who don't know the difference between Copay Select and Saver and can't tell me 2 things about HSAs.

It's like opening up a restaurant then learning to cook after customers start coming in.

 

[bill3173]

That said, when you're new, don't buy any leads until you have your product knowledge down. I talk to too many agents blanking on 30 leads who don't know the difference between Copay Select and Saver and can't tell me 2 things about HSAs.

It's like opening up a restaurant then learning to cook after customers start coming in.

Well yes, how true that is, and also true for any of us that use a company infrequently and don't keep up with their products. Yesterday, for the first time in several months, I wrote a BCBSSC app on an adult plan, the child only policies with them are great and that is what I have used them for in the past. So many things had changed, when the lady was asking me questions, I literally started laughing at myself for having to constantly refer to the new product guide. They had changed the co-pays on prescriptions, limits on certain items had changed, new items covered, etc. This is a company that I knew better than any at one point.

Anyway, she didn't care, and we got it done. I think that she liked the sound of my voice.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

It's like opening up a restaurant then learning to cook after customers start coming in.

Gordon Ramsey actually had an episode of a guy like this on his BBC show.

I think the guy was in Scotland. He was losing his pooper...

 

[indmedins]

It's like opening up a restaurant then learning to cook after customers start coming in.

This happened to me once. Never again.