My Experience with Hometown Quotes

[vandiar]

I have been trying to get in touch with Paul for about over week now about my account. What is going on with him? I just started working with you guys about a month ago and so far I am not impressed.

First of all, you guys do not credit leads that already have insurance with the company I work for. We do not solicit business from other agents in this company and I am pretty sure it is like that with other companies as well.
I talked to Paul about this particular lead about two weeks ago and I was under the impression he would reverse the denial but he never did.

The second issue I encountered is when I tried to send a lead back because she didn't match the filters set and it was DENIED! The lead states she has had continuous coverage for over a year but when I talked to her she had never been insured before. This makes her ineligible.

The third issue I have had involves a lead who told me they was "aight" and didn't want a quote when I called them. This was DENIED.

Finally, you guys do not have a credit policy for the all too often "never answer the phone lead". It just doesn't exist, period.

Here is my thing with leads. I do not mind paying for a lead if the lead allows us to quote them. That is the problem with internet lead vendors. The product they sell doesn't match the price tag they ask for them.

 

[Bob Klee]

I have been trying to get in touch with Paul for about over week now about my account. What is going on with him? I just started working with you guys about a month ago and so far I am not impressed.

First of all, you guys do not credit leads that already have insurance with the company I work for. We do not solicit business from other agents in this company and I am pretty sure it is like that with other companies as well.
I talked to Paul about this particular lead about two weeks ago and I was under the impression he would reverse the denial but he never did.

The second issue I encountered is when I tried to send a lead back because she didn't match the filters set and it was DENIED! The lead states she has had continuous coverage for over a year but when I talked to her she had never been insured before. This makes her ineligible.

The third issue I have had involves a lead who told me they was "aight" and didn't want a quote when I called them. This was DENIED.

Finally, you guys do not have a credit policy for the all too often "never answer the phone lead". It just doesn't exist, period.

Here is my thing with leads. I do not mind paying for a lead if the lead allows us to quote them. That is the problem with internet lead vendors. The product they sell doesn't match the price tag they ask for them.

Hello Vandier,
Did you call or email Paul? If you'll PM me, I can track date/time you called & get on Paul for not doing his job as not returning calls is unacceptable! Also include your email so I can track any he has not responded to.

We rarely give credit just because someone does not answer their phone. These days when everyone has caller ID, they get to choose if they'll answer their phone or not. The agent needs to be creative! Call from your cell phone so it has "Vandier" instead of ABC Insurance. Leave a Great VMail message, not: hello, this is Bob, uhh, I see, uhh you were looking on the internet somewhere for, uhh, auto insurance. Uhh, if you'd like to talk to me, please call me at 555.123.4567.
No one will ever return that call!

Have a drip email campaign the moment the lead comes into your in box. Tell them about you, your agency, why they should do business with you. If you don't have a program like ToutApp.com, then get ToutAppp!

We do give credit if lead does not meet your filters but we can't help it if a customer says they have "gold" credit because they just bought a home yet they filed bankruptcy 3 years ago.

Again, please PM/email me with your contact info & I'll get Paul if not his manager, to follow up with you ASAP & also find out why he dropped the ball in getting back with you.

Thank you,

 

[vandiar]

Hello Vandier,
Did you call or email Paul? If you'll PM me, I can track date/time you called & get on Paul for not doing his job as not returning calls is unacceptable! Also include your email so I can track any he has not responded to.

We rarely give credit just because someone does not answer their phone. These days when everyone has caller ID, they get to choose if they'll answer their phone or not. The agent needs to be creative! Call from your cell phone so it has "Vandier" instead of ABC Insurance. Leave a Great VMail message, not: hello, this is Bob, uhh, I see, uhh you were looking on the internet somewhere for, uhh, auto insurance. Uhh, if you'd like to talk to me, please call me at 555.123.4567.
No one will ever return that call!

Have a drip email campaign the moment the lead comes into your in box. Tell them about you, your agency, why they should do business with you. If you don't have a program like ToutApp.com, then get ToutAppp!

We do give credit if lead does not meet your filters but we can't help it if a customer says they have "gold" credit because they just bought a home yet they filed bankruptcy 3 years ago.

Again, please PM/email me with your contact info & I'll get Paul if not his manager, to follow up with you ASAP & also find out why he dropped the ball in getting back with you.

Thank you,

Here is the thing though. I am, as well as others I'm sure, under the impression that if we are to pay $7 - $12 dollars for a single lead that they should be leads that are really interested in getting quotes. If I wanted to get creative with numbers as you suggested I would buy 300 leads from the company for $50.

The same thing applies to someone who tells me they don't have insurance yet when I look at the lead details it shows they have had continuous coverage for x number of years. This information is easily verifiable if the lead source would just contact the lead. It is a hard pill to swallow when you consider how much you paid for the lead.

I know I am personally very dilligent at working leads from internet lead vendors. I give specific details about a lead that I am sending back for credit. If I call them and they say they already have insurance with my company, that should be a legitimate reason to credit a lead. Especially considering the lead vendor can just flip the lead to another company not associated with the one in question.

Furthermore, If I contact a lead that explicitly tells me they do not want an insurance quote then they obviously clicked on the wrong button somewhere or submitted the wrong form. Whatever the case may be it is almost as if we are gambling our money in an effort to find new business. These are some of the reasons internet lead vendors have such a bad reputation, especially when they claim to filter and verify these leads.

In my experience, QW have been the best in this regard. I have NEVER had a problem crediting leads to QW. I have one person who I work with and at the end of the month I generate a list of returns and he has them completed by the end of the month. As far as actually getting in touch with people who are really interested in getting quotes, UE is the best IMO. 9 out of the past 10 leads I have contacted from them seemed like they were literally waiting on my phone call.

Thank you for the advice on the drip campaign! I will send you more information via message.

 

[Bob Klee]

Thank you for the advice on the drip campaign! I will send you more information via message.

Hello again Vandier,
You are proof that "mileage may vary" depending on the driver. Do everyone a favor & report the rankings you get from your carrier of the approved lead vendors. You know we rank above QW by quite a bit typically. And that report is of several thousands of agents working leads isn't it. So the majority of agents are more successful with our leads than your preferred vendor. Like I said, mileage may vary depending on the driver.....

But I do know the folks at QW & think they do a good job....just different strokes for different folks. That is okay & I'm glad they are working for you. Personally, the metric I'd like to see you report is your Cost Per Policy [CPP] by vendor, not the liberal or not return policy as the bottom line is: did you make money?

Say you buy 50 net leads [after returns] from Vendor A at $13/lead = $650 spend. Let's also say you close 14% of them up front = 7 Policies/households. [assume multi-line household, not stand alone auto] & that your average Annual premium is $2,000. 7 x $2,000 = $14,000 Premium. 10% commission = $1,400. Your CPP is $650/7= $92.86 Your Avg commission is $140. You made money on the first year! Of course a good businessman would track this by all sources & track retention to boot to see the long term effects of each type of marketing he does.

Vendor B: 50 net leads at $9 lead = $450. Sounds like a great deal! But say these leads close at 8% so = 4 Policies, same details as above. CPP = $450/4 = $112.50.

Which lead vendor is better in your opinion? Thus why there are many variables one needs to measure a lead vendor by, not just if they accept your return or not.

It was great to have time to talk with you today. I hope the tools & methods I shared with you help you close more deals, no matter what lead vendor you choose.

Please tell me & the readers. Has QW given you advice/assistance like I did when we talked today?

I suspect not as they aren't insurance guys & most of their folks have never worked a lead in their lives. FYI:your new RDirector is awesome! He used to work at the insurance call center in Knoxville, TN for Inslogic, later bought by Capital One & then Answer Financial. He knows how to work leads as do ALL of my Regional Directors as they've all been agents or worked in agencies. They, like me, are happy to share best practices from both personal experience & from agents that have shared with us.

All the best to you in your sales career with the agent you are working for. Sell some policies & report back how well you are doing.

 

[Norwayguy]

Anyone notice he complains leads do not answer the phone but say the lead vendor should call the lead and confirm the info....You know the info the lead already selected.

It would blow his mind to work direct mail leads...I never sent me that in, is this your signature.. yes it is but I never sent that in.

 

[somarco]

Drip email works when properly implemented. In some cases people who never answered their phone, or even gave a bum phone number, later contacted me and bought.

 

[Bob Klee]

Drip email works when properly implemented. In some cases people who never answered their phone, or even gave a bum phone number, later contacted me and bought.

100% Correct, even now more so than a few years ago!
Best practices today: 5 emails in the first 10 days. Experiment with a personal subject line: Bob: We are working on your Homeowners Quote
Body:
Hi Bob,
I'm glad you found our website. I will be sending you your personalized home quote within 24 hours. Meanwhile if you would like to chat about this, please give me a call at: 615.222.2222.

Thank you for giving me a chance to earn your business.

Bob
+++
The beauty of having an application like ToutApp.com is one can measure the metrics. Plus they have lots of data they share as to what works or not for successful drip email campaigns.
Regardless, as Somarco says....you have to do more than just call.

 

[VolAgent]

Reading this, the Vandiar's expectations are way out of line with reality. You aren't going to get someone waiting by their phone for your call for a $7 to $22 lead. It just isn't going to happen at that price point.

Of what you want credits for, about the only one I can maybe see is the woman who said she doesn't have insurance. Although if she had marked yes on the quote form, that really isn't HTQ's fault. As far as having coverage with your company or not answering the phone, that is just part of buying leads. Maybe if there was a question and filter for who do you currently have coverage with, but that is about it.

Finally, prospects lie. If you haven't figured this out by now, you must not have been in insurance long. Sometimes they lie to get you off the phone, sometimes they have changed their mind, sometimes their phone has blown up and they are just pissed off at the world.

Focus on your profit and ROI. If you are profitable enough, that is all that matters. Who cares that some of the leads are crap, are you making enough off the good ones?

 

[somarco]

Bob, is ToutApp a new venture for you?

 

[LGilmore]

The only thing I wonder as the OP cites how great QW was, is why is he over at HTQs?

My experience with QW was one of frustration and too much time on the phone with them, not prospects.

I like HTQs because for the most part I don't have to call about things.

They are easy to work with, at least for me. I am paused right now as I am dealing with some serious health issues and hope to kick back in April or May, depending on how treatments go.

But Bob hit it right on the head, go with what works for you. That might mean HTQs or not.