Telemarketing companies NOT to work with....

[nate124]

..

 

[J.R.]

I've been trying out different companies here and there. I usually give them a shot for a month, and see how things go. I have yet to find even 1 that works even remotely well. I have started making my own calls again as John has suggested, and that is working better than hiring some clowns to try and do the job for me!

Anyways....

Stay away from Carisa Sanders Marketing!
Flash Intro Page

I tried them out because they had a "special" where you buy 20 hours, you get 20 free. It ended up being $14.00/hour which isn't too bad in my book. (They are normally $28/hour. Can you believe that?!) So, off they went.... we got a script generated, pulled a list, etc etc....

It's been almost a month, I've used up 45 hours, and they have generated a WHOPPING 9 leads. 9 leads in 45 freaking hours!

When I initially signed up, I figured if I got 20-30 solid leads out of the deal then I could get an ok return on it. Never did I think I would only get 9 freakin leads!

Luckily, it looks like I will close one for about $900 in my pocket. But, I won't be sticking with this company.... the woman who owns it is totally wacky too. She defends her employees, and basically tells her customers they are lying. I got an email from her one time that included 13 question marks in a row! Seriously... she's rude, unprofessional, etc etc.

I have one other company I am trying called Clear Choice, LLC. That isn't looking much better.... haha.

Oh well, back to telemarketing myself! I do it the best anyways!

I'd like to see the script you're using to generate the leads. 9 leads isn't nothing to shake your fist it, but it is still a 3:1 ratio, which is acceptable. If they are just getting leads for "interested people", then yes, the return is crap, but if they are providing highly-qualified leads (current premium, company, health conditions, etc.) sounds like a good way to bring in a few extra deals.

 

[nate124]

Agreed... but 9 leads at $560 = $62.00/lead.... and these are examples of some of the 9.... ( I changed/omited some contact info)

----------------------------------------------------
Company - Hypnosis Institute
Contact - Cheryl

Title - owner
phone - 555-555-5555
fax - declined to give
email - @hotmail.com
address - Mound Rd
city - Warren
state - MI
zip -
Current insurance company - 48092-3862
happy with the cost of the insurance - declined to answer
health issues - declined to answer
Age/Sex of everyone - declined to answer
Does anyone smoke - declined to answer
type of lead - send info and follow up
appt date - 07/27/07
appt time - between 10-12
------------------------------------------------

Company - Consulting Group
Contact - Mike

Title - owner
phone -

fax -

email -

address -

city - Ann Arbor
state - MI
zip - 48108-3324
Current insurance company - yes
happy with the cost of the insurance - yes
health issues - knee
Age/Sex of everyone - self, 63
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - send info and follow up
appt date - 08/02/07
appt time - 9 Am
notes - Spoke to Mike Cleland, and he requested info with premiums sent and a follow up call on 08/02/07 @ 9 AM.
----------------------------------------------------------


Company - Corp
Contact - Gladson

Title - Owner
phone -

fax -

email -

address -

city - Sterling Heights
state - MI
zip - 48313-1148
Current insurance company - Declined to specify, but does have one.
happy with the cost of the insurance - no
health issues - yes, declined to specfiy
Age/Sex of everyone - m-58, f-53, m-19
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - Phone apt
appt date - 07/25
appt time - 2 PM
notes - Spoke to Mr. Remos and set an appointment for 07/25 @ 2 PM.
---------------------------------------------------

Company - Apartment
Contact -

Title - Owner
phone -

fax -

email - not provided
address -

city - Ypsilanti
state - MI
zip - 48197-2407
Current insurance company - Care Choices
happy with the cost of the insurance - Not really
health issues - Yes, he did not want to say.
Age/Sex of everyone - 5 people ages: 37, 39, 30, 60, 58
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - Phone apt
appt date - July 24, 2007
appt time - 10:00am
notes - Mr. Barnes wants to speak with a representative to give the information about health issues and what they are paying for health care at this time. He said if Mazur Insurance can beat what they have right now, he maybe interested. He said they can't have PPO.
------------------------------------------------------


Are those leads worth $62 each?? I agree with you that if I ever found a company who would generate high quality leads, with health information and current insurance info, etc.... I would pay more for those leads. I can't find a company out there who will actually do it though!


Here is the script I am using with them.....



Good morning is_________ in?

Hi __________ this is ________ calling from Mazur Insurance. How are you today? Great!

________ The reason for my call is that we work with quite a few people in [your industry] to help them lower their health care costs. I wanted to talk with you briefly to see if we might be able to help you lower your costs by as much as 35%?

All I need to do is have you answer some questions for me and I’ll let you know if we can help you or not. If we can, I’ll have an agent contact you to set up a time to get you some more information. If we can’t, I’ll remove your name from our list so you are never contacted again. Is that fair enough? Great!

From there it's on to the health questions.....

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Malarkey. 9 leads in 45 hours is impossible. That's one lead every 5 hours of calling. I could sell a car over the phone if I called people for 5 hours straight.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Agreed... but 9 leads at $560 = $62.00/lead.... and these are examples of some of the 9.... ( I changed/omited some contact info)

----------------------------------------------------
Company - Hypnosis Institute
Contact - Cheryl

Title - owner
phone - 555-555-5555
fax - declined to give
email - @hotmail.com
address - Mound Rd
city - Warren
state - MI
zip -
Current insurance company - 48092-3862
happy with the cost of the insurance - declined to answer
health issues - declined to answer
Age/Sex of everyone - declined to answer
Does anyone smoke - declined to answer
type of lead - send info and follow up
appt date - 07/27/07
appt time - between 10-12
------------------------------------------------

Company - Consulting Group
Contact - Mike

Title - owner
phone -

fax -

email -

address -

city - Ann Arbor
state - MI
zip - 48108-3324
Current insurance company - yes
happy with the cost of the insurance - yes
health issues - knee
Age/Sex of everyone - self, 63
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - send info and follow up
appt date - 08/02/07
appt time - 9 Am
notes - Spoke to Mike Cleland, and he requested info with premiums sent and a follow up call on 08/02/07 @ 9 AM.
----------------------------------------------------------


Company - Corp
Contact - Gladson

Title - Owner
phone -

fax -

email -

address -

city - Sterling Heights
state - MI
zip - 48313-1148
Current insurance company - Declined to specify, but does have one.
happy with the cost of the insurance - no
health issues - yes, declined to specfiy
Age/Sex of everyone - m-58, f-53, m-19
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - Phone apt
appt date - 07/25
appt time - 2 PM
notes - Spoke to Mr. Remos and set an appointment for 07/25 @ 2 PM.
---------------------------------------------------

Company - Apartment
Contact -

Title - Owner
phone -

fax -

email - not provided
address -

city - Ypsilanti
state - MI
zip - 48197-2407
Current insurance company - Care Choices
happy with the cost of the insurance - Not really
health issues - Yes, he did not want to say.
Age/Sex of everyone - 5 people ages: 37, 39, 30, 60, 58
Does anyone smoke - no
type of lead - Phone apt
appt date - July 24, 2007
appt time - 10:00am
notes - Mr. Barnes wants to speak with a representative to give the information about health issues and what they are paying for health care at this time. He said if Mazur Insurance can beat what they have right now, he maybe interested. He said they can't have PPO.
------------------------------------------------------


Are those leads worth $62 each?? I agree with you that if I ever found a company who would generate high quality leads, with health information and current insurance info, etc.... I would pay more for those leads. I can't find a company out there who will actually do it though!


Here is the script I am using with them.....



Good morning is_________ in?

Hi __________ this is ________ calling from Mazur Insurance. How are you today? Great!

________ The reason for my call is that we work with quite a few people in [your industry] to help them lower their health care costs. I wanted to talk with you briefly to see if we might be able to help you lower your costs by as much as 35%?

All I need to do is have you answer some questions for me and I’ll let you know if we can help you or not. If we can, I’ll have an agent contact you to set up a time to get you some more information. If we can’t, I’ll remove your name from our list so you are never contacted again. Is that fair enough? Great!

From there it's on to the health questions.....

Just judging from that small snapshot those are NOT small business owners with under 10 employees.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I also saw that 9 in 45 and shuddered. Could it be 45 leads in 9 hours?

Nine in fourty-five is pretty hard to do.

 

[nate124]

If it was 45 in 9 hours, I'd be jumping for joy!!!

I have told this woman that I just plain don't understand how this is even possible.

I thought the same thing, John. I made it very clear when I had them pull the list what I wanted....Shouldn't have trusted them with that part, I guess!

The woman had the nerve to tell me that I'M rude... and also has blamed my script, the areas I'm having her call, etc etc etc. Everything but herself basically....

It's gotten to the point where it's amusing.

Anyways, thanks for posting... it's good to know that I have a right to be pissed off about this! haha.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Whatever records she's showing to prove they made 45 hours of calls are fabricated. I'd want the entire list they called so I could call behind them to verify. If they're dialing 50 numbers per hour it's impossible not to get 2 leads per hour. Impossible. The only way NOT to get 2 leads per hour is not to call.

In fact, I'll bet money that I could call for 45 hours and say "Hey, you don't want quotes for health insurance plans, do you?" and triple those results.

 

[nate124]

Funny.... I actually did that. She sent me a spreadsheet... what's interesting about this spreadsheet is that there are only 1302 total businesses on here.

I also asked her to send me log sheets of all the businesses that were called each day... how many hours were spent each day, etc etc.... She just sent over the spreadsheets.....Here is what I got:

Day 1: Hours charged: 4 Businesses called: 60
Day 2: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 82
Day 3: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 94
Day 4: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 63
Day 5: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 69
Day 6: Hours charged: 6 Businesses called: 65
Day 7: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 67
Day 8: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 57
Day 9: Hours charged: 5 Businesses called: 66

Honestly... now i'm even more pissed off than before!!! 57 calls in 5 hours?!?! Once again... if these were amazing leads, then fine... but they are the same leads that I can generate 2+ in every hour calling myself!

Un real how horrible some of these businesses are.... John, you are so right in saying that we should just do it ourselves!

 

[J.R.]

Agreed... but 9 leads at $560 = $62.00/lead.... and these are examples of some of the 9.... ( I changed/omited some contact info)

I see your point. I was under the impression that you only got charged for the 20 hours, since you said you get another 20 hrs. free. I'd definitely fire them and give them my thoughts. The leads are crap.