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Let me ask you folks a question. How many long-lasting, professional relationships have you developed via a lead vs. a referral or networking opportunity?
Be honest.
I have three people on the books, who I got from free Sales Genie leads. They rarely return my calls. Only talk to me when something is wrong, and wouldn't give me a referral if their life depended on it.
In other words, it wasn't based on a relationship, therefore, it is not developed as one. No matter how hard I try.
The people I've met through networking, seminars, etc. send me referrals out of the blue, without warning sometimes. I've even had a few of them call from their office, on speakerphone, so the person I will be calling knows my voice, and will accept my call.
That hasn't happened with the leads...
Ask CPA's, Attorneys, Bankers, who their relationships have been with, and my guess is that "I got them from hiriing a telemarketer, or from a lead I bought" ain't gonna be the response.
Telemarketing leads are like lottery tickets, there will always be someone out there willing to take the dive, hoping that this time will be different.
This is an interesting post in that I believe you are at the TAIL-END of the trend of traditional insurance marketing.
In my humble opinion, the individual market is only the forefront taste-test for how much of the smaller end insurance market will be handled in the future. We have commododized (sp) it to the point where it is largely transactional (as you prove in your comment about calling on small businesses... no one wants to do it.... WHY, because it's not worth the ROI for agencies, but certainly can be for an individual working from home).
I have a strong sense that small group is next as you'll see with all the major lead players rolling out templates for this (QuotIt already rolled theirs out in Calif).
In one sense, you've got to look at this purely from the $$$$ angle. If I can make $140k-$180k for churning through $19 leads and returning me $240..... I think you might be on to something.
((((((( Don't bother with comebacks about people in this biz don't make that kind of money.... that's chump change to some of the big hitters in the individual marketplace.... and a couple of them right here in Atlanta))))))))
So I guess what I'm trying to convey is that the "relationship" side of this business will ALWAYS be present, but the ground floor of where that takes place is moving up and the individual and small group business is now largely transactional and I suspect will not be heading the other way anytime soon.
Does that make any sense?
