Your Process for Internet Leads

[IEG12]

I sold NetQuote leads for years, and this is a process that led to a close percentage about double the industry average:

1) Call immediately. Leave message.
2) Send an immediate email introducing yourself (not necessarily a quote. If you do send a quote, however, definitely assume ALL discounts and get the quote as low as possible to peak interest).
3) In the first 72 hours, call three times a day, leaving a message once per day expressing that you really want to get in touch with them, because you consistently have the best deal in the area, but need just a little more information from them.
4) In the next 48 hours, call once or twice per day. Don't leave a message.
5) Do anything else to grab attention (snail mail, etc.) before moving on.

This approach may be a little aggressive for some agents, but I've found the key to a high close percentage is persistence. Are you going to anger some people with your calls? Naturally, there will be some that are annoyed. But there will also be others who are super busy and grateful that you kept following up (especially if you have a good offering).

You have to remember that THEY sought YOU for a quote. You need to give it to them. You need to assume that, until you talk to them, they are still looking, and thus you should call until you get a hold of them. The biggest key you've got to remember is that your chances of a sale increase significantly if you get the person on the phone. You'll close a lead every once in a while with an email, but the key is to talk to as many people as possible.

In this way, you'll close more deals leading to a happier you and a larger amount of people that got the deal they were looking for.

 

[Jack_Merton]

I think getting actual numbers to the prospect is a hugely important aspect of handling a lead. From a consumers perpective (I'm not an agent) I know when I've tried to get quotes from brokers in the past, I get a lot of calls very quickly (very annoying) but very few of them are actually willing to give hard figures up front. If I'm looking for the best deal, I want to quickly hear your quote.

 

[STIBROKER]

got a lead from Kansas yesterday which goes to David.....got this back from him....as much as I would like to think the only site they went to was mine but is not always the case....hahahahaha...

[FONT=&quot]This guy was not a happy grandpappy. I think I'm agent #386 to call him today, couldn't quite understand half of what he said over the yelling and screaming about being a pushy insurance agent. After calming him down a bit, turns out he has a policy to age 100 for $200/mo and wants to see if he can get something cheaper, wasn't sure if it was an old UL or a no-lapse. ING was right around $200/mo for a no-lapse UL so I sent him an illustration. That assumes he can qualify for P+ at age 77/78, not very likely. He told me that he will not accept any pushy sales pitch, does not want me to follow up, and if he is interested, will call me back. I'm not holding my breath on this one.[/FONT]

 

[Insurancedad]

Its really amazing how hard some of these internet leads are to ge a hold of.

 

[IEG12]

I think getting actual numbers to the prospect is a hugely important aspect of handling a lead. From a consumers perpective (I'm not an agent) I know when I've tried to get quotes from brokers in the past, I get a lot of calls very quickly (very annoying) but very few of them are actually willing to give hard figures up front. If I'm looking for the best deal, I want to quickly hear your quote.

Jack, yes that's true, but you have to also understand this from an agent's point of view:

1. Agents get in touch with probably half of the people who fill out these quotes. If they spent all this time quoting everyone before they call, they would waste their entire day and make no money at all. The initial call is to see if you are ready and willing to deal by picking up the phone and actually talking. Unfortunately with the lead process, this is the way it's going to be.

2. Agents aren't trying to compete solely on price. There's only going to be 1 company that's the cheapest (obviously), and it's pretty hard to always be the cheapest. With the phone calls, most agents are trying to build a rapport, talk a little, let you know that the agent is responsible/prompt/has great customer service/etc. Most agents want to defer the conversation AWAY from price and onto the benefits of the company (whatever they may be).

3. In my experience, the people you give hard numbers immediately over the phone or shoot immediately in an email never buy. The quote has been reduced purely to a cheapest-is-best game, which for agents is typically a losing battle.

I definitely understand where you are coming from, it would be nice to get hard numbers right off the bat. But with the current system and how much the leads cost, the close ratios just aren't good enough to sit back and quote every person and compete solely on price.

 

[Turz]

Call, text, email, mail, call, call, call, mail, call, email, call, call, call.

That's the process I have my agents follow

 

[OhioIA]

Call, text, email, mail, call, call, call, mail, call, email, call, call, call.

That's the process I have my agents follow

I never thought about texting. Do you have any luck with texting?

 

[adamhawley]

I think texting is a great idea, but careful about texting without permission. I'm not an expert, but I am naive enough about text to consumer marketing that it makes me nervous. Here's a quick read on the subject.

Spam: Unwanted Text Messages and Email | FCC.gov

 

[topinsur]

No one answered, how much do real-time home leads cost.

 

[Bob Klee]

No one answered, how much do real-time home leads cost.

For HometownQuotes.com: between $9-$17 bucks, depending on how highly filtered the lead is. We have a deal for Forum members who sign up. If you'd like to talk give me a call at my number below or email me.