Hometown Quotes Experience

[AgentProvocateur]

"The stuff I am seeing isn't coming into an affiliate for free. Someone, somewhere is being compensated for it. It isn't kids playing, it's willful and intentional. I can't think of any real reason someone would willfully and intentionally produce several fake leads for s hits and giggles. Can you? ​

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I know from working leads myself, this does happen. You occasionally get someone wondering what it costs to insure a dream car, or a vindictive person messing with their ex, or kids messing with their friends. These cases are infrequent.

More commonly, you will get people wanting rate information but not wanting to be solicited. They'll use a fake name, address, and phone number, and use a throwaway e-mail address. I worked a lot of netquote auto leads with bad phone numbers.

But if most of your leads have fake names & addresses, I'm sure you are correct in your suspicions. Are you sure the information is bad, or are you not getting a response?

 

[LGilmore]

AP, mine come in bunches usually from the same vendor when it occurs. For example the last eight which came around 3 am the last two days, all came from the same entity. Every one and every one is fake.

Names are real, addresses and phones most of the time. I get a ton of replies to my calls. Most have never submitted any life quote requests, but many have in the past two years, looked at other products that generate quotes but don't ask health information, so that section is a mess of guesswork and tells me someone is "refreshing" a quote request or "rebranding" the quote from auto or home to life.

I talk with most all of these credit requests. Others, you simply find conflicting information on the net. For example the one I just had from Kelso, WA. It turns out with a couple minutes search that Terry isn't a 65 year old man, but is actually a senior at Kelso HS class of 2012 and it was doubtful he was searching for any life quotes at 3:08 am.

I strongly doubt a HS senior has a big interest in ART and from his photos, he doesn't appear to match his described build.

A few years back I would agree with you about how people go about "testing" the system, but not so much now. Today it is organized chaos designed to generate revenue, not sh its and giggles. Heck even Lars Gilmo still gets calls and emails and I last used Lars 6-8 years ago, when testing a system. It seems there is still a market for a 7'10" 385 lb prospect from almost a decade ago.

If Bob says you're a good guy, that's good enough for me and I know you're trying to explain, but honestly, there aren't that many screwing arounds anymore as most don't make it through the parameters anymore and into the agents email account as a lead. I never see "SLIM JIM" anymore as a quote request, and very few if any come in the afternoon after HS has let out. A few years back you wanted to simply turn off your leads between 3:30 and 4:30 as your bored school kids would flood the market with goofy stuff. I'm starting to miss those days. I'd love to see another prince albert.
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have to share this one from 4:23 am this morning.

The lead is a 41 year old according to the quote. The name and address match up fine. The problem? Well her mother died recently, in fact on 2/26/2011 Amber's mother died. Her mother was 40. Talk about your kids having sex waay too early.

 

[AgentProvocateur]

I'm not an apologist for affiliate marketing. I was just relating my own experience with fake leads. I imagine there would be less impulse for fake life leads than my experience with the occasional fake auto leads.

Bob may solve these problems for you when he rolls out his GQ program for HTQ life leads.

As long as fake leads are profitable for lead companies and affiliates, it will continue. If you really want to stop it, it's going to take legal &/or government action. If companies are re-purposing home & auto leads as life leads, they are violating the DNC laws for any phone number on the DNC list. Stopping the practice would require organization, & a lot of work & time to see if a class action lawsuit is possible, or to light a fire under government to take action.

Agents could vote with their pocket book, and not work with companies providing lots of bad leads. But there is always a steady flow of new agents trying to find a way to make it in this business, or old agents willing to try out a new lead source.

Most agents won't drop a lead source creating a reasonable ROI, no matter how much most of the leads stink.

 

[somarco]

have to share this one from 4:23 am this morning.

The lead is a 41 year old according to the quote. The name and address match up fine. The problem? Well her mother died recently, in fact on 2/26/2011 Amber's mother died. Her mother was 40. Talk about your kids having sex waay too early.

You act like you have never had sex at 4:23 in the AM.

 

[LGilmore]

"Bob may solve these problems for you when he rolls out his GQ program for HTQ life leads. "

Kinda what I am hoping for at this point.

"Agents could vote with their pocket book, and not work with companies providing lots of bad leads."

That is why I wanted affiliates tracked. It doesn't make Bob any money if he's just giving it back to me "after" he's paid somebody to verify the fake. He hasn't set limits. I'm sticking with him because there isn't a better, and I do think he's a good guy, who realizes that if you take care of the agents the business takes care of itself. ​

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"You act like you have never had sex at 4:23 in the AM. "

But I've also never had a child be a year older than her birth mother....


Read more: Hometown Quotes Experience - Page 5​

 

[Bob Klee]

You act like you have never had sex at 4:23 in the AM.

ROFL!!

I have to say more or I can't post:(

 

[rJohnson9]

I have voted with my money and heavily rewarded companies that deliver consistant results. At the same time I am sure there are 100's of new agents getting new accounts with the companies that consistantly sell and resell the "bad leads" every day.

Agents could vote with their pocket book, and not work with companies providing lots of bad leads. But there is always a steady flow of new agents trying to find a way to make it in this business, or old agents willing to try out a new lead source.
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[Bob Klee]

I would not normally identify an affiliate of mine, but he posted here first. I'm sure others will contact him now to try to take him away from Hometown....:(

We obviously track affiliate's by return rates/credits we give to agents. We will see what happens.

 

[VolAgent]

As long as you hide the affiliates, it makes it easier for them to get away with that kind of crap.

 

[LGilmore]

Not saying publish the good ones. The crappy ones, let them be somebody else's gift to the industry for a while.