Hometown Quotes

[djs]

...I was literally sitting in front of my computer with phone in hand when the leads came in so I would be the first to call. I did indeed get in touch with many people, but they all seemed puzzled about why I was calling and said they hadn't asked for any quotes. Some were even in their cars on their cell phones, which seemed odd since they supposedly had just asked for a quote seconds earlier. Another said he hadn't even been online in days.

I am aware that some people may just not want to speak with anybody, but this all just seemed odd. Another thing that seemed strange was that several of the leads were apparently requesting 1 year renewable term policies. Obviously this is a very un-common request. .....

Welcome to the world of internet leads! They used to work the way you think they do now, and they should work the way you think they do, but a large number of them don't.

The 1 Yr ART was probably a default selection that was first in a list, so if nothing was selected, as it went through one of the many processes, it picks up a default rather than coming through blank. Get used to these and try to figure out what these defaults are, so when you see them, you know the client probably didn't ask for it (and it will raise a yellow flag that it might a bogus affiliate lead).

There should be a book on how 'real-time' leads are sold. Your definition of realtime and the 'systems' definition of realtime may not be the same thing. Even on a good day, you could end up with a lead several hours after it is generated. Not sure why sometimes it takes so long, but it does. I do auto leads and get frustrated when I call someone 10 minutes of getting the lead and they say they bought yesterday. Huh? Why did I get the lead?

Of course, there should be a definition from the lead provider what realtime means. I doubt they hold the lead at all, but them getting the lead might be a bit of a slowdown.

Dan

 

[BenS]

Thanks Ben.

Yes, we turned off the source of the 1 YLT policies. They are indeed rare requests. Others too.
I'm sure you'll see better leads in the next 2 weeks. I just got back from an industry trade show & have a few new excellent sources of leads that I'm confident will be good for you & others.

Volume will be low to start, but will increase over time. Please let me know how things look in a couple of weeks.

Thank you,

Thanks Bob,

Sounds great Bob. I'll take the slower volume if it means better quality. I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

 

[Bob Klee]

Good analysis Dan.

For HometownQuotes.com...real time is real time. If not, someone is not abiding by the agreement they signed with us.

For affiliates: we do not allow "defaults" for what type of Life Insurance one wants. In Ben's case: Fake leads being filled out and submitted. We turned the source off already.

?: We have a potential lead provider that produces real time PPC/SEO leads. The problem is, fewer people want to buy leads from 7pm to 7am. He wants to send us leads as "real time" that come in during those times first thing in the morning. I've said no way but at the same time...they are not bogus leads. He turns off PPC campaign yet leads still come in of course.

What do you all think?

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

only agents who are idiots or ill informed would turn down leads that arent being hammered to death.

 

[Guest]

who doesnt want a lead that has been recycled 12 times?

 

[Norwayguy]

Okay I jumped over some pages... Here is why I don't work internet leads and vendors who complain about affiliates are full of ****... I worked shared leads and shared leads only... I requested and got credit for many bogus leads I requested....But I know some slipped through the system....Want to know what NEVER happened....I never got and email or credit I had not requested....Meaning when another agent caught and was credited with a bogus lead the vendor didn't credit the other agents. They kept the money even though they now knew and agreed the lead was bogus.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

That is a money post.

 

[BenS]

I tried internet leads for about 2 seconds... Not for me. I'll slave away for years trying to generate leads from my new website before I go back to that.

 

[Bob Klee]

Interesting comments & helpful for sure.

Let's take a different path here & chase a rabbit for a bit
Let's take the ideas/complaints here & build a lead company from scratch. The corporate "you" does not like the Rules the companies are playing by now so, let's throw the "rule book" away & build a hypothetical one.
The goal: to provide Quality leads to agents so they can take care of the consumer...thus providing a profit to support both the agency & their families.

How would you design this company? What rules would you apply. What are the Good things about any company you use now? What are the "bad" things that if you were King, you would change.

 

[russelltw]

i thought of a system:
1 - verified bad leads are credited for every agent
2 - agents have ability to mark lead as "sold", when this happens, that lead is not credited for anyone else.
3 - when a lead was sold, the selling agent could be a % off their next lead(s) (25% off) to encourage actual reporting of sales and not sandbagging. Maybe even knowing who is competing against you for the leads you are buying would be interesting. Possibly having a quality control measure: lead company calls some leads that were not sold to check if a policy was placed and by who.
4 - Price wise, I would not mind paying more for leads, I hate getting in touch with leads 2-3 weeks after only to find out it's a bad lead and I can't return it. I feel like I have been robbed.

Not sure how these would work in real world, but just simple brain storming. Interested in what others think.