Wait a minute now! think about what your saying. If word got around that people could be prosecuted for putting info on to websites. The people you want to put their info down will be too scared too. This would be a good way to kill the internet lead business.
My Internet Leads Experience
- Thread starter ninetythree
- Start date
Wait a minute now! think about what your saying. If word got around that people could be prosecuted for putting info on to websites. The people you want to put their info down will be too scared too. This would be a good way to kill the internet lead business.
If 100's of leads were coming from the same IP address, it would be a red flag. However, all they would have to do it have some software to mask the IP and they could buy pass it.
I would rather the leads companies put in their own false leads and track where the "lead" is sold by the responses they get. If I bought a lead from XYZ and called it only to find out it was AWL (doing quality control) wanting to know how I got the data, I would be happy to let them know where I bought it. If it helps clear out this crap, I am fine with it.
I would try to reverse engineer how my old leads went online. Now I am finding the affiliates/vendors are telemarketing people and entering in their data in lead form, which is not someone looking for a quote!
I have seen a guy turn on his power to a house he rents, only to have my buddy (who owns said property and buys leads) get a lead for a new homeowners quote from his tenant. Hard for tenant to submit a lead when he does not have a computer or his phone hooked up. The only way we could figure it out was that the tenant turned on his power and someone at the power company was using that data to submit as leads (example of a shady affiliate)...
I used to occassionally put in leads (obviously fake ones) to see what systems my competitors were using, but I soon learned what the lead vendors/affiliates were doing (selling data all over the place).
I would rather the leads companies put in their own false leads and track where the "lead" is sold by the responses they get. If I bought a lead from XYZ and called it only to find out it was AWL (doing quality control) wanting to know how I got the data, I would be happy to let them know where I bought it. If it helps clear out this crap, I am fine with it.
I would try to reverse engineer how my old leads went online. Now I am finding the affiliates/vendors are telemarketing people and entering in their data in lead form, which is not someone looking for a quote!
I have seen a guy turn on his power to a house he rents, only to have my buddy (who owns said property and buys leads) get a lead for a new homeowners quote from his tenant. Hard for tenant to submit a lead when he does not have a computer or his phone hooked up. The only way we could figure it out was that the tenant turned on his power and someone at the power company was using that data to submit as leads (example of a shady affiliate)...
I used to occassionally put in leads (obviously fake ones) to see what systems my competitors were using, but I soon learned what the lead vendors/affiliates were doing (selling data all over the place).
Leads companies do this, "seed" the leads with false leads pointing to themselves so they can track the share tree.
The problem is 1) it's hard to know who did the reselling, and 2) it's hard to get them to admit it, even when you know, and 3) lots of times they will say "it's MY LEAD to do whatever I want with it!!" even though of course they have signed a document agreeing not to resell. It's a hard, hard decision to prosecute. I haven't heard of it done, but maybe someone has done this? Would be interesting to hear, if someone knows of a case.
joe92275
Super Genius
- 165
Bottom line is unless the lead company is harvesting their own data, search engine driven, email responders, telemarketed etc ALL INTERNET LEADS are resold by someone: either the publisher who generates the lead and sells it to companies like AWB and Prospect or the retailer is reselling their data. It is one or the other. They are being resold either before or after they come to you. The aged internet lead business is BIG BUSINESS as major size call rooms depend on them to keep their acquisition cost really low.
Think about it logically, when was the last time you called an internet lead and the prospect said "wow, I was waiting for you, I was worried no one would contact me!".....no, they say "I have been getting phone calls all day long from many different people".......
The key is to learn to work an internet lead. Bottom line, it is all about getting someone on the phone. Having sophisticated dialing software, drip email marketing system in place and a sound and driven marketing plan will lead to sales, no doubt.
I feel really bad for the door knockers, because they are the ones who lose in the internet lead game. I have closed so many deals over the phone where my competition was the "local guy".....
When I would order let's say 50 real time internet leads a day and have to return 10 of them for disconnected phone numbers, not wrong numbers, legitimate disconnects, I have to wonder what the probability was that 10 of 50 people, spread out over the country, filled out a long internet lead form, and managed to put in a phone number and it just so happens out of thin air they picked a disconnected number.....and i got 10 of them that day (and every day) really? I know I was born at night, but it just wasn't last night....
My message today: call your internet leads 12 times in the 1st 48 hours and watch your sales grow.
Think about it logically, when was the last time you called an internet lead and the prospect said "wow, I was waiting for you, I was worried no one would contact me!".....no, they say "I have been getting phone calls all day long from many different people".......
The key is to learn to work an internet lead. Bottom line, it is all about getting someone on the phone. Having sophisticated dialing software, drip email marketing system in place and a sound and driven marketing plan will lead to sales, no doubt.
I feel really bad for the door knockers, because they are the ones who lose in the internet lead game. I have closed so many deals over the phone where my competition was the "local guy".....
When I would order let's say 50 real time internet leads a day and have to return 10 of them for disconnected phone numbers, not wrong numbers, legitimate disconnects, I have to wonder what the probability was that 10 of 50 people, spread out over the country, filled out a long internet lead form, and managed to put in a phone number and it just so happens out of thin air they picked a disconnected number.....and i got 10 of them that day (and every day) really? I know I was born at night, but it just wasn't last night....
My message today: call your internet leads 12 times in the 1st 48 hours and watch your sales grow.
mediorg
New Member
- 17
I had the same issue with Insure Me - it was a joke. I can't believe those guys are actually in business. Completely unprofessional and the leads were awful - plus they didn't credit any of my leads whatsoever. Insure Me for the fail. 
- 153
Love to read about everyones experiences with "lead" generation companies. The good, the bad and everything in between. Mostly bad though. Good thing I have the solution coming soon stay tuned........
You could always make your own website, market it, provide support for it, perform upkeep on it, contract with affiliates, keep staff to handle accounts, and recuit people to your lead generator. Or you could maybe have to pay for some bad info every now and again.
I know it sucks but look at the other option..
I know it sucks but look at the other option..
- 9,744
I'm sure you do Audrey. What is your expertise and background to give you credibility? What is it that you guys do different?
IliaAlpharetta
New Member
- 10
To add my 2 cents, I am a relatively new agent (health and life), and my company set me up with a leads system. here are the rough prices per lead:
internet uninsurable non-exclusive ~ $4
internet uninsurable exclusive ~ $9
internet non-exclusive ~ $10
internet exclusive ~ $20
telemarketing exclusive ~ $18
Like most agents, at first, I bought a bunch of non-exclusive internet leads. Most of the time, they would not pick up, and when they did, they would either already have bought insurance, and wanted nothing else to hear about it, or they would pick up the phone and yell something like, "stop calling me". So then I bought a few exclusive internet leads, I never actually got to them because the # was either disconnected or they wouldn't pick up. After all of that, I gave up on leads in general but then I talked to an agent at the office who used telemarketing leads with great success. So naturally, I decided to try them, and so far, (2 weeks), I have set appointments with half of them. Even though I did have one guy who insisted on not being interested and got in a shouting match with me. I still got a good ROI (so far), because half of the people who request information from a telemarketer are either genuinely interested, and the other half lacks the guts to just hang up and therefore pretend to be interested. Plus, can be 99% sure that the information (at least the phone #) is correct, and that the lead will pick up.
As far as internet leads go, they are a waste (in my short experience). One just has to look at how lead companies obtain those leads. Before I got into insurance I did web deign and internet marketing (affiliate programs). most (if not all) lead companies offer affiliate programs where they pay webmasters for each lead generated through their ad. Often webmasters use shady tactics to get people to fill out those lead forms, so that they can get paid. I am sure everybody here has had enough of those "CLAIM YOUR FREE IPAD" spams to last them a lifetime. If you click on one of those ads, you will be made to fill out 20 or so offers in order to claim that iPad (so that the webmaster can collect enough commission to cover the cost of the iPad and then some). One of those offers, usually involves requesting info about insurance. But the guy is there to get an iPad which he thinks is free, he could care less about insurance, so he puts bogus info there. After which, the lead generation company turns it into an exclusive lead, which some poor agent buys for $20. Because of all of this, I would rather canvas neighborhoods than buy an internet lead again.
internet uninsurable non-exclusive ~ $4
internet uninsurable exclusive ~ $9
internet non-exclusive ~ $10
internet exclusive ~ $20
telemarketing exclusive ~ $18
Like most agents, at first, I bought a bunch of non-exclusive internet leads. Most of the time, they would not pick up, and when they did, they would either already have bought insurance, and wanted nothing else to hear about it, or they would pick up the phone and yell something like, "stop calling me". So then I bought a few exclusive internet leads, I never actually got to them because the # was either disconnected or they wouldn't pick up. After all of that, I gave up on leads in general but then I talked to an agent at the office who used telemarketing leads with great success. So naturally, I decided to try them, and so far, (2 weeks), I have set appointments with half of them. Even though I did have one guy who insisted on not being interested and got in a shouting match with me. I still got a good ROI (so far), because half of the people who request information from a telemarketer are either genuinely interested, and the other half lacks the guts to just hang up and therefore pretend to be interested. Plus, can be 99% sure that the information (at least the phone #) is correct, and that the lead will pick up.
As far as internet leads go, they are a waste (in my short experience). One just has to look at how lead companies obtain those leads. Before I got into insurance I did web deign and internet marketing (affiliate programs). most (if not all) lead companies offer affiliate programs where they pay webmasters for each lead generated through their ad. Often webmasters use shady tactics to get people to fill out those lead forms, so that they can get paid. I am sure everybody here has had enough of those "CLAIM YOUR FREE IPAD" spams to last them a lifetime. If you click on one of those ads, you will be made to fill out 20 or so offers in order to claim that iPad (so that the webmaster can collect enough commission to cover the cost of the iPad and then some). One of those offers, usually involves requesting info about insurance. But the guy is there to get an iPad which he thinks is free, he could care less about insurance, so he puts bogus info there. After which, the lead generation company turns it into an exclusive lead, which some poor agent buys for $20. Because of all of this, I would rather canvas neighborhoods than buy an internet lead again.
- 9,744
Please share your lead gathering site(s) web addresses so we can have a look.
