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Here is today's latest message about NASB's fabulous lead system that is the greatest in the world: A Letter From The President Dear (Agent), December Leads: NASB World Headquarters has decided to only mail check leads for December and we want to make sure you understand the reason for this change. Over the past 3 years of mailing for leads, we have experienced the absolute worst return rates for the month of December versus the other months. If we allow Platinum lead orders for December, we would lose over $200,000. While the return rates for Platinum leads has decreased every month since June, October return rates have shown a slight increase over September. Thus, the decreasing return rate was most likely a result of the normal summer slowdown of leads. We are committed to mailing Platinum leads for January and we have a few minor changes that allow us to be confident that we will be able to maintain a strong return rate into next year. We truly value our agents and we are pleased to offer a discounted Check lead for the month of November and December. All Check leads ordered for the month of November and December will be $19. This is a $2 discount off the regular price of $21. There has been some some confusion regarding the previous email outlining the new lead pricing and new check lead type. Therefore, we are resending the information in a more structured format. In addition, we have provided a .pdf at the bottom of this message with answers to specific direct mail lead questions received from agents. October and November platinum lead orders have already been mailed and cannot be cancelled or reduced at this time. Effective Immediately: NASB is introducing a NEW LEAD TYPE: Check Leads will be available from now until November 1 for a sale price of $16 (this is a $5 discount off the regular $21 price). Check Lead example Agents will be allowed to order Check Leads on a one-time basis with the attached form. Check Leads ordered via the one-time form must be paid in advance. One-Time Check Lead Order Form There is no limit on the number of one-time orders an agent can place. Agents can place multiple one-time orders within a single month. They are charged ahead of time on normal charging days (Monday, Tuesday, or Friday). Checks will be distributed as they come in until the order is filled, which could take two weeks. Monthly orders are charged on the Friday the leads are received. Effective November 1: We will be raising the price of Platinum leads $1. Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Sales leads will also increase $1. The credit rules have been updated to reflect the price changes that will take place on November 1. Lead Order and Credit Rules Direct Mail Leads Q&A Direct Mail Leads: Questions from the Field (answers provided by NASB World Headquarters) What has happened recently with the current Platinum lead inventory? It has gotten really low recently in our state (we have always had an overabundance) and it is causing some concerns. We never intend to carry an overabundance of leads as we always try to keep our leads as fresh as possible. We plan to mail enough mail as possible to generate enough Platinum leads necessary to fulfill monthly lead orders. When we have a higher return rate than anticipated we end up with more leads than necessary which creates a higher inventory. This will be our 20th month using the current lead which means we have sent the same lead to the same people 5 times in our saturated areas. This has caused the lead returns to decrease every month over the last 4 months. Have we decreased our current Platinum lead piece mailings in anticipation of the new “check” lead piece? We have not changed Platinum lead order/mailing formulas as a result of the new Check lead program. We actually increase or decrease the amount of mail based on the previous month’s return rates. We keep the formula for Check leads and Platinum leads completely separate. What if agents don’t want to convert over to the new lead piece? Are we still as committed to mailing the old lead piece as long as the agent is willing to pay the additional cost? We are committed to creating a workable lead for our agents. We will remain committed to the Platinum lead as long as the return rates remain manageable. Right now I do not foresee having to cancel the Platinum lead. There is a price point that it is not profitable for us to mail Platinum leads and when we get close to that price point, we may require some changes in order to continue the Platinum lead. The price point is not a set $ amount per lead. It is based on a % of our profits that we can spend on leads. Right now we are over that price point which is why we had to raise the lead price by $1. To put it simply, we have not made a profit for the last 3 months because of very low return rates. It looks like October’s return rate is higher than August and September so we may be in a position where the Platinum lead remains as a viable long term lead solution. We may be required to stall the Platinum lead program for the month of December simply because of the horrible return rates we have experienced over the last 3 years of high volume mailing in December. The check lead remains a very viable lead solution and I am confident we will have plenty of leads for agents through the rest of the year and well into the future. If we don’t want to continue to mail the old lead piece as a company, is it possible for the agents to pay the full cost of that mailing if they so wish to have it mailed? I don’t see this as necessary considering the small increase in Platinum lead returns for October. If we get to the point in the future where NASB corporate is unwilling to mail for a lead type, it’s because the lead price would be well over a tolerable price for agents. I don’t see this as a viable or appealing option for agents. What direction do you see the DM lead program headed a year, 5 years, down the road? The traditional DM (Direct Mail) program has been around for over 20 years. The return rates with the same mailer tend to stabilize at a rate of what we are experiencing right now. Many competitive companies have been producing a similar lead for over 10 years. Most carriers and IMO’s are not willing to subsidize the lead cost as much as NASB is currently. It’s hard to predict what will happen in the next 5 years but my guess is there will be more final expense companies enter and leave the market because they don’t have enough patience or capital to weather through the monthly variations in return rates. NASB is constantly testing different lead types to ensure we have a viable lead solution for agents indefinitely. Besides the DM lead program, I know you are anticipating running a TM room and offering TM leads. What is your vision and timetable for this lead program? We currently have a TM (Telemarketing) room set up at NASB world headquarters. We have 15 workstations and 4 manager’s offices. We ran several ads locally for telemarketers and had over 2,000 applicants and we plan on hiring 15 telemarketers within the next 2 weeks. The plan is to start testing telemarketing leads within the next 3 weeks. An official national rollout should start sometime in the month of November. The problem with telemarketing for leads is the availability of phone numbers to call. We are only legally allowed to call prospects who are not on the DNC (Do Not Call) list. This is approximately 15% of the population. Once we have worked a specific zip code, the response will go down dramatically every month. In order to have continued success with our telemarketing lead program, we intend to limit the number of leads available within a given county over a certain time period. We’re not exactly sure what this will look like but we are committed to making this sustainable instead of using up all the leads in a very short time period. What other lead opportunities are you exploring and how soon do you see us using them? We have tested shared mail companies who send multiple offers to clients. This produced a net cost per lead of over $50 which is not a viable lead program. We have explored TV ads and plan on testing this within the next 3-6 months. The check lead program seems to give a good return rate however the cost is 3 times per mailer compared to our traditional Platinum lead. The response rate is 3 times our current Platinum lead which makes me think this should be viable for at least 1 year. We are open to testing new lead types and welcome and ideas our agents have. If you are interested in having NASB test a lead type, please email [email protected] and we will discuss it in our weekly lead meetings. Please contact your Senior RVP with questions or concerns regarding the changes outlined above. Sincerely, Chad Milner President, North American Senior Benefits
Wow! How would an IMO convince agents to take low contracts and then limit when where and why they get leads. Do these agents not realize the commissions they are giving up is their lead money? Just tell them you want the higher commissions and they can keep their leads. If they won't go for that, just go elsewhere.
Unless you are in Georgia, south Florida, central Texas or parts of CA, leads are easy to get and reasonable. I wouldn't give up commissions for them and I wouldn't want my FMO to ever have access to them anyway.
Don't buy fish from your FMO. They should be teaching you how to fish.
