- 11,995
I am NOT looking for any new customers!
Over the last two years I've been working a great deal with telemarketing companies and put together my own room and thought I might have a few points worth sharing about how agents get taken advantage of AND how it can be prevented.
First, telemarketing companies are just that, telemarketing companies, they're not insurance agents or agencies. Seems pretty basic, but even within the insurance industry most agents aren't familiar enough with other lines of insurance to really know what makes a good lead and what doesn't. "My buddy is looking for cheaper car insurance, can you help him? He had 2 DWI's last year." Some p&c agents I know wouldn't even want to take the time to talk to him, others would love it because the premiums would be high which would make the commissions great. Most telemarketing companies assume they already know the agents business and the agents area, so before they start dialing they're usually pointed in the wrong direction.
The second reason why agents get hustled on telemarketed leads is that they are promised too much. I would gladly pay a lead company $35/appt if they could guarantee the prospect would be there and speak with me (or one of my agents) on a favorable basis about the product I'm interested in selling, but I haven't found a company that can deliver on that. There are plenty that have made the claim, but I don't think it's possible for such a company to exist because the numbers don't make sense. It's entirely possible for a good telemarketer to spend an entire day dialing, using quality data and a great script, yet not get a lead. Even if the telemarketer is overseas making $4/hr, @ an 8 hour day that's $32 for potentially 0 leads. Stateside at $8/hr it's $64. Assuming the LD and data were completely free (which they obviously aren't), the lead company would have to either push junk through that wasn't good or lose money. They can only lose money for so long before they go bankrupt, so I suppose that would leave door number one?
The last reason I'll mention here is that just like most other lead sources, it's a numbers game. As anyone who's done direct mail can testify to, not every response you get back will know why you're contacting them and be expecting your call ready to do business. Assuming a mail drop resulted in an agent getting 20 lead cards, it's unlikely they'll be able to reach more than 10 that will pick up the phone, remember sending the card, and want an appointment or be ready to buy insurance. Telemarketing is really no different. It's a given that the numbers will fluctuate, but out of 20 telemarketed leads it's extremely unlikely that an agent will be able to reach more than 15 of them, usually closer to 10 and I think that anyone who tells you any different either hasn't done this before or isn't being honest.
Telemarketed leads aren't for everyone. If an agent isn't comfortable paying a telemarketing company for time dialed as opposed to "guaranteed appointments" they'll be limiting themselves to doing business with companies that usually will not be able to deliver on what they're promising.
Over the last two years I've been working a great deal with telemarketing companies and put together my own room and thought I might have a few points worth sharing about how agents get taken advantage of AND how it can be prevented.
First, telemarketing companies are just that, telemarketing companies, they're not insurance agents or agencies. Seems pretty basic, but even within the insurance industry most agents aren't familiar enough with other lines of insurance to really know what makes a good lead and what doesn't. "My buddy is looking for cheaper car insurance, can you help him? He had 2 DWI's last year." Some p&c agents I know wouldn't even want to take the time to talk to him, others would love it because the premiums would be high which would make the commissions great. Most telemarketing companies assume they already know the agents business and the agents area, so before they start dialing they're usually pointed in the wrong direction.
The second reason why agents get hustled on telemarketed leads is that they are promised too much. I would gladly pay a lead company $35/appt if they could guarantee the prospect would be there and speak with me (or one of my agents) on a favorable basis about the product I'm interested in selling, but I haven't found a company that can deliver on that. There are plenty that have made the claim, but I don't think it's possible for such a company to exist because the numbers don't make sense. It's entirely possible for a good telemarketer to spend an entire day dialing, using quality data and a great script, yet not get a lead. Even if the telemarketer is overseas making $4/hr, @ an 8 hour day that's $32 for potentially 0 leads. Stateside at $8/hr it's $64. Assuming the LD and data were completely free (which they obviously aren't), the lead company would have to either push junk through that wasn't good or lose money. They can only lose money for so long before they go bankrupt, so I suppose that would leave door number one?
The last reason I'll mention here is that just like most other lead sources, it's a numbers game. As anyone who's done direct mail can testify to, not every response you get back will know why you're contacting them and be expecting your call ready to do business. Assuming a mail drop resulted in an agent getting 20 lead cards, it's unlikely they'll be able to reach more than 10 that will pick up the phone, remember sending the card, and want an appointment or be ready to buy insurance. Telemarketing is really no different. It's a given that the numbers will fluctuate, but out of 20 telemarketed leads it's extremely unlikely that an agent will be able to reach more than 15 of them, usually closer to 10 and I think that anyone who tells you any different either hasn't done this before or isn't being honest.
Telemarketed leads aren't for everyone. If an agent isn't comfortable paying a telemarketing company for time dialed as opposed to "guaranteed appointments" they'll be limiting themselves to doing business with companies that usually will not be able to deliver on what they're promising.
