Before I signed up with Hometown Quotes, I submitted my information as a test lead to see how many calls I'd get. Now, I've done this with other lead companies as well and I always include a quirk in my information so I can make sure of where that information was first submitted.
I was contacted by some folks over the first few days from my HTQ submission, and it was only slightly excessive. I didn't pay much attention to the individual calls, just counted how many I got.
Until tonight, that is. I got a drip email from someone in Atlanta who had clearly gotten my information from when I submitted it to Hometown Quotes. Except that he had gotten it as a lead from Norvax.
I thought Norvax got their leads from Prospect Zone (yes, I know they're just two pockets on the same pair of pants). I know, absolutely positively know, that the set of info this guy had had ONLY been submitted to Hometown Quotes, and then directly to hometownquotes.com.
Additionally, I went back and looked -- this guy was one of the first to contact me, and he had me from Norvax from the get-go. His initial email hit me within an hour of my initial submission.
Is HTQ selling their leads to PZ, or is there a more innocent explanation that I'm missing?
Well gee, Nick. If you would just buy from me I would stop pestering you.
Seriously, I know the folks at HTQ and can't imagine they sold it to PZ. More likely, their affiliate sold it to both houses. I can give you a contact there who will take an interest in your observation.
The person could have gotten the lead from Hometown and loaded it into his Norvax system.
Nothing stops this, it's legit. In fact, it works pretty well.
Why not use the power of your online quote engine to work leads? That is what they are there for. You do not have to buy the quotes from PZ to get them into your Norvax quote engine.
More details, which in hindsight I should have provided from the beginning:
His initial email was fairly standard. However, he sent it as a reply to an inbound email from my personal account, and the subject line read "Re: Insurance Lead from your Website -- In Progress"
The original email he received containing my information was attached to the email he sent to me (which seemed rather tacky, I might add). It noted that the information contained within was an "Insurance Lead Generated By Norvax."
At the bottom of the email he received (which was, like I said, attached to the email he sent to me) was the standard thing you see at the bottom of an emailed lead:
"My information was actually submitted as a test lead. I am an insurance agent myself and put my information in to see how many times I was contacted before committing to purchasing any leads.
Although, I'm curious -- it looks like you caught me as a Norvax lead. Would you mind if I asked where you got my information from? I never put my information into a Norvax engine or a Prospect Zone partner site, and if my info was resold to one of them then that's a serious point of concern. Thanks!"
The email from the other, unnamed agent read:
"Mr Perry,
From Norvax, They actually own several different search engines under different names.
I will eliminate your lead and ask Norvax to credit my account. Good luck in your endeavor..."
I've never used Norvax or PZ before -- if you take information and load it in, will it generate an email that looks like this? If that's all this is, then phew, I was getting all geared up to be super upset.
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Haha, Bob, I get your drip emails from when you sent me the Quotit propsal. I enjoy them, but I needed the advance from writing my own policy to keep the lights on
Last edited by souldeux : 03-04-2009 at 10:19 PM.
Reason: Posts merged
It sounds like PZ purchased the lead from Hometown.
Just curious...How many different people contacted you? And how many were from your area? Hometown used to always emphasize that you would be contacted by "local" agents. Maybe they don't do that any more.
So far, I've had about ten people contact me.When I put my information in, I was told that up to two agents would be contacting me, and when I signed up I was told that only two other agents were currently mucking about in my zip codes.
And yes, I was contacted by at least one person in Ohio and one in New York. Local, indeed. What was I smoking when I signed on?
Perhaps Hometown sold the lead to two other brokers. Then...realizing, they had no other buyers, sold it to PZ who did what they like to do...sell it, sell it... and sell it again.
When lead vendors say they only "four other brokers" got the lead, sometimes they don't track the second tier of leads.
I know more than one person has told me how miserable Hometown's leads have become.
I used them a few years ago. They were OK. Not that great. But...I still give credit to the CEO who came on this Board and offered a $100 credit (upfront) to any new customer. No additional purchases required. I took him up on it. And I became a customer...for a while.
Late last year they were selling leads for $1. I didn't buy. A respected broker on this Board (perhaps the leading broker in terms of sales) did and his results were not pretty.
I sent an email to two folks at HTQ last night -- my personal rep, and the lady who I originally spoke with to get signed up. It was a friendly, but strongly worded, request for information.
I got a response by phone and email from my rep about ten minutes ago. They're blaming it on a rogue affiliate. I showed them my records where I submitted a very specific set of information directly to Hometownquotes.com, not to an affiliate. Furthermore, I showed them where I have received two emails from eHealthInsurance containing the information the information submitted only to HTQ. When I asked Michelle about this initially, she said that it must have been from a previous test I did -- again, good records saved my ass. Two emails from eHealthInsurance, and that's on top of approximately ten agent contacts.
My account is now paused, and a refund is being processed.
Also, although seven leads is far too small a sample size to adequately judge the quality of a company, I will say that of the seven, the following four were very interesting (I submit this more as an amusing story than an actual indictment of the quality):
1. Severely obese schizophrenic.
2. 42 year old female looking for maternity-only coverage.
3. A man on meds for ADHD, smoking cessation (who listed himself as a nonsmoker), high cholesterol, COPD, and hormone replacement -- looking for prescription only coverage.
4. A woman on medication for severe, recurrent migraines with pending testing.
I generate a few of my own leads from Craigslist ads. Haven't made a sale from them yet, but they're usually good for at least a chuckle. For instance, the sixty-nine year old man with bladder cancer who wanted a non-med $10,000,000 20-year term...
Concerns with Hometown Quotes
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