Scroll down for a discussion on Direct Mail within the General Insurance Agent Discussions.
Originally Posted by perfectchoice
Direct mail works if...
1. You can mail to a targeted market
2. You mail on a regular basis--most responses come ...
Direct mail by itself is not an effective way to market unless your mailers are followed up with a phone call. I have found a mailing followed up with a phone call can be very successful. It gives you a great "excuse" to call. Although, in my opinion, I would rather just cold call as I don't see a huge improvement in results when I send out a mailing. The time and money spend in a mailing could be better used in other marketing methods.
This is a hard enough game and to add large marketing costs just makes it that much harder. This is why I use marketing tactics that are all but free - B to B and telemarketing.
My market is people who just purchased or refinanced a house. I sell Mortgage Protection. Who is your market?
A niche within the senior market.
I tried some other markets including individual health but do not like the fact that marketing to the general public is very difficult--either very expensive or very time consuming, so I reverted back to the senior market and will sell individual health as I come across the need.
My market is people who just purchased or refinanced a house. I sell Mortgage Protection. Who is your market?
A niche within the senior market.
I tried some other markets including individual health but do not like the fact that marketing to the general public is very difficult--either very expensive or very time consuming, so I reverted back to the senior market and will sell individual health as I come across the need.
Are you doing final expense? If so, is it something you can pull a 6 figure income doing?
So you spent about $4,000 on the mailers you sent out. Why not think about other options available, like hiring a telemarketer?
Telemarketer you hire for $20 an hour. (Generous pay)
Hire them for 20 hours a week x $20/hour = $400 a week!
Average of 1-2 leads per hour if they are good = 20-40 leads a week!
If you spend the same $4,000 on a telemarketer or two it would look like this:
$400 a week = 20-40 leads a week
X
10 week campaign
=
$4,000 and about 200-400 leads, and they would be a lot warmer compared to a direct mail lead. Most people expect something to be mailed back to them if they send a direct mailer card in. That's why they don't call or leave a phone number!
Wouldn't this make more sense? Even if you got half that you're sitting good. Or imagine if you pay the telemarketer less than $20 an hour.
****, for $4,000 you can hire a telemarketing agency. You can even hire them for a trial run for about $500. Go here: http://www.quotecatcher.com/Site/Quo...?sid=1&kid=112 and your phone will light up like a switchboard with companies making you offers.
The only problem you'll find is they have minimum requirements to take on a campaign - say 50 hours. You'd better darned well be ready to handle that many leads because the girls who call are pros.
The largest cost, however, is lead lists. Say you buy a trial campaign of 50 hours. The marketers can make 40 call per hour so you'd need a list of 2,000 names.
If you want to go this route here's questions to ask:
1) Are the telemarketers US-based? Be careful because unless you ask the marketers are from the Phillipines or India.
2) Can I listen in on the calls? Some are set up for this, some are not.
3) What quality control measures do I have? Is there a manager assigned to my account?
***, for $4,000 you can hire a telemarketing agency. You can even hire them for a trial run for about $500. Go here: http://www.quotecatcher.com/Site/Quo...?sid=1&kid=112 and your phone will light up like a switchboard with companies making you offers.
The only problem you'll find is they have minimum requirements to take on a campaign - say 50 hours. You'd better darned well be ready to handle that many leads because the girls who call are pros.
The largest cost, however, is lead lists. Say you buy a trial campaign of 50 hours. The marketers can make 40 call per hour so you'd need a list of 2,000 names.
If you want to go this route here's questions to ask:
1) Are the telemarketers US-based? Be careful because unless you ask the marketers are from the Phillipines or India.
2) Can I listen in on the calls? Some are set up for this, some are not.
3) What quality control measures do I have? Is there a manager assigned to my account?
I actually would like to give this a shot myself.
Have you had a chance to check into this and give it a try?
I havn't yet but I'm sure I will. I'm still working through the leads that came in on the mailer. My latest count is 63 as of yesterday. This month has interupted a lot of the calls for obvious reasons.
Tough way to go... just call 'em up and SAY you sent 'em a letter/postcard, etc.... but if you're hellbent on sending something... MAKE IT VERY UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL..... the USPS will allow you to MAIL ANYTHING...... I actually mailed a piece of wood to a lumber company to get their attention..... it worked.
I have been sending out 6,000-8,000 mailers a month for several years for Mortgage Protection. My rate of return is the same for the postcard as it is for the letter with a return envelop. But, the COST IS HALF. i use is a 4 x 6 white postcard inserted in a #7 envelop with a window to show the
Name and address of the recipient. Nothing on the envelop. Like everyone else, my response rate has dropped significantly over the last couple of years (do-not-call list has created more junk mail). I now get
.7% in the Los Angeles market. I pay 35 cents per mailer including postage which is a fantastic deal. Shop for a good printer. The average is one sale per 10 replies from agents I spoke with throughout the country. Premiums will depend on location. Home is L.A. are more expensive than some other areas so insurance and premiums will be higher. But, higher mortgage payments and higher premiums mean harder selling. Good luck. email if you need any further advice: mickeyma@verizon.net
I sell MP too. I buy MP leads with guarantees. I usually buy 30 leads per month. Instead of doing 1k piece mailings. The response rate has gone way down. So I would rather pay a few extra bucks for guarantees. Also, to generate leads I have just begun to cold call new mortgages and refi's. These people get so many letters they don't know whats what. And it's free....
Linear Mode
