Cold Calling Vs. Aged Internet Leads

[Kat007]

Which one do you prefer?
Has anyone had success with aged internet leads?

I ran through my aged internet leads today and it didn't seem like I'm any closer to speaking to a decent prospect than before I made all those calls.

I got a lot of wrong numbers, fax machines, and voicemails. I think I talked to a few people, nice but not interested and don't want me to call. A few people were rude. A few said they never requested any quote and the info on there was all wrong.

It's worst than the real time and exclusive internet leads. So what do you recommend? Do the aged leads for a few months and see or just switch to cold calling?

 

[Josh]

How big was your sample?

The best success I found with aged internet leads was when I had telemarketers calling through thousands of them. It's tough to hit critical mass on something like that on even a few hundred. That was on life insurance.

If you're calling for life insurance? Maybe stick with the aged leads (unless it's for FE). If you're calling for supps, probably just as well off either way. What lines are you marketing?

 

[Kat007]

It's for life insurance. I called about 165. And I can't call thousands of aged leads because the maximum the vendor had was that much for 90 days for my entire state and I ran through it all in one day already. Arghhh. I will call back the left message ones and the ones I couldn't reach tomorrow.

I didn't really get any good conversation going though, so I'm thinking I need to rework my approach. I also need to write out a better voicemail message because not 1 single person called back and I left a lot of voicemails.

I listened to some webinar on how to call aged leads and they said to ask questions like "if they have gotten quotes from other agents and if they already bought life insurance. Then ask them what company it's through and how much."

I think that's a bad approach because most would just say they have or they're not interested or they'd rather not say.

Do you have a better approach?

 

[Josh]

It's for life insurance. I called about 165. And I can't call thousands of aged leads because the maximum the vendor had was that much for 90 days for my entire state and I ran through it all in one day already. Arghhh. I will call back the left message ones and the ones I couldn't reach tomorrow.

That's pretty stinkin' low. Have you checked with Aged Insurance Leads | Aged Life Insurance Leads | Aged Health Insurance Leads | Aged Auto Insurance Leads

You need to hammer those leads if you want anything out of them, call them at least 5 times or until they buy or say no. If you call through them once it's extremely difficult to get traction.

I didn't really get any good conversation going though, so I'm thinking I need to rework my approach. I also need to write out a better voicemail message because not 1 single person called back and I left a lot of voicemails.

Aged leads have received dozens of voicemails (if not hundreds). If you're not getting a callback, it's no big surprise.

I listened to some webinar on how to call aged leads and they said to ask questions like "if they have gotten quotes from other agents and if they already bought life insurance. Then ask them what company it's through and how much."

That's not what we said. If they already bought we had a good crack at it because it's unlikely they got the lowest rate we could get with our carriers, or sometimes even the right product. Our response was "Great, that's why I called" and then rolled into how we work with X number of carriers to make sure they get the best rate. Odds are most are still going to say pound salt, but some dig it and it gives you a better conversation starter.

Do you have a better approach?

I have a different approach and it worked well enough to be profitable. I bought around 30k aged leads (I think, I'd have to check) and overall it worked out, but it was a lot more work than I cared for (I was passing the leads off to agents on a reduced contract). Most of my override was going to lead generation and the only deals I made any money on were the ones I wrote myself, which was something I didn't really want to be doing so I canned the project and focused my efforts elsewhere.

 

[JRoot]

It's for life insurance. I called about 165. And I can't call thousands of aged leads because the maximum the vendor had was that much for 90 days for my entire state and I ran through it all in one day already. Arghhh. I will call back the left message ones and the ones I couldn't reach tomorrow.

165 leads is a very low sample. If you're in a state without enough lead flow, consider picking up another state or 2. What state are you in? You can check lead counts here.

Don't leave voicemails for aged leads. There's more value in the call back when they receive the missed call.

I also wrote a review on what to expect working aged life insurance leads here.

 

[Full Throttle]

165 leads is a very low sample. If you're in a state without enough lead flow, consider picking up another state or 2. What state are you in? You can check lead counts here.

Don't leave voicemails for aged leads. There's more value in the call back when they receive the missed call.

I also wrote a review on what to expect working aged life insurance leads here.

JRoot,

I found the math to be interesting on the process, an interesting formula I would have never thought of.. I can see how it works and builds over time as the database grows. Kudos, I don't know if I would be in the life insurance business if I had to be on a dialer for 4 to 5 hours a day.

Personally, I thrive being face to face and getting to know people in my area. Both approaches work if you work. The common theme is consistent effort every day toward generating new case opens.

 

[Kat007]

Are you guys talking about the under 90 days aged leads or the super old up to 250 days ones?

I think the vendor said that if it's pass 90 days I'd have to get them scrubbed for DNC because I have up to 90 days to contact them.

I think you're right about not leaving voicemails. I'll try that.

 

[Josh]

Are you guys talking about the under 90 days aged leads or the super old up to 250 days ones?

I think the vendor said that if it's pass 90 days I'd have to get them scrubbed for DNC because I have up to 90 days to contact them.

I think you're right about not leaving voicemails. I'll try that.

If it's past 90 days you should scrub them against the DNC. The ones I was using were 30-60 days old if memory serves.

 

[Kat007]

I went through the list again today...calling all those I left voicemails and no answers.

I gave a lady a term quote for around $12 and $16 for her husband. She said she's going to talk to him and wants to call me back in a day or two to meet with me. So I guess if that works out then it at least pays for the list of leads I got.

The other calls were pretty much the same as the ones from yesterday but at least today seem better. I didn't ask them what insurance company they went with, how much they're paying, or if they even bought insurance. I used a different approach and just assumed they never got insurance and said I just wanted to give them some information. And it turned out less people were upset with me. So I'll do that instead of the other approach.

 

[Josh]

You might laugh, but our script was "We're calling you because you filled out a form online looking for information about life insurance". It wasn't even a question, and we'd stop there and let them respond and they usually let us know real quick how the felt about what was going on.