Internet Lead Statistics

thats true you could probably just email an app and out perform most agents!

In all seriousness, how often do you get someone on the phone who has talked to 5 other people, they told them all about some plans, the client might even have decided the one they want. Yet no one asked for the business.
 
If a lead is getting sold to 5 people then only the best of the best is going sell 20%. Obviously not 100% are buyers.

I would be very happy if a lead was only sold to 5 agents.

When 2 of those 5 agents are lead vendors, then they sell the lead again to another 5 agents, it's sickening....lol.
 
This forum caught my attention while I was conducting market research on Internet Leads. Our company does not sell to insurance agents (today we focus on Internet mortgage), so I thought it would be interesting to post our services and understand how it might be able to help you.

Earlier in the post, Alston and a few other posters briefly touched on drip campaigns. Have you considered automating drip marketing? I'd be happy to give you the full sales pitch; but, my intent is to simply ask, would this approach work for insurance?

SoftVu helps maximize Internet lead investment through automated (drip) marketing messages. We deliver personalized messages at the optimum points across the sales cycle to help you enhance the customer experience and build customer trust. Using an automated platform to stay in step with the customer buying cycle keeps your name in front of the potential client while freeing you from the nurturing process so you can focus on closing more business.
 
I have been using shared health insurance internet leads for about a month, using a mix of Norvax and InsureMe leads. Leads cost me around $8 a pop.

Some agents and lead company reps said that shared internet leads should be anywhere from 2-4%, and some have said 10%.

At a 10% close ratio, this is obviously profitable when using an average premium of $300 per month (usually 2 person family), new business commission of 20%, and 80% approval.

However at 2-4%, it's still technically profitable at $640 per 100 leads, although I don't want to put all that work into it just to pay the lead company. I'd like to eat too, from time to time!

Here's my dilemma. Nearly all of the leads I have been receiving have either been a single female lead looking for insurance or married but want a separate policy, or unemployed, so the premium average is only around $150 per month.

So, in my first month of selling using leads, I have purchased 119 leads, closed two (1.6%), and should be closing two before the end of next week, for a lead closing average of 3.3%. The average premium is $150, so I am making (after paying for leads) just $640.

I do have drip marketing in place, and I send an intro letter to the lead, offer a free virtual book called Health Insurance Basics that I created, and have a phone call regimen in place.

My first contact success rate (which includes the intial lead phone call and a second call later that day) is around 20%. When I am able to get a hold of the client, I am able to set up a desktop share to discuss the plans and I do ask for the business- nicely, of course. :)

My questions are:
  • First or all, is that a normal close ratio for shared internet leads for three weeks worth of work?
  • Does it normally take longer than three weeks to close a sale?
  • Based on the numbers above, should I work on my close ratio, or volume?
  • Is purchasing better quality leads (InsureMe offers leads with only three agent touches for $16, compared to $8 for up to nine agent leads) a better approach, or is quantity better since I am able to build up a database at least with interested people?
This is a fabulous forum. Keep up the great work. Thanks!

Can someone explain to me how you all calculate your roi? Is it for the first months commission you make or do you calculate it for the year? The numbers you gave us do not make sense. If you closed 2 sales at 150 your premium is 300. Times that by 20% your commision is $60. If you do $60 x12 for assuming that client will stay on plan for 12 months your commission would be 720. You said your making $640 though?
 
Can someone explain to me how you all calculate your roi? Is it for the first months commission you make or do you calculate it for the year? The numbers you gave us do not make sense. If you closed 2 sales at 150 your premium is 300. Times that by 20% your commision is $60. If you do $60 x12 for assuming that client will stay on plan for 12 months your commission would be 720. You said your making $640 though?

I think he was using the 2 anticipated sales added in their to calculate his total roi. That accounts for the actual profit in there.

Roi should be calculated as:
First year commission on closed deals - lead cost = ROI

You could get more complicated, but you'd just make yourself sad. A more accurate formula would be something like:

First year commission * 75% persistence - (lead cost + hours worked * $15) = ROI

But, like I said it would make you sad.
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Also, quick comment to the OP.. here's a couple hints as to how to not get destroyed on your ROI.

ONLY buy from a vendor that lets you filter by 3 or 5 digit zip code and age.

ONLY buy leads from over age 30. You might do some under 30 business, don't buy those leads though it'll rape you in ROI. You'll get those people through referrals anyway, its just not a good area to focus on.

If you can get sufficient volume, filter to 2 members or more on application only.

Stay within 100 miles of your office/home.

Find a website with demographics data, and filter down your zip codes by average taxable earnings to zip codes that average over 40,000 per year for 3 digit zips, or 80,000 per year for 5 digit zips.

I learned the hard way that leads in an area with a 29,000 average taxable income (my own town) is not a good lead to work. Problem is people can only afford discount plans, the ROI because of the low premium sucks, and lead vendors do not price based on the area at all.

Next call up your lead vendor and ask them to filter down the average daily lead volume. Set yourself up to buy about 20 a day if you want to work your ass off. That's around what it takes to close 2 deals a day. Absolutely do not try 20 a day from a lead vendor you haven't tested 4 or 5 with and gotten a 50% or higher connect % with first. Scale up slowly. Be prepared to shut off leads at any time and contact the vendor immediately when you start noticing odd stuff happening.

Record and measure your connect %, qualification %, and closing %. If you cannot contact 50% of the phone numbers, try a different lead vendor. If you cannot qualify 50% of the ones you contact try a different lead vendor. If you cannot close 10% after a couple weeks but you are contacting over 50% and qualifying 50%, go watch some training videos and learn your plans better and practice your scripts and web conferencing. You won't close them all on day 1 btw, this takes follow up.

Be first to call and know your plans. Return ALL bad leads for credit. If your vendors return policy is not letting you return the leads, change vendors.

The one thing with there being so many vendors now, you can drop a bad vendor and move over to someone with a better ROI at the drop of a hat with basically no penalty.

I personally found most of them to suck, but some suck a lot less than others.

All leads are regional. That being said, here are my stats for the last 3 months with the major vendors because frankly I want people to know who is selling junk.

Also, please remember, this is while I was testing lead companies. Some of these companies have now been completely dropped out of my lead volume.

If my contact time is bad, I guarantee you it was because the lead was aged when I got it. I call immediately. These numbers, BTW, are without the bad leads removed from the statistics. Some of these may still close, they're still being worked.

Total average: 1d to contact, 33.8% contact ratio, 29.3% qualification rate, 3.8% conversion rate.

4freequotes: 1h53m, 50%, 50%, 25%
Allwebleads: 57m, 41.7%, 33.3%, 8.3%
Hometown Quotes: 2d8h, 50%, 50%, 0%
Insuranceleads: 1d5h, 50%, 50%, 0%
Insureme: 15d14h, 33.3%, 33.3%, 0%
Netquote: 1d2h, 37.5%, 37.5%, 0.0%
Quickhealth: 2d3h, 56%, 44%, 4%

By that list, who is selling resold affiliate aged leads? Pretty obvious. Which ones were real time? Again, pretty obvious. My stats should be more accurate in a few months, once more data is filtered into it, these again are very very recent stats from Jan1-Mar17.

I cancelled Insureme and Netquotes health leads already. I stopped quickhealth because they started selling me outside my requested zip codes and didn't disable the leads from sending to me for almost 7 days when I requested. They also will not program the integration with leads360.

Allwebleads, Insureme, Insuranceagents, and Insuranceleads.com all sell the same lead. I have, no joke, had a lead come from all 4 of them within 1 minute of each other, duplicated by their affiliate because of "timing" issues.

A HUGE amount of these leads were claimed for credit. My actual close rate is well over 15% of leads that were not claimed for credit.

Heres another one, that I STILL find astounding.

Netquote medicare leads, again without bad leads removed:
35m, 50%, 50%, 20%

Their health leads suck. Their medicare leads, not so much.

Still doesn't compare to referral or self generated leads. Again, this data is not the bible, its a limited geographical area, and some of the vendors stats are limited by lack of data and probably have a plus minus of infinity because data is lacking.
 
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[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Here is what I have done. I have had my license for 3 months and these are my stats since May 1. I hope this helps you. I had a few more sales drop recently and 2 more apps. We are using Insureme $11.95 leads.
[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Leads Purchased 388
Calls 1460
Sales 16 health/27 total lives
Sales 7 dental/7 lives
Life/[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']LTC[/FONT]/MED SUPP 0[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Applications pending (3health/6lives)[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']The 388 leads are net any returns. We return a good amount. Of the 378 “good” leads here’s some of the breakdown:[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']252 leads have been voicemailed/emailed/mailed but I have never spoken to anyone[/FONT]
20[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] leads I never have any phone contact with, meaning there is no answer, there is no voicemail, nothing. Email yes, but the phone is useless.[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']
15 leads hung up repeatedly or said, "don't ever call me again"

8 leads responded by email, I already have coverage, take me off email.

24 leads have no money for anything and plan on going to the ER or to county for health care or are completely uninsureable due to pre existing.

[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Here are some other data I track which is somewhat important, I think[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']53 have viewed our online email proposal[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']34 ran a quote on our website[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']80 I have had contact with, meaning I spoke to the decision maker on the phone.[/FONT]

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']So, for my example, how someone is closing 1/8 or 1/10, (and some claim higher), which I am assuming is based on the 388 number, when they are only probably talking to around 100 people is beyond me. Talking to 100 people and generating around 50 sales, (sales not lives). I can’t do that, and I have never met anyone who can. AND, there isn't alot of talk about retention. How sticky are these sales?[/FONT]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Leads Purchased 388
Calls 1460
Sales 16 health/27 total lives
Sales 7 dental/7 lives
Life/MED SUPP/LTC
Applications pending (3health/6lives)

The 388 leads are net any returns. We return a good amount. Of the 388 “good” leads here’s some of the breakdown:

252 leads have been voicemailed/emailed/mailed but I have never spoken to anyone

20 leads I never have any phone contact with, meaning there is no answer, there is no voicemail, nothing. Email yes, but the phone is useless.


15 leads hung up repeatedly or said, "don't ever call me again"

8 leads responded by email, I already have coverage, take me off email.

24 leads have no money for anything and plan on going to the ER or to county for health care or are completely uninsureable due to pre existing.


Here are some other data I track which is somewhat important, I think:

53 have viewed our online email proposal
34 ran a quote on our website
80 I have had contact with, meaning I spoke to the decision maker on the phone.

So, for my example, how someone is closing 1/8 or 1/10, (and some claim higher), which I am assuming is based on the 388 number, when they are only probably talking to around 100 people is beyond me. Talking to 100 people and generating around 50 sales, (sales not lives). I can’t do that, and I have never met anyone who can. AND, there isn't alot of talk about retention. How sticky are these sales?
 
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I have been using shared health insurance internet leads for about a month, using a mix of Norvax and InsureMe leads. Leads cost me around $8 a pop.

Some agents and lead company reps said that shared internet leads should be anywhere from 2-4%, and some have said 10%.

At a 10% close ratio, this is obviously profitable when using an average premium of $300 per month (usually 2 person family), new business commission of 20%, and 80% approval.

However at 2-4%, it's still technically profitable at $640 per 100 leads, although I don't want to put all that work into it just to pay the lead company. I'd like to eat too, from time to time!

Here's my dilemma. Nearly all of the leads I have been receiving have either been a single female lead looking for insurance or married but want a separate policy, or unemployed, so the premium average is only around $150 per month.

So, in my first month of selling using leads, I have purchased 119 leads, closed two (1.6%), and should be closing two before the end of next week, for a lead closing average of 3.3%. The average premium is $150, so I am making (after paying for leads) just $640.

I do have drip marketing in place, and I send an intro letter to the lead, offer a free virtual book called Health Insurance Basics that I created, and have a phone call regimen in place.

My first contact success rate (which includes the intial lead phone call and a second call later that day) is around 20%. When I am able to get a hold of the client, I am able to set up a desktop share to discuss the plans and I do ask for the business- nicely, of course. :)

My questions are:
  • First or all, is that a normal close ratio for shared internet leads for three weeks worth of work?
  • Does it normally take longer than three weeks to close a sale?
  • Based on the numbers above, should I work on my close ratio, or volume?
  • Is purchasing better quality leads (InsureMe offers leads with only three agent touches for $16, compared to $8 for up to nine agent leads) a better approach, or is quantity better since I am able to build up a database at least with interested people?
This is a fabulous forum. Keep up the great work. Thanks!
Some quick advice, stop paying so much for $2.00 leads.
 
Sorry. I cut from word and it included a bunch of code. Here it is again:

Leads Purchased 388
Calls 1460
Sales 16 health/27 total lives
Sales 7 dental/7 lives
Life/MED SUPP/LTC
Applications pending (3health/6lives)

The 388 leads are net any returns. We return a good amount. Of the 388 “good” leads here’s some of the breakdown:

252 leads have been voicemailed/emailed/mailed but I have never spoken to anyone

20 leads I never have any phone contact with, meaning there is no answer, there is no voicemail, nothing. Email yes, but the phone is useless.


15 leads hung up repeatedly or said, "don't ever call me again"

8 leads responded by email, I already have coverage, take me off email.

24 leads have no money for anything and plan on going to the ER or to county for health care or are completely uninsureable due to pre existing.


Here are some other data I track which is somewhat important, I think:

53 have viewed our online email proposal
34 ran a quote on our website
80 I have had contact with, meaning I spoke to the decision maker on the phone.

So, for my example, how someone is closing 1/8 or 1/10, (and some claim higher), which I am assuming is based on the 388 number, when they are only probably talking to around 100 people is beyond me. Talking to 100 people and generating around 50 sales, (sales not lives). I can’t do that, and I have never met anyone who can. AND, there isn't alot of talk about retention. How sticky are these sales?
 
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