I am looking to find out what you guys think of lead providers...no not just who converts well and who doesn't. I want to know about the stuff nobody talks about. The interface, the way the leads look, credit policy, cool features, the customer service etc. Please be as detailed as possible...I think this will be a big help when making a decision about which lead company to try. I am looking forward to your thoughts.
Obviously...many can offer their thoughts on this...but I am not impressed with ILEADS. It was proven that an exclusive health lead purchased by them was sold less than 48 hours to six other sources as a discounted lead. That was enough for me.
HealthLeads.Com sold leads (exclusive) for $5 each. But they have been out of business for a while, and I doubt they will return.
Wright State is leading Butler at halftime tonight. Not that it matters to anyone, but it's an exciting game.
No company offers a better lead. These are all just people happening to stumble onto one site or another. Saying that, you want a good return policy, ability to pause your account and an ability to get a high volume of leads. You want to make sure the leads are search engine driven and not banner ads offering incentives: "Click for a free quote and win a Ipod!"
Call each company before signing up to see how they advertise. You can also run a Google search yourself for "health insurance" and see which companies show up on the 1st page of the search.
I used to use Vimo, Leadco.biz and Insureme.com. All delievered high volume, gave me the ability to pause my account and had return policies. I'd also stay away from companies who want more than $100 to start your account.
Stay away from paying more for exclusive leads. Some agents have figured that paying $15+ per an exclusive lead will be worth it. You should also not be spending more than $8 on shared leads.
You should be closing 1 out of 15 and you need 3 deals a week to stay alive in this business. That's 45 leads a week or about $350 a week. You'll need that every week for at least 4 weeks until you see commission checks, so unless you have $1,400 to invest I'd look into something else.
What I see all too often is agents without a lot of money buying 4 leads a day. That's zero to 1 deal a week.
------------------------------------ Health Insurance Agents: Training, Support, Discounts, E&O for $440 www.ihiaa.com
Thanks for your thoughts so far...however this is not exactly what I am looking for.
I was thinking something like this:
Company A: I really like X
Company B: I really liked X
Make sense?
John..not that you are wrong BUT there are differences in the ways companies market...some do email, affiliates, pay per click etc. Some do it all. But from my experience not all marketing sources are created equal. So therefore not all lead companies can be created equal.
Well I covered that. I said you should call the company to see how their leads are generated. You're looking for key words in the major engines to take clients to their website.
You sign up with companies like Vimo, Leadco, InsureMed and Netquote and you should do fine. Other than that you can over-analyize it. Most agents who buy leads fail miserably.
I think that there are 8 or 9 top tier leads companies that all have a pretty similar deal, and then there are a bunch of companies that are second tier, and worse.
A top tier company will provide decent filters, geographic and health are very important, they will have a fair credit policy, they will be price competitive and they will disclose their methods of lead generation.
From what I can see, almost all of the top leads companies now have affiliates churning out leads for them very often. It is vital that the company receive them in real time and that they are able to track affiliate specific performance, so that they can weed out the incentive and multiples.
Another important feature is automatic emails that go out right after the lead has been made, with some agent information. Some companies charge for this and some do it for free.
The best credit policy I've seen is Leadco.biz. All leads under age 24 are free, they credit for bad info and credit for most major health conditions. I never submitted a lead for credit that got denied. They also have high volume and leads in real time.
Insureme.com offers incredible filters. You can filter out any condition, ages, family size, weight, self-employed, etc...However, if you use all the filters your per-lead cost will be up there.
When I used Netquote I took their flat 10% deal. That means no credits, filters or returns but they discount your bill 10% at the end of the month.
Please realize all of those companies sell to call centers and do live transfers. So by the time you get the lead most of the interested people are already on the phone talking to a broker.
John, you should specify that you are talking about health leads. Personally, I wish there would be a company with decent group health volume, but I have yet to find one.
A maryland broker friend of mine works at Heritage Financial Consultants. All he does is group insurance. They have telemarketers calling middle market and simply asking if they'd like to have somone review their health coverage. Then Bruce goes driving all over Maryland meeting with businesses. He does quite well. He also used to try and buy group health leads but saw far too many tire kickers.
Thanks for your thoughts so far...however this is not exactly what I am looking for.
I was thinking something like this:
Company A: I really like X
Company B: I really liked X
Make sense?
Not really! Before you ask that question maybe we should ask you a few questions.
1. How long you been in the biz?
2. What's your closing ratio?
3. Are you a closer?
You need a foundation set before you should think about buying leads. John has said it over and over, you have to know your sh^t before you should think about buying leads. You are going up against ruthless agents who will do whatever it takes to get a sale. Can you compete? Ethically?
I did quite well off internet leads last month, but it's not the type of lead I like to work. Besides, I have so many leads and referrals now than I can deal with. I'm not trying to sound like a jack azz, but it is the truth. If you don't know every product in your market, don't have GREAT sales skills or can't close then DON'T BUY THEM!!
They are notorious. I personally experienced many of their agents flat out lying to clients about the plans. That's the biggest "turn it and burn it" outfit out there and call centers are the major reason I don't buy leads. It's hard to be ethical and go up against liars.
By the way, I caught two "agents" who were completely unlicensed. Clients gave me their name and I ran them through the DOI - nothing. I called on after getting his number from a client. Never guess what he told me - that he didn't have to be licensed since he wrote under his manager's number.
Last edited by healthagent : 03-07-2007 at 10:42 PM.
You make some good points, but I think that the original question is still a good one.
Thanks Melmunch...I still dont feel that I have got my answer. All I seem to get is a list of peoples bad experiences. What i was really asking is what do you LIKE about the companies you either are currently buying from or bought in the past.
Want my two cents worth on a lead company?? LEADCO.... been using them for a few weeks... had nothing but problems, they fight like hell to not credit leads... here is the email i just sent them on the most recent denial of credit:
As i told u at the beginning of my lead request, NO PERSON BY THAT NAME. This lead had better be credited NOW!!. All i have done with u people is fight over credits, I think I will post a short blog on the insurance fourm I am active on. Here, mabye u have heard of them: http://www.insurance-forums.net/forum/
Charles Peeler
Buy internet leads at around $8 a pop - shared with at least 3 different agents and must hop on the lead as soon as you get it. Almost no one is self-employed and solid familes are few and far between. When a family lead does come in it's like throwing raw steak into a cage of lions.
Or....
Post a free ad on Craigslist for home-based telemarketers and pay $12/hr. They get 2.5 leads per hour so your lead cost is $4.8. They're calling small business owners so you're entire block of business is financially secure owners between 40 and 55 - average age. The leads are exclusive so it takes you a day to call them that's fine. You're not losing deals to Mega. You're not losing deals to discount card reps. You're not losing deals to unethical agents selling stripped down plans, touting them as "fantastic" killing what you're offering.
So you pick. It's either "Becky, age 28 with two kids" who needs to be at $100 a month, or Tom - owner of a small business, age 42, wife 38 with two kids who's currently paying $750 for his plan and you can save him $250 a month.
Ultimately, you can pay your bills by buying internet leads if:
1. You find a few decent companies and have a good relationship with them.
2. You stick with the program for a significant amount of time. If you don't, you will never see the long term roi which is needed to keep doing it.
3. Have excellent product knowledge.
4. Have quick access to your emails, and follow up right away.
5. Be a decent phone salesman.
If you have these qualities, you can do very well in any insurance industry, be it health, life, disability, or even dental and discount cards.
It doesn't matter which lead source you're using, you need the fill the pipeline before you start banging out deals. Realize that at 20% commission three deals a week gets you six figures. Name me a job where you don't bust your ass for six figures? Some of these leads close in two days, some close in a month, some come out of the woodwork 2 or 3 months later.
They key is being able to survive for at least the first month while your pipeline gets full. I might close 1 out of 15 leads, but that doesn't mean if I get just 30 leads from Monday to Friday I'll put in two deals. I might put in zero to one deal - the other might come 2 weeks later.
Internet Leads...beyond the lead.
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