I have found that being up front with folks works to my advantage more often than not. Some weeks it seems like half the folks I talk to are untouchable. In reality, it probably isn't that high, just seems like it.
They have coverage thru an employer and paying $120 per month for a family plan. They have a condition that makes them uninsurable, or at least, would not be covered by a new plan.
I told a guy last week that COBRA was his best option. He thanked me then referred a friend.
I have never tried to be one to milk a client or make a sale just to say I got paid. I know some agents will push cancer plans, accident plans, etc when they are shot down with their first pitch.
Nothing wrong as long as you feel comfortable with that approach.
I always felt like the prospect senses I am just there to make a sale when using the Detective Columbo approach.
"Pardon me, but just one more thing . . . "
The Columbo close works well face to face but I think it loses something over the phone, and especially when you use the pitch to launch into another product line.
I create my own leads with my website. If your trying to get rid of the tire kickers then have the person fill out additional questions for a quote. I use to have about 15 fields to fill out for a individual quote.
This will get rid of all the tire kickers. It also will get rid of everyone under 30. Then the people that submit for quotes will take your calls and discuss options.
I did this approach for the last 5 years online.
Now I have switched to a Norvax quote engine. This has increased my leads but much more tire kickers. The online sales have really stayed about the same. I am writing the paper but my decline rate is dam near 35%. Now with the online application people say one thing but submit another.
Online sales is different from F2F. When your speaking to someone that is from online they are more likely to with hold medical information from you than if your meeting with them.
Google has just changed a ton of things when it comes to SEO and PPC. Watch out for first quarter because these lead sites could get knock down a lot of spaces.
Might want to re-evaluate your website. Sounds like you are attracting the wrong crowd.
I take on a lot of folks other agents will turn away, but I don't get anywhere near 35% rejects. I have never run numbers, but it might be 2 - 3% and wouldn't be that high if I didn't take on challenging cases.
Sometimes, but not too often, I have to go to a back up carrier if our first shot doesn't work. Had a guy last year that we sent to 3 carriers before getting an offer that was acceptable. Didn't get a reject, but didn't like the final offer from the first 2 carriers.
I think that people think they can get away with being inaccurate or incomplete online. In some states, my decline rate is about 30% but it depends on the company. Here in WA, my approval rate is around 92%.
I think that people think they can get away with being inaccurate or incomplete online.
You will get no argument from me on that point. But when I actually talk to the people, take a medical history, check their medical conditions against underwriting guides and (in some cases) conduct a pre-screen I don't have those problems.
It sounds like all you do is pitch a plan and send a link to an app. If so, I can understand the high decline rate. Actually surprised it isn't higher if that is your "M.O.".
It sounds like all you do is pitch a plan and send a link to an app. If so, I can understand the high decline rate. Actually surprised it isn't higher if that is your "M.O.".
You are 100% correct. I will have 2 phone calls maybe 3 with them over plan design and carriers. I usually will send no more than two carriers.
When it comes to individual online sales I just want to do volume. My goal is to write 30 policies a month at an average premium of $250 per month. If only 20 of them get approved hey I am ok with that. The policies stay on the book about 2.5 yrs.
I am launching a new web site Jan 1st that is being built by an SEO guy. I estimate on the individual side for my state I can produce 10 leads a day Mon-Fri. If I can get 10 leads a day I know I will hit my goal.
Not really. I have never had a large amount of referrals from online clients. Now there has been clients from online which did give me a lot of referrals. Its the same situation almost every time. The client lives in a rural community and the local agent/broker is not getting them the best deal. Next thing I know I am writing 5 policies from the same area. Its usually a combination of price reduction and better benefit sales.
I do have a steady stream of referrals coming in but it could always be better.
When it comes to actually 10 leads a day the reason I think I can pull this (mon-fri) is because I have been on the web now 8 years. So my domain names & websites have been indexed in all the search engines. This has a huge impact on natural rankings. Now combine SEO & PPC with this I think I can capture a lot of leads. Right now I have an average of 18 unique IP addresses a day. Of that only 2 are submititing for info. My bounce rate right now is 80%+. This is why I am redevloping the web site to reduce my bounce rate. Bounce rate is when a person comes to the site and leaves after viewing the first page. So if I can get about 40 visitors a day and my bounce rate is 70% I should be in the ball park of 10 leads a day.
I think that when people get a few calls as well as email directly from their agent they feel like they have to be more honest and that there is someone they have to answer to. Having that connection with the client is important for them so that they have someone that they can go to if they need help, and it helps you maintain your client base and elevate their trust in you.
I just stopped accepting leads from ProspectZone, I am trying another generator but trying to figure out a more hands on marketing strategy. Or perhaps one with a better ROI
First, it's so easy to dig up a bunch of places to request a quote from on Google, it's no surprise Internet leads are full of tire kickers. In just a few minutes, I can find 10 sites to get insurance quotes from. There's very little commitment on the part of the prospect, which encourages them to go price shopping.
Now, add to the mix the fact that lead generators usually get paid per lead. Their incentive is to get as many leads through their door as possible because more leads = more money for them.
This leads agents with three choices:
1. Try to play the volume game, responding to as many internet leads as possible as fast as possible.
2. Create your own leads.
3. Track down the lead providers with the best leads through expensive trial and error.
The standard rule for lead generation online is to make it as easy as possible for a prospect to request a quote. While that makes for good usability, I have a feeling it makes for bad leads and tire kickers.
For those of you focusing on Internet leads, what do you think are things you (or a lead generator) can do on a website to improve the quality of each lead? Do you think providing more educational content improves the lead? Making your request-a-quote more complicated so the prospect has to work a little bit?
Thanks,
Aaron
With our leads we find its a bell curve of seriousness. The top 20% are the ones you have the best chance of selling. The bottom 20% are like ghosts, you wonder why they even bothered to fill out the form. They middle 60% is a free-for-all. A good salesman can push some of these into the top 20%, the rest will fall into the bottom. Fortunately, you don't have to sell them all to make a good return on your investment, but your time is valuable and you don't want to be wading through scores of bad leads to produce a sale, even if you can buy them cheap.
As for form complexity, that is a double-edged sword. Too easy and they are not as serious. Too hard and you chase away the busy, successful, people who don't have 15 minutes to fill out a form or who aren't comfortable with entering too much confidential information online. Make the form too long and hard and you get "hard up" prospects without a job and a lot of time on their hands!
Lastly, you are right about volume. Lead generators make money on volume. There is no denying that. But volume has to come from a source. Knowing the source can give you some insight to quality. When it comes to figuring out the source of a websites traffic always check http://www.quantcast.com and examine what the audience also visits and searches for. It's not perfect but it can give you some valuable information.
Likewise, check the traffic sources of their affiliate programs if they have an affiliate program using the same method.
In my opinion, an affiliate program is a red flag. Any source of traffic that uses incentive's is a red flag. I'm not saying that these programs are all bad, but many are and you need to be careful when the red flags are raised
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Michael Levy
Chairman and Founder
MostChoice.com, Inc.
Search Engine Only Generated Insurance Leads
Last edited by MikeLevy : 12-10-2008 at 02:45 AM.
Reason: Posts merged
Re: Internet Tire Kickers
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