Seeking Life Term Leads or Aged Leads

[RWKAgency]

Most experienced agents would disagree. A lead is someone who has shown interest. A name on a list is nothing more than a suspect who may or may not be interested.

You might call it semantics, but it does matter, especially if you are recruiting people with the promise of "Leads".

I can get get free lists all day long, even with filters. I can even run them against the DNC database for free. But they are not anymore a Lead than randomly finding someone in the phone book. They might be a more qualified Suspect vs. that random name in the phone book. But they have shown no interest yet in what I offer, therefor they are not a Lead.

It is definitely semantics as I have taught my folks that a lead is a name and a prospect is someone who has shown interest (like in baseball "the Mets have a hot prospect"). Either way, my folks are doing very well with the names we have been harvesting.

 

[scagnt83]

It is definitely semantics as I have taught my folks that a lead is a name and a prospect is someone who has shown interest (like in baseball "the Mets have a hot prospect"). Either way, my folks are doing very well with the names we have been harvesting.

If you are bringing in new or newish agents you can tell them pretty much whatever you want to and they will agree or believe you.

But when you are speaking to industry vets then it is no longer "just semantics" since we know that there is a difference and how the industry at large classifies the various stages of prospecting.

If you told me that you had a "Lead" in SC that you needed worked, and turns out it was just a name from a cold list, then I would be pissed that I wasted my time.

And semantics matter. If you are part of an industry then you should care about the semantics of that industry. You can re-define terms within your own agency with your recruited agents if you want to. But if you want to be taken seriously by the rest of your peers outside of your agency then you should care about how your peers define certain terms.

 

[RWKAgency]

If you are bringing in new or newish agents you can tell them pretty much whatever you want to and they will agree or believe you.

But when you are speaking to industry vets then it is no longer "just semantics" since we know that there is a difference and how the industry at large classifies the various stages of prospecting.

If you told me that you had a "Lead" in SC that you needed worked, and turns out it was just a name from a cold list, then I would be pissed that I wasted my time.

And semantics matter. If you are part of an industry then you should care about the semantics of that industry. You can re-define terms within your own agency with your recruited agents if you want to. But if you want to be taken seriously by the rest of your peers outside of your agency then you should care about how your peers define certain terms.

And as a fellow 23 year sales veteran, I would have called you and said "I have a prospect I need you to work. This person called and said they need a Med Supp and I am not licensed in SC to work it. Sell it and it's yours". To me a lead is name and would have told you as such.

 

[primalware]

Do you have more information?

 

[mcleanbr]

The accuracy of our communication will benefit all of us in this business. Our inaccuracies communicated to our clients, our colleagues, and the general public creates distrust. Insurance Managers recruit and tell people they provide "free leads" to their prospective agents. They provide names of people that have not shown a interest and would not be considered "leads" in the accurate sense of this term. If I call my lead to follow up on their interest in my services and they don't know what I am talking about...that's not an accurate lead. Comparing a $45 lead that has shown an interest and might buy something to a name on a list is not accurate. We can do better than that.

As a Manager, you are a teacher. Teach the right concepts so that these Agents can lean how to marketing right and actually stay. I believe that if we told them that I am going to give you a list of suspects that might become leads then become prospects that many people that enter this business would not come on board because it's not "free leads".

 

[TwiLight]

Hey, Mr Agency Man..... What do you call a referral?

I prefer to work those than a suspect/prospect/lead in retrospect.

Skipper

 

[scagnt83]

Hey, Mr Agency Man..... What do you call a referral?

I prefer to work those than a suspect/prospect/lead in retrospect.

Skipper

Dont confuse the guy... he is confused enough already!

 

[TwiLight]

Dont confuse the guy... he is confused enough already!

Just poking the bear....

 

[scagnt83]

And as a fellow 23 year sales veteran, I would have called you and said "I have a prospect I need you to work. This person called and said they need a Med Supp and I am not licensed in SC to work it. Sell it and it's yours". To me a lead is name and would have told you as such.

To the rest of the industry a lead is someone who has expressed interest in buying. You can call it whatever you want to... but to the rest of the industry your definition would be incorrect.

You would be correct in your terminology when referring a lead to another agent when you have spoken to them and they have expressed interest in buying. At that point they could be called a prospect... even though personally I would consider them a semi-suspect/semi-prospect until I qualified it myself... but I digress.

A Lead has shown interest. A name on a list is a suspect who could become a lead/prospect. If you do not want to use the generally accepted terminology of this industry then that is your choice. But dont expect not to be called out on it by your peers who do use the generally accepted terms within our industry.

 

[finalexpenseguru]

This manager guy is a real dope if he thinks a name is a lead. If that's true than why does anyone mail lead cards or buy telemarketing leads? Because we like throwing away money? It's because we are getting LEADS and not just randomly throwing darts at a wall and calling names.