What Did I Do Wrong?

Looking for some feedback from the veterans here.

My first foray into Mortgage Protection Life direct mail campaign.

The numbers:

861 pieces sent to new home purchasers in SC (last 3 months purchases)
$400 in expense


11 responses (response meaning someone who mailed the reply card back to the response center.....they'd given their names, addresses, smoker status, and DOB

2 are too old @age 65 and had no interest in burial policies

1 just wanted mailed info.....no phone number....I did mail, with no subsequent response

2 had interest but then wouldnt return calls to set appts

2 had bad phone info

1 balked at the cost (aged 57, disabled, with medical issues and recent surgeries)

1 insisted the PMI on their FHA deal included life insurance....and were indignant about it when I said it didnt (I am a mortgage banker by trade)


2 I am still working

My approach is this when I get a notification that someone has responded via mail

"Mr. Jones I just got word that you'd expressed an interest in our Mortagage Protection and I am gong to be in your area on Thursday, when would be a good time to get together with you and Mrs. Jones?"

The issue is I get so many cards back but once the dialogue begins they begin to hem and haw and don't seem interested at all, even though they've gone to the trouble to send back in the reply card.

I am open to any suggestions anyone may have, including whether or not doing Mortgage Protect is a viable thing or not.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
 
Rather than trying to set an appointment immediately, ask them why they are interested and what their goals are. Get people talking instead of pushing them for an appointment. Establish some trust, then set the appointment.

By the way, you probably wasted two good sales on those over 65 by not having any other insurance companies to sell that aren't simplified issue. Even for a simple $100k term policy the premium would likely be over $1,000.
 
First, I think it's brave of you to say "What Did I Do Wrong?" on this forum, and props for that. So here are two things may have done wrong.

First, you only mailed 861 pieces. You should be mailing at least 2k at a time, if not more. It's very difficult to judge the viability of a campaign off of so few pieces.

Second, what did you mail? If you're lead card is to generic or doesn't actually hit any of their hot buttons then you should probably take a look at different pieces and make sure that someone responding to your piece is actually a semi-qualified and moderately interested prospect. If they're giving you age, DOB, and smoker status your piece is at least asking some of the right questions.
 
First thing you did wrong was: getting into the mortgage protection business. While I jest, and I am trying to "make a funny".... it is not something I like for myself. Maybe you do like it. If you do like it, and you have no problem with it, fine, but for myself, I do not.

What I would like to see you do, if you really like to sell life insurance, is not concentrate on just the mortgage. Think about this: if a guy owns a business, he may have a $250k mortgage to protect, but he also may have a million dollar business interest to protect, and loans on some cars and a bunch of furniture, and a boat, and so on. And kids and a wife. He may need two million for a policy- not the $250K mortgage policy that you had initially sought to sell.

And how do you find this business owner guy? You walk into his business. That was free. That cost you nothing. There is your problem. You are spending too much while chasing too little. In my opinion.
 
Last edited:
861 mailers is way too little.

I did that a few years back, (other type of insurance) and I only generated 1 sale per 1000 on average.

I was told that was good, so I couldn't afford to do it any longer.
 
MP sales are tough and in most markets, overworked. A local guy used to do well by mailing folks 6 - 12 months after their closing. Most of those who returned cards were serious, at least more so than those who got mailers the first month after closing.

Dgoldenz has a valid point. Pushing for an appointment is not going to work very well. Establish a dialogue, probe some points and qualify them before trying to set an appointment.
 
Sample size was too small. I tell agents if they plan on testing a lead program with a ten lead sample, dont waste their money. Such a small sample will always give an inaccurate result, good or bad.....The Rule of Large Numbers.

Some issues to consider for your next mailing: rural vs. urban, amount of loan and loan date.
 
Back
Top