Insurance Agent Forum

[Winter]

Has anyone tried/had luck with med supp direct mail to get leads. I mean self-generated through sending out self-designed (and approved if necessary) or carrier approved mailers? If so, how did it go?

I understand in advance the usual responses about a mail reply not being a lead but just a name and that telephone cold calling is your preferred way etc, etc. but I am just looking for a reply to my specific question if anyone has knowledge.

Thank you.

Winter

[TRK3031962]

I know you were specific about self-generated mailers, but I've never done that. I've sold hundreds of med supps through mail drops and plenty of final expense at the same time. I've never self-generated them because I just couldn't see how it was worth my time and effort to do it. I would rather pay someone a little extra to do it. I figure they are already set up to do it the right way. But that's another one of those "to each his own" things.

[G.Gordon]

Yep. Done it and it is always a 150-200% ROI. I have a small list of my immediate area around my office. I have a post card I designed that does not mention rates or any particular company. I just want a phone call or some level of interest. I cost me around $225-250 to have the UPS store print, cut, mail to ~700 names. I have made at least two sales every time, but I made four the last time. Figure I make about $20/mo per supp... $240/year per new face. I've mailed that same old list at least four times and it keeps producing. It's all about timing. The last time they saw my name... no reason to change. The next time might be right after a mailing. I mail about every 60-90 days.

[Frank Stastny]

Originally Posted by Winter

Has anyone tried/had luck with med supp direct mail to get leads. I mean self-generated through sending out self-designed (and approved if necessary) or carrier approved mailers? If so, how did it go?

I understand in advance the usual responses about a mail reply not being a lead but just a name and that telephone cold calling is your preferred way etc, etc. but I am just looking for a reply to my specific question if anyone has knowledge.

Thank you.

Winter

I have tried it several times and each time it proved not to be worth my money or my time. It always made me feel like I was "doing something way cool" but I'm apparently I'm the only one who thought so. The prospects did not seem to be impressed.

It is much more economical to have a company send out the direct mail pieces if that is what you are looking for.

Since you already know that you are still going to have to cold call them, they aren't going to call you no matter how attractive your mail piece is, buy a list.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by G.Gordon

Yep. Done it and it is always a 150-200% ROI. I have a small list of my immediate area around my office. I have a post card I designed that does not mention rates or any particular company. I just want a phone call or some level of interest. I cost me around $225-250 to have the UPS store print, cut, mail to ~700 names. I have made at least two sales every time, but I made four the last time. Figure I make about $20/mo per supp... $240/year per new face. I've mailed that same old list at least four times and it keeps producing. It's all about timing. The last time they saw my name... no reason to change. The next time might be right after a mailing. I mail about every 60-90 days.

Good.

It would seem that your ROI is better than the snapshot you presented when you add in the trailing commissions.

Winter

[mickeyma]

There are two advantages to doing your own mailing as opposed to farming it out to an independent company.

1. Leads come back to you the next day. My experience has been that the mailing houses will wait until they have a small bundle before they email them to me. And, time is of the essence, especially when dealing with seniors. You want to contact them before they forget.

2. You can design your own mailer. I'm not crazy about most of the mailers I have seen in Final Expense, Mortgage Protection and Annuities so I design my own. I use a different headline and copy than the mail houses.

My printer prints postcards, inserts them in an envelop, sorts them to get the bulk-mail discount and takes them to the post office. The cost is $340 per 1,000.

Since the address on the reply card is local, it is to my advantage. Some people like to deal with someone who is local. I've heard this numerous times in the last 30 yrs while mailing in the mortgage protection market.

[Ron Van D]

Originally Posted by mickeyma

My printer prints postcards, inserts them in an envelop, sorts them to get the bulk-mail discount and takes them to the post office. The cost is $340 per 1,000.

Forgive my ignorance, but is that $340 in addition to the postage?

[Alston]

I use VistaPrint.com to do my postcards. You can:

• Upload your design
• Create a design using one of their templates
• Upload a mailing list
• Use one of their mailing lists (not that I recommend it)

When your upload your mailing list, the website will:

• Make sure each address exists
• Check for duplicates

Doing a mailing on your own is a pain. I've done it myself. The regulations take a while to learn and it is very labor intensive.

The only way I would do it in house is if I had a kid the right age who needed some spending money.

Using VistaPrint.com gives you a lot of control and at 10,000 you pay about 33 cents including postage.

Two tips:

• Be aware of the break points with VistaPrint. You will pay a lot more if you send out 10,001 instead of 10,000.
• The mailing list is key. Spend more time researching your mailing list than worrying about the design.