Yes, it definitely pays to buy leads. Of course, there are so many tentacles to my answer that depend on (among other things):
* Your budget
*Your experience
*What type of business you are referring to
*Are you captive?
And on and on...
You may want to "search" under "leads" in this Forum. And maybe it's just a matter of fine tuning your cold calling. There are a lot of good tips in that subject.
You will find as many opinions as there are folks on this forum.
Paying for leads can work . . . or not.
I get an 8:1 return on leads but it took me a while to get to that level. Early on my return was 2 or 3 to 1.
In another life I paid to have appointments set. Worst appointments in the world. The appointment setters were on an incentive quota. They pushed too hard. Ended up wasting a lot of my time & money.
Cold calling sucks, but if you can't do it you may not be cut out for sales. Or at least not this kind of sale.
I hate cold calling but am very good when I work it. I finally decided it was more profitable for me to spend my time selling the product rather than selling the appointment.
I agree with Somarco. Focus on what makes you money. As much as your budget allows, hire someone to do everything else.
------------------------------------
Ed Gentry
Insurance Marketing Systems ed@ndinsmail.com
866-232-3370 www.AgentWorkFromHome.com
Let us show you how to work from home. No Fee
Mix and match. Buy leads but also cold call. Having some leads coming in will probably take the pressure off cold calling and make it more enjoyable for you.
------------------------------------ Health Insurance Agents: Training, Support, Discounts, E&O for $440 www.ihiaa.com
I want to know, who do you guys buy leads from, what companies are the most profitable for health insurance leads?
And, in response to cold calling - at first, when you first start out, it's hard, but you will only get better at it by doing it. It's like learning how to walk, it's awkward at first, but then you get your own groove and style and it becomes more like warm calling. And you will see the results and really like it. You have to be in a mindset though, that you don't take anything personally. If someone yells at you, or hangs up on you, okay, just move on, go to the next call and the next, and move on emotionally and with your mind. I also find that the more genuine you are, the better, and don't get hung up on playing stupid sales games. I keep my pitch to a one or two sentence, and get right to the point - and I can not tell you how many people are responsive to that. Also, find where you are comfortable - I prefer talking to one particular sex over the other - that's where I am comfortable and it works. Start in your comfort zone at first, and then move from there, as you go on. But any sales job you get you will have to do cold calling, period, and it is profitable, and when you make a sale, it's all profit. So master it, and befriend it and you will see results!!!
Does it pay to buy leads? also was wondering about using appointment setters I am not lazy just having a hard time with cold calling.
From my experience I can tell you it does. But it also depends on what you sell. I've mostly worked with MA plans making appointments and i have a rate of closing 1 out of 4 SET appointments, but I didn't had that luck setting appointments for life insurances, I guess it depends on the person.
I would tell you to go for it, give it a try, it will at least show you if it's good enough.
Krooney i have a question for you, what do you say to the prospects on the phone in brief statement? Can you share with us on your lines or script you have that works for you.
Does it pay to buy leads? also was wondering about using appointment setters I am not lazy just having a hard time with cold calling.
Putting on an old hat here...
For some agents, it pays to buy leads. Calculating simply, using individual health, if you make $600 average commission on individual health, and pay $6 per lead for leads, you need to have a 1% conversion ratio (1 out of 100) to break even.
Of course, you have expenses... First year, there are carrier appointment fees. Software. A web site. Training. Telephone equipment and office expenses (all depending on how deep you go with it).
It's not just leads, or their quality that determine success. I believe that success is a combination of the right marketing (which generates leads, or can include retail leads as one component), sales process/skills, technology, and products/carrier relationships. Leads by themselves are only one component. You might have the best leads in the world, and you could kill it with bad tech, the wrong products to offer, or a bad sales process that turns off the customer. Conversely, you could have some fairly poor quality leads yet through timely and consistent follow-up, solid tech, and the right products/carrriers, you still could make it work.
The main thing is, don't believe that the WHOLE THING is just about LEADS. It ain't that simple.
With leads, and I have bought thousands in a former life, I recommend that you compare and contrast. Demand flexibility, and let yourself change your mind as quality goes up and down for each lead vendor. Sometimes a lead vendor that is good for awhile gets bad for a little bit, and sometimes the ones you thought were bad get a clue and fight hard to get back in the mix with some surprising quality. Lots of buttons they have to press if they feel it's necessary... and lots of ways they can "cut" things a little bit if they feel the need. MOST lead companies are scrupulous... stick to the leaders and research - listen to agents such as the ones on this forum for recommendations.
If you shoot me a private email on this forum, I can share a spreadsheet model you might find useful to balance the components of a good remote health insurance agents.
OR, if you want to know some good questions to ask a retail lead vendor, let me know that too.
THe bests route is to generate your own leads through marketing.
How much money are you spending on your leads on a monthly basis?
My advice is to use that to create your own hot leads that are calling you alone, not buying some lead that is getting a phone call from 3 other agents, or just fills something out online.
The best way i used to generate my own leads is by expert positioning. Become the expert on your subject, write some content, create a free resource blog, partner with some other agents who have lists (who are non competitive of course) and create your own leads.
THe bests route is to generate your own leads through marketing.
How much money are you spending on your leads on a monthly basis?
My advice is to use that to create your own hot leads that are calling you alone, not buying some lead that is getting a phone call from 3 other agents, or just fills something out online.
The best way i used to generate my own leads is by expert positioning. Become the expert on your subject, write some content, create a free resource blog, partner with some other agents who have lists (who are non competitive of course) and create your own leads.
Peter
"Cold Calling Sucks"
Dude! I have made over $5,000,000 in the last 10 years cold calling!
I have the tax returns to prove it!
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Originally Posted by gwenweisenberger
Does it pay to buy leads? also was wondering about using appointment setters I am not lazy just having a hard time with cold calling.
A dialer would work well with anyone who has call reluctance.
Last edited by bcbroker : 08-21-2009 at 05:50 PM.
Reason: Posts merged
Does it pay to buy leads? also was wondering about using appointment setters I am not lazy just having a hard time with cold calling.
I can't understand this...look guys and gals, find what works for you and do that. I may take sometime for you to find out what that is but you will find that out. I cold call and I love it. Most people who do not cold call or hate it really don't understand it. Most people don't come from a cold call or telemarketing background so they think of themselves as a bad telemarketer.
In some of the other forums I have listed some books that might help you understand this and in the morining I will put up a script I use when I approach people face to face, my phone script I keep to myself it works for me, may not work for someone else.
I buy data to put into a dialer to get my own leads, I will not waste money on these folks who come to the forum to steal our money. Most of the people in love with buying leads are the folks selling them to us! Give me a break.
You need to learn how to cold call, I will start a new forum next week for this so look out for it.
I hear people say "Cold calling sucks" it does not suck...you suck and you can get better if you apply yourself.
I will let you in on my lessons learn. I am not anti-buying leads if that is what works for you, but don't spend a dime on leads until you know your product very well, are confident that you can intelligently speak with your prospect about what it is you're selling, and you have the income to do it. If you are going to leas that 6 other agents are calling, you better be good at it because there is no such thing as an EXCLUSIVE LEAD, maybe if there was only one website on the internet there might be but everybody goes from one to the other for quotes.
By the way, I am talking from experience.
Cold calling is free and it works. If you are not comfortable cold calling, then you need to ask yourself if you are comfortable enough to to pick up the phone and call the lead you just paid $30.00 for.
Remember this about product knowledge:
"When you know, AND you know you know, confidence replaces fear".
Paying for leads
I am not lazy just having a hard time with cold calling.
Cold calling sucks" it does not suck...you suck and you can get better if you apply yourself.
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