Prospect Zone/ASAP Calling Your Leads

GreenSky · 03-25-2009, 07:42 PM

We now have a reason why leads from PZ and ASAP have quite frankly sucked for the past 60+ days. I cannot verify this but heard it from a very reliable source.

It seems that Stevens and Matthews (I think that's the correct spelling) sold their call center to Norvax which (of course) owns both Prospect Zone and ASAP.

So, when a prospect provides their information to ASAP, the call center gets it first. If the prospect can be reached, they try for a warm transfer. If they say "no" or cannot be reached, guess what??? It's sold as an exclusive (or shared) lead.

This is not only deceptive, but unethical.

Rick

moonlightandmargaritas · 03-25-2009, 08:13 PM

Shocking.

CHUMPS FROM OXFORD · 03-25-2009, 08:36 PM

Double shocking. I would love for someone to verify this. Or, deny it. Jessie from ASAP is usually available. I think she would give a straight answer.

GreenSky · 03-25-2009, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by CHUMPS FROM OXFORD

Double shocking. I would love for someone to verify this. Or, deny it. Jessie from ASAP is usually available. I think she would give a straight answer.

Jessie used to give straight answers but I did ask her. Hope to hear by tomorrow.

Rick

CHUMPS FROM OXFORD · 03-25-2009, 08:47 PM

I emailed her too. Great minds...

The New Guy · 03-25-2009, 08:48 PM

That's why I shut off my leads, and have been re-tooling my business model the last month or so.

Seems I'm not at my best when competing for internet leads.

Just tired of calling 10 seconds after the lead hits my inbox, only to find I'm already the 4th, 5th, or 6th caller.

Can't get to the lead on the same day, then I'm the 10th, 15th, or 20th caller, not to mention the e-mail competition.

I'm betting if the lead companies can find 400 leads a month within 10 miles of where I live, then I can find those same leads or more.

I would rather spend $3000 a month and compete for leads on my own terms, than spend $1500 a month taking the abuse from the lead companies, and the beat up consumers on the other end of the phone, if and when, you can reach them.

Perhaps buying internet leads will wind up being the most cost effective way to do business and I will just have to adjust my attitude and personality to the situation, but I'm willing to bet I can sell as much or more my way, and enjoy how I do so.

If my approach doesn't work out, I know I can always dive back into the world of internet leads with the push of a button.

GetInsurance · 03-25-2009, 09:54 PM

Funny that this thread started today. I'd love to know what goes on behind the scenes. I bought 6 PZ leads today. 1 disconnected # leaving me 5 to contact. Only 1 answered and it was a decent lead. The only thing that pissed me off was him looking at ehealthinsurance thinking thats where I was calling from. After the lead goes through, they get directly taken there.

Paradigm · 03-25-2009, 10:10 PM

Sadly almost all the lead services link to ehealth.

GreenSky · 03-25-2009, 10:11 PM

While I haven't heard back from Jessie, I did have the post verficied by another source.

Rick

Paradigm · 03-25-2009, 10:13 PM

In the end its all about ROI as long as my internet leads return 7-10/1 I'm not so concerned about who is buying them as most are either green agents, high pressure or hack mini med peddlers.

GreenSky · 03-25-2009, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by Paradigm

In the end its all about ROI as long as my internet leads return 7-10/1 I'm not so concerned about who is buying them as most are either green agents, high pressure or hack mini med peddlers.

I agree but starting about 2/1, my ASAP leads had a zero ROI - in January they were almost 10-1.

I've heard similar stories from other agents who were producing good numbers.

Rick

Paradigm · 03-25-2009, 11:27 PM

Dont worry in 3 months the newbies that you speak of will be out of the business especially when they get scared about Obamacare.

Mr. Bill · 03-26-2009, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by GreenSky

Jessie used to give straight answers but I did ask her. Hope to hear by tomorrow.

Rick

Not on a recorded line. While it may not be admissable in court, more and more companies are recording their employee conversations "for training purposes" ha ha ha. Get her cel number and talk after work hours.

dgoldenz · 03-26-2009, 01:55 AM

I've found the opposite...my PZ leads that I get for free through USPC have been better than ever. Anyone else notice that people who type their info for leads in all capital letters or all lowercase never answer the phone or result in a sale, while people who capitalize the first letter of each word usually pick up the phone and are easier to talk to/will actually call you back?

somarco · 03-26-2009, 08:23 AM

Read this thread for more eye opening information . . .

GreenSky · 03-26-2009, 04:59 PM

I spoke with Jessie this morning. I will say that she always replies to questions so let's give her credit for that.

While she couldn’t give me a percentage (or wouldn’t) she did verify that leads are being called with an autodialer. I asked if 100% of the leads were caled and she said no. Well, are 50% called. No, it's less than 50%. So then do you call 49%. I can't give you exact numbers but they are less than 50%.

The calls are made by an automatic system (press 1 transfers). The outgoing message gives them a chance to press 2 to be taken off the list. If this happens, Jessie says the lead is not sent to agents. If they press 1 which means they would like to speak with an an agent, they are immediately hot transferred to a call center. She wouldn’t tell me who their call center partner is.

Her "spin" on this was that agents were complaining that too many leads really weren't interested and/or could not be contacted. I said what I would have liked would be that I would receive the interested people along with the ones they could not reach.

I told her this was dishonest and unethical. She pointed out that since there is no contract, we have a choice to work with them or not. While this is not an exact quote she basically said that they have thousands of agents that they are working with who are apparently satisfied.

This is the first time I got a little upset with her. I asked her if she would be a pissed off if she was buying leads. She repeated that this is what agents requested.

That's right. I am happy that the people that can be reached immediately who want to buy insurance (the cream of the leads) are taken out of what we as agents can receive. As far as I'm concerned this is fraud.

Rick

(edited to remove what might not be an exact quote)

Paradigm · 03-26-2009, 05:05 PM

While it may not be fraud it is definitely misleading and does lower the potential contact rate of leads that you buy.

GetInsurance · 03-26-2009, 05:07 PM

So are you saying that people who press 1 and speak to their call center first are then sold to agents like us afterwards? Or are they selling only the people who didn't answer on the first attempt to us?

GreenSky · 03-26-2009, 05:42 PM

Jessie just sent me an email and corrected me that the leads do not go to a call center but directly to agents who have contracted for live transfers.

I see no real difference in this. We are still getting screwed.

Rick

Paradigm · 03-26-2009, 05:47 PM

In a sense I suppose yes, does that mean all the lead companies offering live transfers are doing the same thing?