Direct Mail Close Ratio

[jmarkk1]

The group that I work with now does DM leads for us that's geared mainly at the MA market...T65. The challenge or goal that I've been given is to close about 20% of those leads. (again, they are mainly wanting me to do MA plans to get to this 20%)
Based on your experience, how realistic is this to hit on a monthly basis? especially during this time of year?
The leads that I'm getting now are April and May prospects, and I'm finding that they're not ready to talk yet, but not sure why they filled out the card.

 

[Josh]

To a large degree it's going to depend on what the piece your mailing says. If it says "contact us about changes to Medicare", 20% is unrealistic, if it says "fill out this card to have an agent come sell you insurance, be sure to have your checkbook ready", then 20% would seem low. Striking the balance between getting qualified leads and a decent response rate is a tricky thing to do, but that's going to impact your close rate quite a bit.

Do you care to share what the piece looks like? I think 20% is high, but you should be somewhere between 10% and 20%.

Why is the agency setting goals for you?

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

I usually get anywhere from 0% to 75% depending on the card I mail. I hope this helps...

 

[Chazm]

The group that I work with now does DM leads for us that's geared mainly at the MA market...T65. The challenge or goal that I've been given is to close about 20% of those leads. (again, they are mainly wanting me to do MA plans to get to this 20%)
Based on your experience, how realistic is this to hit on a monthly basis? especially during this time of year?
The leads that I'm getting now are April and May prospects, and I'm finding that they're not ready to talk yet, but not sure why they filled out the card.

I usually try to set appts. with half the cards I receive and I'd say I sell about 75% of those half.
Now, I don't always set appts. with half the cards I get but that is my goal. I definitely think 20% is attainable.
The question is, what will you put on the card?

I find it hard to believe that you can't get April and May clients to talk to you now. I have leads coming in right now for Apr. May and June and I send out my next batch of leads next week for May June and July. My response rate is much higher for 4 and 5 months out and they are easier to set too.

edit: when do they want you to hit your "20%"? For instance I wrote a March T65 today that I met first in November. That still goes towards my Nov. leads but I sold in Jan. They have to realize that a lot of these clients sign later

 

[GreenSky]

I usually get anywhere from 0% to 75% depending on the card I mail. I hope this helps...

You're new at this. I get -20 to 80%. Sometimes I accidently mail to an existing client who get's pissed off and cancels.

Rick

 

[alexkane03]

20% is a good target for any mailer lead, however your pay or comm may demand more , 30%-40% depending on how much you make per app, also work area , meaning travel time and cost. you need to ask for help with this from your upline , what I do for my agents is limit their travel and compact the marketed area. best wishes..

 

[jmarkk1]

I actually don't know what mailer looks like.
The agency is just wanting to make sure that they're not spending money without a good return. I understand that but I've been having trouble maintaining the focus on MA sales. Many of the leads have got a supp but not a pdp, and so I sell those and I don't think company wants to see a bunch pdp's.

To a large degree it's going to depend on what the piece your mailing says. If it says "contact us about changes to Medicare", 20% is unrealistic, if it says "fill out this card to have an agent come sell you insurance, be sure to have your checkbook ready", then 20% would seem low. Striking the balance between getting qualified leads and a decent response rate is a tricky thing to do, but that's going to impact your close rate quite a bit.

Do you care to share what the piece looks like? I think 20% is high, but you should be somewhere between 10% and 20%.

Why is the agency setting goals for you?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The clients that are 4/1 and 5/1 don't have Medicare A and B card yet, so they are not ready to meet.

I'm not sure they have time table for 20% to be hit.
I'm finding the biggest issue in getting 20% is that company doesn't have contracts with some of the better supps in our state and so aarp supp and anthem aren't always what client wants.(I have these to offer with company and I have one with Forethought that I got mainly to use in another state because company isn't licensed in that state...and forethought is pretty good in Ohio too)
The 20% would be realistic if company had more goodies in the bag to offer.

I usually try to set appts. with half the cards I receive and I'd say I sell about 75% of those half.
Now, I don't always set appts. with half the cards I get but that is my goal. I definitely think 20% is attainable.
The question is, what will you put on the card?

I find it hard to believe that you can't get April and May clients to talk to you now. I have leads coming in right now for Apr. May and June and I send out my next batch of leads next week for May June and July. My response rate is much higher for 4 and 5 months out and they are easier to set too.

edit: when do they want you to hit your "20%"? For instance I wrote a March T65 today that I met first in November. That still goes towards my Nov. leads but I sold in Jan. They have to realize that a lot of these clients sign later

 

[Rearden]

You should be more concerned with ROI than close-to-lead ratio.

Like one of the posters said -- there are so many variables -- like how specific your copy is, who you're targeting, whether or not another agent dropped mail right in front of you.

 

[jmarkk1]

I'm not sure I can figure out the ROI since I'm not paying for the mailers. When they make "drops" I think they do around 2500. I'm not sure how many drops they've made and I'm not sure if all 2500 are for me or other agents. They say the leads are for me and only me when they send them. I work a certain area of the state with these leads.
The mailers are T65 but I don't know what the "target" is per se. I just know that they would rather me write MA plans and then AARP for Med Supp. We are very competitive in the MA market, but not very competitive in the supp market. Because of this, I've put one additional supp in the bag if the client wants the best priced supp and doesn't buy the whole "rate increase" pitch that I'm supposed to use to justify why AARP or Anthem is 20 to 30% higher....because their rates are more stable and you can get silver sneakers.
Based on what I've been able to accomplish, I should be close to the 20% ratio, but some of this 20% is placed with the other supp and thus doesn't count towards the 20%.

You should be more concerned with ROI than close-to-lead ratio.

Like one of the posters said -- there are so many variables -- like how specific your copy is, who you're targeting, whether or not another agent dropped mail right in front of you.

 

[Newby]

I'm not sure I can figure out the ROI since I'm not paying for the mailers. When they make "drops" I think they do around 2500. I'm not sure how many drops they've made and I'm not sure if all 2500 are for me or other agents. They say the leads are for me and only me when they send them. I work a certain area of the state with these leads.
The mailers are T65 but I don't know what the "target" is per se. I just know that they would rather me write MA plans and then AARP for Med Supp. We are very competitive in the MA market, but not very competitive in the supp market. Because of this, I've put one additional supp in the bag if the client wants the best priced supp and doesn't buy the whole "rate increase" pitch that I'm supposed to use to justify why AARP or Anthem is 20 to 30% higher....because their rates are more stable and you can get silver sneakers.
Based on what I've been able to accomplish, I should be close to the 20% ratio, but some of this 20% is placed with the other supp and thus doesn't count towards the 20%.

AARP hides their rate increase as a "discount" that they take away each year for the first 10 years. When you factor that in I think they have some of the highest rate increases of all companies.