Insurance Agent Forum

[Golddoor]

I have got some salesman from the Yellow pages trying to get me to place an add in the phone book. Is it worth it to place a yellow page add?

[insurebob]

You can place an ad if you want every tire kicker to call you. Then, once you get a quote prepared and call them back, they inform you that they already found something, and that's it.

People shop for health insurance as they do for auto insurance. They start with the "A"s and work their way down. The first person that throws out a number they like, they go with.

It's great, if you have a fully staffed agency, with sub agents that can handle the incoming calls, and feed you the leads. For an independent, one man operation, I found it to be a huge time waster.

Just my two cents.

[NHB_MMA]

Golddoor, I wouldn't do it for your situation. You're just getting started and you're specializing in health--something 85% of the population already has. That doesn't mean you can't give some of them something better, but it does mean they ain't gettin' on the phone and calling you.

When I had considered getting into the business as a fully independent (a course I realized just wasn't realistic with so little experience) I thought about getting a P&C license and doing some independent work on that end. Reason? People do call you because everybody needs it and most will use the yellow pages. Perhaps keep it in mind if you want to expand in the future.

In my particular situation I might my number in the yellow pages because I could get it under my company name. My yellow pages goes out around 4 different counties and there are listing by company in there such as Northwestern Mutual, Metlife, etc. and no one has my company. It would only serve a useful purpose if somebody woke up and decided they had a need for life insurance and wanted to talk to the large companies. Some people have a large company mentality and some don't, but I will have to check on the cost, because it may not be worth it.

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

I have had a small 1/4 size box ad in the YP for years at $54 a mo.listed under health plans and get spraydeck calls all the time and has been well worth it...one call neted me 5 applications and still growing.....I am listed in the top three and always ask did the other agents answer and 9 out of 10 times it is no.....you can not afford not to be listed......I should get a bigger ad.....

[natem2112]

Originally Posted by STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM

I have had a small 1/4 size box ad in the YP for years at $54 a mo.listed under health plans and get spraydeck calls all the time and has been well worth it...one call neted me 5 applications and still growing.....I am listed in the top three and always ask did the other agents answer and 9 out of 10 times it is no.....you can not afford not to be listed......I should get a bigger ad.....

That's a pretty good effective yellow page ad.

If you are going to go with a yellow page listing, make sure you list specifically what you specialize in, and try not to cover everything at once.

I personally would not use the yellow page venue again, I spent over $1500 ( Which isn't much for their rates) and netted a grand total of 5 phone calls from tire kickers.

Although now that I have a website to redirect those tire kickers to, I might have a different story, hard to tell.

Be careful...and frugal.

[healthagent]

I tried the yellow pages a couple of years ago when I first went independent. Horrible. Never again. Very few calls and all from either broke or uninsurable people. Defintitely not worth the rates.

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

Originally Posted by john_petrowski

I tried the yellow pages a couple of years ago when I first went independent. Horrible. Never again. Very few calls and all from either broke or uninsurable people. Defintitely not worth the rates.

how much did you spend each month.....

[midwestbroker]

Something to keep in mind is the size of the yellow pages. If you live in a smaller area, then you might get more since there is less to weed out.

However, I know that there are area specific books here, like certain counties and areas, so that might be worth looking into.

Example: Rather then do a 7 county Kansas City Market listing in the main yellow pages, you can go in a smaller book that only does one.

[STIBROKER@AUSTIN.RR.COM]

Bammm...start off the morning with a yellow page call......$347 sold....

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

This was interesting. I have always considered an ad, but shied away.