By W. G. Moore
They're hundreds of companies out there who will offer to sell you Insurance Leads, some have been in the business for many years, others are start ups, and still others are fly-by-night garbage lead pushers. So how do you tell if a company is reputable? How do you know the leads you get are going to be of high quality? Truthfully, unless you have lost money dealing with bad companies then you won't. Although there is a good chance to make lots of money with the right leads, there is also a very good chance to loose money as well. There are pros and cons to every method of lead generation, but knowledge of what to look for can save you time and money.
Let me give you an example of my dealings with lead sellers. A few years back I ran a successful Commercial Mortgage Brokerage, most of my business came through word of mouth and referrals. Like all businesses that rely on sales to generate income, the pipeline can run dry, so did mine. I tried various other lead generation strategies with marginal results, direct mail, post cards, etc. I researched several sales lead companies and found one that was very reputable in their field. So how do you determine if a company is reputable? You ask your competition. Whenever you deal with a lead generation company, whether its mortgage leads, life insurance leads, or consumer leads you will have to compete with other companies who will be buying the same leads. Look at what other Insurance companies are listed and call them up, if you can't find out that info then ask the lead company. If they really are reputable then they will have no problem providing you with references from happy customers.
In addition to the companies reputation, the second criteria should be the quality of the insurance leads provided by the company. Most companies have a limit to how many times they sell a lead, look for a company that will only sell a lead to 2 or 3 other insurance agents. The obvious reason for this is that you don't want a lead that 10 other agents have already purchased, the last thing you want is to spend money on a lead you have no chance of closing, not to mention the ear chewing your going to get when you're the 10th insurance broker to call the client that day. With fewer agents having bought the lead you have a better chance of closing the deal and selling your services to the client. A good insurance lead company may even offer exclusive targeted leads for a premium price. These leads are sold to only you and are targeted to your insurance product, for instance Auto insurance leads in Florida, or Life Annuity Leads in California.
In addition to the above criteria, lead transfer time is very important. Look for a company that offers live transfer or real time leads. These are leads that are batched and sold immediately upon the application being submitted. In some cases a phone operator is used to call the customer and that operator then transfers the "warm" client to the agent. This is the best insurance lead to get, the client is pre-qualified and verified before being connected to the qualified agent to close the deal. A typical company will list the methods used to gather their insurance company leads. Look for companies that generate search traffic thru targeted campaigns - whether Pay Per Click, Print media, or other forms of lead generation. It is also important to stay away from companies that use incentivized traffic, these are companies that use bribery to get visitors to fill out an application for an Insurance quote, these are customers who will not answer your phone call or even hang-up on you when you call. it is a good idea to also make sure the company provides replacement leads for bad or bogus leads. Even the best companies can get a few bad apples in the bunch.
Buying insurance leads should be a small part of every companies long term strategy for keeping their pipeline full of "warm" quality leads. Keeping the above listed criteria in mind will help limit your risk and ensure a great return on investment.
They're hundreds of companies out there who will offer to sell you Insurance Leads, some have been in the business for many years, others are start ups, and still others are fly-by-night garbage lead pushers. So how do you tell if a company is reputable? How do you know the leads you get are going to be of high quality? Truthfully, unless you have lost money dealing with bad companies then you won't. Although there is a good chance to make lots of money with the right leads, there is also a very good chance to loose money as well. There are pros and cons to every method of lead generation, but knowledge of what to look for can save you time and money.
Let me give you an example of my dealings with lead sellers. A few years back I ran a successful Commercial Mortgage Brokerage, most of my business came through word of mouth and referrals. Like all businesses that rely on sales to generate income, the pipeline can run dry, so did mine. I tried various other lead generation strategies with marginal results, direct mail, post cards, etc. I researched several sales lead companies and found one that was very reputable in their field. So how do you determine if a company is reputable? You ask your competition. Whenever you deal with a lead generation company, whether its mortgage leads, life insurance leads, or consumer leads you will have to compete with other companies who will be buying the same leads. Look at what other Insurance companies are listed and call them up, if you can't find out that info then ask the lead company. If they really are reputable then they will have no problem providing you with references from happy customers.
In addition to the companies reputation, the second criteria should be the quality of the insurance leads provided by the company. Most companies have a limit to how many times they sell a lead, look for a company that will only sell a lead to 2 or 3 other insurance agents. The obvious reason for this is that you don't want a lead that 10 other agents have already purchased, the last thing you want is to spend money on a lead you have no chance of closing, not to mention the ear chewing your going to get when you're the 10th insurance broker to call the client that day. With fewer agents having bought the lead you have a better chance of closing the deal and selling your services to the client. A good insurance lead company may even offer exclusive targeted leads for a premium price. These leads are sold to only you and are targeted to your insurance product, for instance Auto insurance leads in Florida, or Life Annuity Leads in California.
In addition to the above criteria, lead transfer time is very important. Look for a company that offers live transfer or real time leads. These are leads that are batched and sold immediately upon the application being submitted. In some cases a phone operator is used to call the customer and that operator then transfers the "warm" client to the agent. This is the best insurance lead to get, the client is pre-qualified and verified before being connected to the qualified agent to close the deal. A typical company will list the methods used to gather their insurance company leads. Look for companies that generate search traffic thru targeted campaigns - whether Pay Per Click, Print media, or other forms of lead generation. It is also important to stay away from companies that use incentivized traffic, these are companies that use bribery to get visitors to fill out an application for an Insurance quote, these are customers who will not answer your phone call or even hang-up on you when you call. it is a good idea to also make sure the company provides replacement leads for bad or bogus leads. Even the best companies can get a few bad apples in the bunch.
Buying insurance leads should be a small part of every companies long term strategy for keeping their pipeline full of "warm" quality leads. Keeping the above listed criteria in mind will help limit your risk and ensure a great return on investment.
W.G. Moore is an Internet Marketer specializing in Insurance and Finance marketing. The authors website http://www.national-insurance-quotes.com provides a hassle free means of comparing insurance quotes from the nations top insurance companies. Visitors can obtain multiple insurance quotes for life, auto, health, renters, homeowners and condo insurance. Customers can also compare annuity investments for a complete financial plan. The website also provides direct linking to real-time insurance leads for qualified agents and brokers.
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