Lead Tip #2: The Trouble With Oversold Leads… And What You Can Do About It
You pick up the phone, ready to work a new lead. The last thing you want to hear on the other end of the line is “You’re the twenty-third agent to call me today… ENOUGH!” Click. You’re left with a dial tone and a sneaking feeling you’ve been cheated.
You know you’re not going to write a policy on every lead you buy. But you should expect to have a fair shot at closing them. And that doesn’t include chasing after 20 other agents. Or getting your head bitten off by a prospect pushed over the edge by a flood of sales calls.
What’s even more frustrating is these people could have been decent leads that were ready to close… until their information got oversold by your lead company.
Getting Your Fair Shot… And More Sales
Some companies would rather squeeze every last dime out of their leads than deliver the quality that keeps agents happy. They sell their leads to all takers… and you join a long line of agents getting the same tired information.
Sometimes you even catch your company red-handed. A little too eager to make a buck, they wind up selling you the same lead twice.
Is there anything you can do to protect yourself from oversold leads? Yes and no. You should always grill a lead company about the quality of their lead sources and how many times their leads get sold. But you won’t always get the TRUTH.
No company is going to 'fess up and say, “Ok, you caught me! Our leads are oversold.” Do your best detective work, and ask around to see if their story is backed up by other lead buyers. Then you’ll have to take the plunge and buy. Just make sure that if leads don’t live up to their promise, there’s a way out.
What To Ask Your Lead Company
- Ask what the maximum number of times a lead could possibly be sold is. If they sell leads more than 5 times, it’s time to cross them off your list. This doesn’t apply if you follow the call center model and burn through batches of cheaper leads, looking to scrape up a couple policies and move on. If this approach works for you, you won’t need to worry so much about the age of a lead, or the number of times they’ve been called.
- Ask how many times their leads are sold on average, and see what they say. Leads that are sold less than 2 times on average are considered “semi-exclusive.” These leads give you the best shot at closing, and cost a lot less than true exclusive leads. Some regions are more competitive than others, so ask what the average is in your area.
- Ask if they replace duplicate leads. Whether intentional or just a glitch in their computers, a good lead company will NEVER make you pay for the same information twice.
If your sales rep tap dances around these three questions? Proceed with caution. A good company has no problem discussing the number of times they sell a lead, and doesn’t make you eat the costs of duplicate leads.
Is getting an honest shot at closing your leads really that much to ask for?
Jeremiah Desmarais develops educational programs at ProspectZone, a provider of quality internet leads for insurance agencies. He has guided his team to win 4 awards in 2006 for their marketing initiatives to consumers and agents. He is author of several white papers, and has been a contributor to leading agent publications as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders.
Would you like agents to learn about the latest insurance lead generation tactics and insider news in your own publication? So do we! Please contact jdesmarais@prospectzone.com to inquire about reproducing our content.
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