How do I pick a good lead vendor?

Thanks for your response Ethan! Just to let you know I have been using the mojo dialer for a few months and its great. I wish there was just one program for everything but that's wishful thinking! My problem now is finding a good lead vendor. I started out with insuranceleads.com and it was okay and then for about a month everything started unraveling (i.e., my contact ration went from about 40% to 20%, a lot of incentive leads, people who never requested information, etc.) I have also used netquote and a couple of others and I have found that with shared leads price doesn't mean better quality. This is a journey I guess.

Esteban

Answer: I built up my leads database with Netquotes. You can get hosed pretty bad with them too. I would suggest before trying any lead vendor to go to their site and put your information in there with your phone number and see how many agents contact you. If you mess around with zip codes that a lead vendor might use you might find that you are only sharing with one other agent instead of 10. Also pay attention to how quickly agents call you so that you can determine if you are competing against a call center or a good ole' agent. I prefer competing against agents because they don't have a predictive dialer half the time. I would also work with MOJO to have your leads directly imported into their system. They can show you how to do this.


Ethan

When is a good time to call leads?

Hello Ethan,


I love your blog, keep up the good work. I have two questions for you. I am a new agent and I just started buying leads. So as not to wait around all day for leads when is usually a good time that leads start coming in or is it sporadic throughout the day? Also, do you do a lot of webinars when selling insurance online? It seems that some of the "experts" suggest you cannot sell successfully without selling via webinars. What are your thoughts. Thanks.

--
Cordially,
Esteban

Dear Esteban,

I don't think there is a perfect time to turn leads on and off. I think a lot of it depends on your situation and how many leads you are getting. If I were getting a few leads I would have them go to a smart phone or something and call them as soon as they come in if you are not in front of a computer all day long. I you have more than 10 leads a day coming in I would use an autodialer like MOJO or a call center like LEADPOD to make calls for you. These two services can help you make a much better return on your investment.

Lastly.........Don't let your business run you. You are the business owner and you need to run the business. If you aren't happy because you aren't doing what you love you will never be able to sell very much. I like to allocate so many hours a week prospecting, doing customer service, outside prospecting, and so forth. You have to figure out a formula that makes you happy. I would keep a time budget and keep track how your week is going to be divided up. Also there is nothing wrong with doing a business venturem like selling health insurance, part time until it out earns your other job. My rule of thumb has always been to not bite off more than I can chew!

Stellar Aged Leads

Hi Ethan,

I found your blog and recorded webinar when I was researching stellar prospects. I am a bit leery of stellar prospects because I cannot find anything about them, good or bad on Google, the insurance forums or even the BBB. Also the emails I get from them are from a name at a totally different insurance company. I am worried about their legitimacy. But then again they are connected with MOJO which makes me feel a bit better. Since you don’t buy leads how are you connected with them? Is this where you got the original 5000 leads?

Answer: Dear Abby,

I don't know very much about Stellar Prospects. I met the owner at a Norvax convention last year and we joined up to do a training webinar. The owner was very nice to me and there was a lot of people on the call. He doesn't appear to be a person that I wouldn't trust. Since the webinar that I did with him there has been no communication. I really don't do those types of webinars anymore for Stellar or anyone. They end up eating away at my time and I never get compensated more than selling insurance policies.



I want to buy aged leads. I use another source but these prices are good for life. If I buy leads, how do I get them into my account (I use Aliss). Then how would I get them to MOJO and use them with a dialer and my own crm? Do I have to load them manually to Aliss and then again into MOJO? Then do I use the auto dialer, and when I get an answer, hurry up and search in Aliss for the client? I need to have the leads in Aliss since that is my quoter.

Answer: I wouldn't switch your clients from Aliss to Mojo simply because MOJO is an autodialer and not a quoting software. With Aliss there should be a function that allows you to export contacts into a .csv file and you can easily import them into MOJO. I like to "toggle" between MOJO and my quoting software by holding down "alt" and "tab" at the same time. I wish there was one program that would do "everything" for you but it is still in development with me for a while. I will let you know when it comes out.



Lastly, how early is too early to make calls. I am in the est time zone. I work numerous states but mornings are good now that the kids are back in school. I have always started no earlier than 10 a.m. because I don’t want to annoy people. How early is too early? And how early are people in the mood to buy? Thank you for your time and answers. Sincerely, Abby


Answer: I think 8am in a prospects' time zone is the perfect time to call. In addition to that, I would call at noon and 6pm. More than 3 times a day can get pretty annoying but you have to be aggressive with these people otherwise they will go somewhere else. Do yourself a favor and don't leave a message. You will get a better response from people calling you back if you don't leave a message.

Where do I get more General Agent help?

Ethan,

Love your webinars. I listened to a couple of them. They've been very helpful. Your info was sent to me by Sue from Indiana who has been communicating w/you as of late. Both she & I got in to this business through the Pajama Man (PJM). We both have become somewhat discouraged. I am in the same situation as she's in. I'm running dry in funds and have been hesitant to jump in buy leads & take calls. I feel I need to put resumes out & get a night job until I get up & rolling in this business, but then I feel I won't have the time to do this business diligently. Catch 22, huh?

I'm really emailing to ask if you think I should leave my general agent who's of little value to me to go with AIO. They seem to help you get off the ground running. I've been speaking with a Gary Blanche from AIO who has been trying to recruit me. I'd have to transfer my carrier appointments to AIO. I feel that listening to live calls & their coaching (if they are being truthful) will help me get adjusted.

Are you still with AIO?

Thanks,
William

Dear William,

I am sorry to find out that you are having a hard time in the industry. I know what it is like to be recruited and not helped. It has happened to me several times. I guess you could say I am loyal to my family and not as much to organizations. I do use American Insurance Organization for my insurance products. I don't use them for all insurance carriers because they can't appoint me with all carriers.

I don't know Gary Blanche very well but I do know that he has received numerous awards for recruiting. I was in the Bahamas 2 weeks ago where he received an award for the best "recruiter" of 2009. That being said..........I cannot assure you that he is going to take better care of you than your last recruiter simply because I don't know much about you or your work ethic. The organization of AIO is a good solid one but I am sure that there are a lot of people complaining of not getting enough help from their sponsors. I have had agents that I have spent a lot of time working and training in the past that have said that I don't help them enough and I was spending 10-15 hours a week coaching them.

When I recommend a product, service, or person I have always used them. I never make a recommendation without trying it out for myself. That is why I can't tell you whether Gary Blanche is going to turn your business around for you. I hope this helps!

Do you do one on one sales calls?

Do you still have personal one on one calls for sale, because I would like to pick your brain on approaches for aged internet leads?.


Corey

Dear Corey,

I don't do one on one sales calls with insurance agents anymore. I have been training agents for years and unfortunately I have never been able to figure out a way to make more money doing that than by just selling insurance. Because of that, lots of insurance General Agents have come to me for enhancing their sales skills and strategies for their agents knowing that I won't "steal" anyone from them. I am sorry I don't do this anymore. I do have plans to put some sales calls on YouTube though. I am just not sure when that will happen. This whole blog is really just a service that I offer to agents so that insurance producers can become effecient in selling insurance without having to make some of the same mistakes I made when I first started the industry.

Do you have Youtube videos on how to enter information into Quickbooks?

Ethan, Did you do the YouTubes on using Quickbooks? Are you saying that you can build a CRM by integrating it with Outlook? Where can I get more info on all of this?
Jim A. (Texas)

Dear Jim,


If you use Outlook, it automatically syncronizes the information from Quickbooks to Outlook or from Outlook to Quickbooks. I am using my own CRM now that I built because I tried to get Outlook on my new computer and had problems get anyone from Microsoft to help me configure Outlook the way that I wanted with the new edition. After spending literally 2 weeks on this project I gave up and have revamped my own database that I built and it can export and import directly into Quickbooks right now. I do have the information on how to enter information into Quickbooks available but not on Youtube yet. I have been having technical difficulties adding this information to the blog. Hopefully it will be up within the next two weeks.

The CRM system that I have will eventually be available to the public for sale but I am still about 6-12 months from that. I use Quickbooks for all of my customer payment information and financials. I am using my own CRM for a toll free number, auto responders, CRM, and telephone broadcasting. I will let everyone know when I have my own CRM that will be available for the public.

Who do you use to help you make business decisions?

I gave up trying to make up decisons about my business by myself years ago. It is just too hard to become proficient in one line of work and then be super good at another. We do have to trust and rely on different specialists to help us in any business venture.

During the past 12 months I have been using the financial firm of Russon and Company for all of my financial decisions. Randy Russon, the owner of Russon-Company, has spent quite a bit of time interviewing me about my health insurance business. He has interviewed me about the strategies of my business model as well as asking what has worked well and what hasn't worked very well.

Randys' poignant questions and positive attitude have helped me feel comfortable in working with him.

Last year because of the help of Randy Russon, he helped me cut over $50,000 of expenses and helped me implement new strategies that increased my business revenue.

Even though my wife is a CPA and helps me quite a bit with accounting needs, she doesn't have the background of analyzing financials that Randy Russon has. Becuase of that we have outsourced most of the financial analyzing to Randy Russon.

This past year I had an insurance agent, at a conference that I spoke at, ask me how much money should I spend in leads? I had no clue what to tell him because when I asked him about his revenue, expenses, and profit margins he had no clue what I was talking about. I referred him to Randy Russon in hopes that Randy would help him put all of the information into Quickbooks and help make recommendations for him. At the minimum I recommend that each business owner meet with someone like Russon-Company once a quarter to get help paying your quarterly taxes. It also helps you to get another persons' perspective on your business.

I have referred quite a number of people to Russon Company and will continue recommend his name for small business owners. His website is www.Russon-Company.com and his phone number is 801-226-9075.

Do you have two Vonage accounts because you sell in two states?

I have 4 phone numbers and one toll free number for my clients. I started with Skype with 4 phone numbers and I got out smarted by their fees in making as many calls as I do that it started costing my more money than having a two Vonage accounts.

My accounts through Vonage have one "real" phone line and one "virtual" number. The reason that I have had so many phone numbers is because if I was trying to get in touch with clients that I felt were avoiding me I would call from different area codes. It has always been worth paying a little bit more in a phone bill because of the people I am finally able to talk with.

I started my phone lines with Skype but I have been much more happy with Vonage with the call quality. I was able to bring down my internet speed from a 10 Megabyte high speed fiber optic line to regular DSL from Qwest when I switched from Skype to Vonage. I think I am saving about $60 a month because of that.

How I organize my clients in my CRM.

These are a list of statuses that I have set up in my CRM. Basically I have a folder for each of these statuses and when I move a client to a particular status the email auto responders start for these clients.

6 month client review Advises client to call us for 6 month check-up

Application pending Application completion reminder.

Customer service Already approved. Just to advise client that Customer Service is working on their issue...

Delinquent payment Asks client to contact us regarding a policy update.

Lab work/Paramed Advises client a Paramed will contact them regarding required lab work to qualify for insurance.

Medical records request Advises client their medical records have been requested for review by the insurance company.

Missed phone appointment Client did not keep a phone appointment. We request they contact us for a new appointment.

New client check-up Asks client how things are going for them (every few months).

Non-valid leads Advises prospect we tried contacting them by phone, and request correct information

Not interested resolicitation 10-month 'reconsider us' notification for those who are not interested.

Prospect appointment Reminds prospect of upcomng phone or personal appointment.

Prospect introduction Introduces the agent and available products for prospective clients.

Quotes viewed Acknowledgement of client online review of Norvax insurance plan quotes.

Renewal 10-month policy review notice to client.

Thanks for your business (post-sale) Same or next day e-mail thanking client for their new business.

UW customer service Prospect is in underwriting, but has service issues. Notifies them their problem is being worked on.

UW decision (CIRD) Advises client that the Underwriting Department has made a decision. (One of the following: Counteroffer, Incomplete, Issued, Rate Increase or Declined. Note: The decision not communicated in this notice.)

UW decision (CIRD) phone appointment Post-CIRD phone appointment.

UW going well Advises everything is going well in underwriting: No requirements for this client, but no decision as yet.

UW interview - Aetna No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - American Community No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - Assurant No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - Humana No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - UHC No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

Interim rules on Health Care Reform

http://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/NAHU_2/attach/GLG_Summary_Annual_Limits_Regulations_June_10.pdf

What strategies should I use when just starting to sell insurance?

Dear Ethan,


I can't tell you how much your information and your videos has helped me.

We had a family construction business but there has been no work for over two years. We were unable to find anything to bring income even though we tried everything we could think of. We were slowly liquidating practically everything we owned and exhausting savings and credit cards and family assistance. We were desperate to find an income!

I am very new now in insurance - just passed the exam and am very green. I was never in insurance industry prior to April, 2010. In fact, I hated even reading my policy and rarely did! What got me hooked was that I could help educate people about insurance and help them get better plans AND make an income. I figured I could learn it but several times I thought "What was I thinking???" But so far so good. People like you have been very helpful and inspiring.

I worried about health care reform but no good in worrying. I like your Phil Jackson idea - take it a day at a time. Focus on now and hurry up and get it done now. (he used to be our Chicago Bulls coach although I'm in Indiana). Sorry to go on - here are my Qs:-

Can you import the client info into Quickbooks from Mojo or Quotit or Norvax?  All of those systems will allow you to export that information into an excel file and then you can upload that into Quickbooks. If your reports are in a pdf you can use www.able2extract.com. The link is http://www.investintech.com/prod_downloadsa2e.htm.

What do you feel is a good salary to pay an assistant, how many do you have, and how many hours do they work?

I don't have any assitants at this time. I have felt that by the time you get an office and a couple people helping you it eats away at your margins so much that it isn't worth it. I moved back into my home from my office two months ago and I like it much better. If you need help with a technical project or something you can always call a temp service and they can have an employee meet you at a Kinkos or something. That is what I usually do if I need some sort of project done. I wanted to build a huge agency in the past but I really like my lifestyle of coming and going when I want and seeing my 2 year old lots while working from home. I have tried pretty much everything in this business and I prefer it this way but maybe it will change in a year or so.

Why do you have to work every day if you are just mainly working aged leads? I don't have to work everyday and I don't always but I work and play hard. Last week was the Bahamas and then next week I am taking a 7 day backpacking trip through Yellowstone! Besides.........I am only 37 years old. I have my prime earning years ahead of me and I need to work to keep up with Obamas tax increases that are coming.

Do you send teaser emails before you contact NEW prospects,too, or just renewals and not interested? I was unclear about that. If I were working new leads (which I am not anymore) I would send them an introduction email explaining what I do along with a phone call. If I don't make contact I would send a follow up email 4-6 days later and then from then on I would double the amount of time I am sending out emails. So on the third batch I would send out an email 8-12 days later and then 16-24 days after that and so on.


Do you have a script to suggest to start with these aged leads (but new to me, not renewals or Not Interested leads). There are several videos on this blog that explain a script for new leads and if it is an aged leads you can visit one of my posts at http://biztartinsurancetips.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-call-not-interested-leads-or.html to find out more about this.



you have me excited to start! I am signing on for the auto dialer and then the stellar prospects leads.

Thank you!!!

Susan