Quality Leads and Follow up systems are Key to Internet Life Sales
By Karl Sorton
www.efinancial.net
Karl is the brokerage manager at Efinancial.net. He has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years. Karl has also worked at Eterm, and Insurance Only in addition to running his own successful brokerage. He has experience generating, selling and using life insurance leads.
The growing popularity of shopping via the Internet has caused many experienced life agents to feel like the computer is their competition! Carriers with the best term life rates are finally admitting that 40-55% of term life sales are made from internet leads. The good news is that quality internet leads are available at reasonable cost to agents who are ready to sell insurance over the phone. The best news is that quality Customer Relationship Software is now available that makes internet life sales and follow up easier than ever.
How are internet leads generated? There are many different ways to generate leads over the internet. Some are driven by search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Type “Term Life Insurance” or “Life Insurance” in Google or Yahoo and you’ll see who the players are in search engine leads. Some leads are created when a person responds to an opt-in email campaign. Leads can also be generated after a person has purchased or expressed interest in another product. For example a person may express interest in a mortgage on-line and after they fill out their information for the mortgage quote a page comes up that asks if they are interested in a quote on term life insurance. Banners on web pages also link people to insurance web sites.
What type of internet leads are there? Once a consumer is driven to a web site a successful lead acquisition generally falls into one of two categories, either an application request (AR) or a quote request (QR). An application request is generated when the consumer inputs their contact information and hits a button that says “request application” Since the person requested an application the closing ration on AR’s is higher than on other leads types. A quote request is often generated from the same web page as an application request. With a quote request the customer provides their contact information and hits a button to request a quote. After getting their quote they either abandon the page, hit a button to request additional information, or hit a button to request an application.
What do application requests (AR’s) cost? - Application requests frequently cost $75 to $300. They are frequently priced at a percentage of the premium quoted on the internet, around 10%-15% and sometimes more. For example if the premium quoted on the internet was $1000 the cost of the lead would usually be $100-$150. The placement ratio on these types of leads is frequently 40%-60%. Working application requests requires far fewer phone calls to generate sales, however you will burn through a lot of cash quickly to generate the applications. If your follow up system is untested or you are new to working internet leads you’ll want to steer clear of application requests until you have experience with the follow up and placement process of selling insurance over the internet.
What do quote requests (QR’s) cost? – Quote requests usually cost between $10- $35 and sometimes more. The price usually depends on the age of the prospect. They are often priced lower for younger people where the premiums are low and higher for people over age 30 or 45 where the premiums are higher. For example leads on people under age 30 may be just $12 each. Leads on prospects with a minimum age of 30 may cost about $25 and people with an age of 45 and above may cost about $35. The closing ratio on quote requests usually ranges from 7%-22%. Closing ratio can be measured in many ways in internet tracking lingo. For purposes of this article closing ratio means how many placed and paid cases per hundred leads. A closing ratio of 14% means 14 placed/paid cases per 100 leads. Quote requests require more salesmanship and calls to close the sale than application requests do. If you are on a limited budget or are new to selling insurance over the phone and through the mail you should start with quote requests.
What kind of leads should an agent buy? Most agents working in small offices work quote requests. Many experienced agents stick with quote requests and never graduate to application requests. Agents who prosper with QR’s like the low cost and ready availability of QR leads. Some agents who have worked both AR’s and QR’s prefer the quote requests as they keep their sales skills sharp. When working application requests it is easy to let sales skills get rusty as taking an application request is often just a matter of taking an order. The type of leads you purchase will also depend on your budget. Think of it this way; with application requests you make a little money on a lot of capital. With quote requests you make a lot of money on a little capital. Most agents choose quote requests for the higher potential return and lower costs along the way.
What return should I expect? Since the average placement ratio on 100 QR leads is about 14 cases and the average premium is about $700 you should place about $9800 of premium on an investment of about $2500 assuming you buy age 30 and above quote requests. That equates to a margin of $7300 on your $2500 investment and investment of your time. You will have expenses that will have to come out of that $7300. After all is said and done you should see a profit of $6000 or more on your 100 lead QR effort. As you get better at closing and upselling, your placement ratio and profit should increase! If a $2 to $3 return on every dollar invested in leads sounds good to you then internet leads are for you!
What are the other advantages of Internet Leads? Internet leads are readily available, require none of your time designing an ad campaign, and you can work the leads from the comfort of your home or office. You no longer have to drive around town, put on your best clothes, make sure the car is clean, and all the other assorted issues that surround traditional face to face selling. If you add up the cost of gas, wear and tear on your car, extra clothing expense, and compare the economics of internet leads you’ll almost certainly conclude that they make sense.
You’ll need to get a some items in order before starting you internet lead campaign. First, you need to pick a brokerage house with access to the most competitive term carriers and strong back office support. Secondly you need software designed for this business to maximize the return on your leads. Good CRM software will help you eliminate the headache of tracking leads on paper. The software will also send DRIP emails to your customers and over a period of time some will call in and buy. The best brokerage houses have low cost web sites available that you can brand with your name and picture, enhancing your image when selling over the phone and it’s the perfect place to send your customers that are on your DRIP email list.
Take some time to plan an internet campaign and the computer will be your friend, not your competition!
www.efinancial.net
Karl is the brokerage manager at Efinancial.net. He has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years. Karl has also worked at Eterm, and Insurance Only in addition to running his own successful brokerage. He has experience generating, selling and using life insurance leads.
The growing popularity of shopping via the Internet has caused many experienced life agents to feel like the computer is their competition! Carriers with the best term life rates are finally admitting that 40-55% of term life sales are made from internet leads. The good news is that quality internet leads are available at reasonable cost to agents who are ready to sell insurance over the phone. The best news is that quality Customer Relationship Software is now available that makes internet life sales and follow up easier than ever.
How are internet leads generated? There are many different ways to generate leads over the internet. Some are driven by search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Type “Term Life Insurance” or “Life Insurance” in Google or Yahoo and you’ll see who the players are in search engine leads. Some leads are created when a person responds to an opt-in email campaign. Leads can also be generated after a person has purchased or expressed interest in another product. For example a person may express interest in a mortgage on-line and after they fill out their information for the mortgage quote a page comes up that asks if they are interested in a quote on term life insurance. Banners on web pages also link people to insurance web sites.
What type of internet leads are there? Once a consumer is driven to a web site a successful lead acquisition generally falls into one of two categories, either an application request (AR) or a quote request (QR). An application request is generated when the consumer inputs their contact information and hits a button that says “request application” Since the person requested an application the closing ration on AR’s is higher than on other leads types. A quote request is often generated from the same web page as an application request. With a quote request the customer provides their contact information and hits a button to request a quote. After getting their quote they either abandon the page, hit a button to request additional information, or hit a button to request an application.
What do application requests (AR’s) cost? - Application requests frequently cost $75 to $300. They are frequently priced at a percentage of the premium quoted on the internet, around 10%-15% and sometimes more. For example if the premium quoted on the internet was $1000 the cost of the lead would usually be $100-$150. The placement ratio on these types of leads is frequently 40%-60%. Working application requests requires far fewer phone calls to generate sales, however you will burn through a lot of cash quickly to generate the applications. If your follow up system is untested or you are new to working internet leads you’ll want to steer clear of application requests until you have experience with the follow up and placement process of selling insurance over the internet.
What do quote requests (QR’s) cost? – Quote requests usually cost between $10- $35 and sometimes more. The price usually depends on the age of the prospect. They are often priced lower for younger people where the premiums are low and higher for people over age 30 or 45 where the premiums are higher. For example leads on people under age 30 may be just $12 each. Leads on prospects with a minimum age of 30 may cost about $25 and people with an age of 45 and above may cost about $35. The closing ratio on quote requests usually ranges from 7%-22%. Closing ratio can be measured in many ways in internet tracking lingo. For purposes of this article closing ratio means how many placed and paid cases per hundred leads. A closing ratio of 14% means 14 placed/paid cases per 100 leads. Quote requests require more salesmanship and calls to close the sale than application requests do. If you are on a limited budget or are new to selling insurance over the phone and through the mail you should start with quote requests.
What kind of leads should an agent buy? Most agents working in small offices work quote requests. Many experienced agents stick with quote requests and never graduate to application requests. Agents who prosper with QR’s like the low cost and ready availability of QR leads. Some agents who have worked both AR’s and QR’s prefer the quote requests as they keep their sales skills sharp. When working application requests it is easy to let sales skills get rusty as taking an application request is often just a matter of taking an order. The type of leads you purchase will also depend on your budget. Think of it this way; with application requests you make a little money on a lot of capital. With quote requests you make a lot of money on a little capital. Most agents choose quote requests for the higher potential return and lower costs along the way.
What return should I expect? Since the average placement ratio on 100 QR leads is about 14 cases and the average premium is about $700 you should place about $9800 of premium on an investment of about $2500 assuming you buy age 30 and above quote requests. That equates to a margin of $7300 on your $2500 investment and investment of your time. You will have expenses that will have to come out of that $7300. After all is said and done you should see a profit of $6000 or more on your 100 lead QR effort. As you get better at closing and upselling, your placement ratio and profit should increase! If a $2 to $3 return on every dollar invested in leads sounds good to you then internet leads are for you!
What are the other advantages of Internet Leads? Internet leads are readily available, require none of your time designing an ad campaign, and you can work the leads from the comfort of your home or office. You no longer have to drive around town, put on your best clothes, make sure the car is clean, and all the other assorted issues that surround traditional face to face selling. If you add up the cost of gas, wear and tear on your car, extra clothing expense, and compare the economics of internet leads you’ll almost certainly conclude that they make sense.
You’ll need to get a some items in order before starting you internet lead campaign. First, you need to pick a brokerage house with access to the most competitive term carriers and strong back office support. Secondly you need software designed for this business to maximize the return on your leads. Good CRM software will help you eliminate the headache of tracking leads on paper. The software will also send DRIP emails to your customers and over a period of time some will call in and buy. The best brokerage houses have low cost web sites available that you can brand with your name and picture, enhancing your image when selling over the phone and it’s the perfect place to send your customers that are on your DRIP email list.
Take some time to plan an internet campaign and the computer will be your friend, not your competition!
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