Did you know that more than 90% of new insurance agents quit within a year?
Some agents simply find that insurance is not for them. However, many quit because they don’t see the sales numbers and revenue they want.
Considering that the average independent insurance agent makes $91,323 per year (and top earners can make over $200,000), why is business so challenging for many new agents?
One of the reasons is a lack of insurance leads.
As a new agent, buying leads can be just the thing you need to kickstart your business. For established agents, bought leads are still an invaluable source of reliable, ongoing leads.
However, there are a few things to be aware of when buying insurance leads. If you don’t invest in the right leads, you could end up throwing money down the drain and wasting your time.
To avoid this, keep reading and find out the top mistakes to avoid when buying leads.
Choosing an Unproven Seller
One of the first mistakes to avoid when buying insurance leads is selecting a provider without a track record.
Although brand new lead sources might have tempting-looking sales pages and great “bargains,” you’ll have very little to go on for evaluating their service and lead quality.
What’s more, if a lead provider isn’t established in the industry, there’s a higher chance they’ll close their doors without warning.
If this happens, you’ll be left back at square one looking for a new seller.
Not Vetting for Quality Leads
One of the critical things to vet for when buying leads is quality. Not all leads are created equal, and low-quality leads are usually a waste of time and money.
Poor-quality leads have meager conversion rates, which means you’ll plow time into pursuing them without seeing a return.
To avoid this, carefully evaluate the quality of leads you see for sale.
One of the best indications of quality to look out for is if the provider offers proof that their leads are genuine.
For example, here at Final Expense Sales Leads, we give you proof with every lead you buy, such as recordings for telephonic leads and PDFs of prospect responses for Facebook leads.
Not Choosing Exclusive Leads
Another way to evaluate the quality of bought leads is if they are exclusive or not.
Exclusive leads are always better than non-exclusive leads, as you’ll be the only agent working on them. This results in happier, more responsive leads and potentially more conversions.
For instance, let’s say a lead expresses interest in an insurance product via Facebook. Their details are then sold to various agents.
Suddenly, they are being contacted by multiple agents who have no connection to each other. This can make for a very frustrating experience in the buyer journey.
Instead of feeling like they’re being helped, the lead is likely to feel like they’re being harassed.
What’s more, if you’re not ultra quick on the draw, the lead might have already have gone with another agent before you even put your call to them through.
This wastes your time and the money you invested in buying the leads.
Therefore, always opt for exclusive leads where possible. Although these might cost a little more, they’ll be far more lucrative.
If you want to learn more about evaluating the quality of leads, you can also check out our article on buying good quality Medicare supplement leads.
Not Buying Local Leads
Thanks to the internet, insurance agents can quickly market themselves across their entire state or multiple states (if they hold the required state licenses).
While this is advantageous, it doesn’t mean you should ignore local lead generation.
According to data from Google, searches for “insurance near me” doubled over two years. This shows that shoppers are looking for insurance agents in their locality just as much as ever.
Buying local leads will give you a step in the door as a new insurance agency with your local market.
Not all lead providers give you the ability to target an exact area when buying leads. Final Expense Sales Leads, however, does do this, allowing you to pick the specific area you want to purchase leads for.
Getting Locked Into Lead Contracts and Subscriptions
The last thing you want is to get trapped into buying insurance leads from a company that doesn’t offer quality leads or service.
What’s more, it can be hard to predict your needs. For instance, in one month, your organic lead generation strategies might yield unexpectedly good results, and you won’t have the capacity to work bought leads as well.
Or, perhaps your cash flow takes a knock, and you simply aren’t able to afford to buy as many leads as the previous month.
Some lead providers try to lock insurance agents into contracts and subscription packages. Here at Final Expense Sales Leads, we don’t believe in tieing agents down and trapping them with ongoing subscriptions.
Instead, we offer 100% flexibility to our insurance agents. You can buy as many leads as you want at any time, and there are no barriers to entry.
Putting up With Long Turnarounds
Another mistake to avoid when buying insurance leads is long turnaround times.
If you need leads to work, it’s convenient to know they will hit your desk within the span of a few days. If you need fresh leads, you don’t want to have to wait around for a week or two to get your hands on them.
Besides this, the sooner you can contact new leads, the better your conversation rates. Stats show firms that contact prospects within an hour of receiving a query are nearly seven times more likely to qualify the lead.
This is a general statistic and doesn’t apply specifically to insurance sales. However, it stands to reason that the quicker you can reach out to a lead after their initial contact, the better.
If a week or two goes by before you can get in touch with leads, they might have already found an agent through another channel. They might also see you in a less favorable light because they might think that you took your sweet time in contacting them—when in reality, you were waiting on your order of leads to arrive.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it takes time to work a list of leads. The faster you can start on them, the fresher the ones at the bottom will be. If you only get your leads’ contact details in a week or so, the last on the list might have aged even further and eroded in value by the time you have worked all of them.
Overpaying for Insurance Leads
Cheaper isn’t always better, and this holds true for buying leads. Dirt cheap leads are usually poor quality and not worth your time or money.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should be ripped off or have to overpay for leads. Unscrupulous lead sellers aren’t shy to overstate the value of their leads and charge insurance agents an inflated price for bad quality leads that don’t convert.
The first step to avoiding this is to always vet for high-quality leads.
The second is to make sure your lead seller has a focus on value for money.
We don’t believe that insurance agents should pay an arm and a leg for leads, which is why we always offer our leads at the best prices we possibly can.
We feel that the more affordable our leads are (while still being high-quality), the more leads our agents will be able to purchase. We care about your success and do everything we can to keep our prices affordable and have fair replacement policies.
Because your success is our success, we have also secured several discounts for the agents that work with us. This includes agent discounts for E&O insurance, business products and tools, and ongoing education and licensing courses.
Buying From a Source Without Lead Variety
Another thing to think about when buying insurance leads is variety. Do you sell multiple types of insurance? Then you definitely want a variety of lead types from the seller you pick.
Or maybe you’re still selling one category of insurance, and you only need, say, final expense leads. But what’s to say you won’t branch out in the future and start selling something like mortgage protection insurance or Medicare?
If so, you want to know that your lead seller will have you covered. Therefore, it’s usually best to go with a seller that supplies a variety of leads, not just the ones you are currently searching for.
Need High-Quality Insurance Leads? We Can Help
Bought leads can be an invaluable source of revenue for your insurance agency. Whether you’re just starting out as an independent agent or have been in business for a few years and have a team working with you, buying leads provides you with a guaranteed source of business.
Looking to buy quality insurance leads for an affordable price? We’re here to help.
We are dedicated to our agent’s success and supply premium leads at prices insurance agents can afford. What’s more, we also offer ultimate flexibility, zero barriers to entry, and fast turnaround times.
If you buy leads from us, you can have them in front of you in as little as four business days. We also believe in zero antics, zero hidden fees, and supporting the agents who work with us in every way we can.
Choose from our wide range of insurance leads today and start kickstarting your sales numbers.