Why do internet leads suck so much? Let's find out

Ok, I got spammed with this a few days ago. The 1st thing it touts in the title is "Get Coverage from $40 per Month!" But in the email message it actually touts $30 per month. Now we can stop right there. First of all, we all know no one can get a plan for $30 per month. Secondly, just what kind of prospect is this attracting? The stupid, the young or the broke - oh, and people actually clicking on email spam.

So I hit the site and am promised "instant quotes." Now, to me "instant quotes" means I'm gonna see some figures. Absolutely nothing states that I'm going to receive calls from agents - in which 95% of all prospects would simply leave the site.

So I type in my family info and only after I click to get my quotes does it tell me that several agents will contact me. This is when most people go "CRAP!" and the reason most don't pick up the phone - even though you're calling seconds after you receive the lead.

Now, there are indeed highly interested people - but those people automatically get routed to Ehealth. So let's sum up:

1) You're calling people who think they can get plans for $30 a month
2) You're calling people who have not agreed nor plan on you calling
3) They have already been routed to Ehealth

So now let's up the competition factor in the equation. Obviously I'll be getting calls today so let's say my family wants a plan with maternity and see what happens.

Just walk away

Walking away from a deal is hard and asking questions you don't want to hear the answer to can be harder. With time in this business warning flares will go up after talking to certain clients. This was a case where enough flares were going off to light up a 4th of July celebration.

Got contacted by a lead - 1st flare. She's been on Cobra for months - 2nd flare. She tells me she's perfectly healthy but is really pressing me to get a plan started immediately - 3rd flare. When I was a new agent I'd have simply asked the health questions and did the app.

We went through the entire online app and I went over the MIB and claims review process. After I did the app I walked her through the verification and as she was looking over the app she started asking me more about the claims review. At that point I'd had it and went over how claims works in detail.

Then she coughs it up - car accident a few months ago and her back's been hurting ever since. The Cobra she was on? It lapsed due to non-payment so she doesn't have any coverage. She was simply scared she's get denied if she talked about her back pain - and she's right. Off to the state plan which is where we would have gone in the 1st place if she'd have been upfront with me.

Obviously we all want get paid for our efforts but this is a case where I had to walk away from $600+ and take the $100 from the state.

I really feel sorry for people looking for coverage

Almost at the end of my internet lead freebie program. I'm sorry I ever said yes - 100% total frustration. Any deal I did submit would have been effort better spent on other marketing activities. Just hearing about other agents and how they operate simply puts me in a bad mood. I really like to stay positive and just can't spend defending myself or what I recommend. I really give it to agents who live off of shared leads - more power to ya.

I love the "but internet leads work" agents. No...calling a lot of people works. If you went to a bus stop and pitched 20 people you'd sell a plan - that doesn't mean you should canvass bus stops for business.

This was a classic - got the lead, called and left a very nice message - shot out an email. That was three weeks ago. Well - she called me. It's a mom looking for coverage for her divorced daughter.

So what did she get roped into? A discount plan - Beechstreet PPO. Daughter (now living with her mother) went to get her meds filled - Wellbutrin and Ambien, and you can finish that story.

So another pesky agent bugging her three times a day finally got his claws in her. Of course, that's Golden Rule after the mother expressly told him she wanted all the meds and doctor visits covered REGARDLESS of the cost! The mom makes fantastic money, she's paying and she just wants the damned condition covered.

Obviously you can finish this story although Golden Rule actually declined her. Now she's out the money she spent on the discount plan, she's out one money for the Golden Rule premium until they can refund her and her daughter still doesn't have any coverage. GR would have been the last place I'd have put her.

So we just did an Assurant Max plan - showed copay vs no copay rates and the mom went with no copay. She'll be approved and issued tomorrow.

If anyone's out there on shared leads battling this endless sea of bullshit, go for it. The agent who lies the most wins. If you think you're getting a majority of the business by being ethical and taking your time with people you're in denial.

Kicked out another Aetna

I know I'm busy when I'm didn't even update this blog yesterday - literally all day on the phone, wrote an Aetna app which literally took half of my day. We went back and forth between Aetna and Blue Cross since she wanted maternity. Then my son had soccer practice at 6pm, get home at 7pm, dinner, etc...

Let me spend some time on the difference between people choosing coverage and you having to sell it. If you try to sell health insurance you will find yourself frustrated. Why aren't all those people getting back to you? Why aren't they answering their phone after that great converstion you had? The answer? Who knows.

Not a lot of people are natural buyers; meaning they're simply at the stage where they want to make a change. Most people, even serious ones, are in the research phase and are not in the right frame of mind to pull the trigger. Those are the people you'll call twice a day, day after day and get nowhere.

The bottom line is you need a lot of prospects. How do you know if you have enough? Here's a test: If you're gonna spend today calling all the people who haven't answered their phone before and haven't responded to your emails then you don't have enough prospects.

How many times do I call someone? Twice. The 1st time I leave a nice message, the second time I simply call at a different time of day. Then I'm done. Nothing spells "loser" more then a client seeing your caller ID on their machine 8 times over 3 days. Oh...you're blocking your caller ID? Go form an "L" with your thumb and index finger and put it up to your head. This is not how professionals conduct business.

Without a lot of prospects you're doomed to be a pest. You have to call people incessantly so you can squeeze those 2 or 3 clients out of the 20 prospects you got that week. That's also when you start second-guessing everything. The bottom line is you need to generate enough prospects so you naturally find those 3 to 5 clients per week who simply want what you're selling.

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MHIP - becoming more of a pleasure

I just did yet another MHIP app today and let me tell you, my attitude is really changing on doing these deals.

They are now becoming enjoyable and it's simply great to hear the client's enjoyment in finding affordable guaranteed issue coverage. MD is now the nation's richest state and MHIP shows that affordable comprehensive plans can exist.

As you can see, I can get a 50 year old a $1,000 deductible plan for $305 or the $2,600 for $163. If MD can pull this off, so can the nation. If I got "ANY" commission I'd still be in business as an agent.

MHIP plays me a flat $100. But remember there is nothing to it. Normally I go over the plans and rates with a client in about 10 minutes. They download and fill out the app on their own, I simply sign it and fill in my broker info and it's done.

If all of my carriers had GI plans with these rates and paid me $100 flat I'd be able to kick out 10 apps a week without breaking a sweat. That's $52 a year and I'd cross-sell life. Not a problem. If they paid me 5% commish 10 deals would be 30K in volume = $1,500 a week.

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Agent vs Boiler room

I'm at the end of my "free lead" trial. Haven't talked to much about it - internet leads are simply terrible. I've been writing a lot of state plan though!

Just got a lead - shared of course. Actually got excited to call it - husband 56, wife 60 two kids. Not bad. Ok - let's do "agent versus boiler room!"

stats: Family on Carefirst at $1,800/mo - have had it forever. Husband - recent heart attack, high cholesterol, lots of meds. Wife, healthy and two kids - 18 and 20, healthy. They've in love with Carefirst, don't want to change - want lower rate.

And they're off!

Boiler room: "I'm sorry, you already have a plan and you don't qualify for anything. Thank you."

Agent: "You qualify for MHIP because of your condition - even if you already have a plan. It's $334 for a $1,000 deductible. Because you're primary and canceling your wife and kids can submit a new Carefirst application, go through underwriting again and get $1,000 deductible for $554.

However, if your wife got her own plan it would be $211. You kids should get their own plans because they'll be dropped at age 24 anyway, less employers are offering health, and you should lock them into a plan now. They'd pay $84 a piece so it's actually cheaper to go that way."

So hubby's doing the MHIP app as we speak and taking my suggestion for indie plans for the wife and kids.

Boiler room = Go screw off.
Agent = $1,800 on month on Carefirst - now $713 - still on Carefirst.

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Great past week and taxes

I had a great past week - have a nice Assurant check coming, did a GR deal for $720, two Aetna's and two state plans. Although I didn't do any cold-calling I already addressed that my pay has not gone up significantly - I merely replaced what I used by make cold-calling by going local. This week needs to be a mix of local and cold-calling so I can have extra money to put into local growth.

Taxes. If you're a new agent the best advice I can give you is talk to a tax pro. If anyone's telling you that you don't have to pay quartly estimated taxes they're wrong: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=110413,00.html Do NOT take any tax advice from anyone unless that person is a licensed tax pro!

I misfiled and it took the IRS over 6 years to shoot me a love letter. The penalities and interest were staggering. I made an installment arrangment but strugging to make the payments plus all my bills put my behind on quartly taxes which defaulted my installment agreement. I just had to give them a chunk to get current again.

If it were not for past tax mistakes I'd be in fantastic financial shape. I'd be able to rent a physical location this week. The IRS is 100% of the reason I'm behind the eight ball.

I've also, thankfully, been paying on my past-due state taxes all year (also from years ago.) And thank God! Why? Because they just sent me a letter stating that I cannot renew my insurance license on Oct 23rd unless I'm current. Thankfully I only have $1,100 more to go so that's not an issue.

Everyone talks about difficulties with this line of work. For me finding clients and making money have never been an issue. A huge psychological issue for me is getting a check for $2,000, knowing around $600 of it isn't mine (federal + states) and putting it aside.

Yet another extremely busy day

At the start of this my fear was simple; I'd get next to no business if I wasn't doing some form of cold-calling - B to B or telemarketing and trying to go local would result in the business being too sporatic.

Now I can say that if I keep this up over the next several months I'll be hiring agents to help me keep up with the business. Health insurance is simply incredibally sought-after and as I theorized, most savvy people simply don't make a move because they don't know where to start nor do they trust "telephone agents."

My phone was ringing today - which to me is insane since I really haven't done much. But I can't tell you how pleasurable it is to pick up the phone and hear "I'd like some help with health insurance." I was running quotes literally all day.

The bottom line is I'd never be able to handle the business my locality is capable of generating. Health insurance is such a huge problem for everyone and where would the normal person go? You might think "they'd hit the internet net." You'd be wrong. Most people simply suck it up. They pay that $700 a month rate and think "it is what it is." That is, until they know there's a local health insurance agent who's established in the community that they can trust.

Tomorrow is the art & crafts fair and more of my flyers go out. I'm in the next chamber of commerce publication and have 5 more chamber events over the next 4 weeks. I met an Allstate agent yesterday and we talked today for a while. He told me he has never solicited a client - ever. 100% of his business is calls from the community and referrals.

I'd say within 6 months I'll have a physical location, staff, and a few agents on salary+ and be literally the place to get health insurance in my area. At that point I might think of expanding state wide. I can't believe if you throw a rock you'd hit 4 P&C agencies but no one's applied this to health.

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Another "error"

Gotta love all these mistakes companies make. I wonder if there's ever an error where a client owes $1,500 and the bill comes for $0. Doubtful.

My phone just rang and my not-at-all-happy client laid into me. She just got a lab bill stating there was insufficient information to process her claim, which means it didn't get the network discounts applied or count toward the deductible. Obviously stuff like this can rattle people because it appears they don't have insurance.

So I had her fax me the bill and call Assurant claims. Turns out the her social security number goes next to ID Number and her policy number goes next to group ID. Labcorp put "PPO" next to the group number and the claims person says Labcorp knows better.

So I called Labcorp and they admitted they are already aware of the mistake and how to fix it and now it's being submitted properly.

The last thing to note is don't pawn any of this off on your client. This is your job. Don't ever say "here's the number to claims - let me know how it goes." Your client shouldn't have to spend their time and energy on crap like this.

Chamber breakfast - great success!

I had my breakfast meeting today for the chamber of commerce. I was overwhelmingly impressed! The people who run this really understand a lot about social events and it was very well structured.

Most times you attend social events you end up with little gaggles of people who know each other and you have to find a way to fit in. Also, if you're like me you're not the kind of person who's just gonna walk up to a group of people and start talking about what you do.

There were about 120 biz owners at the breakfast and we are all at tables of 8. Everyone got 60 seconds to pitch what they did and hand out cards to everyone - then we had to switch tables. So by the end every person there got my card and heard a short speil about what I do. I was also the only person at the event who sold health insurace.

So far today since I've been home I've received 8 calls from people who want health insurance or want to lower their rates. Phenominal - and I got a buffet breakfast. We're not supposed to directly solicit people after the event - no one wants 100 small biz owners calling them over the next few days, but emails are fine. So today I spent some time loading all their email addresses from their biz cards into Constant Contact.

Also, I had a client call me today who was supposed to fill out an Aetna app a few days ago. I assumed she flaked since I never got the verification link. She called me to today to get an update. I was like "what update?" She did the app three days ago using my link - shows me as the broker. Called Aetna and of course the entire broker support deparment was in a meeting until 3:30. That's top notch service!

Finally got ahold of someone around 4pm - she couldn't figure out why it wasn't assigned to me. Must be a "snag." Yep....great snag that gives them the business while cutting me out at the broker. Now I have to fax in the last page of the hand written app and they'll switch the deal back into my name. Thanks Aetna - I appreciate that!

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Knocked out one today

Did a Golden Rule app today, a state plan and simply have a ton of stuff working. This is like a different life for me then a few months ago. I'm really starting to get busy - as in very busy.

I have the chamber of commerce breakfast tomorrow at 7:30am. I'm really looking forward to that! Then on Saturday I have the arts & crafts fair where I can promote my business.

I have to say the improvement in general quality of life is just fantastic. This has nothing to do with motivation like "Jeffrey Gitomer," "Zig Ziglar" stuff. This has to do with simply working an 8 hour day just like I would if I was on salary for some company. In fact, if I was making in salary what I'm currently making in commish I'd likely be working 50 to 60 hours a week with some company.

And I posted this before but it's also the "objects in motion..." rule where when I get going I simply stay going. The opposite is true when you're doing nothing and trying to psych yourself into some kind of action.

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Three deals!

I would have been happy today with two, but got three with a referral signing up tomorrow. Got an Assurant, Aetna and Carefirst Blue Cross (can't screen shot Carefirst because we did a paper app.)

This is going to be one of my real 1st weeks. Not only am I simply working full days but I have very modest advertising out that's pulling a few leads a day, I have my chamber of commerce breakfast Thursday morning and I'm volunteering at my chamber's art & crafts fair on Saturday. Because of that I get to put a marketing piece into a grab bag everyone gets when they walk in.

This is simply what I should have been doing from the start. There was nothing at all wrong with buying leads when I started but I should have supplemented it with community marketing and community involvement.

I will stress that no single activity will generate enough business to make a living. I know agents who just joing groups like BNI and that's their sole marketing source aside from pestering friends and family. Won't work. The deals are too sporatic. It's local advertising, doing local events, (fairs/trade shows)chamber of commerce, and telemarketing.

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Fantastic full day

I'm committed to simply knocking out full days. Until I have enough cash for a lot of local marketing and doing local events it's simply all day contacting old leads, generating new ones, running appointments and phone sales. The days of 2 or 3 hours a gone. Things are simply habits or they're not. I have not been in the habit of a full 40 hour week.

The results are dramatic. I've spent the entire day on the phone and sent 8 solid quotes out today all with tomorrow follow-ups. All of them are qualified for health and money. If I just closed 2 of them what I'd show myself is a full day of work would be 2 deals a day. I won't even run the math on 10 deals a week - the commish is staggering.

The bottom line is there are all sorts of mental tricks we all use to fool ourselves into working when we're not. The interenet is obviously a dangerous thing to have around if you're into work-avoidance. It's like a fat man trying to lose weight while being locked in a room all day with 20 bags of potato chips. The will power needed is insane.

The irony is the internet was supposed to make your business "explode" with the ability to buy leads, generate leads and sell online. However, in reality the internet is directly responsible for most agents failing. Shared leads are simply horrid, it costs a fortune to generate enough leads through your website to make great money and most agents (98%) don't have either the experience and skills necessary to sell online. Without the net all agents would be on "old school" sales techniques and doing much better.

If you want to lose weight, don't buy the chips. Only have healthy snacks in the house. That's my trick. If I want a snack we have grapes and apples. If I wanted Oreos I'd have to drive to the store - so guess what I eat.

Same with the stupid internet - between email, message boards and the net in general it's just too easy to avoid putting in a full day at work. So today the browser was shut down and the only thing on my screen was prospects and quote software.

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Flyers

When I first got into this biz in 2003 placing flyers, ie: B to B was my main source of business. I didn't have a website, didn't even know Goleads existed for telemarketing and also didn't know about internet leads. For some reason UGA (Mega Life) didn't want their newer agents purchasing shared leads. I've attached a link to my flyer at the end of this post.

If you're a new agent you absolutely need to generate your own leads. The most effective choice is telemarketing however putting out flyers can be a good supplement if you simply need a break from making calls or it can be your main source of lead generation if you live in an area with a large business population.

Flyer placing for weenies:
Put on jeans and a t-shirt, walk into a business and say "I'd just like to leave you with this flyer, have a nice day." They pull 2% and you can place 40 an hour. Hitting small office buildings is great - stay away from large ones with security.

2 hours a day is 400 per week which is 8 leads and absolutely a deal - if not two. Closing percentage is very high. The problem with this method is you need to stick to it. The 2% return is not immediate and only realized after a lot of flyers are placed.

This can also be a great supplement to shared leads. You might only be getting 20 or so leads per week which means you're only working 2 to 3 hours a day. When you're done calling all of your prospects go out and place some flyers. The question is not "what will the return be?" - the question is "what will the return be if I don't place them, don't make calls and just sit in my office?

Flyer placing for those with guts:
This is direct engagement. Walk into a business and ask for the owner. If the owner's in simply introduce yourself, hand them the flyer, state what you do, and ask if they would be interested in seeing if they can lower their rate. This obviously results in a lot more deals. Dress business casual - you don't need a tie but absolutely no jeans.

One of my independent friends in 2004 answered and ad to work for United Healthcare - $35K base, health, dental, 401K and take a wild guess at the job details; B to B all day.

My flyer:
http://rapidshare.com/files/57456703/Walk_and_Talk_flyer5.doc.html
or here:
http://www.savefile.com/files/1073486

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My take on health care reform

I still get a fair amount of emails talking about the upcoming changes to health insurance so here's my take:

*I believe there will be significant changes to health care five years from now. Those changes, however, will not be a gov't run single payer system. How do I know that? Even Hillary isn't dumb enough to have a gov't run platform. Her latest plan, in her words, is "reality based" - meaning she knows it's impossible to get a bill passed for a Canadian-like or UK-like system. As it stands right now it looks like Hillary vs Giuliani and although I'm a Republican I think Hillary would clean his clock. I'm a realist. If Hillary gets in she will not rest until health care reform happens.

*Most likely we'll have employer-mandated coverage - meaning employers will simply have to cover all of their employees if they have a business over a certain size.

*Individual coverage will be available on the market like it is now, but will be guaranteed issue and costs will be offset by the gov't and probably a 5% tax increase.

*Commissions will likely fall - probably the 5% to 10% range which will basically put most independent agents out of business. That being said, it certainly won't put top health agents under. They will simply ramp up business and focus more on cross-selling life and DI. It will still be possible to make six figs selling individual health.

My take? If you're struggling now as an independent most likely you'll be out of business 5+ years from now. Here's my time line:

2008 - elections
2009 - new prez sworn in. Doesn't matter who - all off them want health reform
2010 - legislation introduced and passed for health care reform
2011 - health insurance companies submit their rates for GI plans - implementation starts
2012 - new changes fully implemented

Again, I see it in five years from concept to implementation. Whether or not I'm correct, I don't think it would be a fantastic long-term plan to ignore the potential changes. If I were you, I'd be lining up a plan B now.

This is what I'm doing. I'm going for a strong community presence and basically making a lot of money over the next several years. If changes happen the way I think they will, I'd like to already be established in the community.

The worst case scenario is I'm dead wrong, years from now we have a single payer gov't run system and we're all basically out of business selling health insurance. However, I wouldn't mind having a lot of money floating around in the bank if that happens and not in a position where I need immediate pay.

Still need to break out of the comfort zone

Being my family's sole income source, I reached a comfort level a while ago based on simply what I need to make the pay the bills and have some left over for fun. It's odd how once I hit that level I slack off.

What I've accomplished over the last 2 months is simply trading cold-calling and paying telemarketers for generating my own business locally. I'm still making about the exact same amount but now but it's local marketing and referrals. I've whittled the rest of my day away on "research" for marketing ideas and costs. I can do all the marketing research I want but without the extra cash it's a pipe dream.

I'm at a stale mate. Yes, I'm making enough to live and also generating my own local business but not making enough to really launch into advertising or prep for a store location next year. What I need to be doing over the next few months is double up.

I need to generate local business like I've been doing - go to my chamber events, local marketing groups, referrals and handle leads coming in through my website but I also need to hit the phones myself and call Goleads an hour or two a day to bring in those extra two deals per week I need to expand on advertising.

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Final note for the day

My son at soccer practice yesterday. This is the kind of stuff I really enjoy!

And the day keeps getting better

I've been having a great day on the phones setting appointments and now just got another deal I put in yesterday issued. This was allergies, on daily Singulair and cold-weather induced asthma - needs Albuterol during the winter months. Aetna's out of the range in the 1st place, then add a 25% rate increase, GR would rider out allergies, asthma and the meds - not an option - and BCSC and Coventry would decline.

Assurant to the rescue yet again with a condition specific deductible. No rate ups, no riders, all meds covered, all treatment covered and re-priced and only an additional $1,500 for any major event. Oh, and approved in a day.

More Assurant insanity

Just crazy - app I put in yesterday, three meds between husband/wife w/previous surgery already approved and active. I build the rate increases into the quote so it went to counter-offer then active. When you use EASE and note conditions like HBP the online form forces agents to put in every last detail about the condition. Because of that there's never any missing info, no reason to call clients, no reason for an APS. This is active and they already printed out their cards. It's simply an embarrassment that other companies don't have this type of system.

Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Little Caesars

The lesson here for me is not to limit myself. Pizza Hut is the number 1 pizza franchise in MD followed by Dominoes and Little Caesars bringing up the rear.

Pizza Hut: Delivers, can also pick up and also eat in their restaurant for a wider menu.

Dominoes: Delivers, can pick up but no capacity to sit in and eat.

Little Ceasars: Doesn't deliver, can't eat in, pick-up only.

The lesson is obvious; don't limit the ways you do business. We have "Little Ceasars" agents who only use one business model; they will only do business by phone or only do business in person. They are unwilling to mix two and leave a lot of business on the table.

We have "Dominoes" agents. They will do phones sales but also meet with clients, however they have no office location. Clients cannot come in, sit down and talk about a varity of insurance products and build a community presence.

Then we have the "Pizza Hut" agents. These are your State Farm, Nationwide and Allstate agents - also agency owners who have physical locations. They can sell online, meeting with clients but also have the ability to be known in their area and much more opportunity for cross-selling.

Basically, I've run Little Caesars where all clients had to come to me; ie - all phone sales. I'm running Dominoes now where they can come to be or I come to them - much more money running a Dominoes. Now it's off to the Pizza Hut concept.

It's no accident that Little Caesers in MD comes in dead last for pizza franchises. Anytime you limit the ways you do busienss you're always going to make far less.