You probably receive emails every month – maybe even every week – offering to sell you leads to help you boost your insurance business. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of companies nationwide selling leads. Many make big promises about how they can help drive more sales if you sign up for their lists.
What you rarely see are sites and services that will help you sell the leads you already have – ones you’re unable to use because they are:
- From individuals who live or work outside your primary service area;
- Seeking information about plans and coverage you don’t offer (maybe they’re shopping for auto insurance and you primarily sell health and Medicare coverage);
- Not timely (they may have come through a website via a form fill the prospect filled out weeks or even months ago).
It’s a terrible waste if you’re spending money to get a lead that won’t generate any income for you. However, it doesn’t have to work that way. You can turn your dead lead into a live lead for another broker by putting it up for sale.
When To Consider Selling Insurance Leads
There are several ways to gauge if your “unwarranted” leads hold any value for someone else; these include:
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Lead freshness: Did the lead come in yesterday? Is it a month old? Is it older?
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Contact info: Do you have just a name and email of the prospect? That very likely is not enough to sell the lead.
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Demographics: Do you know the prospect’s gender, age, and/or net worth? The more you know, the greater the value of the lead.
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Coverage needed: Was the inquiry specific? Did the prospect say what plan(s) he or she is interested in? Again, the more you know, the greater the value of the lead.
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Quantity: Do you have many unwarranted leads each year or just a few?
Selling Leads
There are many lead brokers and avenues to sell the leads you’re unable to handle. The key is selling them while they’re still warm (or, better yet, hot).
Lead brokers:
A lead broker manages and rents leads to interested parties. You may already be using a broker with your current prospecting efforts, whether you’re online or using direct mail. Often, prospects, current clients, past clients, and referrals (from current and past clients) are great sources of additional leads. Typically, a lead broker will only be interested in a larger quantity of names, rather than a handful.
Partnerships:
If you belong to a local or regional association of health underwriters, you may want to set up a relationship to share, trade, or sell leads with others who are focused on different market segments.
For example, if you sell mostly Individual and Family Plan (IFP) coverage, perhaps you can partner with a broker focused on Medicare. Maybe you know a P&C (property and casualty) producer with whom you could trade or sell leads.
It does take time to build and nurture a working relationship, but the payoff can be big.
Always remember, you’ll build trust with quality leads (and, conversely, undermine that trust if your leads are old or incomplete).
Online Lead Exchanges:
There are also open markets, where you can sell and buy leads from other insurance brokers. The key to success is freshness; your leads need to be current/recent – not something from last year’s Medicare Annual Enrollment Period or ACA Open Enrollment.
The quality you’ll find depends on the lead network and the company with which you’re working. Do research and ensure the leads have a good reputation and people are closing them.
LeadExchange from Quotit
Quotit’s LeadExchange lets brokers name their own price and share leads with other Quotit users in real time. It’s available as part of our Starter, Standard, and Premium program options.
Set Realistic Goals
Be realistic about your expectations if you decide to sell – or buy – leads on your own or through an exchange. If your leads are good, and you have a flow about how many you want to sell, you can turn those unwarranted or unworkable leads into something that another broker wants . . . and something that would otherwise go to waste.
Make sure you capture as much information from your prospects/leads as possible. The more information you have, the greater the value of your lead, and the more you can make by selling it to another broker.
Do you have experience selling insurance leads? Share your thoughts here.
