Bankrate Insurance Verified
- Thread starter csmith2
- Start date
- 882
Hello NewGal,
Not sure what problem you are talking about. If you'll email me with the details I'll get right back with you.
Thanks,
Bob
USInsDepot
New Member
- 1
Bankrate earnings fall 63% in Q3
(google article at South Florida Business Journal)
My company has used Bankrate companies now for a few years, NetQuote, Agentinsider, Insurance Agents.com, and Insureme.
We have heard BRs claim that BIV 2.0 will improve the leadquality.
Our experience is not that the quality of the lead has improved but the arrogance of the BR has become intolerable.
We are now being denied refunds on leads because they insist the lead is valid, when my producer verified the lead is bogus, our Business Development manager verified and finally after the denials I called on theleads myself to verify it was bogus… yet still the lead was not refunded.
I have talked to loss prevention people at BR, they blame the problem on the affiliates they purchase the leads from. NetQuote confirmed that over 60% of the leads they sell come from affiliates (they also mentioned they are working on lowering that percentage). These affiliates sell the lead to BR for $9 and BR then re-sells the leads throughtheir companies. The affiliates, per contract with BR, are not allowed to re-sell the lead to other networks, but they do. One of BR’s problem is there is not a policy to refund that lead if sold to 2 different lead services.
Another issue, as mentioned in the article, there is lost time with a bogus lead. Not only the lost time of working the lead but the time wasted fighting for the refund. Most of the BR refund requests are “denied by the system”… if you do not follow up with a phone call to BR you do not receive the credit, most of the time it is a 5 minute hold to get through, then an argument and may be a credit.
Another secret BR does not share. NetQuote says they will only sell the lead to 4 agents, but they will also sell that same lead to an AgentInsider agent and an Insureme Agent. So it could be sold 12 times, even though the poor NetQuote agent thinks it is only to 3competitors.
Food for thought… If the net quote agent discovers the lead is bogus and is granted a refund are the other 3 to 12 agents refunded for that same lead? No they are not. Does that sound fair? How many dollars are involved? Could this be a lawsuit?
Our conclusion… We were purchasing 15-30 leads per day from the various suppliers for our sales team… not anymore. BR’s is becoming a victim of their acquisitions… they are looking to leverage the investments in the companiesthey have purchased, I believe there revenues are down because of their business model/ policies more than the new BIR 2.0 system.
We have decided to invest more in our own websites and stop using the lead providers. They are effectively increasing their competition due to their refund rules. Our business is not dependent on lead services; in fact a majority of our business is referrals from our customers or business networks, so we will continue to grow with or without these services. It was nice to help new agents get started and grow their book until the referrals and business networks get going.
(google article at South Florida Business Journal)
My company has used Bankrate companies now for a few years, NetQuote, Agentinsider, Insurance Agents.com, and Insureme.
We have heard BRs claim that BIV 2.0 will improve the leadquality.
Our experience is not that the quality of the lead has improved but the arrogance of the BR has become intolerable.
We are now being denied refunds on leads because they insist the lead is valid, when my producer verified the lead is bogus, our Business Development manager verified and finally after the denials I called on theleads myself to verify it was bogus… yet still the lead was not refunded.
I have talked to loss prevention people at BR, they blame the problem on the affiliates they purchase the leads from. NetQuote confirmed that over 60% of the leads they sell come from affiliates (they also mentioned they are working on lowering that percentage). These affiliates sell the lead to BR for $9 and BR then re-sells the leads throughtheir companies. The affiliates, per contract with BR, are not allowed to re-sell the lead to other networks, but they do. One of BR’s problem is there is not a policy to refund that lead if sold to 2 different lead services.
Another issue, as mentioned in the article, there is lost time with a bogus lead. Not only the lost time of working the lead but the time wasted fighting for the refund. Most of the BR refund requests are “denied by the system”… if you do not follow up with a phone call to BR you do not receive the credit, most of the time it is a 5 minute hold to get through, then an argument and may be a credit.
Another secret BR does not share. NetQuote says they will only sell the lead to 4 agents, but they will also sell that same lead to an AgentInsider agent and an Insureme Agent. So it could be sold 12 times, even though the poor NetQuote agent thinks it is only to 3competitors.
Food for thought… If the net quote agent discovers the lead is bogus and is granted a refund are the other 3 to 12 agents refunded for that same lead? No they are not. Does that sound fair? How many dollars are involved? Could this be a lawsuit?
Our conclusion… We were purchasing 15-30 leads per day from the various suppliers for our sales team… not anymore. BR’s is becoming a victim of their acquisitions… they are looking to leverage the investments in the companiesthey have purchased, I believe there revenues are down because of their business model/ policies more than the new BIR 2.0 system.
We have decided to invest more in our own websites and stop using the lead providers. They are effectively increasing their competition due to their refund rules. Our business is not dependent on lead services; in fact a majority of our business is referrals from our customers or business networks, so we will continue to grow with or without these services. It was nice to help new agents get started and grow their book until the referrals and business networks get going.
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