I need $10,000

[joshril]

Ok... my goal for August is to make $10,000 in health insurance sales. I believe my sales skills are very solid and I have been successful with a combo of internet and telemarketed leads.. So.. I am trying to decide where to put some marketing dollars.

I am closing about 1 in 28 internet leads with an average AP of right at $4000 and I am closing about 1 out of 15 telemarketed leads...
Basically my cost per lead is about $8/lead for internet leads and $7/lead with my telemarketers...

I am trying to decide to ramp up my telemarketing hours or internet leads for August. I am leaning toward the telemarketing hours due to the fact that it is cheaper and the internet leads are a pain in the ass, but I don't think I can hire telemarketers quikly enough to generate an additional 25-30 telemarketing hours per week. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.

My increase in health marketing budget for the month is $2000-2500...

 

[Newby]

Ok... my goal for August is to make $10,000 in health insurance sales. I believe my sales skills are very solid and I have been successful with a combo of internet and telemarketed leads.. So.. I am trying to decide where to put some marketing dollars.

I am closing about 1 in 28 internet leads with an average AP of right at $4000 and I am closing about 1 out of 15 telemarketed leads...
Basically my cost per lead is about $8/lead for internet leads and $7/lead with my telemarketers...

I am trying to decide to ramp up my telemarketing hours or internet leads for August. I am leaning toward the telemarketing hours due to the fact that it is cheaper and the internet leads are a pain in the ass, but I don't think I can hire telemarketers quikly enough to generate an additional 25-30 telemarketing hours per week. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.

My increase in health marketing budget for the month is $2000-2500...

Sounds like you should go full speed with the telemarketed leads.

One obvious suggestion would be for you to spend any time that you are not on an appointment telemarketing yourself.

This may be too obvious.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

1 out of 28 internet leads? Hurts my teeth just thinking about it.

 

[joshril]

1 out of 28 internet leads? Hurts my teeth just thinking about it.

Just being honest unlike most people talking about internet leads on this forum...lol Of course that trend is just from July leads... I am sure I will close another one or two over the next month that will skew that number a bit.

I guess my dilema is, of course telemarketers are the way to go... I just wonder how quickly I can get 30 weekly hours trained and operational...

I also had a rep from the newspaper come and talk with me today.. To run an online ad that is guaranteed to be displayed 100,000 times per month the cost is right at $800. The demograhics are right, 30-54 is the bulk of their online users, so I wonder if this method would be beneficial. They have 157,000 active online users. Anyone do any newspaper advertising?

 

[bluemarlin08]

Josh, I admire your tenacity. Keep it up, try different things, you are going to make it big time. The thrill of this business is you have unlimited opportunity.
Keep us informed on how you do!

 

[joshril]

Josh, I admire your tenacity. Keep it up, try different things, you are going to make it big time. The thrill of this business is you have unlimited opportunity.
Keep us informed on how you do!

Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement!

 

[J.R.]

I am closing about 1 in 28 internet leads with an average AP of right at $4000 and I am closing about 1 out of 15 telemarketed leads...
Basically my cost per lead is about $8/lead for internet leads and $7/lead with my telemarketers...

Which do you prefer better? Working with shared internet leads or exclusive telemarketed leads?

I am trying to decide to ramp up my telemarketing hours or internet leads for August. I am leaning toward the telemarketing hours due to the fact that it is cheaper and the internet leads are a pain in the ass, but I don't think I can hire telemarketers quikly enough to generate an additional 25-30 telemarketing hours per week. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated.

Internet leads are a PITA, but then again, aren't all leads the same . I have noticed my attitude has changed a bit in the 3 months, although I do think that they have their place. I would lean more towards hiring 2-4 girls to do your telemarketing and set everything up that way if you have the ability to do so.

My increase in health marketing budget for the month is $2000-2500...[/quote]

At $2200/4.3 weeks that means you have $511 to spend on marketing.

Just being honest unlike most people talking about internet leads on this forum...lol Of course that trend is just from July leads... I am sure I will close another one or two over the next month that will skew that number a bit.

I would focus more on the return vs. the number of leads if you want to look at things quantitatively.

I guess my dilema is, of course telemarketers are the way to go... I just wonder how quickly I can get 30 weekly hours trained and operational...

Where did you get the 30 hours from?

Here is the formula I recommend......using your $4000 averaged AV.

In order to pull in $10,000 you need to sell $50,000 AV @ 20%
$50,000/$4000 = 13 clients or about 3 per week. That means you need 45 telemarketing leads or 84 internet leads per week to reach that goal. Personally, I'd go towards the telemarketed leads, but that is just me. The law of averages does tend to work out, but let's be realistic and up the number a bit to pad things just in case. You need 60 leads a week to reach that goal.

40 hours a week * 1.5 LPH (Average Lead Per Hour) = 60 leads for the normal work week. So you can either cold-call yourself for that time and put in another 40 and BAMN $10,000 or you can do it 50-50 by hiring a few girls or guys to telemarket for you.

At an average work schedule of 2 hours a day per girl, you will need 12 leads a day to reach your goals. 3-4 girls should do the trick who can pull in 1.5 leads an hour if you are only focusing on a normal 8 hour day.

Pay em $8 an hour and your weekly advertising budget will be $320 for a lead cost of $5 per lead. Pay em $12 and that increases the lead cost to $8. Work the numbers. Hope this helps.

NOTE: Fluctuations will vary and are based on usual, reasonable and customary charges........

 

[joshril]

Ha... lol reasonable and customary.. I love it! Yeah.. I was getting 30 based upon a minimum lead production of 12 leads per 10 hours of telemarketing hours... My current marketer is doing better than that, but I'm trying to be convervative on the numbers.

So.. In order to net $10,000 I really need to make closer to $12,500 so at $4000 AV that is still right at 3 deals per week (3.125/wk due to 5 weeks in August). Based upon that, I will need aproximately 40 hours per week of marketing. That number is derived from closing 1 out of 15 so 45 leads to get 3 deals... 40 hours would at a minimum get me 48 leads at an average of 1.5 per hour you are right at the 60 you threw out there... I currently am only paying for about 10-15 hours per week from a marketer, so I basically need another 30. I should have come up with this idea a couple of weeks ago. It actually is a bet from another agent here in town. Whoever doesn't meet the $10,000 goal has to pay for the other's hotel for the trip we're making to Vegas in September. Any suggestions on finding 30 hours of telemarketing within a week at $8-12/hour??

 

[joshril]

To answer some of you questions now JR... I am still kinda mixed. Last month I only closed about 1 in 28 internet leads, but my average AP was way up. I am changing some zips around and that is helping my average a bit. I had a couple of zips were I was competing with 8+ agents.. which is rough. I was calling a lead that next morning after they submitted the night before and a few were already sold. And you guessed it... either BCBS or Unicare.. just pure price shoppers.. So to stop rambling and answer your question, I am definitely getting to be a better fan of telemarketed leads, but I'm really trying to step outside the box and start doing some other forms of lead generation. Honestly, the past couple of months I have been fortunate to close several referrals and have been kinda backlogged on my other leads. I slowed down my telemarketing and my internet leads, but look to pick those numbers back up again for the $10,000 challenge.

.... The only bad thing is... when I make $10,000 this month, my wife is going to expect me to do it every month. No more online poker at the office

 

[J.R.]

I currently am only paying for about 10-15 hours per week from a marketer, so I basically need another 30. I should have come up with this idea a couple of weeks ago.

Better late than never. It is better to come up with a plan and take action vs. find ways to come up with a plan that requires no action.

It actually is a bet from another agent here in town. Whoever doesn't meet the $10,000 goal has to pay for the other's hotel for the trip we're making to Vegas in September.

I like the idea. A bit of friendly competition never hurts. The Venetian or Excalibur are my favorite places.

Any suggestions on finding 30 hours of telemarketing within a week at $8-12/hour??[/quote]

I'd put up some flyers at local grocery stores, strip malls, etc. and put some ads up for telemarketers and insurance agents. I'd also check in to see if you current telemarketer wants to work more hours and/or if she knows anybody who might be interested in a position (possibly provide a finders fee if she person works out).

I have decided to take on a few agents now in MD and require newbies to start off as telemarketers first while they learn other aspects about the business and make a decision about what they want to do. Win win situation for everybody if you ask me. That might be another route for you as well.