What are your thoughts on sending mail pieces to T65?

[Medigap Bill]

So, psychologically, you have to think about it like this:

You set a doctor's appointment 13 months in the future. They send you one postcard 3 months before the appointment. Unless you're actively tracking it, do you remember the appointment?

Now, try again.

You set an appointment 12m in advance. They send you a reminder postcard at 3 months. They call you at a month. They text you at a week. Do you remember the appointment?

Sending multiple letters keeps your name in front of the client. It's proven that the more you mail, at a reasonable frequency, the higher the overall response rate.

Either way, you're getting to 2k a month, but the multiple mailings gives the person more opportunity to respond.

The important part you missed...
"Looking for people that have real world results and have actually done one or both."

I am looking to see the difference in the results.

 

[vic120]

So, psychologically, you have to think about it like this:

You set a doctor's appointment 13 months in the future. They send you one postcard 3 months before the appointment. Unless you're actively tracking it, do you remember the appointment?

Now, try again.

You set an appointment 12m in advance. They send you a reminder postcard at 3 months. They call you at a month. They text you at a week. Do you remember the appointment?

Sending multiple letters keeps your name in front of the client. It's proven that the more you mail, at a reasonable frequency, the higher the overall response rate.

Either way, you're getting to 2k a month, but the multiple mailings gives the person more opportunity to respond.

Sending Multiple letters this in a proper way that gets you noticed is expensive

I am using a service that does this and I find the calls are very high intent easy sales, However how cost-effective not sure yet

But I will say for the high intent just about every call is a sale My I am willing to keep them going even if it cost a little more than 1st-year commission

Another Agent might disagee

Might say ROI is more important and rather send and get a lot of lead they call out to and work hard to get a better ROI

However, for me the letters are just an add on to other things I do and are worth it, Though it would not be if it was my sole effort to gain clients

 

[Travis Price]

The important part you missed...
"Looking for people that have real world results and have actually done one or

I've written extensively about my results using multi letter sequencing.. "actual results" vary.

1-1.5% is what you can expect. They're usually layups.

 

[Travis Price]

Might say ROI is more important and rather send and get a lot of lead they call out to and work hard to get a better ROI

One, me, would argue that ROI is calculated incorrectly by insurance agents. They calculate cost of marketing pieces and not so much cost of marketing+time against earnings.

That time has a cost and it's exponentially more expensive than the mailer.

I look at about 1% in calls and first call close is about 40%.

I do 3000 x .01 X .4= 12.

12 x 400$ (pdp and medigap or MAPD) Is 4800$ per month. Cost is about 2250$.

Just offering those 3 products (at least in MI, which is higher on annual comp, but we get screwed on how many years at full comp by half in most cases) is roughly 30k year 1 post expenses, 87k year 2, 144k year 3.. (not counting persistency because it should be minimal in first 3 years.)

With no real effort.

I'll take that any day of the week.

 

[vic120]

One, me, would argue that ROI is calculated incorrectly by insurance agents. They calculate cost of marketing pieces and not so much cost of marketing+time against earnings.

.

I agree on this most of the time


However, sometimes when new in buis an agent has more time than money

But I do agree many who are stuck on maximum ROI at the expense of time and effort are not in that situation

 

[NewbieNewbie]

I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I personally feel….check that….I personally know, that this is gonna be a giant waste of
time. The vast majority of people are not excited about seeing junk mail….

And that's what these types (hoping to generate sales) of mail pieces are classified as. The vast majority take a glance, recognize it's "junk mail," and immediately tear it up and throw it in the garbage.

Even on 1,000 piece mailers, I've only ever seen roughly under 1% response rate, and out of that, maybe only got in contact and scheduled an appointment with two or three people. Out of that, closed one or two.

Keep in mind, people that answer junk mail are (how do I put this in a friendly way?) not exactly the most stable or brightest folks. They're consistently the people that flake out and leave the plans quickly, if they do indeed sign up.

I know you're excited, but I would definitely temper expectations on such a small and labor-intensive mailer.

Personally I do get excited but then again I have a fireplace

 

[Travis Price]

I agree on this most of the time


However, sometimes when new in buis an agent has more time than money

But I do agree many who are stuck on maximum ROI at the expense of time and effort are not in that situation[/QUOWe'd?

Totally true..

 

[selfgen]

Hey Selfgen, Bill Kiray says your method should get an 8-20% return - not too shabby!
Can you share your return rate so far? (I realize it's still early, less than a month.)
If real world returns are 8% or more, it might be worth some occasional writers cramp.

so far, I've had one reply, out of about 200 cards mailed. And it led to a quick sale. And they commented how much they appreciated the hand written note, they loved it, said they liked it because it was "old school" and to them it stood out amongst the rest of the clutter. But I haven't had a chance to do a second mailer. I'd like to do about 400 pieces next time. It will take some time, but after I see the results of that mailing, I will make a decision on whether to adopt this strategy. I will post an update after the mailing.

 

[sshafran]

My $.02 on ROI.

It's not just about the commission....

Let me explain - First, you need enough clients to cover your expenses, etc.

After you get that, then the "extras" can be invested. Some agents "invest" their excess in marketing, others into downline, others in stocks, etc. I personally like real estate. So anything extra gets saved for down payments for rentals, or goes into apartments (closing on a 12-unit on Tuesday in a Joint Venture!), or builds up the salary to give more room for more SFR rentals.

Very simply, a decent rental may have a monthly mortgage of $800 or so. Which means, assuming 45% DTI, you need an extra $1,775 in income to "support" getting another rental. That's maybe 70 clients.

I look at a new client as, yes, about $25 in monthly income, but more importantly, each batch of 70 clients is potentially one more rental property. I'll say 100 to be conservative. This takes the "lifetime value" of a client from $1,700 to much higher. It's seed money for rentals. This is me - you may have different goals/objectives but we all (usually) get to the point where the medicare money is more than enough to pay the mortgage, buy food, clothe the kids, etc.

In short - to me - it's no longer about keeping the cost per acquisition as low as possible... since there is the commission but also the "lost opportunity cost" of not having the commission.

My $.02 on Patience.

• On March 9th, 2022 I wrote an MAPD plan (client V.P.). This sale is directly connected to my July 2020 campaign. The last time a letter went out April 2020. We were just waiting for him to retire.
  
  
• On March 10th, 2022 I wrote a Med Supp + PDP combo (Client R.G.) on a spouse of my January 2018 campaign. The last letter was sent (not positive, records weren't as good back then, but late 2017).
  
  
• On March 10th, 2022 I wrote a Med Supp + PDP combo (Client C.R.) on a spouse from my June 2020 campaign. Last letter went out around April 2020.
  
  
• Also on March 10 (guess it was a busy day) wrote a MAPD plan on a referral from a campaign that dates back to 2013 - it was a Kramer lead that led me to the original client... 8 years later still paying with more and more referrals. Imagine if I had cheaped out on that $430 batch of kramer leads... this lady has probably given me 8 referrals over the years.
  
  
• March 17th, wrote a MAPD from a client from my May 2020 t65 letter campaign --
  
  
• March 17th, wrote a Med Supp + PDP combo on a spouse from my April 2018 campaign.

Point: So in the last 10 days, I've written business from marketing I did in 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2020 (2). Not every week will be quite so diverse but I found it interesting and possibly helpful.

I understand not every agent can "eat" the marketing costs for long periods of time and wait for it to pay off in renewals, referrals, and retirees.... and I also know the market is getting more and more saturated with agents trying to do this, but long-term it's incredible how much money we can make by keeping our heads down and writing policy after policy, treating clients well, and getting referrals.

All of this just is simply to say whatever type of marketing you do - phone, YouTube, blogging, SEO, or letters... think long term.

 

[Travis Price]

All of this just is simply to say whatever type of marketing you do - phone, YouTube, blogging, SEO, or letters... think long term.

I find the same thing. Which is why I focus on those three things and slowed down a few months ago due to work/moving/knee surgery stress.

I removed the work and knee stress and I close on my house next week. That coupled with money I have, I'll be focusing on activities that bring customers to me..

Screw all that outbound noise. Personal opinion.