When you first join the industry as an insurance agent, you’ll be bombarded with thousands of opportunities to buy life insurance leads.  Every lead company in the world will soon be contacting you about the numerous offerings that they have for sale.  It can be quite overwhelming for the new insurance agent, but with the right guidance and information, it doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience.

In order to correctly go about finding a good company to buy life insurance leads from, you must first understand what types of leads are available and what the pros and cons are of each one are.  Then you have to understand how these leads are generated, what the possible pitfalls of each one are and then how you can go about acquiring the good leads that will produce sales instead of wasting your time.

The first type of lead that’s out there to consider is the one that’s best once to explore more once you’ve gained experience in the industry and have a solid, proven, follow-up system in place.  These leads are shared insurance leads, and they’re very hard to turn into a sale.  These leads are sold to more than one insurance agent and are often sold to five or more agents for a premium price.

You can start to see why these leads aren’t the best leads to start with by any means.  You’re placed in direct comparison with your competitors immediately – they’ll be calling the lead at the same time, so your message may be lost in the crowd.  In order to make these leads work, you have to be able to differentiate yourself amongst the masses of insurance agents that will be vying for the lead’s attention.  In some cases, the lead was generated a long time ago and has already been pitched to by another insurance agent.  These leads, at one time, were considered exclusive leads, but now your message is one of many the lead will be receiving.

Exclusive leads are the only types of leads that are recommended when it comes time to buy life insurance leads, the reason being that you’re the only one who gets access to that lead – even if only for a short period of time.  You’re not going to be vying for their attention over any other agents and your chances of closing on the lead increases tenfold.  You do have to be sure you read the fine print, however.  Many exclusive leads become shared leads after a short period of time, and then your chances of closing on them drop dramatically.

The way that all leads are generated falls into two basic categories – Internet and direct response leads.  Internet insurance  leads are just that – leads that are generated over the Internet.  The lead fills out a web form requesting that they receive more information about a certain type of insurance, and can come in email only or full 21-question insurance leads.  If you decide to buy life insurance leads generated online, be sure to find out how the company weeds out leads with incorrect or fraudulent information.

Direct response leads, on the other hand, are generated through another medium, such as telemarketing, direct mail or some other version of advertising.  You want to find out exactly how this lead was obtained.  If the prospect completed a questionnaire mailed from an insurance company and returned it, that’s a good lead.  If, on the other hand, the prospect filled out a form at the counter fair to win to tractor, that lead is not very good.