It’s no secret that the success of an insurance agent is directly proportional to the number of leads he can generate or buy.  While there are merits to generating your own leads, rookie insurance agents shouldn’t even think about taking this step until they’re firmly established in the industry.  So how does an insurance agent – particularly a new one – find a legitimate insurance lead program that not only will provide him with a steady stream of leads, but more importantly, leads that convert?  The answer might be simpler than you think.

You probably know how important consistency is if you want to build a long-term business.  When you operate your business, you have to think about things like how much overhead you want to take on, as well as what your sales projections are for the future.   Therefore, it should be no surprise that consistency of lead flow is one of the most important things to discuss when trying to find a legitimate insurance lead program.  And for certain, you must have a budget for this (yes, it takes money to make money).

You should discuss with the lead source how often they resell the leads they’re going to sell to you.  Some lead companies will sell the same lead to five or more different agents at the same time.  This won’t work for you.  You want exclusive leads–make the lead company give you this guarantee in writing.  Additionally, you should ask the lead generation company how long they’re your exclusive leads.  Most companies will turn exclusive leads into shared leads over a period of time, so you should always know what kind of time you have to close the deal.  Also ask the age of the leads–how long ago did these prospects respond?

When looking for a solid insurance lead program, you should do your due diligence on the company you plan on using.  You should visit insurance agent’s online forums and ask if anyone in the forum has used the company that you’re considering, and if so, what they thought of them.  You should also check with the Better Business Bureau to see if they have any outstanding reports or complaints on the company.

Do be cautious when relying on other agents’ opinions on the Internet.  The most successful agents don’t have time to chat on online forums.  It’s usually, less experienced, less successful agents that frequent forums so do all you can to get facts, rather than opinions about your prospective insurance lead program.

Next, you should look into the technical details of the company’s lead generation system.  Do they have an online control panel or “back end” that will be updated real time as your leads are delivered?  Do they offer support, and is it 24-hour support by a real, non-outsourced person?  What sort of systems do they have to verify that the lead information is correct – called scrubbing – and if it isn’t correct, do they replace it for you for free?

All of these questions are very important to finding a quality insurance lead program, and none should go overlooked.  The fate of your business is in your hands and you should treat it that way by taking the time to find decent lead generation program.   If you do the necessary due diligence to find a program and it does not work out, you may find that you need to try 2 or 3 insurance lead programs before you find the holy grail.