Do not, do not, do not subscribe to this service!!! If you are a Financial Advisor, Registered Rep, Insurance Professional, or Financial Planner you will be targeted by an automated phone call first saying they want to hook you up with prospects who were SEARCHING for a particular service or product you broker.
Their sales people are skilled and convincing that the following are true:
The lead gets created because Prospect Match contracts w / 3rd party ad agencies, & are matched
with keyword terms for articles pre-retirees and retirees are reading on places like CNN.com or WSJ.com
The people filled out a long internet form to include name, phone, email, address, DOB—that the prospect wouldn't fill out that much information (high barrier to entry) if they weren't truly interested in more information on the particular service/product.
The prospect actually REQUESTED the information you send, so your call is a warm call (vs cold call) when you follow up to make sure they got the booklet.
They estimate a 20% appointment set rate & then a 70-90% close rate
They appeal to your intellectual pride w / a negative reverse sell (clearly they had Sandler sales Training). They say things like, "If you want to fail, go ahead and call the prospect the day you get a lead." Hello, you passed the CFP board and/or the Series 7... You're smart! So naturally you won't call the prospect right away because you don't want to fail.
They say you should "send a booklet" to the Prospect via snail mail, and THEN call the client so that you have a basis of something to talk about.
They absolutely guarantee that you are the ONLY advisor being assigned a prospect because of how their "technology" sorts/assigns leads
They provide the booklets so it's a complete system. My sales person gave me the impression that they provided bunch of these "full color" booklets and you sent them out as needed.
Here's the straight up truth: every single one of my 100 prospects told me that they didn't request any information. I followed the PM script to the letter. I even sent hand written cards/envelopes to over half my prospects. Some of them actually called me before I called them off of my hand written note. Unfortunately, those calling me were PARENTS of minors who were calling to find out how I got their child's name, etc. Last night, at 9p an irate parent called my cell phone and demanded to why I was soliciting her 17 year old son.
I also heard time and time again, "You are the fifth person who has called me on this! Stop sending me booklets and stop calling me. How did you get my name?" Another sentiment I heard from "prospects" is, "I am sure you bought my name from someone who sold my identity. I'm going to report you to the police."
I called PM and told them about these things and they tried to say that I needed to follow their script; when I said I DID follow their script and protocol they implied that I clearly wasn't very good at it. When I told them of the minors, they said that their "guarantee" doesn't include the quality of the leads, only that there is a working phone number, email, and/or physical mailing address.
Here's another thing: The booklets they provide, you have to 1) print them 2) you have to get them approved from compliance (my compliance wouldn't approve it or even allow me to modify it).
AFTER the sale they'll admit that most of the leads are coming from sites like Publisher Clearing House. (Oh right, that's my ideal client! Someone reading up on how to win a sweepstakes?)
This wasn't just a waste of money, it was a waste of effort, time, and I feel reflected very poorly on me as a professional. I was out of integrity when following their script to say, "You were on my website and filled out a form requesting my booklet Annuity Owner Mistakes." They weren't on my site, and I can't find someone who had any recollection of filling out the form.
Don't do it, no matter how good it sounds!
Here's the script they insist you use:
Hello %, this is%h and in the last couple weeks you were on the internet and ordered a copy of my booklet % did that get to you in the last day or so?
0 comments