I mean they really suck and anyone who falls for this scam will be the loser. As insurance salespeople, we all need people to tell our story to. Many of us use direct mail, seminars, referrals, and many other sources. Then comes the one we all want, someone to schedule us appointments so we just have to show up.

The need for an easy way to get dates opens the door for scams or easy money people. These “marketers” are ready and willing to sell us what we want, dates. They promise at least two dates a day with people eager to meet and discuss your financial affairs. They promise that appointments will stick and they also promise that a certain number will be a sale.

I was recently approached by one of these firms with the promise of a date in heaven. At least 2 fixed appointments a day and he would personally monitor my contacts to ensure my satisfaction. He also said that his leads generated a weekly bonus of $10 million for his subscribers.

So I thought I’d give it a try and see if I was being ripped off. But I did a little thing that I didn’t expect, I insisted on using my method of payment, American Express. At first she refused to accept it, but once he believed she wouldn’t have it any other way, he agreed. It seemed that he had just found out that they took that card.

Here were the results. I bought 30 dates and the first 5 I had never heard of from anyone and they didn’t want me. The following were so mad at the call because they said they had been scammed and thought their finances were being stolen. It went on and on and not once was I able to view someone in a favorable light. So I played my ace and filed a complaint against them with American Express and got an instant refund. I had been scammed.

Some later research showed the same kind of agenda. The person who sold me the tracks said this:

o I have a list of annuity holders that was provided to me by a data collection agency that no one knew about.

o No one had called this list

o These were older annuities that were well past their callout periods

o Our agents sell 1 in 6 appointments

o Out of 30 leads, 22 very good appointments and 5 sales are expected.

It is a scam and please do not be fooled. I did it out of curiosity and research, but protected myself with American Express.

There is no magic formula for generating marketing leads. The best possible way to market yourself is to find a genuine method, like direct mail or seminars, and work with it as designed. Selling insurance is the easy part, marketing to find the right quality lead is the hard part and my advice is to never take shortcuts and do it the right way.

Stay away from scammers!