Fresh vs Aged Life Insurance Leads: Which Is Better?

The word “fresh” is used a lot when buying life insurance leads, but it does not always mean the same thing.

A lead generated through an online quote form is different from one generated through a telephone questionnaire. Understanding this difference is important before comparing fresh and aged leads.

With an online lead, the consumer has usually taken an action themselves. They might have searched for life insurance, visited a website and completed a form asking for a quote. At that point, there is clear and immediate intent.

For these leads, freshness is often measured in minutes rather than days. The consumer might be completing forms on several websites or speaking to other advisers. The longer you wait to call, the greater the chance that someone else has already spoken to them or their interest has moved on.

Telephone questionnaire leads work differently.

The consumer has answered questions about their circumstances and existing life insurance during a telephone conversation. They have also agreed to be contacted, but they have not necessarily asked for an immediate quote or said they want to buy life insurance today.

There is still an opportunity for an adviser to start a relevant conversation, but the opportunity is not based on the same immediate buying intent as an online quote request.

This is why the age of a lead should never be considered on its own. You also need to know how the lead was generated, what the consumer was originally asked and what level of intent existed when their information was collected. We’ve also written about this in our guide to what make a good life insurance lead.

Before deciding whether fresh or aged life insurance leads are better, you first need to understand what “fresh” means for the type of leads you are buying.

Fresh Online Leads vs Fresh Telephone-Generated Leads

Fresh online and fresh telephone-generated life insurance leads should not be treated as the same product. The consumer reached each one in a different way and, importantly, with a different level of intent.

With a fresh online lead, the consumer has usually gone online looking for life insurance information or a quote. They have taken the first step themselves, which gives the lead strong intent at the point when the form is submitted.

This is one reason fresh online life insurance leads command a much higher price. You are paying for access to someone who has shown an immediate interest.

The downside is that this interest is time sensitive. Ideally, fresh online leads should be called within minutes of being generated. Leave the first call too long and the consumer might already have spoken to another adviser, received several calls or moved further along with their decision.

Fresh telephone-generated leads work differently.

The consumer has taken part in a telephone questionnaire where relevant information about their circumstances and life insurance has been collected. They have agreed to contact from the company receiving their details, but they have not necessarily asked for an immediate quote.

There is therefore less reliance on reaching the consumer within minutes.

This does not mean speed and follow-up are unimportant. It means the initial opportunity comes from relevant information and permission to make contact, rather than an immediate request to buy or receive a quote.

Neither approach is automatically better. They represent different types of opportunity and need to be priced, worked and measured accordingly.

What Are Aged Life Insurance Leads?

Aged life insurance leads are leads where the information was collected some time ago. This does not automatically mean the lead has already been supplied to another company.

At Axowa, we divide our aged life insurance leads into two categories.

Tier 1 aged leads are between 0 and 6 months old. These might include first-use leads that have never previously been supplied to a client, as well as leads that have been supplied before.

Tier 2 aged leads are between 7 and 12 months old. Again, some might be first-use, while others might have been supplied previously.

Where a lead has previously been supplied, Axowa operates a minimum 60-day period before the data is supplied again. This prevents the same record from being repeatedly circulated within a short period.

This is why the term “aged” needs some context. A four-month-old lead might never have been supplied to an adviser before, while another four-month-old lead might have been supplied once earlier in its life. Both are the same age, but their history is different.

Aged leads also cost less than fresh first-use leads. This gives advisers the opportunity to work with a larger volume of potential customers without increasing their lead budget.

For businesses with a strong telephone sales and follow-up process, that difference in cost and volume is one of the main reasons aged life insurance leads remain an important part of their lead generation strategy.

Are Fresh Life Insurance Leads Better Than Aged Leads?

Fresh life insurance leads are not automatically better than aged leads. The right choice often depends on your business model, your margins and what happens to the lead after you receive it.

We see this directly with Axowa clients.

Some clients only buy fresh, first-use life insurance leads. This often includes financial advisers or businesses handling the full life insurance sale themselves. They have more value available from a successful conversion, so paying more for first-use data makes commercial sense. They know how these leads perform within their sales process and prefer to stick with them.

Other clients take a different approach.

Companies generating and selling life insurance hotkeys often prefer aged leads. Their margin on each successful hotkey is smaller because they are creating an opportunity that will then be passed to another business. Paying a premium for fresh, first-use data can make the numbers harder to work.

Aged leads cost less, allowing these businesses to contact a larger number of potential customers and generate hotkeys at a cost that fits their model.

The same principle applies more widely. A lead type that works financially for an adviser earning the full commission from a completed life insurance sale might not work for a business earning a smaller amount from generating an appointment or hotkey.

This is why comparing fresh and aged leads purely by conversion rate can give you the wrong answer.

You need to look at what you pay for the leads, your contact and conversion rates, the value of each successful outcome and the margin left after your lead and sales costs.

Some Axowa clients consistently choose fresh, first-use leads. Others consistently choose aged data. Both groups have reached their decision based on what works for their own sales model.

The better life insurance lead isn’t necessarily the freshest one or the cheapest one. It’s the lead that gives your business the best commercial return.

Cost vs Volume: The Economics of Fresh and Aged Leads

The price you pay for a life insurance lead only tells you part of the story. What matters is how much business you generate from the total amount you spend.

Fresh, first-use leads cost more because you are paying for an opportunity that has not previously been supplied to another client. This can make sense for an adviser or company completing the full life insurance sale, where the value of each successful customer is higher.

Aged leads cost less. The same budget therefore gives you more people to contact and more opportunities to build into your sales pipeline.

For example, if your budget buys 100 fresh leads or several hundred aged leads, comparing the two purely on conversion percentage misses the point. The aged leads do not need to convert at the same rate as the fresh leads to produce a similar or better return.

This is particularly important for businesses generating life insurance hotkeys or appointments. Their income from each successful outcome is lower than a business completing the full sale, so keeping the cost of generating each opportunity under control becomes more important.

The best way to compare fresh and aged leads is to measure the complete process. Look at your total lead spend, contact rates, qualified conversations, appointments or hotkeys, completed sales and ultimately your cost per successful outcome.

A cheaper lead is not automatically better value. Neither is a more expensive fresh lead automatically more profitable.

The numbers need to work for your business model.

Should You Buy Fresh or Aged Life Insurance Leads?

The right choice depends on how your business makes money and how your sales team works the leads.

Fresh, first-use life insurance leads often suit financial advisers and businesses completing the full sale themselves. The potential value of a new customer gives them more room to pay a higher price for each lead.

Fresh leads might suit your business if you:

• • Complete the full life insurance sale yourself
  • Prefer first-use opportunities
  • Work with smaller, controlled lead volumes
  • Have enough margin to support a higher cost per lead

Aged life insurance leads often suit businesses where volume and acquisition cost play a bigger role.

This includes companies generating life insurance hotkeys or appointments. Their income from each successful outcome is lower, so buying larger volumes of lower-cost aged data often makes more commercial sense.

Aged leads might suit your business if you:

• • Have an experienced telephone sales team
  • Have a structured follow-up process
  • Want greater lead volume from your budget
  • Generate appointments or hotkeys
  • Measure performance around cost per successful outcome

There is also no reason you have to choose one and ignore the other.

Some businesses use fresh leads for one part of their operation and aged leads for another. Others test both and compare the results based on their own costs and conversion figures.

The important point is to measure the right numbers.

Do not choose fresh leads simply because they sound better, or aged leads simply because they cost less. Look at what each type costs you to turn into an appointment, hotkey or completed sale.

That gives you a much better answer than the age of the lead alone.