Lessons learned this weekend shopping for car insurance quotes (referred by a link somewhere)…
As I am in a brainstorming session, mapping out activities, planning, and cost comparisons yesterday, I did a little goo gle search, for a specific item in my To Do list.
I got distracted.
I ended up in a “Request for Quotes” website that rhymes with “ify” and I kind of knew what I was going to get into.
Like, “Oh no! My information will be sold to another agent contracted with a car insurance company!”
Anyway, I did see some “low prices” there…
… and then the phone calls and text messages started coming in.
I did try to see how far the ‘request for quotes” would go.
It went to a car insurance company that I used to be a customer of. And then it said “website maintenance”.
Then it went to a “mid priced” unknown insurance company.
Then it asked more sensitive information. Then in the end, the rate got jacked up, only being a couple of dollars cheaper than what I am paying with a big brand insurance company.
I was click-baited for sure!
What did I do? I was so pissed off I unsubscribed from the clickbaiter email and send the text message “STOP” to opt out. (I didn’t opt in consciously, but then again that’s what most online marketers put in their “Terms” that when you submit a form, you will be contacted). I’m fine with that, if I actually get what I asked for, in exchange of my personal information.
Anyway, lesson learned, what just happened there?
The information typed in on those fields got loaded into a CRM for automated follow up messages.
I got those.
Whatever happened to old school way of doing business?
Anyway, it’s just one of of those experiences that I know I would and should not do.
Businesses do advertisements.
Businesses also use Affiliates, to share links on the interwebs… the hook.
But when a consumer responds to the Ad, (because some people don’t), the company better deliver on what they advertise!
Because when a “prospect / lead / consumer” like me actually spends time filling in the answers to the questions, the “intent to buy” is obviously high.
But when that website simply “qualified me” with no intention to actually give me actual quotes, that’s when the unethical practice comes in.
My information simply got sold to the Insurance Companies’ agents!
Anyway, that just solidified my decision and conclusion, based on my own experience.
Go old school.
Go Direct Mail.
Buy Ads.
Self generate leads through this website.
Do as I say.
That’s why I spent so much time developing the Request For Quote page on this website.
It is not loaded into any other external Software as a Service (SaaS) CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
That’s why I developed my own CRM.
To protect clients’ information.
Because what other people forget with all these automation, there are other people who are not bound by ANY State Regulated License that would serve as a guideline on how they will do business. So when people buy leads from lead vendors, how do you know HOW they were sourced?
It brings me back to my days many years ago when I studied Online Marketing.
You had to make sure you know the details of the “Can SPAM Act” – if you are sending bulk Commercial Email (autoresponders), there should ALWAYS be an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.
In my commercial emails, it is part of the “footer” – “You are receiving this email because you subscribed on _(this specific webpage, on this (Date and time), If you want to unsubscribe, click here.” . That way it’s clear for both sender and recipient of the commercial email.
Anyway, I’m noting that here.
Yesterday, also I finished designing 3 types of marketing tools that would go out, either through a mailing service with my print company vendor or a partnership with a leads agency vendor.
Old school way.
The fact remains that this website, would have to be revamped. More funnel pages need to be made.
This website has been my sandbox for projects and apps testing. Those who go here are just tech people who test stuff too, and benefit from the code snippets I openly share.
They are subjected to my rants too. 🙂
I am being who I am. Sharing my thoughts for the day and will be continuing on my To Do list for this Sunday. (I am glad I’m working remotely now 🙂 )