Aged leads are better than real-time leads.
That’s the conclusion many sales professionals have come to after trying both real-time leads and aged leads.
While it’s natural to think that the best leads are those real-time leads that are ready to buy, it’s not always the case. In many industries, a high number of leads won’t ever convert to sales.
And what about the many leads that get put off by a dozen sales reps calling them as soon as they put in a quote request? Some are so turned off by the attention they don’t buy from anyone.
It’s a real shame—considering the high cost of real-time leads—that they don’t perform any better than cold calling.
When it comes to the high cost of real-time leads versus lead performance and other related pitfalls, aged leads just work better. Before we talk about why let’s dive into the basics.
What are aged leads?
Aged leads are simply leads that have previously inquired about your business. These leads aren’t “fresh” but are instead anywhere from 15 to 500 days old. While that sounds like a long time—and it can be—many consumers are still ready to purchase if the right situation arises. And that’s where you come into play as an insurance agent or broker.
What are real-time leads?
These leads are made available to you without delay.
For example, a prospect fills out an online form to receive a life insurance quote. Upon hitting submit, the information is transferred to you, the agent, or the broker, and you can immediately reach out to learn more.
Check all of Aged Lead Store’s lead types.
Aged leads vs. real-time leads
For aged and real-time leads, the only big difference is age.
While a real-time lead may be new, an aged lead is just as much of a real prospect looking for product and service solutions, just as much an individual who responded to a sales message or quote form, just as likely as any other lead to at some point make a buying decision.
The difference is that aged leads are just a bit older—typically 31 to 85 days old.
That’s an important difference, but as you know, a “no” is often just “not now.”
Proper lead nurturing can often turn a cold lead into a loyal customer. The closer you look, the more the benefits of aged leads shine through.
Do aged leads or real-time leads get better results?
Both recycled, aged leads and real-time leads can be profitable.
For this reason, you should experiment with both options. Many agents and brokers find that a mix of the two is the perfect balance for their business.
The primary benefit of buying aged leads, however, is the ability to do so at a greatly reduced price. With this, even if you don’t close a lead, you don’t take a large financial hit.
Conversely, with the high cost of real-time leads, there’s much more pressure to make sales. If you don’t, it’s much more challenging to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI).
With all this in mind, it’s no surprise agents and brokers lean more toward aged leads. It makes more business and financial sense.
How much do aged leads cost?
The cost of aged leads depends on various factors including but not always limited to the type, age, and number of leads.
Let’s look at an example for auto insurance leads.
To start, your two options by age:
- 15-85 days
- 86-500 days
Within these categories, lead costs vary by how many you purchase.
Auto Insurance 15-85 Days
- 1-249 Leads: $1.20
- 250-999 Leads: $1.00
- 1,000-4,999 Leads: $0.80
- 5,000-9,999 Leads: $0.70
- 10,000-24,999 Leads: $0.60
- 25,000+ Leads: $0.50
Auto Insurance 86-500 Days
- 1-249 Leads: $0.40
- 250-999 Leads: $0.40
- 1,000-4,999 Leads: $0.35
- 5,000-9,999 Leads: $0.30
- 10,000-24,999 Leads: $0.25
- 25,000+ Leads: $0.20
Generally, the best way to save money is to purchase in bulk. The more leads you buy, the less you pay per lead.
Browse aged auto insurance leads.
Cost of aged leads and real-time leads vs. performance
The biggest and most obvious difference you’ll notice between aged leads and real-time leads is cost.
You might pay as much as $25 for an exclusive real-time lead. Even for a real-time shared lead, you’re going to pay $7 to $10.
What’s the cost of an aged lead? As little as ¢20 each. Literally a fraction of the cost of that real-time lead.
Now I know what you’re thinking: But Troy, don’t real-time leads have better close rates?
On the surface, yes. But aged leads are a numbers game.
The volume of aged leads you can buy for the price of far fewer real-time leads not only outweighs that closing rate advantage; it blows it out of the water. Here’s an example.
Let’s say you have $5,000 to spend on lead generation. You could buy:
- 714 real-time shared leads at $7 each
- 200 real-time exclusive leads at $25 each
- 25,000 aged leads at 20¢ each
For these leads, industry closing sales rates data says that:
- 1 out of 20 real-time shared leads results in a sale
- 1 out of 7 real-time exclusive leads result in a sale
- 1 out of 60 aged leads results in a sale
So, with your $5,000, you could expect:
- 35 real-time shared leads that close
- 28 real-time exclusive leads that close
- 416 aged leads that close
The advantage of aged leads is clear, with a performance more than ten times better than that of real-time leads. When it comes to upfront cost versus performance, aged leads are just better.
The pitfalls of high prices
We often think that higher prices mean higher quality. But this just isn’t true when it comes to real-time leads.
The higher likelihood of closing a real-time lead is outweighed by its high market rate price. Whereas the low cost of an aged lead allows you to buy enough volume to close ten times as many sales for the same upfront investment.
Better lead performance comes from making smarter lead purchases, not costlier ones. The smart decision for any sales professional that wants to increase their number of closed leads without upping their lead generation cost is buying and working aged leads.
Aged Lead Store—better prices, better performance
Get better performance from your own lead generation efforts with a fresh batch of leads from Aged Lead Store.
You’ll find thousands of high-quality sortable aged leads that are ready to go, whether your business is auto, life, health, or home insurance, mortgage refinances, or solar installation.
