1-800-Car-Insurance

[glabman]

What do you guys think of using the phone number 1-800-Car-Insurance as a phone number for my agency. They are leasing it out so that I can get all of the calls in my county.

[d's insurance store]

Are you prepared for the associated costs of promoting that number, and can you isolate your promotion to just your county so you don't end up spending money for someone else's phone to ring?

Also, keep in mind that because a phone number is made up of 7 digits, you're only really paying for 800-car-insu...does that really do you any good?

I'm of the opinion that the gimick-y phone numbers have run their course in this digital age...

[Big Dog]

One word....gimmick

[William Graham]

My wife had a flower shop for a few years
She belonged to FTD
FTD had the chance to protect & use 1-800-Flowers
they passed - today 1 800 Flowers does more business than FTD

I generally agree with the other comments here - it could be a scam
but it might be worth checking into - particularly insightful are the questions D's asks

digital/print media/telephone? vary in effectiveness all over the country
In our area -- we ask all in coming calls -- How did you find us? more than 50% is the phone book, Internet second
100 miles north of here I would be surprised if folks even have a phone book in the house.

[glabman]

Are you prepared for the associated costs of promoting that number, and can you isolate your promotion to just your county so you don't end up spending money for someone else's phone to ring?

Also, keep in mind that because a phone number is made up of 7 digits, you're only really paying for 800-car-insu...does that really do you any good?

I'm of the opinion that the gimick-y phone numbers have run their course in this digital age...

I'm not promoting the number. My business model is to make the number affordable so that each agency can do their own promoting using what works for each business.

The question is simple. How much does it cost per lead to get new business and what is the best way to acquire it. If you are spending money to market and promote your business, I would argue that there is no better way than to use 1-800-Car-Insurance.

There are 3 messages that you must convey when you do marketing.

1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. How do I contact you?

That's it! 1-800-Car-Insurance does all 3 of these things in a split second. There are more phones in use today than ever before. While it is true that the internet is dominant, people want to talk to a live person to help process the sale. People still want and will always want a trustworthy insurance agent to help them who is local to them.

My question to you is, what is the downside? The only downside is if you don't use it. If you put it everywhere, then your phones will ring. You can do this on a small or large scale or anything in between.

[FurriePrincess]

While words in phone numbers may be catchy... they drive me nuts. I try not to use them.

[glabman]

While words in phone numbers may be catchy... they drive me nuts. I try not to use them.

I can understand how words in phone numbers can drive you nuts. The bottom line is that they work, and companies spend millions of dollars looking to acquire these numbers and millions more to brand them.

My business model is to take what large companies know, and make it available on a small scale, that is, the independent insurance agent.

If an insurance agency is spending money on marketing or branding itself, then I cannot think of a better way than to incorporate a vanity toll free number like 1800-Car-Insurance.

[William Graham]

Furrie Princess

I am the same way

I am usually clueless trying to spell out a number

After thinking about my example in the flower business

the catchy 800 number is the province of a national effort - don't see how a local IA could benefit

[glabman]

The beauty is of my business model is that calls are routed geographically. Therefore, you will get the calls from the people that you are targeting. Call it and see for yourself how it works.

Insurance is a local business. People want to do business with a local agent. 1-800-Car-Insurance give independent agents a national brand with a local touch.

Its active marketing. You don't sit around for an email and then fight with 10 other agents calling the same person. You own your county. You control who you want to hear or see your marketing. That's the bottom line. You can dictate how much, how big you want to be, and you don't share it with anyone in your area. Its powerful, and effective. It does require active marketing, not passive. The phones won't ring if you do nothing. However, if you understand the power of marketing a number like this, marketing tools such as billboards, signage, sandwich boards, fliers, etc, then you are the competition. If you have an office with outside signage and a lot of traffic, its a no brainer.

People will remember you, they will call you. It works on a large scale, it works on a small scale. Maybe its not for the way you do business, but it is right for people who want create their own branding.

[d's insurance store]

Hey Glabman, your first post implies that you were sincerely asking for feedback about paying for the vanity number. By now, it appears you're promoting your business offering the 800 number to agency owners. If building your business is what the real purpose is, at least reveal your intentions from the get go.

This isn't my forum and I don't own the bandwidth, but I do appreciate on line integrity, as do others gathering here, so next time you post with a hustle, at least have the courtesy to be upfront with what you're doing. The Insurance Journal forum tends to be a great place to receive and exchange ideas mostly because the honesty and integrity levels are high and those posting tend to disagree in a polite manner when there are differences of opinion.

[glabman]

Your criticism is valid. My thinking was that you are not allowed to directly advertise in the forum. When the comments came in, I revealed that in fact it is my business. Forums can take a direction of their own and this is how it developed. I hope that makes sense. I only wanted to create curiosity. I do value honesty and integrity and now that everything is revealed, I can move on.

[steveosiris]

I think this would be an extremely effective number to have for your agency, especially if you specialize in cheap car insurance quotes. I would like to know how it works out for you.

What do you guys think of using the phone number 1-800-Car-Insurance as a phone number for my agency. They are leasing it out so that I can get all of the calls in my county.

[glabman]

You can get more information by going to http://vanitybranding.com

[Robert742]

1-800-Car-Insurance is catchy, and easy to remember for anyone seeing it on advertising. However, getting a specific toll free phone number is not hard or cost prohibitive for any agent wanting one. 1-800-Auto-Insurance would be just as effective, but I doubt it's available. Even if you can get 1-877-Auto-Insurance, people seeing it advertised may not remember the "877" part.

The problem is, relying on people to see your advertising and call you, is passive marketing. Calling leads is at least active marketing, where you are reaching out to prospects. As an agent, you could advertise the phone number, but are people really going to think 1-800-Car-Insurance before they think of Geico or Progressive or Allstate or State Farm?

An independent agency focusing on standard & non-standard auto insurance may benefit the most from your service, but if they are large enough to have the resources needed to advertise it properly, they won't want to share the phone number with other agencies. Sharing the phone number with another agency -- even in another state -- interferes with the agency's branding. I don't think anyone will lease a phone number shared with other agents. Also, you are expecting someone to pay for a phone number they have to market themselves, so the cost would need to be very minimal.

I think you need to re-work your business model, a la 1-800-flowers: You need to advertise & brand the phone number nationally yourself, and have agents pay you to get the calls for a specific area. This will require a lot of capital, so I imagine you will need to find some venture capital.

Otherwise, I don't think your business plan will work -- unless your service is very, very, inexpensive.

[glabman]

1-800-Car-Insurance is catchy, and easy to remember for anyone seeing it on advertising. However, getting a specific toll free phone number is not hard or cost prohibitive for any agent wanting one. 1-800-Auto-Insurance would be just as effective, but I doubt it's available. Even if you can get 1-877-Auto-Insurance, people seeing it advertised may not remember the "877" part.

The problem is, relying on people to see your advertising and call you, is passive marketing. Calling leads is at least active marketing, where you are reaching out to prospects. As an agent, you could advertise the phone number, but are people really going to think 1-800-Car-Insurance before they think of Geico or Progressive or Allstate or State Farm?

An independent agency focusing on standard & non-standard auto insurance may benefit the most from your service, but if they are large enough to have the resources needed to advertise it properly, they won't want to share the phone number with other agencies. Sharing the phone number with another agency -- even in another state -- interferes with the agency's branding. I don't think anyone will lease a phone number shared with other agents. Also, you are expecting someone to pay for a phone number they have to market themselves, so the cost would need to be very minimal.

I think you need to re-work your business model, a la 1-800-flowers: You need to advertise & brand the phone number nationally yourself, and have agents pay you to get the calls for a specific area. This will require a lot of capital, so I imagine you will need to find some venture capital.

Otherwise, I don't think your business plan will work -- unless your service is very, very, inexpensive.

Hi Robert and thank you for your feedback. All of the above factors have been considerations when putting together this business model. One of the things that you may not be aware of is that this model is currently being used successfully across the country. Numbers such as 1-800-Mercedes, 1-800-Probate, 1-800-Lawyers, 1-800-Attorney, 1-800-Get-Slim, and others are being used on a local level to generate leads for these business.

My model is focused on giving the independent agent who currently advertises, or has signage and a good location, the ability to generate their own leads. True, it is not passive in the sense that you purchase leads from an internet company, however, I believe that in the right circumstance, a broker would prefer my marketing method. I believe that dollar for dollar, I will generate more leads. The upfront cost might be more, like signage, but the residual effect will be much greater.

This is not for everyone, but for an exclusive marketing method in your county of choice, it cannot be beat. Also, most insurance buyers who use an independent agent want a local agent. Therefore, the model works because an independent agent is going to use most of their marketing dollars, and receive most of their leads locally. Its the nature of the business. That's why I structured it this way, rather than build a nationwide network.