Policyholder Revenue Up 30%, Lead Costs Down 60%, After Insurance Agency Switches to Convoso’s Powerful Dialer

The VP of Operations at a final expense insurance agency shared the team’s struggles with dismal contact rates that dragged down sales and profitability; and, how switching to Convoso lowered lead costs while lifting those contact rates, revenue, and agent morale.

“With our previous dialer, our answer rate was so low, and our lead penetration was so low, that even though it was costing less per month, our acquisition cost was probably three to four times higher than what it is with Convoso.”

Their challenges

• Struggling to reach leads

• Contact rates dropped so low that agents quit

• High lead costs to hit sales goals

• Low list penetration rates leaves uncontacted leads

• Long wait times harm agent morale and preparedness

Our solution

• Powerful dialer software with progressive dialing mode

• Comprehensive caller ID reputation management platform

• Workflow dialing settings for smarter, automated call cadences and follow-up

• Robust call center reporting and analytics tools

• Agent performance management tools, including Live Monitoring and Call Whisper

The results

• 30% increase in revenue

• 60% lower per-agent lead costs thanks to greater penetration and performance

• 50% increase in answer rate

• 3X improvement in contact success rate, up to 90%

• 5X shorter agent wait times, increased preparedness, and much-improved morale

“We’ve seen a 30% increase in revenue. And we expect that to go up.”

Low-Priced Dialer Drove High Costs and Turnover

The team of insurance agents in this story are in the business of selling final expense insurance over the phone.

They had one big problem. People weren’t answering their calls. Even while dialing warm leads who had asked to be contacted, answer rates continued dropping. 

They were buying hundreds of new leads each day and used a budget-friendly, basic dialer software. But their biggest investment in high-quality leads simply wasn’t paying off.

The culprit: Spam Risk and Scam Likely labels.

As happens in too many contact centers, the problem compounded. For this company, poor contact rates pushed lead cost higher and higher as campaigns moved forward.

And meanwhile, frustrated agents began to quit one by one. 

“For our company to sit here for hours at a time and basically have almost no one answering the phone was just about to put us out of business.”

Smooth switch to Convoso is a day-one success

The VP knew they needed to change their dialer. But they hesitated to make the switch, waiting almost a year. They held off changing systems, waiting for the right downtime that never came.

But as performance continued to suffer, survival pushed them to a decision.

During a midday meeting with discouraged agents, they took a vote.

It was unanimous. “Let’s do it!”

In the middle of a work day, they started using Convoso’s contact center platform.

In that single afternoon, with the system only half-converted, the difference in performance was clear:

• Customers began picking up the phone

• Agents were talking to interested customers

• Sales were being made

“It was a game-changer from day one. We all got back together…and really just celebrated the group decision to pull the trigger and make the conversion over to Convoso.”

Convoso progressive dialing triples contact success rates, reaching 90% of leads

After converting to Convoso, life at the agency became dramatically different.

Convoso’s progressive dialing mode helps maintain a consistent dialing pace while still giving agents a chance to review customer records ahead of the call. The result is that answer rates have improved by an incredible 50%.

What’s more, they’ve improved contact rates on follow-up attempts.

Convoso’s powerful dialer makes the most of every lead and list, particularly when paired with smart dialing strategies that optimize contact cadences. The team adjusts the highly customizable workflow automation to balance contact frequency and avoid angering their customers.

As a result, they’ve achieved lead penetration success of 90%. That’s more than 3 times the number of contacts and customer conversations they were having before Convoso.

“With Convoso, we’re going to talk to almost every single person that we try to reach out to. And we’re a talented group of folks—if they get on the phone with us, the odds of getting a sale on the board that day with that person goes up dramatically.”

Value (ROI + Morale)

The VP of Operations knows that Convoso’s not the least expensive dialer option available. However, he notes that when you take into account the increases in performance it delivers, the return on investment makes choosing this software a “no-brainer.”

As more leads answer the phone, The team has had more conversations and more opportunities to close.

The result? A 30% increase in revenue.

At the same time, the company has been able to greatly scale back the number of leads they need to buy—cutting per-agent lead costs by as much as 60%.

“With our previous dialer, our answer rate was so low, and our lead penetration was so low, that even though it was costing less per month, our acquisition cost was probably three to four times higher than what it is with Convoso”

Beyond higher profitability, the agents are more prepared to make sales and in a better mood along the way.

The increase in contact rates have been game changing. Agents are no longer waiting 20 or 30 minutes to get a transfer and with this more reliable cadence, they are ready to sell on every call.

This improvement in preparedness and morale is “every bit as important” for their ROI as the decrease in acquisition costs.

“It really doesn’t take long to figure out that if you’re talking to more people consistently, your agents are better prepared to take a transfer, and in a better mood to sell, your acquisition cost goes way down.”

Control over caller ID management is key to change in answered calls

Making a drastic change in the way caller ID health is managed was at the heart of the operation’s improvements.

With the old dialer, numbers might get changed out, but their reputations were still poor, leading to yet more Scam Likely labels.

Working in a sensitive area like final expense, customers need to feel supported from that very first call.

“It’s really important when we’re attempting to contact them that they’re not seeing things like Scam Likely or Spam Risk.”

Using Convoso’s caller ID reputation management, the team found greater control and transparency to identify flagged numbers, and ensure they’re dialing leads with numbers that are more likely to be answered.

“Convoso has helped us better manage our DID number reputation. People are answering the phones about 50% more.”

“Now, when we get people on the phone, their first words aren’t ‘Stop calling me.’ It’s absolutely improved 100% since moving to Convoso.”

In-depth reporting & communication options offer powerful insights

When you’re spending more on leads than you do on monthly rent and payroll, you need to understand which lists are moving the needle and which aren’t. 

With Convoso’s robust reporting tools, managers can now carefully track important list and lead KPIs in real time. They’re able to evaluate performance at the level of lists and lead sources to break down daily results for individual campaigns.

Beyond the performance of their leads, managers can also monitor agents while they’re on calls, using a host of communication tools to provide live coaching, immediate feedback, and power even more improvements.

“The live agent monitoring, being able to whisper, being able to download a call, do a call review, all within minutes of the agent being off of a call is invaluable. That’s one of our favorite things.”

The takeaway on waiting to switch dialers

The only regret they had was their own procrastination—that they spent a year talking about switching to Convoso.

“For companies considering a switch from their current dialer solution, it’s not as cumbersome or labor intensive as you think it’s going to be. It’s actually smoother and so worth it.”

The VP was very pleased with the Convoso onboarding team who “did a really great job working with us to get set up.”

Their advice to companies looking at Convoso?

Don’t procrastinate. Solve your pain points.

“You know you have a problem, or you wouldn’t be shopping for another dialer. You have pain points, and the sooner you can get into a better solution, the better off you’re going to be.”