Website pours out leads, and closes
Little more than a week after its launch the NZLifeInsurance website is to be closed by owner Torben Landl as he claimed it has generated more leads than he can handle.
Wednesday, November 21st 2012, 7:18AM 
10 Comments
by Benn Bathgate
Landl has been working as an insurance adviser for three months under the Janos Insurance name, and said the site was launched initially simply to gauge the online market.
“It was a test site to see what the feedback was like and it’s been huge, the amount of lead generation we’ve got is massive,” he said.
Landl refused to say how many leads the site had generated and conceded they remained unqualified, but he remains convinced that marketing the sale of life and health products online is a winning strategy as clients’ themselves have to seek out insurance.
“They’ve gone looking for cheap life insurance, so we’re half way there already. [And] It’s generated leads that otherwise wouldn’t have been generated if we hadn’t done this,” he said.
“It’s all about getting a big book.”
Landl said the success of online players such as Life Direct and Pinnacle had convinced him there was space to exploit outside of the usual adviser channels.
“With being an adviser there’s a very strong push to creating that relationship [with the client], adding value, that’s what insurance companies want to do, but I see more and more people becoming too busy to sit down with an adviser for two hours,” he said.
“It’s [the website] a completely different model to the adviser model of doing a fact find and recommending a full solution. This is very much all about limited advice.”
Benn Bathgate is a business reporter for ASSET and Good Returns, email story ideas to benn@goodreturns.co.nz
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Comments from our readers
(Large sigh…)We really do have some problems in this country if people are too busy to physically find two hours out of their week to address one of the most important issues they will ever need to discuss in their lifetimes. This kiwi attitude of "she'll be right" is never more prevalent when it comes to discussing the subject of life insurance or income protection cover. Doing the right thing by your loved ones seem to be such a chore nowadays for many people. How very sad for New Zealand society as a whole.
While I support any channel that ultimately sees more kiwis take cover people like Torben Landl who sell “limited” advice online aren’t actually doing these “busy” people a favour. Making sure people actually have the RIGHT cover in place when paying premiums is the key. Only the adviser channel can offer that.
Personally this is not a market I have any interest in working in, but it is a market that will grow and does provide opportunity.
He will find that clients in this market are very happy to bin his cover and run to another "cheaper" provider whenever they can, leaving him with clawbacks and persistency issues.
He will also find that this market has some much bigger players with deeper pockets that might prove tough competition.
Good on him for targeting this space and choosing his niche! Not my cup of tea, but all the best to you!!
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