How many times should you follow up with an insurance lead?
For an aged insurance lead, plan on about seven texts and nine emails over three weeks, a phone call within minutes of any YES, and then one check-in a month until they reply or opt out. Most agents stop after one or two attempts, which is exactly why the leads are still available to buy.
Why one or two attempts isn’t enough
A lead who doesn’t answer the first text usually isn’t saying no. They were at work, the message got buried, or they meant to reply and forgot. Every extra touch is another chance to land on the day they’re ready. The cost of one more text is a couple of cents. The cost of quitting early is every policy that would have come from touch number four, five, or six.
There’s a ceiling, though. Text too often and you get opt-outs, carrier filtering, and complaints. The goal is steady, spaced, and easy to say no to.
A three-week cadence you can copy
| Day | Channel | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Text | Introduce yourself, remind them what they asked about, ask for a YES |
| 2 | Same ask, a little more detail | |
| 3 | Text | Short follow-up |
| 4 | What a quick call covers | |
| 5 | Text | “Last one this week” |
| 6 | Common questions answered | |
| 8 | Text | Fresh angle: speed or simplicity |
| 9, 11, 13 | One a few days apart | |
| 11 | Text | Another short check-in |
| 15 | Text | “Reply NO and I’ll close your file” |
| 16, 18, 20 | Wind down | |
| 18 | Text | The break-up text |
| Monthly | Text and email | One check-in each |
Texts and emails mostly land on different days, so the lead hears from you often without getting buried. Scripts for each text are in the texting guide.
When to stop
- They reply STOP or ask not to be contacted. Stop every channel immediately and keep the number on your do-not-contact list forever.
- They say they’re not interested. Close the file. One polite acknowledgment is fine. Another pitch isn’t.
- It’s a wrong number. Remove it. That person never asked to hear from you.
- Three weeks of silence. Don’t stop, slow down. Drop to one text and one email a month.
What about phone calls?
In a text-first system, the most important call is the one you make right after a YES. Call within minutes. That one call is worth more than a dozen cold dials, because the person just told you they want to talk.
If you also cold-call the list, space your attempts out across different days and times rather than redialing the same afternoon. Leave a short voicemail on the first attempt or two, then stop leaving them.
The legal limits on follow-up
- Calling hours. Federal rules allow calls and texts between 8 am and 9 pm in the recipient’s time zone. Florida is stricter at 8 am to 8 pm, and other states set their own windows. Link Leads keeps a state-by-state list of calling hours.
- Attempts per day. Florida limits telephone solicitations to three per 24 hours on the same subject. A text cadence spaced days apart stays well under that.
- Opt-outs. Federal rules require honoring an opt-out made by any reasonable means within 10 business days. Do it instantly. It’s easier, and it’s what people expect.
The full picture is in the TCPA guide for aged leads.