Shauna ThoresenCEO & Founder, Social Waves Media · CEO & Founder at Social Waves Media

Who has the best insurance leads? (Instead ask: What attracted this lead?) #insuranceleads

25 Mar 2026 · 2 min

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1:43

In this monologue, Shauna Thoresen argues that insurance agents are trapped in a mindset that more leads equal more sales. She critiques lead vendors for prioritizing quantity over quality and exposing agents to low‑quality, mismatched prospects through bait‑and‑switch ads, generic "done‑for‑you" lead systems, and giveaway‑style campaigns. Thoresen emphasizes that the decisive factor in obtaining "piping hot" leads is the messaging that attracts the right people, not simply buying more leads or improving sales technique. She calls out industry gurus who blame agents for poor results, insisting instead that agents must focus on drawing the right prospects into the conversation.

Chapters

This is where so many agents get stuck. They think that they need more leads, they think that they just need more volume, and if they just buy more leads, that it's going to solve their problem. They're constantly looking for the best lead source. What lead vendor is selling the best leads? What lead vendor has the most piping hot leads? What lead vendor has the best high-quality leads? Let me tell you something about lead vendors. They are very good at one thing. They are very good at selling leads. That's what they do. They want quantity, you want quality, and they have you sucked in like you're a little drug addict where you think, if I just get the next best lead, and if I just find the next best lead resource, It's going to change everything. It's not. Let me tell you what will change everything about the leads that you speak to and the quality, and if they're piping hot, it is the messaging that attracts them. I am so sick and tired of how many scammy ads are out there whenever it comes to insurance. One, we've got the lead vendors that are running all sorts of over-the-top bait-and-switch things that they're trying to attract leads with. Two, we've got these done-for-you lead systems that they attract agents in and they set up the exact same message for every single agent that they work with. And 3, we have these plug-and-play kits that tell you to use things like giveaway ads. I'm sorry, how is someone that says that they're interested in an Outback Steak gift card someone that is definitely going to be interested in P&C insurance? How is someone that signs up to want to win tickets to a basketball game suddenly going to be interested in life insurance? How is someone that wants an Amazon gift card interested in a Medicare plan review? And then on top of that, these gurus like to say, it's your fault, it's not the lead, it's you, you need to learn how to sell. No, you don't need to learn how to sell better. You need to learn how to get the right people in the chair so that way you're having the conversation with the right people. That's all.