Insurance Lead ROI Calculator: Your True Cost Per Policy
Turn cost per lead and close rate into your real cost per acquired policy and your ROI on lead spend.
- Cost per acquired policy
- $500
- Gross commission
- $4,200
- ROI on lead spend
- 20%
Your true cost per policy is about $500.
Educational estimate only. Not insurance, financial, tax, or legal advice. Actual coverage, rates, commissions, and results vary by carrier, health, state, and contract. Consult a licensed professional.
What your real cost per policy is telling you
Cost per lead is the number every vendor quotes you. Cost per acquired policy is the number that actually decides whether your lead spend makes money. The two can be wildly different: a low close rate quietly multiplies your real cost, because every written policy has to carry the price of all the leads that never converted. This calculator turns your cost per lead and close rate into the figure that matters, then checks it against your average commission so you can see your ROI on lead spend at a glance. The biggest lever here is not the price of the lead. It is how many of the leads you already buy you turn into policies. That is where The Standard CRM helps. Atlas, the AI built into the platform, calls, texts, and qualifies every new life-insurance lead the moment it arrives, then keeps following up on the ones a busy agent would let go cold, all within TCPA, DNC, and quiet-hours rules. By converting more of the same leads, Atlas spreads your fixed lead spend across more written policies and pulls your true cost per acquisition down. You keep buying leads the same way. You just stop overpaying for each policy you close.
How this is calculated
Cost per acquisition (CPA) = total lead spend divided by policies written, which is the same as your cost per lead divided by your close rate. Policies written = leads purchased times close rate. Gross commission = policies written times your average first-year commission. ROI on lead spend = (gross commission minus total lead spend) divided by total lead spend. Benchmark close rates and cost-per-lead figures vary widely by lead type, age, vertical, and source, so the defaults here are directional vendor figures you should replace with your own actuals for an accurate read.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good cost per acquisition for insurance leads?
- There is no single right number. CPA depends on your lead price and your close rate, so a cheap lead with a low close rate can cost more per policy than a pricier lead you convert well. The honest answer is to compare CPA against your average commission: as long as commission comfortably exceeds CPA, the spend pays for itself.
- Why is my cost per policy so much higher than my cost per lead?
- Because most leads never become policies. If you close 7 in 100, every written policy carries the cost of the roughly 93 leads that did not convert. That is why raising your close rate, not just buying cheaper leads, is the fastest way to lower your true cost per acquisition.
- How can I lower my cost per acquisition without spending less on leads?
- Close more of the leads you already buy. Faster contact, consistent follow-up, and qualifying every lead instead of cherry-picking the easy ones all lift your close rate, which divides your fixed lead spend across more written policies and drops your CPA.