Update News for October 2023

Here is a quick run-down on what you will find in this bulletin:

• • Term4Sale BUMP WEEK – November 6, 2023

  • $12 Zip Codes – LOCAL or BONUS

  • Zip Code Listing – No Brainer IF…

  • New Local Zip Code Rules

  • Additional Zip Code Price Increase

  • You Need To Switch NOW!

  • NOTHING Happens Until YOU Take Action

  • The Zip Code Warranty

  • Our Current Programming Plans for 2023

These topics will be dealt with in more detail throughout this bulletin.

Term4Sale BUMP WEEK – November 6, 2023EVERY subscriber to the Windows PC version of Compulife can buy at LEAST 4 www.term4sale.com zip code listings at the discounted price of $12 per year (unchanged from 2022). If you are NOT currently buying zip code listings, and you actually sell life insurance, this should be a no-brainer. And with the increase from 3 to 4 of these discounted zip codes, combined with our 1 for 3 warranty, it’s even a bigger no brainer than it was before. Keep reading.

Bumping is a once a year opportunity for one week, during the week following the first Monday in November. As noted in the title, this year BUMP WEEK starts Monday, November 6, 2023 at 12 noon EST, and lasts until Friday, November 10th, at 5pm EST. This year everyone who has had their previous maximum of local zip codes can now add at least one more BUT you have to ask for it.

NOTE:   Standard license subscribers, typically agencies, can purchase twice the number of discounted zip codes (8 instead of 4). If you are a personal user and want to be able to buy more local zip codes you can upgrade your license from personal use to standard license and that gets you more $12 (discounted) zip codes.

$12 Zip Codes – LOCAL or BONUSA subscriber may find they can get listed in ALL the important zip codes they want within 20 miles of where they are, with just 2 or 3 LOCAL zip code listing. Your zip code listing can and will appear in nearby zip codes where those zip codes have no listings or fewer than the 3 maximum. And if that is the case, the subscriber may not need the $12 (discounted) LOCAL zip codes for that purpose. That is why we have now introduced a variation of the “LOCAL” zip code called “BONUS”. A BONUS zip code allows you to use a $12 (discounted) zip code anywhere else that you are licensed, and it does NOT matter how far from it you are providing that you are licensed in that state.

You can’t bump with a BONUS zip code, but you can protect that zip code a little better than if you are buying that as a PAID (additional) zip code ($21 per year). PAID zip codes are sold on a calendar year basis. LOCAL and BONUS zip codes are sold as part of your subscription and the anniversary of the purchase is the same as your subscription. You can also get the multi-year 10 or 20 percent discounts on those zip codes if you pay your subscription and those listing for 2 or 3 years.

If another subscriber comes to a zip code with 3 people already listed in it, and they are within 20 miles of that zipcode, they can bump use a LOCAL zip code to bump that subscriber out if that person’s listing is a PAID (additional) zip code. The new BONUS zip code protects you better than if you have a PAID zip code. A BONUS zip code is better protected.

EXAMPLE:   Let’s say a subscriber wants to use a LOCAL zip code to bump into a zip code and we check our list and find the zip code is full with 3 listing. If it’s not full, no bumping is necessary. In this case we assume it is full with 3 listing and one of those listings is already a LOCAL zip code, the other two are not. Now assume one of the other two is BONUS and the other is PAID (additional). Then it is the PAID zip code listing that will be replaced with the new LOCAL subscriber’s listing. PAID zip codes get bumped before BONUS. Therefore, if you have $12 (discounted) zip codes to spare, you should use them as BONUS for zip codes you are not LOCAL, but currently have as PAID – and you get those BONUS zip codes for $12 instead of $21.

NOTE:   If in that same case one of the zip codes was LOCAL, and the two were BONUS, then we would replace the BONUS who has been with us the shortest time with the new LOCAL. The BONUS zip code removed could then be assigned by that subscriber to another zip code.

VERY IMPORTANT:   No one can ever lose a LOCAL zip code listing providing they do not lapse their subscription.

To summarize, three types of zip codes: LOCAL, BONUS and PAID. A BONUS protects a zip code from bumping unless there are no PAID zip codes that can be bumped. A LOCAL is fully protected from bumping.

This may seem complicated, and it is more complicated than it was, but it ADDS to benefits to your subscription you did not have before. And if you need help to figure it out, we are happy to explain it if/when you call to actually request a bump, or when you ask for that new 4th discounted zip code.

Zip Code Listing – No Brainer IF…We said at the beginning of this bulletin that zip code listing are a no brainer, but they may not be a fit for you because it is a highly competitive situation. Each visitor to our www.term4sale.com website, who clicks the “How To Purchase” button, will get a list of the 3 closest subscribers which features the telephone numbers for each subscriber. If that consumer decided to call you, we don’t know anything about it (and it doesn’t count in the warranty calculation). And if they call you, and you do a good job on that call, then it is likely the other 2 subscribers will be out of luck.

NOTE:   That is WHY we strongly urge you to use a LOCAL phone number where that particular zip code listing is a local call from you (you can have different phone numbers on each zip code). The consumer will recognize that LOCAL area code and will be much more inclined to call you than calling a toll free number.

TIP:   With computer telephone systems (VOIP) it is possible to get phone number with ANY area code you want. If you have questions about that, give Bob Barney a call at (888) 798-3488.

For consumers using the email system, the email generated by our system goes to all 3 agents at the very same time and that is where the competition can become fierce. When you get that email you need to CALL that consumer, if they give you a phone number, or email that consumer as FAST as possible. Some subscribers have taken steps to make their response times VERY FAST and they have done that because it is VERY important.

Calling or emailing a day later is NOT going to work and that is where some of our subscribers, having purchased zip codes and gotten contacts in the past, have run into trouble. Their ability to respond quickly is NOT their strength and so they typically complained that someone else always beat them to the punch. If that has been true for you, then www.term4sale.com may not be a good investment for you.

There is another reason why we want you to respond FAST. Consumers shopping on the web are rarely visiting ONLY one site. They typically visit multiple sites because, as with most products, they may believe that the price for one company’s term life insurance from one agent may be different that from another agent. You and I both know that is not true, but consumers are usually very ignorant about how life insurance is priced and sold.

My point is you are NOT just competing with the other 2 agents listed, you are also competing with whoever else that consumer has contacted. In that regard, I don’t care who gets the sale, provide it is a Compulife subscriber who gets that sale.

NOTE:   We have nothing to do with your sale. The only revenue we generate is from the listing fee. Having said that, the more successful those listings are for you, the more likely you are to keep buying them and the more we can charge for them in the future.

From time to time I may need to check a competing website to term4sale, because someone has told me there is a price difference from www.term4sale.com or a product we don’t have, and so I will go to the site they saw it, run a quote and see what’s going on. Many sites require a name and phone number and when I put in mine (if I don’t use Elmer Fudd) the response time from when I fill in my information and submit it to get a quote, and the time they contact me by email (usually) or phone (rarely) can be surprisingly long. NOT GOOD. The early bird gets the worm, and providing you can act quickly, I think www.term4sale.com is a good source for potential sales.

Back to bump week. This is the FIRST year we have 4 zip codes at the discounted price. Previously we had 3. Therefore, even if you currently have 3 discounted zip codes, which used to be called “LOCAL”, then you have 4th zip code which can be LOCAL or BONUS. Not only do you get that zip code at the discounted price, IF you request it, you can use that zip code, if it is within 20 miles of where you are actually located, to FORCE your way into a zip code listing that is full (three subscriber in that zip code).

NOTE:   3 is the MAXIMUM number of listing that we sell for ANY zip code, and so if there are already 3 then you cannot get in that zip code if you are not already one of the three.

IMPORTANT:   If you have a discounted zip code, and you want to use that for a zip code within 20 miles of you, then you can BUMP one of the other listing out of that zip code if they are NOT purchasing that zip code as one of their local zip codes.

New Local Zip Code RulesTo purchase zip codes you must be a subscriber to the PC software. We require that those participating at www.term4sale.com have access to the most powerful agent quoting tool that Compulife offers – the PC software. The “Mobile” edition of Compulife does not have the features and capabilities of the PC software. The Mobile version is less expensive because it does less. It is still important because it lets you run quotes on the web, on any device and is not limited to the Windows operating system. Once again, we want our www.term4sale.come listed subscribers to have the use of the best software that we provide.

There are two PC variations of our software. Both offer the same features, but one is for an individual agent at a price discount (Personal Use Edition) and the other is for an agency (Standard License).

If you are a Personal Use subscriber, then you can may purchase up to 4 LOCAL zip codes for $12 each. Previously you were limited to 3.

If you are a Standard License subscriber, then you can purchase up to 8 LOCAL zip codes for $12 each. Previously you were limited to 6.

KEEP READING:   You must act in order to take advantage of this new offer. If you do nothing, then you will have what you had before.

LOCAL zip codes are invoiced with your subscription to Compulife. The LOCAL zip code renews at the same time as your subscription to the software, for as long as you renew the subscription. You are allowed to pay for a LOCAL zip code for multiple years, which allows you take advantage of the 2 and 3 year discounts (currently 10 and 20 percent respectively). This is permitted because you can NEVER lose your right to own a LOCAL zip code providing that it is within 20 miles of where you are located (remember that if you move).

IMPORTANT:   NO ONE can bump you from a local zip code that you own, which is within 20 miles of where you are located.

NOTE:   For rural areas we will extend the 20 mile radius, but we do so ONLY on careful examination of the area using the:

Additional “Paid” Zip Code Price IncreaseAdditional “paid” zip codes are zip codes that are purchased over and above your local zip codes. The price for those additional “paid” zip codes will be increasing from $18 per year to $21 per year. The new price will be effective with the mid-November invoices for 2024.

This represents a 17% increase in price, but given that we have NOT increased our zip code prices for a number of years, we think that increase is reasonable.

The ability to have MORE local zip codes will help offset the cost of this for subscribers that do NOT have large numbers of additional “paid” zip code lists.

Personal Use subscribers are limited to only buying 75 additional zip codes. With the ability to buy 4 local zip codes, this give the personal use subscriber a maximum of 79 zip codes.

Standard License subscribers have the same limit of 75 additional zip codes, but with the ability to buy 8 local zip codes, they have a maximum of 83 zip codes. If they want more than those 83, they have two options.

First, they can continue to buy zip codes (up to 300) at a surcharge. The surcharge price, if you elect to go over 75 additional zip codes, will be unchanged from the current $24.

Second, as you approach 150 zip codes, you are better to buy an “additional” standard license which sells for $279 per year. With a second license you get 8 local zip codes at $12 each, and up to 75 more zip codes at $21 each (not the $24 surcharge price). Having another license also gives you 5 additional seats for your office (or 5 seats for a second office) and also gives you additional users for your Mobile version of the software.

Note:  If a Standard License subscriber wanted to buy 20 zip codes over their current maximum of 83, they are better off just paying the $24 per zip code price.

The price change will be incorporated into the renewal invoicing in mid-November. As happens each year, you will have until early January to pay those renewals before you lose the zip codes that you do not renew.

As a result of the price increase we fully expect a number of subscribers to reduce the number of paid zip codes that they have and we think that’s a smart move. You should carefully examine which of your zip codes have performed well over the past years, and which have not performed as well, and thin the herd.

We want you to thin the herd because we have a problem. Most of the good zip codes are unavailable to new customers, except for LOCAL zip codes where than can bump out those subscribers listed with “additional zip codes”. As always, once you purchase an additional zip code for the year, that zip code is unavailable to anyone else during that year. New subscribers can bump you from your additional zip code, but they can only do that at the end of the year, for the following year, and they can ONLY do that if they are within 20 miles of that zip code.

For those wanting to keep buying all the zip codes that they can, we have another way you can get some price relief and still take advantage of the price discount ($12 instead of $21 or $24) that is provided for local zip codes.

You Need To Switch NOW!If you currently have additional paid zip codes, you need to switch them to “local” or “bonus” zip codes NOW. This is on a first come, first served basis.

You especially need to do this BEFORE the November bumping occurs, to provide maximum protection to your most important zip codes.

If you do NOT have your maximum number of LOCAL (or BONUS) zip codes, you change that ASAP.

IMPORTANT:   If a zip code has 3 subscribers, and each of those subscribers is listed as “LOCAL” in that zip code, the zip code is permanently locked out unless and until one of those subscribers no longer renews that zip code. It is important to stay vigilant and review your lists from time to time because subscribers do let zip codes go because they die, retire or otherwise stop subscribing.

This year, if you are paying attention, you have access to one or two more additional local (or bonus) zip codes and so EVERYONE should be bumping. We recommend that you mark bump Monday on your calendar – first come first served.

Once again, if you have a zip code in which your are listed as “LOCAL”, and it is within 20 miles of your location, then NO ONE can remove you from that zip code. If your LOCAL is outside the 20 mile radius, it would be the last to be moved from a zip code that has other PAID (additional) zip code listings.

Over time bumping has become more rare because most subscribers have already maximized the benefit of their current 3 or 6 local zip codes. With the addition of 1 or 2 additional LOCAL zip codes, everyone buying zip codes will be able to do some bumping again this year.

NOTHING Happens Until YOU Take ActionFirst, you MUST ACT to take advantage of this expanded LOCAL (or BONUS) zip code opportunity.

If you have been purchasing PAID (additional) zip codes, then the first thing you need to do is to identify which of your additional zip codes that you want to convert to LOCAL or BONUS.

IMPORTANT:   We will NOT convert your PAID (additional) zip code UNLESS you contact us and ask us to do so.

We recommend that you do this immediately. There is no upside to waiting. Send an email to:

Tell us you want your current list of zip codes. That list will identify all your zip codes, and will also identify which of your zip codes are LOCAL. Once you get that list, pick the VERY best PAID (additional) zip code(s) that is LOCAL to you, and tell us to re-list that as LOCAL. That zip code must be 20 miles or less from you in order for it to be protected from bumping. If you want to use that zip code outside your local area, we will make it a BONUS zip code.

In addition to the renewal of that zip code dropping in price to $12, we will consider that NEW local zip code as “paid” to the end of your current subscription. If you have pre-paid your subscription for 2 or 3 years, we will consider that new local listing also paid for 2 or 3 years – no additional charge (that’s an additional benefit but you must call and request it)

Second, you need to call us the week of November to make sure that new LOCAL zip code(s) is one of the best zip codes in your local area (20 mile radius). Now that you have a 4th (or 7th and 8th) LOCAL zip code, you will want to leverage those into the best zip codes that you can get, that is zip codes that may not be currently available because they are currently full.

The Zip Code WarrantyOur zip code warranty remains 3 for 1. What we mean by that is that if you have 3 zip codes, we guarantee that you will have one email contact per year. If you have 30 zip codes, we warranty 10 email contacts. That warranty will not be changing.

If you do NOT achieve your warranty results, you will get a credit for the following year that is in proportion to your results. For example, if you have 30 zip codes, and get only 5 email contacts (we warrant 10) then you can keep all 30 zip codes for the following year, but only pay for 15. Invoice credits are issued at the end of the year, after we do an audit of your results. The audit must be requested by the subscriber.

Note:   This warranty has just gotten better because of the new 4 and 8 local zip code change.

Because of the way we round up this warranty calculation, if you ONLY have 3 local zip codes currently, and you do not purchase or have any additional zip codes, then you would be crazy to not add a fourth local zip code. Why? Because we always round the warranty in your favor.

if you increase from 3 to 4 local zip codes (which is one over the three), we will now warrant that you get two email contacts from those 4 (we round 4 up to 6 for the warranty calculation). If you only get 1 email contact, then 3 of your 4 zip codes would be free the following year (you would pay $12 instead of $48 for all 4).

In essence the combination of the new deal and the warranty, for those who ONLY buy local zip codes, just got a whole LOT better.

Of course it doesn’t get a lot better unless you add that 4th (or the 7th and 8th) local zip code(s).

And none of this happens unless you take action.

Our Current Programming Plans for 2023The following is the current order for new work that we will be doing in 2023:

• • Introduction of New PC Version: CQS.EXE

• • Overhaul Of Current Product Data Files

• Introduction of Compulife Mobile Plus (with Pick 12)

Anyone with questions about any of these upcoming projects can call Bob Barney to discuss:

Please don’t email me essay questions, just call. If I’m not in, email me your phone number, I’ll call you.

These planned objectives will easily consume our programming time during the balance of this year and throughout 2023. The good news is that once the product data files have been converted, and we have introduced the new CQS.EXE, and upgraded our internet engine to use the new data files, Compulife will be turning it’s full attention to our web based, Compulife Mobile software. The long term goal is to have a web based product that does everything our PC based software does.