IUL Lead Cost Benchmarks for 2026: What You Should Actually Pay
Every agency has a lead-cost number they defend, and almost none of them have the placed-premium-per-thousand-spent number to back it up. This piece is the benchmark set we wish existed when we started.
Shared IUL leads: $18 - $45
Distributed to three to six producers within seconds of submission. Cheap on the invoice, expensive on the calendar. Realistic contact rate: 55-65%. Realistic placed-policy rate: 1-2% of dials.
Semi-exclusive: $55 - $95
Capped at two producers in a region. Better contact rates (70-80%), and the prospect is not fielding calls from every agent in three states.
Exclusive IUL intent: $125 - $220
Product-named funnels, single-agent delivery, income/age pre-qualified. This is the tier Ironflow operates in. The invoice number scares people; the placed-policy math almost always wins.
The number that actually matters
Divide monthly ad + lead spend by monthly placed premium. Anything under 15% is a healthy IUL pipeline. Anything over 35% means you are almost certainly buying the wrong tier for your close rate.