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 Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:17 am Post subject: |
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Hi Jeremy and Bluerhino92,
I'd like to share some of my views in this regard..
| Quote: | | But don't you think that its important from the customer's point of view to know their agent in person? |
Even while you're talking to an agent face to face you'd hardly get a taste of his conscience.. rather, over the phone you'd pay more attention to listen to him since you're not being able to see him face to face.
Also remember, that you're talking business. So all you'd need to know is the identity of the brand name that he's representing and the quality of service that they're known for.
| Quote: | | Can you clear all their doubts over the phone? |
I'm sure you could..if the agent is representing a quality service, then he'd be well-scripted over the phone. He'd have answers to all your queries and would be properly trained to clarify all your doubts. Most of the quality companies today offer scripts to the tele-agents that are actually legal scripts tied to an agreement with the Fed. govt.
| Quote: | | And, by what percentage you sales have improved since you've started dialing? |
The answer to this is already there as quoted below-
| Quote: | | The big difference is I didn't have to drive a 1/2 hr, 1hr, or 2 hrs to the appointment and realize I can't sell them or warm up to them... I just dial my next lead. |
So you see, you'd actually improve your chances by 50% or more since you're covering a 100 times larger database than while you're doing it face to face.
I'm sure Bluerhino92 would also agree with me in this regard. Am I right!
ArindamSenIndies |
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ArindamSenIndies
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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I absolutely agree.... well said!
Your sales can't help but improve because you are always selling when someone picks up the phone not just trying to set an appointment.
It's hard enough to find people home to set enough appointments for the week, why not get rid of that extra step and everyone who answers the phone you try to do a presentation with them.
There is so much down time selling in the field it's tuff to be successful because the ave agent isn't willing to sit on the phone Monday for 10-12 hrs to fill up his week with appointments.
They might get 8 appointments, if they are lucky. 2 may cancel, 2 might be no shows, 1 might be a one legger that you try to sell anyways and that only leaves 3 good appointments.
None of those headaches and frustrations with Telesales.
And I do make a connection with my clients and answer all their concerns over the phone. Heck I just got a card in the mail Monday from a Lady I helped in Virginia thanking me for helping her.
The issue I see with telesales for some people is have to sit in the saddle everyday, whether that's 4 days a week or 5 days a week.
Some people just can't be on the phone like that. It is something I had to get used to coming from the field but now I'd rather be on the phone selling than trying to set appointments.
Steve |
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bluerhino92
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject: Final Expense By Phone |
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Selling final expense by phone is a great way to go. You WILL, undoubtedly get less of a closing ratio than in person, but some folks are determined to work from home - and you can do that in Final Expense.
I encourage you to search diligently for the best contracts before getting locked in somewhere. Once locked in at a company with a low contract they WILL NOT let you out to go with another IMO under any circumstances IF the reason you are leaving is to go for a higher contract.
It is very frustrating to sign up with someone at 80%, 90% or even 100% to find out that you could have done MUCH better with someone down the street.
Remember that the lead costs are a fixed cost. They pretty much cost the same anywhere. The persistency, too, is just about the same everywhere. The ONLY thing you can control from the beginning is the amount of that premium that you will be paid for your effort. Our agents generally make 30% higher than they made with other contracts. This is a very important, and too often overlooked point - until it's too late.
Best of luck,
C. W. |
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cwestfall
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 4:28 am Post subject: |
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Hi C.W
| Quote: | | Selling final expense by phone is a great way to go. |
Is this typical with FE? |
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JeremyHolter
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:46 am Post subject: |
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Hi cwestfall,
| Quote: | | Once locked in at a company with a low contract they WILL NOT let you out to go with another IMO under any circumstances IF the reason you are leaving is to go for a higher contract. |
I'm pretty much interested to know about their attempts to retain agents. What would be our obligations as agents?
Also,do you believe that working from home could actually be beneficial for some of us?
Steven |
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steven
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:10 am Post subject: |
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Hi bluerhino92,
| Quote: | | I absolutely agree.... well said! |
Thanks for the appreciation!
| Quote: | | And I do make a connection with my clients and answer all their concerns over the phone. |
Do you record the sales verification and confirmation part too? Or is that you send someone with paper-works to your prospects?
ArindamSenIndies |
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ArindamSenIndies
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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All the telesales we do is paperless. Once the prospect wants to buy a policy we just do a 3 way phone call with the companies and on a recorded line they confirm all the typical info...Name, address, beneficiaries, bank account for drafting, ss# etc.
They then ask the health questions. Once that is completed, which maybe takes 10-15 min, I stay on the line with them as the company hangs up and just rap up the sale and get referrals. Everything is paperless. I don't even have paper leads because they are in our lead management system on my computer.
If I want to go back home to WI to visit family, I can just get on a computer and start making calls and selling. Sell anywhere to anywhere.
Also about getting top contracts or not. You can get a 100% or higher contract with companies, which is great, but now you are going to have to purchase leads and plenty of them to be successful. If you are in the field, not only do you have to pay for the leads/wk (20 "A" leads will typically cost you $500), you have to pay for gas and you have to spend 80-90% driving and being unproductive. You generally won't have consistent training or guidance either from most IMO....
They will deal you a high contract and wish you good luck. Most places just peddle contracts and hope you stick... if not you fade away with all the other people they gave a high contract to.
If you cant buy enough leads and afford all those cost associated with being in the field or have the skills to close the deals because you only can afford 10 leads a week, a high contract is pretty much worthless but atleast you can say you got the best contract. It may not pay your bills though.
You need to work with an organization that has a system in place you can just plug into. They need to offer on going training and support, access to an abundance of quality leads etc. Be careful about being stuck in a high contract without all the pieces in place to make you successful.
Closing rates are not always lower over the phone. For most agents it will be in the 30%-60% range. Just depends on your skills, the same as being in the field face to face. |
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bluerhino92
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:29 am Post subject: FE Insurance by phone |
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We sell all FE by phone with 80% contracts and leads as low as $3 shared or $8 for a live lead transfer and have some great rates contact me at deactiveate
E-mail id deactivated for your safety
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rdodger32
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:29 pm Post subject: |
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Even if the closing percentage was lower, you would still sell more policies on a daily / weekly / monthly basis. If you are doing face to face consultations and your closing percentage is 80%...Let's say you can see 10 real appointments (take out the no shows, etc.). You would basically have a max of 8 policies.
If you have a closing percentage of even 20% on the phone...You would need 40 appointments (over the phone) to have 8 policies.
Obviously these numbers were selected because of the easy math, but the point is that you have an opportunity to meet a lot more people over the phone.
The debate that we see a lot is all about trust, and are clients comfortable doing business over the phone. Although I like to think I have a professional appearance, I do know that if I was overweight / sloppy / different ethnicity / etc....there are many clients in the senior population that are not comfortable meeting someone in person in their home.
I have an agent that used to work with us that is doing much better over the phone. He attributes it to his skin color. Like it or not, politically incorrect as it is, he realized that as an african american he encountered a lot of elderly white women that were simply scared to let him in the house. You can never judge a book by its cover, but we have to remember that the world was also much less tolerant of differences 60 years ago when these clients were growing up!
He sends Christmas cards out to some of his clients every year, and he said he's received several cards back with little messages on them like I had no idea you were black. You don't sound black on the phone. He said he's never been insulted by it, but he has said that if a 30 y/o made those comments he'd be all over it...LOL! |
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ChrisBantly
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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While it is true that the higher up in contract level you go the less support you get, many agents don't need support/training. If you've been doing any final expense for anything longer than six months, you shouldn't need very much support.
You are always better off if you get the higher contract, buy your own leads and structure your own self.
Some agents have a hard time with the self-structuring and need support even though they have to pay for that support in one way or another, just like leads...you are going to pay for them one way or another.
There are many companies that allow a true phone app, some new to it, some old and some have gotten away from it. You always need several in your bag to cover the different situations that you run into.
The problem I see with going with a company that supplies you leads and gives you a lower contract is that you are basically captive with them. As I stated before, if you sell for a while you no longer need training. Do you think they are going to raise your commission level when you find you can do all of this on your own? Highly doubtful. You should always shop for contracts that have an up front release!
Any IMO, FMO, MGA, GA or agency that won't give you an up front release is one that is afraid you'll run off and leave them for a reason. What reason you ask? When you find out you're better doing it on your own and you will actually make more. That's what they are afraid of, and rightly so.
I personally don't worry about it...I give up front releases and I've never had to release anyone...that's because they know they can't get higher than the contracts I give.
Bottom line is, there are places for the agencies that give leads/training/support and there are places for the IMO that give no leads/ no training/very little support. And of course their are the ones that fall in the middle somewhere.
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TRK3031962
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| Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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I agree will Todd.
You have to do your due dilegence as with anything you do. Bottom line most agents are insurance agents because they think it's easy and easy money...until they start selling... whatever the type of insurance they choose to sell.
They soon realize they actually have to work and Spend money for leads, gas and travel etc. Problem is most agents arent' willing to work hard to succeed, big or small contract.
If you sell insurance, you shouldn't make less than $100k per year. I know most agents don't because of that lack of discipline and desire to do what successful agents do.....Work and spend money for the leads. Successful agents work their butts off....period. Not 10 hrs a week.
If an agent wants to make $150k per year selling Final Expense, they need to spend about 6k-8k on leads and other costs per Month to do those numbers. Very few agents are willing to do that because of the risk so they just flounder by buying 10-20 leads per week and make there $20k-$50k/yr after expenses. And then they are off looking for the greener grass which never comes.
The old saying "Sales is the Hardest Highest Paying Job out there or the Easiest Lowest Paying Job" A very high percentage of the agents find themselves to be on the lowest paying side. It's a good thing they got that big contract though...100% of no work and discipline is still 0. And then if they recruit some agents who do nothing they are still at 0.
I know our system of doing it over the phone is not for everyone since most agents can't even stay on the phone long enough to set a weeks worth of appointments.... well that and they don't buy enough leads to call.
With what we do you have to be able to be on the phone. However, We take a lot of what makes agents fail in the field out of the equation....
No travel so no Expenses
(Most agents spend 25-30hrs traveling and only a fraction actually selling)
Our Lead costs are cut by 75% so our agents have more leads to call than they can ever get to. They have access to virtually unlimited high quality responder final expense leads for a few hundred bucks a week. 1 sale and there weekly expenses are covered.
We have the only platform like it in the country. By having access to so many leads a 80%-100% contract isn't bad since you have people to sell to. In the field or over the phone with other IMO's you get your 10 leads/wk at $250-$350 . You sure can't make a living for your family with only 10-20 leads. And the expenses just cut way into profits and it's almost not worth it.
I wouldnt be in this business if I had to do it the traditional way anymore.
For the same weekly expense with us you have no travel or expenses (other than phone line and internet access which most people have already) and access to 1,000's of mail responder final expense leads...many less than 30 days old and never been contacted.
I know we have an unfair advantage but that's what makes our system unique for any agent that works with us.
Again you have to want to work and you have to be ok being on the phones instead of driving 1-2 hrs to a no show or a one legger.
I have been in the insurance Industry almost 20 yrs and I know the frustration agents go through. I've been there and I talked to them everyday as they vent their frustrations.
That's why we developed the platform we did... to cut out all the profit centers that are inherent in the insurance industry today and put it back into the pockets of our agents and give them the greatest chance to succeed. You still have to be comfortable on the phones for it to work:)
The insurance business is not easy and all agents need to sit down and make a commitment to themselves and their families that they will do what it takes to be successful. Don't wait for January 1st to start your resolutions....do it now!
Happy Fathers Day to All you great Dads!! |
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bluerhino92
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| Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | If an agent wants to make $150k per year selling Final Expense, they need to spend about 6k-8k on leads and other costs per Month to do those numbers. Very few agents are willing to do that because of the risk so they just flounder by buying 10-20 leads per week and make there $20k-$50k/yr after expenses. And then they are off looking for the greener grass which never comes. |
Maybe I misunderstood this statement, but here is what I get from it.
If I want to make 150,000...I need to:
Spend 6-8K a month on leads
Spend on other Expenses every month
8 x 12 - 96,000
Other expenses ~5000 a year or more??
That leaves me with 49,000 a year.
If I flounder and purchase 10-20 leads a week I will make 20-50K a year after expenses.
Is the 150,000 after expenses? Because otherwise it seems just as wise to flounder without the risk of paying so much for leads.
Now that I have made an argument, I will say that I may be interested in adding some final expense sales to my portfolio (as if I don't have enough going on already)... |
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ChrisBantly
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:58 am Post subject: Insults.. |
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I appreciate the insults earlier from the "Guru" who is paying people at 80% and possibly the "90% National Vice President's Contract".. woohoo!
If you'd like a > 110% contract for final expense by phone with a proven system that has a higher closing ratio, more persistent results in month 13+, let me know. Mail to info(at)finalexpensebyphone(dot)com. |
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cwestfall
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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Standard Life and Accident out of Texas offers a sell by phone process where basically you get the person sold on the phone and then conference into the home office with them to complete the process.
As far as leads go, try (link removed by moderator lori--pirate-read the terms of use for this site...you can put your link in your signature, but NO self promotion in the threads!) I've found that I do get some good money making leads out of them, but of course there'll be duds also. |
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Pirate91
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| Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject: Cool.. |
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Nice affiliate (commissionable) link there for (link removed)
For those wondering, it's more duds than leads. For working final expense sales, the best place is still Main Street Powermail (no commissions from a link here)! |
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cwestfall
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