As a "side hustle"?

[somarco]

I really want to focus on selling over the phone/online.

Phone selling isn't for everyone. You need to be a good listener, ask questions, take notes.

When you are F2F much easier to make an impression on your prospect . . . either a good impression or a bad one. You can read their face and body language.

Visual clues are absent in phone selling.

I have been selling by phone for over 30 years. More effective F2F but I waste a lot of time. More efficient with phone sales.

Most folks would do better with F2F starting out then transition to phone sales.

Chazm mentioned seminars. GREAT way to work this business if you are good in front of audiences and can think on your feet. Slow way to build your business, but you can have a SOLID following in a few years.

 

[somarco]

@BADTROUT has been watching Soul Train . . .

 

[DefendMyIncome]

I still work part-time for the benefits and the bonus is that I meet a lot of people that need my service and products. My part-time is 3rd shift when asked about my part-time business, I correct them and let them know that I am a true "moonlighter" working at the hospital and my full-time is helping people make smart financial decisions.

 

[RMN19]

Phone selling isn't for everyone. You need to be a good listener, ask questions, take notes.

When you are F2F much easier to make an impression on your prospect . . . either a good impression or a bad one. You can read their face and body language.

Visual clues are absent in phone selling.

I have been selling by phone for over 30 years. More effective F2F but I waste a lot of time. More efficient with phone sales.

Most folks would do better with F2F starting out then transition to phone sales.

Chazm mentioned seminars. GREAT way to work this business if you are good in front of audiences and can think on your feet. Slow way to build your business, but you can have a SOLID following in a few years.

With regards to selling over the phone. I do have some experience in that area. My first job was actually as a CSR for Sprint: I did that for about a year and a half. While not sales (other than a few upsales that weren't incentivized very well for CSRs, so a lot of us didn't bother much), I definitely got comfortable talking to strangers on the phone.

As for picking up on visual cues, that certainly makes sense. I did law enforcement for a while so I got pretty good at reading body language.

The more I read about Medigap type insurance, the more interested I get. I know that

I like:
A) I live in Oregon, so seniors can change their plan with the "birthday rule" which my state has.
B) I live in what has become a retirement community (used to be a lot of logging industry, but the trend seems to be younger people moving away and older people moving from elsewhere).
C) It's not property insurance, which does not pique my interest at all
D) The field of healthcare interests me in general


So my initial understanding was that it's better to get licensed to sell property and life and try and sell both.

Is that not the case? I should focus on something as specific as, for example, Medigap or Medicare Advantage?

 

[Life Hawk]

Quite a few agents here wear ladies underwear. You might have stumbled into a new market.

We refer to them as "Telesales Agents".

 

[RMN19]

10 years in and I’m still not good at selling over the phone. Referrals are easy to do over the phone if they don’t want to meet but don’t think you can get a lead, call them and just sign them up. I tried it for several months and the amount of time and calls it took to get one sale wasn’t worth it IMO.
I did much better on Direct mail lead cards and now I do seminars. I don’t have to do outbound calls and the people seem more interested. You’ll find what works for you after trial and error. We can’t know which works best for you.

So for the lead cards... How does that work? They get a card with your Name/Number/Website and you wait for the call/email/whatever?

Do you just buy a list of names/addresses and make your own mailer campaign yourself?

 

[somarco]

We refer to them as "Telesales Agents".

I wouldn't know of course, but there just might be some field agents wearing lacy things under their 3 piece suits.

With regards to selling over the phone. I do have some experience in that area. My first job was actually as a CSR for Sprint:

Not trying to rain on your parade but CSR is not sales.

CSR = they call you
phone sales = you call them

 

[Chazm]

So for the lead cards... How does that work? They get a card with your Name/Number/Website and you wait for the call/email/whatever?

Do you just buy a list of names/addresses and make your own mailer campaign yourself?

Any direct mail company can send out cards/flyers etc. I just googled direct mail companies in my area and found one.

Btw making outbound calls to people who don’t want you calling is 100% different than an incoming call from a sprint client.

And your phone isn’t going to be magically ringing with people asking for quotes. Your SEO ability will be a plus in getting people to your site. But then what?

 

[RMN19]

Any direct mail company can send out cards/flyers etc. I just googled direct mail companies in my area and found one.

Btw making outbound calls to people who don’t want you calling is 100% different than an incoming call from a sprint client.

I fully understand that. My response was in regards to my comfort level with speaking to strangers on the phone.

And your phone isn’t going to be magically ringing with people asking for quotes. Your SEO ability will be a plus in getting people to your site. But then what?

I don't know "then what." That's what I am trying to figure out, at this point. I don't know insurance products from cast iron skillets at this juncture, lol.

 

[RMN19]

Any direct mail company can send out cards/flyers etc. I just googled direct mail companies in my area and found one.

Do you buy a list of names? Or just mail to everybody in your area?