Come out, come out, wherever you are...

[NSRH]

This forum is filled with face to face agents. Many who are successful, and some who are still learning the ropes. However, as many of you are aware, the industry is changing, and there are many agents now selling over the phone.

Many final expense phone agents either work in a call center, work captively from home, or are totally independent!

Many of us are forced to lurk as to not draw attention and criticism to our model of selling...

So, here is your shot to come out of the shadows...

Why did you start selling over the phone, and what does a normal day look like for you? What kind of leads are you working?

 

[Paul2018]

Hello, NSRH great topic. I have been selling FE over the phone for 11 years love it. We have a small call center. Start selling over the phone with METLIFE AUTO & HOME. and just transitioned to finale expense.

 

[myinsurebiz]

funny - but me and Amtrak came back at the same time . . . your hokus pokus worked Hakeem . . .

So many fond memories!

 

[myinsurebiz]

Hello, NSRH great topic. I have been selling FE over the phone for 11 years love it. We have a small call center. Start selling over the phone with METLIFE AUTO & HOME. and just transitioned to finale expense.

What part of Georgia are ya in Paul?

 

[Paul2018]

Big City, Albany Ga. What about your self NSRH.

 

[NSRH]

Big City, Albany Ga. What about your self NSRH.

I've been in St. Louis for a little over five years now.

 

[theinsuranceman]

I've been selling FE via tele-sales since 2005 (started FE field sales in 1999). From what I've heard back in 2004 the President of our carrier said if Geico can sell car insurance over the phone why can't we sell FE over the phone? One thing led to another and here we are. Now other carriers are dipping their toe into the water but it seems most of them have no clue how to do this profitably and successfully. Everyone in management at our home office, even some of the underwriters, have experience doing tele-sales. If you ever call the home office you are talking to someone with experience, not some bumbling fool thatother agents on this forum complain about with their 10+ carriers. I like both field and tele-sales and after 13 years of both still can't see where one method is that much superior to the other.

13 month persistency is very similar for field and tele-sales. I have an agent in Kansas whose 13 month persistency via tele-sales is always over 90%! Of course this is unusual. Closing % on the phone may be 10-20% lower than the field, but you can squeeze more presentations into a 40 hour week via tele-sales than with field sales. Even though your acquisition cost of a tele-sale may be higher than the acquisition cost of a field sale (maybe one more TV lead needed per tele-sale than a field sale), you'll still make just as much if not more profit per hour with tele-sales because of improved efficiency of presentations per hour.

How?
_You don't have to drive from one lead to the next, you just dial the next phone number and you're already at the next front door (you just can't sell when you're driving from one lead to the next lead).
_You make more presentations per 40 hours with tele-sales than field sales. And even though closing % may be slightly lower with tele-sales, the sheer volume of more presentations per 40 hours will usually leave you with more profit after 40 hours with tele-sales. Not as much profit per lead, but more total profit that goes into your bank account even though you used more leads than the field agent for the same production figure.
_When it snows just one inch in the South, you can catch everyone home when you call. Find the no's and yesses much more quicker. And you can still keep right on working, where the field agent has to stop till the weather clears up.
_You don't have to work in the rain, in the cold, in the 100* heat.
_NO wasted time driving to a "no show".
_When it gets dark at 5 pm in the winter you can keep right on selling with tele-sales till 9 pm (prospect's time zone).

I've worked every type of FE lead known to man...DM, yellow pages, press one's (pre 2009), TV leads, tele-marketing leads, old follow up leads, etc. My best success with tele-sales is working fresh exclusive TV leads. My best results are always with fresh TV leads.
Now my carrier has it set up where we can call a prospect about 30 sec. after they've called the TV commercial! No wasted time tracking people down as they are going to still be home 30 sec. after calling the TV commercial. This squeezes even more presentations into a 40 hour work week.

Drawbacks to tele-sales?
_You don't get that 50 some cents per mile deduction the IRS allows for using your personal car for business use.
_Takes a special discipline to be sitting at a desk making phone calls/presentations over an 8 hour period.
_To me field sales is more fun (unless I'm porched or the weather is bad). I can talk to next door neighbors and make some things happen that I can't do on the phone.

I know veterans of tele-sales already know this info, but I put it out there in simple terms for field agents considering tele-sales. I think some of the IMO's on this forum criticize tele-sales because they can't offer their agents the same opportunity with tele-sales and especially the training needed, and they are afraid they may lose some of their field agents who go where the tele-sales action is.

I'm in Raleigh, NC.

I'm waiting for that fool (you know who I'm referring to) to deny what I'm saying and claiming that this is marker talk. That fool has zero tele-sales experience so how can he even compare field versus tele-sales? LOL

 

[nfl72]

It seems that working 40 hour work weeks is the norm in telesales. I have sold FE for 8 years or more and have never worked a 40 hour week. I leave my house Wed morning and return Thursday afternoon. That is my work week other than 2 to 3 hours on Tuesday scheduling appointments and faxing in applications.

I also enjoy spending a night out on the town. I get a nice hotel room, go out for a nice dinner and drinks and get to meet a lot of nice people. I also like the fact that I rarely work Fri, Sat, Sun or Monday.

For the most part I do not like selling FE. I can not imagine doing it 40 hours a week. I'd rather drive a truck.

 

[theinsuranceman]

it seems that working 40 hour work weeks is the norm in telesales. I have sold FE for 8 years or more and have never worked a 40 hour week. I leave my house Wed morning and return Thursday afternoon. That is my work week other than 2 to 3 hours on Tuesday scheduling appointments and faxing in applications.

40 hours a week on the phone would drive me nuts.

I believe 40+ hours is also norm for field sales. Everyone works what they want/need to earn.

 

[nfl72]

you might be right about the 40+. I was just under the assumption that most sales people are lazy and those that sell FE do so because of the shorter hours.