- 4,875
I think you are correct that most sales people are lazy. Just look at the pool of FE agents.
Come out, come out, wherever you are...
- Thread starter NSRH
- Start date
I think you are correct that most sales people are lazy. Just look at the pool of FE agents.
- 7,015
I will piggy back this. I have never worked more than 25 hours total a week in the field. That would have included drive time and admin work.
Keep in mind I bought a lot of leads and used an appt setter.
I said for years that this has always been a part time gig for me.
I work twice as many hours now that I am out of the field training and recruiting. I used to say I couldn't understand how y'all spend all your time on the phone, but I do that now.
Johnny Hooker
Super Genius
- 135
Looks like someone else may be living in a van down by the river........ hard to wrap your head around this one? oh the humanity of it all......
- 7,015
30 direct mail and I had my own Filipino telemarketer for awhile.
- 2,045
Maybe for the captives or those in "training". Most probably curb it down with a long term outlook.
I wonder how people working 2-3 days per week can sustain a high level of income with the high cancellation rate in FE and the DM lead expense.. But obviously some people do it.
The idea of pt work for really good ft pay is appealing.. with more freedom for family and a market/product that seems to be growing - why wouldn't someone give it a shot.. Makes you wonder why the turn over rate so incredibly high with FE..
The idea of pt work for really good ft pay is appealing.. with more freedom for family and a market/product that seems to be growing - why wouldn't someone give it a shot.. Makes you wonder why the turn over rate so incredibly high with FE..
It takes quite a bit of work to make it look easy.
- 1,819
It doesn't start out like that unless you are just a natural. A new agent probably won't make it working 2 days a week but once you reach a certain point it gets much easier to do it. Even still, you won't hear people on here talk about the weeks where they take out extra leads and get another day in until they hit their goals.
You can very easily hit 40 hours a week if you include drive time and all the other things that go along with running a business.
And turnover rate is high at most sales jobs.
- 5,997
Are there any industry figures from a reputable source that tracks the actual rate of cancellation and lapses during the first 13 months of policy life?
Just imagine what might be possible for someone willing to work full time ... and by full time, I mean really working 40+ hours/week to sell and place issued and paid business, and not sitting around shuffling lead cards and studying underwriting manuals and calling that "work." Forty hours of setting appointments, making presentations, door knocking leads you couldn't reach by phone - imagine what might be possible given what some claim to accomplish in less than half that time.
There is a universally high failure rate in sales. I am coming at this from the car business, and over the years the number of sales people who fail out in less than a year versus the number of folks who manage to make a living wage is about 20 to 1, i.e. about 20 new salespeople fail out quickly for every one sales person who manages to stick and sell enough to survive. Of those who do stick, 4 out of 5 sell enough to survive, while only one out of five will sell enough to thrive.
Why do they fail? It is a combination of several factors.
First and foremost is the fact that most who enter the sales profession where there is no salary or draw to offer initial financial support are under capitalized and thus unable to survive the start up period during which cash flow is most apt to be negative.
Second, most folks are not "natural salesmen or saleswomen." One needs to learn how to present his or her product or service, answer questions (rebuttals), and close (ask for the business. Most people can learn to present artfully. A few will learn to answer questions (rebuttals, objections) effectively enough to put the prospect's doubts at ease enough to accept the proposal. But most would-be salespeople are uncomfortable in the close and fail to become effective at asking for the business.
This is why, when you go to a car dealership, for example, your salesperson will very likely eventually turn you over to a manager or another salesperson (a closer) to finish hammering out the negotiations - your salesperson is (hopefully) an apt demonstrator of the product, but is unable to recognize that you do want the product and is unable to ask the questions that will determine the conditions under which you will agree to own the product. If you ever to to a dealership, and the same individual works with you from the meet and greet through a signed agreement, you have found yourself a sales pro, and you should try to recruit him or her
The third reason most people fail out of sales positions, especially where the salesperson is responsible for his or her schedule is that most people cannot manage their time, either because they are oblivious to how much time they are wasting (most of those who have failed out will likely overestimate the amount of time they "worked" trying to make a go of it), or because they are flat out lazy, i.e. they are in love with the "idea of pt work for really good ft pay."
To succeed in this business one needs to learn how to present the final expense product, learn how to answer the common rebuttals/objections that our prospects regularly serve up after the presentation, and learn to ask for the business and close the deal. This is the training that must come from the new salesperson's upline. Even an experienced salesperson coming from another industry will need to be trained on how to understand and present the product.
In addition, the salesperson needs to have a source of financial support to pay the bills while waiting to establish a sufficient cash flow to cover business expenses and to start drawing a salary from his or her earnings.
Finally, the salesperson will have to have a source of folks to whom to present the product. Most in this business prospect by using direct mail to identify potential prospects. Door knocking a targeted cold list would be another. Presenting to seminars at community center, retirement homes, etc. would be another. And door to door or telemarketed cold calls would be another. Each has costs involved. In the case of direct mail, which is the most efficient prospecting technique, the financial cost will be very high but the investment of one's time will be very low, allowing for most of your time to be invested in face to face sales presentations. Cold door knocking would have a very low financial cost as you could simply walk out your front door and start knocking doors down your street. The financial cost will very low, but your time investment in identifying folks who may be interested enough to sit with you for a presentation will very, very high. So what do we conclude from that?
Most people simply do not have the money to start a direct mail campaign. I would bet most who have come here, got recruited, got licensed, and got contracted never invested in a direct mail campaign. Or, if they did, they only had enough capital or credit to make a 3 or 4 mailing purchase, got some leads but not the training they needed to work those leads, and failed out before earning enough to continue their lead order, much less recoup the money they either borrowed or took from savings to invest in the lead program. And since many people are attracted to the life insurance sales opportunity, I believe, because of the "appeal of the idea of part time work for full time pay," most will not have the work ethic to get out there and cold knock enough doors to sell enough insurance to get themselves on a direct mail program.
Just imagine what might be possible for someone who has the capital to start and sustain him- or herself through the start up period, learn the craft, and work one's butt off to build his or her business. Just imagine.
- 7,015
Are there any industry figures from a reputable source that tracks the actual rate of cancellation and lapses during the first 13 months of policy life?
Just imagine what might be possible for someone willing to work full time ... and by full time, I mean really working 40+ hours/week to sell and place issued and paid business, and not sitting around shuffling lead cards and studying underwriting manuals and calling that "work." Forty hours of setting appointments, making presentations, door knocking leads you couldn't reach by phone - imagine what might be possible given what some claim to accomplish in less than half that time.
There is a universally high failure rate in sales. I am coming at this from the car business, and over the years the number of sales people who fail out in less than a year versus the number of folks who manage to make a living wage is about 20 to 1, i.e. about 20 new salespeople fail out quickly for every one sales person who manages to stick and sell enough to survive. Of those who do stick, 4 out of 5 sell enough to survive, while only one out of five will sell enough to thrive.
Why do they fail? It is a combination of several factors.
First and foremost is the fact that most who enter the sales profession where there is no salary or draw to offer initial financial support are under capitalized and thus unable to survive the start up period during which cash flow is most apt to be negative.
Second, most folks are not "natural salesmen or saleswomen." One needs to learn how to present his or her product or service, answer questions (rebuttals), and close (ask for the business. Most people can learn to present artfully. A few will learn to answer questions (rebuttals, objections) effectively enough to put the prospect's doubts at ease enough to accept the proposal. But most would-be salespeople are uncomfortable in the close and fail to become effective at asking for the business.
This is why, when you go to a car dealership, for example, your salesperson will very likely eventually turn you over to a manager or another salesperson (a closer) to finish hammering out the negotiations - your salesperson is (hopefully) an apt demonstrator of the product, but is unable to recognize that you do want the product and is unable to ask the questions that will determine the conditions under which you will agree to own the product. If you ever to to a dealership, and the same individual works with you from the meet and greet through a signed agreement, you have found yourself a sales pro, and you should try to recruit him or her
The third reason most people fail out of sales positions, especially where the salesperson is responsible for his or her schedule is that most people cannot manage their time, either because they are oblivious to how much time they are wasting (most of those who have failed out will likely overestimate the amount of time they "worked" trying to make a go of it), or because they are flat out lazy, i.e. they are in love with the "idea of pt work for really good ft pay."
To succeed in this business one needs to learn how to present the final expense product, learn how to answer the common rebuttals/objections that our prospects regularly serve up after the presentation, and learn to ask for the business and close the deal. This is the training that must come from the new salesperson's upline. Even an experienced salesperson coming from another industry will need to be trained on how to understand and present the product.
In addition, the salesperson needs to have a source of financial support to pay the bills while waiting to establish a sufficient cash flow to cover business expenses and to start drawing a salary from his or her earnings.
Finally, the salesperson will have to have a source of folks to whom to present the product. Most in this business prospect by using direct mail to identify potential prospects. Door knocking a targeted cold list would be another. Presenting to seminars at community center, retirement homes, etc. would be another. And door to door or telemarketed cold calls would be another. Each has costs involved. In the case of direct mail, which is the most efficient prospecting technique, the financial cost will be very high but the investment of one's time will be very low, allowing for most of your time to be invested in face to face sales presentations. Cold door knocking would have a very low financial cost as you could simply walk out your front door and start knocking doors down your street. The financial cost will very low, but your time investment in identifying folks who may be interested enough to sit with you for a presentation will very, very high. So what do we conclude from that?
Most people simply do not have the money to start a direct mail campaign. I would bet most who have come here, got recruited, got licensed, and got contracted never invested in a direct mail campaign. Or, if they did, they only had enough capital or credit to make a 3 or 4 mailing purchase, got some leads but not the training they needed to work those leads, and failed out before earning enough to continue their lead order, much less recoup the money they either borrowed or took from savings to invest in the lead program. And since many people are attracted to the life insurance sales opportunity, I believe, because of the "appeal of the idea of part time work for full time pay," most will not have the work ethic to get out there and cold knock enough doors to sell enough insurance to get themselves on a direct mail program.
Just imagine what might be possible for someone who has the capital to start and sustain him- or herself through the start up period, learn the craft, and work one's butt off to build his or her business. Just imagine.
And that's why I never tell my agents the hours I used to work in the field haha.
Very few have the drive and ability to succeed with 2-3 days in the field.
Most agents aren't businessman either.
