Critique My Plan for Success....

[texaslady]

I'm somewhat new in insurance, and am adjusting to the learning curve.... I've decided to pursue being a general agent, focusing on selling medicare supplements, then cross selling into annuities, LTC, etc. (later though when I'm more familiar with these products, I don't even have E & O yet). I already have a general agent contract with 4 major competitive Medicare Supplement carriers in my area. Along with medicare supplements, I want to do individual health insurance and group health. The only reason I want to do these as well is because I have so many friends asking me for these types of insurance. One client that I personally know has 30 employees and he wants me to do his group health, he already sent me a current bill with Aetna and a census report of all his employees, etc. So I've contacted Broker Mall (per the advice of another independent agent) to assist me with this.

Anyways.... I plan on signing up with Sales Dialers, and using their list of 65 and older to cold call for Medicare Supplements, I also found a source for people 3 months before their sixty fifth birthday, so I will import that list in as well. Since I'm on a budget, and can't invest a ton of money into a website, CRM, etc. I am just going to be the telemarketer and set my own appointments for now, eventually I would like to hire one or two telemarketers though, so I can focus on appointments only throughout the day. Also, I would like to set up a website, company name (S-corp) and some sort of basic CRM within the next few months or so.

Way down the line, when I have a somewhat consistent flow of leads coming in, I think I might be able to start a spin off company (sort of) and sell these leads to other new independent agents. Also, I already have one friend who just completed insurance agent classes and is getting ready to take her test, I have many others who really want to come work with me. I thought maybe I could help them, give them the leads, train them, etc. and just take an override, but I don't know how exactly I would work that part out yet, that's too far in the future.

So, do you guys think this is a good path to success? I am young (26) and very motivated, I just want to make sure I plan things correctly so I can avoid set backs and obstacles.

 

[leevena]

It is good that you have developed an nice outline of what you want to do and where you want to go. I am a group benefits guy, so I can only comment on that market.

Keep in mind the new health care reform act and how it will impact group and individual health business, which for you would be fairly negatively. As for the individual, most of what I see/hear is not good for that business. As for the group business, medical will be taking a hit, but there is still life/di/dental/125/retirment, etc. Self-funding health benefits will be an area that reform does not impact negatively, and someone could make a good living, but my guess is that you are not in this market.

By the way, you mentioned you contacted "Broker Mall" for the group...did you mean BenefitMall?

This is not to make you bypass this market, rather, my comments are meant to give you a good overview and allow you to make better decisions about your markets.

 

[texaslady]

It is good that you have developed an nice outline of what you want to do and where you want to go. I am a group benefits guy, so I can only comment on that market.

Keep in mind the new health care reform act and how it will impact group and individual health business, which for you would be fairly negatively. As for the individual, most of what I see/hear is not good for that business. As for the group business, medical will be taking a hit, but there is still life/di/dental/125/retirment, etc. Self-funding health benefits will be an area that reform does not impact negatively, and someone could make a good living, but my guess is that you are not in this market.

By the way, you mentioned you contacted "Broker Mall" for the group...did you mean BenefitMall?

This is not to make you bypass this market, rather, my comments are meant to give you a good overview and allow you to make better decisions about your markets.

Thank your for your input! Yes, I did mean BenefitMall.... whoops.

I have no idea what self funding health benefits are... so I guess that is not my market.

 

[Josh]

So, do you guys think this is a good path to success? I am young (26) and very motivated, I just want to make sure I plan things correctly so I can avoid set backs and obstacles.

Honestly, you're running down the hill with a jetpack. What you have right now is a recipe for utter failure. That's the bad news.

The good news is that parts of your plan do make sense. Specifically, doing your own telemarketing and selling Medicare supplements. I have not heard good things about the data salesdialers.com provides, but that could just be one person's poor experience.
If you have an in on several large deals, using another broker to shop it and work it makes a ton of sense. It's entirely possible that there is nothing there though; I would not spend much time focusing on it.

With vTiger, SugarCRM, and the myriad of other CRM's available it doesn't seem to make sense to me for you to have any type of a CRM developed. Maybe that's not what you meant, but I would tone that down a notch. For a scratch agent an excel sheet works well enough. I use a predictive dialer for lead generation and find that the CRM built into the dialer serves my purposes just fine (for reporting) and then passing of leads in an .xls file (the way they download) is as easy a way to manage it as anything.

Here is what you might want to do:

Get contracted and learn how to sell insurance. It's entirely possible you will not make it past that step, but get there first. Do that for at least a year and get good at it.

You'll never want to sell leads to other agents; especially new ones.

Bottom line is that your goals as you've outlined them initially are infinitely too aggressive for someone with little to no experience. If you want to be successful you're going to need to learn to do things yourself first. No agent in their right mind would want to contract with a GA (low level contract to begin with) if they were going to get "support" from someone with no money (no help for marketing) and no experience (you're learning yourself).

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to be rude, but those are the facts of the situation.

 

[Stephen]

A lot of good ideas in there. Everything that M.P.S. said is spot on. The most important thing is that you are concentrating on making your own way, not asking everyone who has the glengary leads.

In the beginning focus on your med sups and do a basic fact finder so that when you do learn to cross sell other products you have kept good records and know who your prospects are.

I once thought that the way to riches in this business was to recruit a downline and count the money. I have never seen any substantial returns on my investment of time or money in subagents (and yes they are my friends that wanted to work with me).

FYI if these friends of yours don't pan out in the business you will be responsible for any debts that they have accrued with your carriers.

Have you received your articles of incorporation and met with a CPA yet?

 

[Insurance-Guy]

BABY STEPS! MPS hit the nail on the head. You sound a lot like a young guy I hired and gave a shot...he had all kinds of ideas but couldn't produce. Once you are successful then think about hiring someone. By the way take it from someone who knows...when the only thing you have to concentrate on is your production it is much easier to produce. When you have people coming to you with questions and problems all day it slows you up.

I will tell you the secret to success..........WORK.

Good luck to you!

 

[texaslady]

A lot of good ideas in there. Everything that M.P.S. said is spot on. The most important thing is that you are concentrating on making your own way, not asking everyone who has the glengary leads.

In the beginning focus on your med sups and do a basic fact finder so that when you do learn to cross sell other products you have kept good records and know who your prospects are.

I once thought that the way to riches in this business was to recruit a downline and count the money. I have never seen any substantial returns on my investment of time or money in subagents (and yes they are my friends that wanted to work with me).

FYI if these friends of yours don't pan out in the business you will be responsible for any debts that they have accrued with your carriers.

Have you received your articles of incorporation and met with a CPA yet?

I met with my CPA.... he's the one who told me about an S-corp., but that is way down the road...

Thanks for all the input and advice, keep it coming!

 

[Frank Stastny]

Selling Med Supps and cross selling FE will be the easiest least costly way for you to begin. Learn this market and literally become an expert in selling it before you branch out into other areas.

Doing your own telemarketing for Med Supps is definitely the best way to start. You will not be successful in hiring and trying to train someone to do it for until you have learned to do it successfully yourself.

I believe you will find seniors 67 and over a much easier group to sell Med Supps to as opposed to those turning 65. The T65 group is being hammered by experienced agents throughout the country. You will have to have a very smooth, well practiced phone presentation and be prepared to handle lots of objections and questions when talking to the T65 seniors.

The greatest failure rate among agents are those who start out trying to be a "one stop shop" for everyone's insurance needs.

 

[2112Greg]

The greatest failure rate among agents are those who start out trying to be a "one stop shop" for everyone's insurance needs.

Truer words...and all that.

Specialize, specialize, specialize. Become an expert in one specific area/product and hit that hard.

Branch out, at some point, by convenience, not necessity. And where you don't have expertise, refer it out to a broker you trust and do a split. Everyone wins that way...being a jack of all trades most likely won't do your clients any favors, especially when just starting out.

 

[VolAgent]

Truer words...and all that.

Specialize, specialize, specialize. Become an expert in one specific area/product and hit that hard.

Branch out, at some point, by convenience, not necessity. And where you don't have expertise, refer it out to a broker you trust and do a split. Everyone wins that way...being a jack of all trades most likely won't do your clients any favors, especially when just starting out.

The most powerful word in the English language is no. Learn it. When someone asks you to sell them a product outside your niche, tell them no and refer them to someone who can. Find people who share a similiar philosophy and you'll both benefit. You'll both be experts in your fields and able to send plenty of business back and forth.