Days or night appointments
- Thread starter Advisor06
- Start date
Depends on your market (line of coverage) and client demographics.
I haven't run F2F appointments in years, much less PM appointments. My market is Medigap . . . clients 65+, middle to upper income, white/pink collar with a few blue mixed in. Most are educated . . . some college/technical school including graduates. All have access to a computer and email.
Everything from initial contact to follow up, sale & service is by phone/email.
This has been my business model for 25 years . . . nothing changed when the China flu showed up.
Our first phone conversation is an intro including a briefing on my business model . . . everything by phone and email . . . you don't come to see me . . . you don't have to clean the house and get out of your PJ's to see me.
My clients like it that way and so do I.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks for your reply. I do life and annuities and have felt that clients are getting better with technology over the past several years and my approach it to keep it simple for them. I have been half time for the last couple years and haven’t aggressively approached business but I’m trying to negotiate with my wife to go back 100% and she doesn’t like the idea of me being out every night each week. I told her I could compromise for 2 nights but I’m wondering how realistic that can be and still get everything done. Working from home I can work anytime.
There are several agents on the forum writing life, annuities, LTC, DI and other "upscale" lines of coverage from the comfort of their home . . . pool . . . RV . . . so it can be done.
Perhaps my view is tainted since the only way I conduct business is virtually but I find a lot of folks that prefer virtual vs F2F. Keep in mind, my clients are 65 and up which virtually destroys the mindset of that class having limited technology knowledge.
Granted, some have AOL and Juno accounts, but many are active on FB, Instagram, "dating sites", Amazon and so forth.
If you believe your prospect will not buy something, or can't afford the premium, then you get what you wish for. It's amazing to me the number of agents that profess "my client can't afford $X" . . . how do you know? . . . did you ask? . . . did they give you a figure that fits their budget?
The answer is almost always "No, I didn't . . . it did not seem affordable to me"
I am constantly saying, if you ask the right questions and LISTEN, they will tell you exactly what they want and can afford. Too many agents are stuck in a SELLING mode and never learned how to control the interview with questions . . . there is nothing wrong with saying "How do you feel about this approach?" . . . or "Does this look like what you had in mind?"
I never "close" my prospects but I give them every opportunity to buy . . . and they usually do.
Just this AM I had an email from someone I talked with 4 years ago. His name did not look familiar but he mentioned that we had talked several years ago. I found the correspondence and allowed me to pick up where we left off. He is turning 65 in a few months and wants to know what he needs to enroll in Medicare.
So why did he contact me now after years without dialogue?
I put his email address in my monthly newsletter . . . he see's my name about a dozen times per year . . . and even though we have not talked he let me know he is ready to buy.
No pressure and automation makes it possible to "sell while you are sleeping".
You just need to take the blinders off and realize there are different ways to accomplish the same task.
EDIT:
One more thing . . .
All my work is daytime . . . no nights or weekends. On the very rare occasion I will call someone on the weekend if they express an urgency and specifically ask me to call on Saturday.
A few weeks ago a referral asked if I could call her after hours since she works all day and doesn't have an opportunity to have a private conversation during work hours. I said we can handle most of what is needed via email but offered to call around 7:30PM if needed.
At first she agreed to the PM call then decided we COULD conduct business by email but left it open to call me if needed.
If you set boundaries but let them know you can be flexible you will find that most folks will work around YOUR schedule.
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- 10,722
Night appointments? Man, when was the last time you sold? LOL. JK
I started in 2006, sell Life/Annuities/LTC/DI, and have literally never had a face to face appointment scheduled past 6:00pm.
Now that I sell mostly virtual (even within my city) I do take later appointments by my time zone since Im on the east coast and have clients on the west coast. But even that is very limited.
I do take meetings on the weekends occasionally if a client needs me to... but a 30 minute call is not a big deal usually... even better if Im taking an app (then my better half doesnt complain). And considering the fact that I havent worked a full 40 hour week in I dont know how long.... a few weekend calls is nothing.
I guess it depends partially on your target market. Blue collar hourly workers are not going to be given the leeway white or grey collar workers are given during the day to take care of personal business. But many hourly workers do get weekdays off and such.
This is no longer a product you must sell face to face. I sell complex overfunded IUL and WL cases completely over the phone.... same for annuities to plan retirees income. A simple term or gul is even easier for phone sales. Literally almost every product has an e-app now, the client just types their name to sign. Even the annuities have e-apps now and people in their 60s/70s are perfectly fine with phone sales and e-apps. You might have to walk them through the signature phase, but they can do it no problem. Most of them are using facebook and email every single day. Ive found age 80 is about the cutoff for being "too old" for annuity phone sales, they are not up with the tech like those in their 60s/70s.
You are only limited by the boundaries in your own mind. Get out of your own head and go sell a life policy over the phone, see how easy it is.
