Debit and Direct Express

[noah]

I get it. I’m really just taking that position sort of tongue-in-cheek. I don’t really believe you should walk away from business.

It’s actually how I got back in the debit business, anyway. At the time, nobody drafted DE, and no SS billing. When I started using a robocall computer to generate my own leads, I was getting my best response from the inner city. Lots of folks at that time still just doing everything with cash, no checking account. I realized they needed a debit agent, and just decided to be a debit agent again rather than walk away from sales.

I have some DE clients on draft, and they’re pretty persistent. But if a draft fails, they never call me to fix it! But the company emails me the second a draft is returned. So, as soon as I get the notice, I’m at their door if I’m in their neighborhood, or on the phone if not. I’m not going to just let them lapse without a fight!

So, no, don’t walk away from business. But make the extra effort to keep it on the books if need be. (I know, I’m probably preaching to the choir. But I really have written quite a few policies on people who lapsed previously just because the previous agent apparently didn’t care.)

So typically the agent can’t get the DE client on the phone to resolve. Let’s say the policy has been on the books 15 months.

You consistently have fresh leads as well as a back log of leads yet to make contact with either by phone or door knocking.

When you head out the door with your uniform on,are you looking to write fresh business with a nice amount of AP or are you going to drive out of the way where the fresh lead’s you’ve purchased to chase down,conserve business ? Doesn’t matter if it’s DE or bank draft.

 

[DonP]

That’s the problem . When you work over a large area you don’t have time to go 100 miles one direction to save 1 policy paying you $4 a month on renewal .If they don’t answer the phone how do you know their home for a dk . Gas prices has made my rethink my driving . I used to drive 75 miles each way if I only had 4-5 leads . I don’t leave the house unless I have at least 10 leads in hand to dk or combo appts / dk .Time is our most precious resource and their just not enough of it .


I wish I could sit at home all day and just take inbound Fe / mapd calls . But dealing mostly with low income I know I’d be lucky to keep 70% on the books .Always remember it’s what you net at the end of the near not what your gross . The only one who cares what you gross is the guy that sits on his butt and overrides you . He’s got no sweat equity in the game .Wether you spend $600 or $1500 a week for leads is irrelevant to his overides . He makes the same . Just like any other business you have to make hard decisions about what yields you the highest roi .

 

[goillini52]

“Do the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do”

Hey, that's Todd's line.

 

[jdeasy]

I'm contacting every person that I'm notified of a problem on. Lapse, cancel, expired card, they called in to ask about cash, they took out a loan, etc. Doesn't matter the reason, if there's an issue I will contact them or make every effort to contact them.

I work 18 counties across 3 states but primarily one state. And over 6000 policy holders. Or were policyholders at one time.

I help any client that asks with their annual reviews that are required whenever they get any kind of help. From medicaid to extra help, HUD, Food Stamps, WICS, etc. If they get any kind of assistance they have to report the cash value. If they need help with it then I provide the help.

It's a lot of work but it's what I signed up for. But it's rewarding. I get many referrals from that kind of work. Just one example since it was yesterday, a DE client that's been on the books 4-5 years lost her DE card and needed to get another one. We were talking last week and she mentioned her case worker needed her policy and she can't find it. I told her the case worker didn't need her policy they just wanted to know the current cash value. I drafted a short letter and since I was in her area the next day I just dropped it off at her house. She said she would call me when she got her new DE card.

Yesterday she calls with the new DE card number. We got that taken care of and she said, "I have a new customer for you. She's right here, do you have time to talk to her?" I did since I had pulled over to write down the DE number. We talked for a few minutes and I'm going to write her a $70/mo life policy.

Basically just for being present.

Agents always ask how I write so much business on so few leads and then I tell them about the above stuff. Most decide they would rather just get more leads.

 

[noah]

That’s the problem . When you work over a large area you don’t have time to go 100 miles one direction to save 1 policy paying you $4 a month on renewal .If they don’t answer the phone how do you know their home for a dk . Gas prices has made my rethink my driving . I used to drive 75 miles each way if I only had 4-5 leads . I don’t leave the house unless I have at least 10 leads in hand to dk or combo appts / dk .Time is our most precious resource and their just not enough of it .


I wish I could sit at home all day and just take inbound Fe / mapd calls . But dealing mostly with low income I know I’d be lucky to keep 70% on the books .Always remember it’s what you net at the end of the near not what your gross . The only one who cares what you gross is the guy that sits on his butt and overrides you . He’s got no sweat equity in the game .Wether you spend $600 or $1500 a week for leads is irrelevant to his overides . He makes the same . Just like any other business you have to make hard decisions about what yields you the highest roi .

Would you really like to sit at home all day ? Are you serious? Do you think that’s good for your health ?

To me,the fun part is getting out there,hitting those doors,seeing what kinda creature opens the door.

More and more newly contracted agents are taking the road of your wishes which leads us field agents to gold.

It’s not as easy as many on here may think to be an upline,just sit back and make the overrides. They have way more headaches than a field agent. They are often working with teams of people,bad attitudes,deceit,grubby manager types,fake friends,fake people.

I like being outside dealing F2F.

I would sell peanuts in the stands of a an MLB ball park before I took an inside desk job. To me,that’s like being confined in jail.

“To each his own”.

To make matters a little easier at the gas pump,I’ve simply cut back on eating out,drinking alcohol,hanging out at strip joints.

I take a bologna sandwich,a bag of chips,and went to Sun Drop instead of Mountain Dew to save $ too.

 

[noah]

I'm contacting every person that I'm notified of a problem on. Lapse, cancel, expired card, they called in to ask about cash, they took out a loan, etc. Doesn't matter the reason, if there's an issue I will contact them or make every effort to contact them.

I work 18 counties across 3 states but primarily one state. And over 6000 policy holders. Or were policyholders at one time.

I help any client that asks with their annual reviews that are required whenever they get any kind of help. From medicaid to extra help, HUD, Food Stamps, WICS, etc. If they get any kind of assistance they have to report the cash value. If they need help with it then I provide the help.

It's a lot of work but it's what I signed up for. But it's rewarding. I get many referrals from that kind of work. Just one example since it was yesterday, a DE client that's been on the books 4-5 years lost her DE card and needed to get another one. We were talking last week and she mentioned her case worker needed her policy and she can't find it. I told her the case worker didn't need her policy they just wanted to know the current cash value. I drafted a short letter and since I was in her area the next day I just dropped it off at her house. She said she would call me when she got her new DE card.

Yesterday she calls with the new DE card number. We got that taken care of and she said, "I have a new customer for you. She's right here, do you have time to talk to her?" I did since I had pulled over to write down the DE number. We talked for a few minutes and I'm going to write her a $70/mo life policy.

Basically just for being present.

Agents always ask how I write so much business on so few leads and then I tell them about the above stuff. Most decide they would rather just get more leads.

How do you get in contact with people who:
1. Do not answer a phone
2. Voice mail stays full,landline
3. Never home no matter when you make the drive,way 80 miles to reach them

What are you doing differently that guys like me are not doing ?

As far as lapses go,I usually find that insured’s are more than likely not really happy to see us. They seem to associate our presence with some sort of financial failure,we are part of their problem in losing money. Kinda like the guy who sold them a used car and the motor blew up after having* the car for a month.

I find that unless they get in touch with me and have a strong desire,affordability,cash on hand…..picking up the pieces and putting it back together is pretty tough in the FE market.

They usually wind up in reduced paid up or extended term if they had the coverage for a while.

I can’t recall any of my people even having* the “annual review verbiage” in their vocabulary?

I mostly get a call from them when their at the benefit office and they ask me to send them a policy summary with the CV because they have lost/misplaced their policy.

How can FE agents improve their methods of contact ?

 

[shonceman]

I'm contacting every person that I'm notified of a problem on. Lapse, cancel, expired card, they called in to ask about cash, they took out a loan, etc. Doesn't matter the reason, if there's an issue I will contact them or make every effort to contact them.

I work 18 counties across 3 states but primarily one state. And over 6000 policy holders. Or were policyholders at one time.

I help any client that asks with their annual reviews that are required whenever they get any kind of help. From medicaid to extra help, HUD, Food Stamps, WICS, etc. If they get any kind of assistance they have to report the cash value. If they need help with it then I provide the help.

It's a lot of work but it's what I signed up for. But it's rewarding. I get many referrals from that kind of work. Just one example since it was yesterday, a DE client that's been on the books 4-5 years lost her DE card and needed to get another one. We were talking last week and she mentioned her case worker needed her policy and she can't find it. I told her the case worker didn't need her policy they just wanted to know the current cash value. I drafted a short letter and since I was in her area the next day I just dropped it off at her house. She said she would call me when she got her new DE card.

Yesterday she calls with the new DE card number. We got that taken care of and she said, "I have a new customer for you. She's right here, do you have time to talk to her?" I did since I had pulled over to write down the DE number. We talked for a few minutes and I'm going to write her a $70/mo life policy.

Basically just for being present.

Agents always ask how I write so much business on so few leads and then I tell them about the above stuff. Most decide they would rather just get more leads.

^ ^ ^ ^
THAT ^ is exactly what I’m talking about!

That’s good client service. No. That’s GREAT client service! I’m not saying that level of service is true of all debit agents. But all debit agents were trained to operate this way.

IMHO, many FE agents would be more successful if they placed a higher value on service.

 

[shonceman]

How do you get in contact with people who:
1. Do not answer a phone
2. Voice mail stays full,landline
3. Never home no matter when you make the drive,way 80 miles to reach them

What are you doing differently that guys like me are not doing ?

As far as lapses go,I usually find that insured’s are more than likely not really happy to see us. They seem to associate our presence with some sort of financial failure,we are part of their problem in losing money. Kinda like the guy who sold them a used car and the motor blew up after having* the car for a month.

I find that unless they get in touch with me and have a strong desire,affordability,cash on hand…..picking up the pieces and putting it back together is pretty tough in the FE market.

They usually wind up in reduced paid up or extended term if they had the coverage for a while.

I can’t recall any of my people even having* the “annual review verbiage” in their vocabulary?

I mostly get a call from them when their at the benefit office and they ask me to send them a policy summary with the CV because they have lost/misplaced their policy.

How can FE agents improve their methods of contact ?

I’m still not exclusively debit even though I’ve made it my primary focus. I still write bank drafted FE and FU ordinary. I get referrals from all over the place, so they’re not all within my debit area, and I have to get creative since I can’t always just drive over and knock on their door.

So besides phone and doorknocks, I also use text and/or email. If they’re just not responding after several attempts, I’ll send out an arrears notice. I know the company sends them a notice, but there’s something about getting a hand addressed, hand signed letter from me that makes them take it more seriously.

 

[rousemark]

As far as lapses go,I usually find that insured’s are more than likely not really happy to see us. They seem to associate our presence with some sort of financial failure,

Yeah in many cases, they no longer see you as the insurance agent but the same as the collection/repossession agent from the finance company.

 

[jdeasy]

How do you get in contact with people who:
1. Do not answer a phone
2. Voice mail stays full,landline
3. Never home no matter when you make the drive,way 80 miles to reach them

What are you doing differently that guys like me are not doing ?

As far as lapses go,I usually find that insured’s are more than likely not really happy to see us. They seem to associate our presence with some sort of financial failure,we are part of their problem in losing money. Kinda like the guy who sold them a used car and the motor blew up after having* the car for a month.

I find that unless they get in touch with me and have a strong desire,affordability,cash on hand…..picking up the pieces and putting it back together is pretty tough in the FE market.

They usually wind up in reduced paid up or extended term if they had the coverage for a while.

I can’t recall any of my people even having* the “annual review verbiage” in their vocabulary?

I mostly get a call from them when their at the benefit office and they ask me to send them a policy summary with the CV because they have lost/misplaced their policy.

How can FE agents improve their methods of contact ?

I don't know what you are doing so I don't know what would be different. I can't contact them all but as I said, "I make every effort". It's very rare that I cannot contact them. I don't call unless it's a routine lapse or something. If I believe there's another agent involved I will always see that person in person if I can. I don't remember having a problem with people not wanting to see me. In fact, most of these issues are easily fixed by contacting them.

It's not one thing. It's the whole process. I deliver policies. I send a thank card to every buyer with the salutation, "Call anytime, "

Most of my clients call me when they move, change beneficiaries, change banks, etc. And sadly, I've dealt with 3 funeral homes getting claim forms to them for clients that have passed in the last week.

Again, the helping with annual reviews. It all goes together. It's not one thing. So if you are not doing these things then that would be your answer to what I'm doing different.