Establishing Clientele In a Community

[Newby]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

I have a couple of ideas and client brochures you can use.

Click here to see one thing, that I mail to older clients.

Click here to see something that works better on middle age clients, but can work on anyone.

Here is a postcard that I'm working on for older people that have been declined for life insurance. Click Here to see it. I'm not done with the other side yet.

I'm working on the same concept on this one, but I have to go back and change the font, and I made this one gear toward agents and I have to switch the words to a client. Click Here to see it.

Just email me at [email protected] or call me at 877-968-5757 and I will see what I can do to help you.

I recommend don't just try one thing. Do a lot of things and see what works best for you. Have something to offer them and get your foot in the door.

Mark, I like the looks of your postcard but can you legally call it guaranteed issue if they are going to ask 3-questions (or any questions?)
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somarco what would you sugest would be 10 places to go and ten things to do that would help me build business in that area
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Yea but can i leagaly do the living will for people with out being a power of atorney.

My opinion is that you need to focus on doing ONE thing well. From your answers it's obvious that you don't know what a living will or a power of attorney are. And you don't know about mailings either. There's no shame in that when you are starting out. BUT if you manage to go out and get appointments and then you blow them because you have no knowledge of what you're doing, you will do yourself and your clients a disservice.

I suggest you figure out what you want to focus on term life, final expense, medicare, health, long-term care etc.

Then seek out a mentor that will train you for an over ride on your business. That mentor would be best if they are local to your area but you might find one from this forum or elsewhere.

Just my opinion, focus and specialize.

PS. When doing mailings, you have to do thousands, not hundreds to make it worth your time and money.

 

[Mark]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

Newby, if they answer the three questions no, then it is guaranteed issued. Maybe I should say on it, you are 3 questions away from being guaranteed issued.

On another note, I do have a true guarantee issue company with no health questions, just in case.

I love postcards more then letters by the way. I get better responses from them.

 

[somarco]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

One should never get too creative in making flyer's, post cards, letters, print ads or web sites. I always use company propaganda in my stuff, especially when referring to a specific carrier or product. When using company stuff, make sure it follows the exact wording on material intended for public use. A lot of the stuff is for agent's eyes only and does not meet compliance standards for the public.

I have a guaranteed acceptance Georgia health insurance plan that I offer on a limited basis to those who cannot otherwise qualify for major medical and do not meet HIPAA criteria. The splash page mentions guaranteed issue in relatively small print to the side and is qualified by an asterisk.

Unlike most of the mini-meds, there are no health questions. If you are between the ages of 18 & 65 and have a SSN you can be approved.

I agree with Scott. If there are health questions it is not guaranteed issue. Even if there are no health questions, as in the case of Core Health, you can still be turned down so you need to qualify any statements.

 

[1manshow]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

And for god's sake use your spellcheck.... when you finally do come up with a lead in letter

 

[haugman]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

I used to do direct mailings for a local business here in my town and he sent out 10000 at a time. Then again he drove a mercedes so he must know whats hes doing or in debt to his eyes lol

 

[Insuranceman]

Re: Establishing Clientale In a Community

When I first started out I aproached small business owners for health insurance. Fridays I would spend going to yard sales selling cancer plans.

 

[briko3]

Cancer plans at yard sales? Explain how that one happened...

 

[haugman]

Well i wont answer for the man but i am betting he did that to get access to older women due to they know everyone and knowing everyone means they have known someone that has had cancer? or i could be wrong

 

[Frank Stastny]

I am strting out trying to build business in one area where the population is 25000 people. I curently have a list of names and numbers of about 200 people age 64 and up, I sell life insurance, medigap, individual health insurance, anuities cancer policies, and Long term care. I have not realy figured out how to build a clientale in the area. what could i do and what numbers should i do like mailing, or knocking how many a week of difrent things i should do.

You are looking at a very slow process to be able to build a significant book of business in a town that small. I'm sure there are several well established "good ole boy" insurance agents in town who probably grew up there. There are where I live.

I think you are going to have to expand the geographic area you are working beyond a single town of only 25,000 people. I live in the "suburbs" of a town of almost 13,000 people and I would starve to death if I limited my marketing to the immediate area where I live even if it had twice the amount of people.

Unless I misread what you have said you are obviously targeting seniors. And, correct me if I am wrong but you also sound like a brand new agent. If that is true then I think there are several things that you may want to examine more closely.

You are being too aggressive in the number of different kinds of insurance that you want to attempt to sell. Start with one type and become an expert on it. I think that Medicare Supplement policies are the easiest to begin with. Every senior is convinced that having just Medicare is not adequate coverage. In reality it is probably better than the group insurance they had before they retired, however, they don't see it that way.

I have trained a lot of new agents who were able to begin selling Med Supps almost immediately and then expanded their business to other types of insurance. Most Med Supp companies will give a nine to twelve month advance on your commissions. Selling only two or three a week with give you a little breathing room while you are getting established.

For the most part mailings and seminars will be the least effective. I have tried both several times with limited results. Knocking on doors to simply introduce yourself is a good idea. Just tell them you are a new insurance agent in town and wanted to introduce yourself. Leave a business card and some information about Medicare Supplements.

There are plenty of changes about to take place so you won't have any problems coming up with information they will perceive as valuable.

Take out an ad in the local paper with your picture in it. Run it every week for at least a couple of months. Longer if you can. Ideally it should always be there. People in small towns like to see who they are considering doing business with.


Ask the local newspaper if you can do an article on all the changes that are going to take place with Medicare. If they are receptive to that also ask if they will put your picture at the top of the article. This will help give you credibility when you talk to people. In a town that size you will gain "celebrity" status with your article. If it is well received they may want you to even do a column every week or month.

Join a church and become an active member. They like that in small towns. Attend every "ice cream" social. If you have children become active in the PTA. Look for every opportunity to volunteer to be a part of whatever is going on. Go to yard sales, not as an agent but as a member of the community. When you see a person looking at something make a comment about it and then introduce yourself. Do not be aggressive about pointing out that you sell insurance.

In short, take every opportunity to be seen around town so people begin to associate the picture in your ad with you the person. You are going to have to build their trust before you can build your book of business.

 

[Cenla Agent]

I agree with Frank.

In general when you're starting out in the senior market, you would be best served to expand the area you are working considerably. This is not an absolute rule of course, but most agents that I've known who have been successful as an independent selling face to face are willing to drive 2 hours one way to write business, maybe more. I used to live in a town of 50,000 and that was my m.o. It was recommended to me by an agent who lives in a metro area of at least 250,000. I know one successful agent living in the same metro area who specializes in LTCi who will drive much further than that.

I think you'll find that generally speaking Med. Supps. and some other products are easier to market in more rural areas than larger cities. There are a number of reasons for that, but one of the main ones is that more remote areas are typically underserved by insurance agents. When I was a captive agent selling MA and PDP plans for example, I can't begin to count the number of people who told me that they had tremendous difficulty in getting an agent to visit them. Show up, do a good job, and unless they don't qualify or simply can't afford it, you'll get the business more often than not. By contrast, in more heavily populated areas, you're typically competing with a lot more agents.

In general it's not wise to drive that far with only one appointment. Ideally you'd want to have four or five set up for the day. When I'd set things up that way, I assumed that one or two would no show or reschedule, etc. You can spend some time in these surrounding areas doing some marketing, perhaps taking out an ad in a local paper or some other publication with wide circulation, buying lists in the areas in which you are looking to market.