FE Telesales - Build a Platform for Success

[BarryNY]

Trying your best to make a go of it in FE telesales?

Tired of making hundreds of daily outbound phone calls only to get no answers, voice mails, hang ups and comments like I'm busy, I'm driving, I'm on my break only have a minute and the infamous I'm not interested (wait…not interested but you filled out this lead form on FB just the other day…click)?

Do you dread waking up, sitting at your desk then starting up your CRM for another long, frustrating slug fest session? OR - do you believe F2F sales is just not your cup of tea and you don't know to transition to telesales?

Are you questioning if Final Expense sales is even the right business model for you?

Are you realizing that you cannot possibly sustain your current daily pace for the next 3 months - let alone the next 3 years?

It's NOT you. You can succeed in FE telesales. There are people doing it. It's not magic or rocket science. They aren't that great at sales – I know them and believe me – they're no better than you!

BUT you must have a solid foundation…a steady platform to work from - all the right tools in place to put you in a position to win, to be a steady producer, to earn a great living and actually enjoy your working day…every day.

NO – I am not recruiting you for any down line. I repeat - I am NOT a recruiter. You may, in fact, ultimately decide to leave where you're at – but if you ask me – I'll only suggest some places you may want consider…

So what's that solid foundation or steady platform? I call it the "3 Legged Stool" for success.

You see - without optimizing each and every one of those 3 legs – this business can and will be hard. Most likely you will fail.

And, like a stool without one of its legs or even having just 1 leg too short – how are you going to stand on it? How will you be able to build a long term sustainable business? How will you depend on that foundation for your financial success?

#1 - The first LEG: Carriers and Contracts:

You must align yourself with an IMO or an up-line that has the right carriers to do telesales. This range of carriers allows you to cover most, if not all, health situations - so you'll be able to offer first day coverage to the client.

Whenever possible – ALWAYS try to get the customer a Level policy or Immediate death benefit. There are "captive" Agencies out there where you can ONLY write a ROP/Modified/Graded policy if the client has certain medical conditions like COPD or Diabetic Neuropathy. Run and Hide from them. Ask their recruiter what product they offer to someone with just these 2 conditions so you know going in. Do the right thing. Sleep well at night.

NEVER put someone in a policy with a 2 year wait – IF they can go immediate. NEVER.

Don't put a family at risk…because what goes around comes around. Tell any Agency that wants you to put that person in any plan with a waiting period to take a hike! It also helps you from getting replaced by another telesales agent or door knocker...because if they have a day one product for that customer - your sale is destined to become a charge back!

You must be the pro and be knowledgeable about your carriers. You need to know which does what best…the sweet spots where to take the client with that one medical condition. Know how to navigate the carrier drug guide and know how to get the application and approval done in the most efficient manner. You must be the expert – don't be a bungler.

And, you must get the absolute HIGHEST contract levels you can negotiate in order to maximize your first year commissions. Cash flow from those first year commission advances will be the fuel that powers and sustains your business.

That fuel is crucial to maintaining a solid third LEG.

More on this later.

 

[BarryNY]

#2 – The second LEG: A Killer Script:

You MUST use a "script" in telesales. It's mandatory. No ifs, ands, or buts.

It helps you maintain call control, it keeps you on point, it takes the prospect on a pre-set emotional journey and quite frankly it makes your job 1,000% easier. Don't fight the script.

Now, we're not talking about being robotic and reading off of a sheet of paper. What I'm suggesting is using a script that you are going to "perform" like a Broadway drama or a Hollywood movie. You'll use tonality to get your points across and get the prospect thinking. Do you think that the finest actors/actresses don't use a script to do their job?

The only "ad libbing" will be in the rapport building – that's on you. In telesales this is what separates the GREAT salespeople from the OK salespeople – their ability to build rapport…to communicate with empathy…to gain and/or maintain trust.

You don't have the luxury of body language. Use a killer script and then you'll only need to get comfortable with building rapport. Building rapport is not hard – you'll draw on your personal experiences and weave that into the conversation. Not much is needed…family, work, geography, relevant stories about death and funerals – once you get comfortable with a repertoire of rapport building commentary you'll use it over and over and over.

Ask the best, most successful telesales Agents if they use or have honed/memorized a script – if they don't admit that they do – they're lying!

Additionally, already built into the killer script will be the cadence or timing necessary for when you'll be asking for information…of course you're leading them to giving you their most precious info: the SS# and banking. Get this part wrong and you may lose that sale that you just spent the last hour on.

The script will give you confidence.

 

[theinsuranceman]

#2 – The second LEG: A Killer Script:

You MUST use a "script" in telesales. It's mandatory. No ifs, ands, or buts.

It helps you maintain call control, it keeps you on point, it takes the prospect on a pre-set emotional journey and quite frankly it makes your job 1,000% easier. Don't fight the script.

Now, we're not talking about being robotic and reading off of a sheet of paper. What I'm suggesting is using a script that you are going to "perform" like a Broadway drama or a Hollywood movie. You'll use tonality to get your points across and get the prospect thinking. Do you think that the finest actors/actresses don't use a script to do their job?

The only "ad libbing" will be in the rapport building – that's on you. In telesales this is what separates the GREAT salespeople from the OK salespeople – their ability to build rapport…to communicate with empathy…to gain and/or maintain trust.

You don't have the luxury of body language. Use a killer script and then you'll only need to get comfortable with building rapport. Building rapport is not hard – you'll draw on your personal experiences and weave that into the conversation. Not much is needed…family, work, geography, relevant stories about death and funerals – once you get comfortable with a repertoire of rapport building commentary you'll use it over and over and over.

Ask the best, most successful telesales Agents if they use or have honed/memorized a script – if they don't admit that they do – they're lying!

Additionally, already built into the killer script will be the cadence or timing necessary for when you'll be asking for information…of course you're leading them to giving you their most precious info: the SS# and banking. Get this part wrong and you may lose that sale that you just spent the last hour on.

The script will give you confidence.

Since this forum is supposed to be a place for learning and sharing ideas, etc. let me start with........

When you are near the end of the sale and writing up the app and you get to the banking info and the lead says "my children told me to never give my bank account information to anyone over the phone"....what say you?

I have the perfect response that works like a charm. And I'll share it with everyone, but I want to see how you'd handle this objection.

I'll also share with everyone what to say just minutes before you ask for the bank info to almost never have any resistance to giving me the bank info in the first place.

But before I share, why don't you, titeye, Duford, North Star, Massi, and anyone else who says they are good at FE tele-sales and/or train agents to do FE tele-sales tell everyone the correct way to handle/prevent the above objections.

This is putting some people on the hot seat (if they don't know what to say). No harm intended. But if you say you train FE agents to do FE tele-sales this is a good place to share your expertise and remove doubt from others.

And please don't say "but you have to build trust first". That's a given and is not the correct answer.

Maybe we can discuss other objections when doing tele-sales or field sales.

 

[BarryNY]

#3 – The third and last LEG: The Ultimate FE telesales Lead (Prospect):

You are going to need a steady, consistent supply of prospects (my definition of a lead).

Without that – you will fail at FE telesales. Period. You need to be talking to people to facilitate their purchase (right I didn't say to make a sale) – not dialing hundreds of people a day just looking for someone to talk to!

Value your time. You'll need to be efficient.

In telesales, even with the Ultimate FE lead, on average - you'll still need to talk to about 4-5 people to close a sale. Some will do better and less experienced will do worse – but a 23% close rate for conversations had (a conversation defined as more than 15+ minutes) is a good rule of thumb.

If you're outbound dialing for 3 hours a day just to find people, anyone, that MAY want to have a conversation – how in the world are you going to talk to 5 of them for 45-60 minutes each - in order to make just one sale a day? Do the math – it's an unsustainable process.

So what's the definition of a lead? Some will tell you ANY warm body that's on the phone is a lead. When you don't close them – they'll tell you it's all your fault…you're a lousy salesman. The lead "sold you" versus "you selling them". I call bullshit. That's an excuse for providing or selling you garbage leads.

It's critical that you understand the nuance between a Lead and a Prospect. Leads and prospects are ubiquitous terms used in marketing. However, when it comes to defining them, most of us get it wrong. More often than not, the words are used interchangeably, which should not be the case. So first, we should distinguish between the two, so you can approach your "lead (prospect)" generation the right way.

So what is a Sales Lead? The easiest way to get our head around the term is that a lead is at the start of their journey. A lead is someone who may be interested in a product or service that you provide, but you have no context as to what or why. And you certainly do not know when a sale is likely to be made.

Most likely, you probably do not have any information beyond perhaps name, phone number and maybe email address. The most common type of lead is someone who has clicked something somewhere and then entered their details into a data capture form. They may have done this several times on multiple forms when they were "in that fleeting moment" which motivated them to get more information at that point in time. That point in time is now gone. Usually long gone.

To sum it up: A lead is a person who has provided at least some basic information, at some earlier point in time that may suggest a potential interest in buying from you.

Now who is a Prospect? The main difference between a lead and a prospect is that the lead has moved beyond a one-way communication (they previously clicked on a form and submitted) and has now engaged with you on their terms.

A prospect is a lead that has taken action right now…they are in the moment right now…they have everything they need to make the purchase (banking info) right now - which suggests that the "lead" has real potential to BUY from you right now. This is when a lead actually becomes a prospect.

No selling involved. You are facilitating and guiding their purchase.

A prospect is a lead that has picked up their phone and dialed YOU - looking to buy (get more info) right now.

So:

• Do you want Leads or do you want Prospects?
• Do you want to make hundreds of calls a day, hounding people, trying to reach them multiple times all to no avail?
• Do you want to hunt people down at inopportune times trying to sell them FE life insurance?

OR

• Do you only want to talk to people that made the effort to talk to you?
• Do you only want to talk to people that want to buy from you right now?

Up until now the ONLY way to get your hands on The Ultimate FE Lead was to either:

• Join a captive Agency and settle for their sub-par commissions and micro management of your time OR
• Join an IMO that provided these leads (yes with a somewhat more appropriate commission structure) but you were always beholden to them as your Lead supplier

Both of these problems led me on a mission to solve this dilemma, getting me (now you) access to The Ultimate FE Lead and building the best 3 Legged Stool for ALL independent FE Agents to stand on:

1. Agents could contract with whomever they wanted - free to negotiate the highest commission contract they can get. This gives you freedom to move wherever and whenever you want - knowing that your lead (prospect) source was not controlled by any up-line or held captive.
2. If you were new to (or struggling with) telesales then you needed the Killer Script that would give you the confidence to have those conversations with your leads (prospects).
3. And finally, gaining access to The Ultimate FE Lead – LIVE INCOMING TV. The great equalizer.

Now, for the first time, independent FE telesales agents will have the opportunity to buy into an existing, on-going national Final Expense TV campaign that the largest carriers, IMOs and captive Agencies have been using and keeping to themselves for years.

This is the first venture of its kind – a national, "independent Agent" advertising "co-operative". We are leveling the playing field by offering you that elusive final LEG of that 3 Legged Stool.

This opportunity should catapult your FE telesales business to the next level, while making you more efficient and more productive.

You'll actually be talking to people that have just watched a LIVE 60 second TV commercial and were motivated to pick up the phone and CALL YOU. What a concept!

No screeners or intermediaries. When your phone rings – it's the prospect on the line and you're the first person they are speaking to...literally 2 seconds from when they dialed their phone.

The metrics work out to a CPA that should run +/- $250. You'll now think in terms of deal cost (CPA) not lead cost ($58/call). Your time is money.

• Now – NO MORE chasing leads! PROSPECTS will be calling you.
• NO MORE selling! BUYERS will be calling you.

Take control of your life and earn the income you deserve. Based on averages over large numbers of deals at 110% contract levels - you should expect to NET on average (just on the 75% advance) - about $500 on the deal AFTER DEDUCTING the lead cost.

Better contract levels will significantly increase your net. Just going to a 120% contract level will net you an additional $67 in advances – putting each deal on average over $565 in NET cash flow.

Like I said – just 1 deal/day will net you around $2,500+ a week...typically on a minimum of 20 calls And, since you're placing the prospects in top companies with Level coverage (when appropriate) your chances of getting replaced are slim and your persistency will be high. Months 10, 11 and 12 will be gravy.

Work smarter not harder and set yourself up for a great future.

PS: You'll need to be licensed in a minimum of 10-15 states in order to maximize your deal flow and not be waiting too long in the cue for your next call. All software will be provided to get you access to the incoming call system. This will not interfere with your existing phone lines or CRM. This is all contained in a 100% standalone system that you'll download onto your computer – no cell phones please - be a pro and use a headset while at your desk!.

You'll log in when you want and log out when you want M-F 10am-7pm EST. The more time you put in – the more chances you'll have for getting the incoming calls and then having conversations with buyer prospects.

And, you get the Killer Script with your first order.

Email [email protected] or call 631-664-7883 for more information. These TV leads have been tested by experienced FE telesales Agents who are now loyal purchasers. Results like 8 sales on 12 calls for $6,346 in AP for the week have been achieved by a now - former F2F guy. I'm not saying that is what you should expect - but it can be done!

Those who take action will be extremely pleased.

We believe you may actually be spoiled for life…

 

[BarryNY]

Since this forum is supposed to be a place for learning and sharing ideas, etc. let me start with........

And I'll share it with everyone.

I'll also share with everyone what to say just minutes before you ask for the bank info to almost never have any resistance to giving me the bank info in the first place.

But before I share, why don't you, titeye, Duford, North Star, Massi, and anyone else who says they are good at FE tele-sales and/or train agents to do FE tele-sales tell everyone the correct way to handle/prevent the above objections.

Hi. Thanks for reading. And sharing is good. I think this 3 part "manifesto" shares plenty of good pointers for success...

Everyone that you mentioned above (except me) earns an override on their downline agents. To earn that override - they should do some training which I know you'll agree with me on that. To differentiate yourselves from one another and to attract that downline - I think you'd want to show everyone how awesome your training is?

I bet, Greg, a little taste of your methods to overcome those "objections" mentioned - would go a real long way towards showing people here that you are a great trainer that deserves to have these agents in your downline...in effect you deserve the agent's business...

Me - I don't make anything from their sales - but of course I too have a vested interest in their success. I do freely share my script...with the responses I've used to the SS# and banking info reluctance. That script I put my blood and sweat equity into it and I provide that as a bonus to those agents that come aboard my TV call platform...

I too would love to see what y'all use to overcome those pain points that you've mentioned...

 

[theinsuranceman]

Hi. Thanks for reading. And sharing is good. I think this 3 part "manifesto" shares plenty of good pointers for success...

Everyone that you mentioned above (except me) earns an override on their downline agents. To earn that override - they should do some training which I know you'll agree with me on that. To differentiate yourselves from one another and to attract that downline - I think you'd want to show everyone how awesome your training is?

I bet, Greg, a little taste of your methods to overcome those "objections" mentioned - would go a real long way towards showing people here that you are a great trainer that deserves to have these agents in your downline...in effect you deserve the agent's business...

Me - I don't make anything from their sales - but of course I too have a vested interest in their success. I do freely share my script...with the responses I've used to the SS# and banking info reluctance. That script I put my blood and sweat equity into it and I provide that as a bonus to those agents that come aboard my TV call platform...

I too would love to see what y'all use to overcome those pain points that you've mentioned...

Gee....the other day I shared some good info on getting the initial draft now, rather than the 3rd, when you're writing the app on say the 22nd of the month.

I must have misunderstood, but for some reason I was under the impression that you also taught FE tele-sales in addition to selling leads. My bad.

Looking at the bold above it looks like, and I may be wrong, that you will only share your info about those objections to agents who buy leads from .you. That's like me saying I'll only share the easy way to overcome or even prevent that objection above only for agents who join my team. However, I'm willing to share some of this info with agents not in my downline who I don't get an over write on. I just wanted others to post how they are training their FE agents to do FE tele-sales.

As far as my training? I've been doing FE tele-sales since 2005, before most agents up here were even in the business. I don't believe anyone on this forum has 16 years of successful FE tele-sales experience.

Anyway, since you have a year of FE tele-sales under your belt how would you respond to the objections I laid out above?

 

[PhxSunsFan]

SO. how to overcome the banking info reluctance... etc


here is ,my ss overcome.
I was told never to give ,my social
"thanks for sharing that... of course many dont want to give your social... no problem. whats your social??.

 

[DHurd]

Greg and Berry, a union of rivals to shower us lowly commoners with great insights who could have seen these turn of events

 

[BarryNY]

Gee....the other day I shared some good info on getting the initial draft now, rather than the 3rd, when you're writing the app on say the 22nd of the month.

Yes you did - good for you for sharing that

I must have misunderstood, but for some reason I was under the impression that you also taught FE tele-sales in addition to selling leads. My bad.

Correct - I DO NOT teach FE telesales. But I love sharing pointers with the agents that have joined my TV calls platform.

Looking at the bold above it looks like, and I may be wrong, that you will only share your info about those objections to agents who buy leads from .you.

That is 100% correct - my script only goes to people who join my program.

That's like me saying I'll only share the easy way to overcome or even prevent that objection above only for agents who join my team. However, I'm willing to share some of this info with agents not in my downline who I don't get an over write on. I just wanted others to post how they are training their FE agents to do FE tele-sales.

I agree - others who have THEIR FE AGENTS may want to share...I don't have any FE agents.

Anyway, since you have a year of FE tele-sales under your belt how would you respond to the objections I laid out above?

It's a cute throw back you always love to give me a dig about my "one year" in Final Expense telesales...and since you don't know me or what I've accomplished - I can only say this...EVERY career path I've ever been on in my 43 years in the business world...what I achieve in one year...it takes others 10 years to achieve...that's not a brag that's the truth. Believe it or not. I'm going to end your "dig" right now. You can call me a schmuck it's OK...

So - In no particular order:

When I earned $1.25 MILLION in just one year in the mortgage business doing 100% telesales - that was after being in that business for ONLY ONE YEAR...most scratched their heads too.. However Lehman Brothers recognized that achievement and enticed me to join their MBS division in NYC. You know there's Big BUCKS working in investment banking...don't you?

When I joined the largest Madison Avenue advertising agency in the world McCann Erickson...it was after being there just one year - that I was tapped to run the $200MM a year Lowe's Home Improvement warehouse account...

When I joined Planter's Peanuts as a Senior Financial Analyst it was after about two years there that I was the first person in their 100 year history to get hired in Finance but make the move over to becoming a Marketing Product Manager...

Have you heard of Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon from Frankfurt, KY? Well how about while being the VP Marketing for Ancient Age Distilling company (we owned Blanton's) I was actually the person who created the entire bourbon category known as Single Barrel Bourbon - that's right I coined that product term and today there are hundreds of Single Barrel Bourbon's sold...

I could drone on and on for more - but you get the picture I don't want to bore you...PS: I'll still give you $50,000 if you can show me you made $1.25 MILLION in sales (any sales)...but then you'd have to pay me the $50k after I send you my 1099...

Hi. My answers to your points in bold above....and I still love ya too...

 

[BarryNY]

Greg and Berry, a union of rivals to shower us lowly commoners with great insights who could have seen these turn of events

Barry...not Berry LOL