FinalExpenseAppointmentSetters.com - Anyone Worked With Them?

[rousemark]

People say lots of things on the internet. Believe it or not, not everything they say is true

 

[Abrasax]

I wouldn't agree to anything other than a "per sit" fee. The setter might set 20 appointments, but I am only going to pay for the 4 or 8 or 12 that actually are home at the appointed time, and let me in the door.

I wasn't sure if it was legal to pay appt setters based on performance like that.

 

[Abrasax]

People say lots of things on the internet. Believe it or not, not everything they say is true

Says some guy on the internet...... I don't believe it.

 

[KRobby]

1) 40-50% would be reasonable to expect if every one of your leads has a good phone number that every single person who sent in the lead card was guaranteed to pick up and say "hello" at least 1/3 of the times his or her phone rings. The reality is that out of 25 leads, 5 or more may have no number or a wrong number/unreadable number. Then, of the 20 or so remaining, half will NEVER answer the phone. Ever. So now you are reduced to hoping you appointment setter can convince the other 10 to set an appointment with you so that you hit that lower level 40% mark you mentioned.

Keep in mind that any setter you hire, other than your wife, will be calling for three other agents as well. So while some agents might be able to get 12 to 15 appointments from 20 to 25 leads, they are calling their own leads, and only their leads, and they can hammer them like no appointment setter will.

I have an appointment setter I am very happy with, and I just know she is not working my leads as hard or as often as I would work them if I were to take over the task of calling for my own appointments. That's fine with me, however, as it frees up for time I would be calling for appointments to go out and door knock the leads who will never answer the phone.

My point is this: A very good agent would be expected to set appointments with 50% of his leads in a given week, and that would likely require not only calling this week's leads but the leads from the past two months or so that have yet to schedule a sit. You appointment setter is not going to call those old leads. They want to the low hanging fruit. There may be setters out there who will do so and get you that many appointments, but that will be a rare find indeed.

2) If you are giving good DM leads to an appointment setter, "a test week or two" will, inmost cases, be too little of a test. I had one setter who got me a grand total of five appointments the first three weeks on 25 leads/week - it was a no brainer to cut her loose.

The next setter was excellent ... for the first week. Each week after that her production decreased, quality of appointments became very sketchy, and she started to send me texts at 9 PM at night saying "sorry I didn't make any calls today some thing came up." It took about 6 weeks to get to that point and then I cut her loose.

My third setter I got through Matt, and she has been a reliable and steady performer for what is now her fourth month with me. I can usually county on a steady 8 appointments kept each week from her efforts, sometimes less, maybe more once or twice, though it seems as though 8 might be the ceiling so far. I get 20 to 30 leads each week, though the past few weeks I am starting into a new county and the lead flow has been very light (I'm expecting that to even out soon at at least 20/week).

She speaks Spanish, which is huge for me because she gets me those appointments I'd never be able to get over the phone and makes sure the prospect understands to have a relative or friend present who can translate for me. I did not even realize the value this would be to me until her fourth or fifth week with me.

My point: Unless the setter is an absolute disaster, you need to commit to a 4 week test minimum. The law of large numbers is not to be trifled with, and making decisions on small sample sizes can and will lead to disastrous results.



I didn't see Matt's post until I had posted my own. What he says right there is spot on.

If you include preset appointments from your setter (the low hanging fruit) in with your door knocking route, when do you plan out your route to optimize efficiency? I'd assume it'd have to be pretty close to right before you leave for the day, depending on when the day is finalized by your setter. Also I assume you must have to try to estimate how many knocks is reasonable until you reach the location of each appointment so you're not adding a ton of extra windshield time to reach those that otherwise would've been placed accordingly on your route, unless it's the first stop.
But if it was suggested by double M, it probably works.

 

[SPUR CITY]

If you include preset appointments from your setter (the low hanging fruit) in with your door knocking route, when do you plan out your route to optimize efficiency? I'd assume it'd have to be pretty close to right before you leave for the day, depending on when the day is finalized by your setter. Also I assume you must have to try to estimate how many knocks is reasonable until you reach the location of each appointment so you're not adding a ton of extra windshield time to reach those that otherwise would've been placed accordingly on your route, unless it's the first stop.
But if it was suggested by double M, it probably works.

Yes, a solid Appt Setter will add efficiency to your business. For example, we get an influx of the agents that have written 100K, 150K or 200K & have plateaued. One of the first things we do is analyze their appointment setter situation. A lot of times fixing that alone, propels them to the "next level" to help maximize their potential. That's usually the starting point but we go from there to break down any flaws or cracks in their business.

 

[DayTimer]

I feel a BIG WEEK is on deck for me ...

 

[Northeast Agent]

Are they shooting firecrackers there too, like they are in Bucks County?

 

[DayTimer]

If you include preset appointments from your setter (the low hanging fruit) in with your door knocking route, when do you plan out your route to optimize efficiency? I'd assume it'd have to be pretty close to right before you leave for the day, depending on when the day is finalized by your setter.

When working my main county, which includes my main city, it is very easy ... most days I don't plan a complete route. If my first appointment is for 10 AM, then I will grab three or four leads close by that first appointment and knock starting at 9 AM up until about 15 minutes before that appointment. If I am not in a house and it is 9:45 or later, I go to my first appointment.

I keep all my leads in MapMyCustomers on my iPad, so when I do not have an appointment within the next 15 minutes or so, I pop open my MMC and it shows me where I am, and where my closest leads are. I go for those. That is why sometimes I am knocking a relatively fresh lead, and at other times I am selling a policy to someone who sent the lead in 11 months ago (I even sold to a lead I bought from David Duford back in November of 2016 this Fall because he was the closest lead to where I was at that moment).

I am now rotating into the next county, which is much more rural and will have a lot more windshield time between leads. As the inventory builds, it will be in my best interest to plan a bit more as I work that county.

My setter schedules my appointments for Tuesday-Thursday, so Monday and Friday (and Saturday if I am working that day) I will usually work a route of newer leads (those with no number or who hung up on my setter or those who no showed an appointment in the past week or two). I have her schedule appointments for me starting at 10:00 AM and last at 7:30 PM, so before and after I am door knocking, and whenever I have more than 15 minutes before my next scheduled appointment.

It has been working for well. Even in the new county, and working a very light lead flow, I put in 3 days this past week, had 8 pre-sets, a few door knocks, and wrote $4k+ ... I just keep adding each week's new leads to my MMC and in a few seconds I can pull the closest lead card from my lead binder.

 

[DayTimer]

Are they shooting firecrackers there too, like they are in Bucks County?

This is Allentown - we only shoot guns. And occasionally blow up a car or two.

 

[KRobby]

When working my main county, which includes my main city, it is very easy ... most days I don't plan a complete route. If my first appointment is for 10 AM, then I will grab three or four leads close by that first appointment and knock starting at 9 AM up until about 15 minutes before that appointment. If I am not in a house and it is 9:45 or later, I go to my first appointment.

I keep all my leads in MapMyCustomers on my iPad, so when I do not have an appointment within the next 15 minutes or so, I pop open my MMC and it shows me where I am, and where my closest leads are. I go for those. That is why sometimes I am knocking a relatively fresh lead, and at other times I am selling a policy to someone who sent the lead in 11 months ago (I even sold to a lead I bought from David Duford back in November of 2016 this Fall because he was the closest lead to where I was at that moment).

I am now rotating into the next county, which is much more rural and will have a lot more windshield time between leads. As the inventory builds, it will be in my best interest to plan a bit more as I work that county.

My setter schedules my appointments for Tuesday-Thursday, so Monday and Friday (and Saturday if I am working that day) I will usually work a route of newer leads (those with no number or who hung up on my setter or those who no showed an appointment in the past week or two). I have her schedule appointments for me starting at 10:00 AM and last at 7:30 PM, so before and after I am door knocking, and whenever I have more than 15 minutes before my next scheduled appointment.

It has been working for well. Even in the new county, and working a very light lead flow, I put in 3 days this past week, had 8 pre-sets, a few door knocks, and wrote $4k+ ... I just keep adding each week's new leads to my MMC and in a few seconds I can pull the closest lead card from my lead binder.

I see, so really the door knock strategy is secondary and the preset appointments are the primary when planning your days mid week. Kinda like how fex trains it too, from what they used to post. (~knock between appts) That makes sense. Because the real power of optimizing knocking when that's primary is sorting 15, 20 or 25 stops without deviation (a few out the way can easily double the time)..& the sorting doesn't work nearly as well with a handful of course. But the idea of pre set appointments from a setter sounds very nice. Get enough of those you can make big bucks. (as you're showing).