Going through a rough patch

[MOHEALTH]

Just curious if anyone else is having a rough time out there right now? June was awesome...July sucked...and August doesnt have much promise thus far.

Pipeline is near empty (unless you count all the BS leads I bought last month)....Cant seem to get in contact with many of my prospects and the most promising ones keep dragging thier feet.

Marketing dollars are all but drained. And B2B is tough with 115 degree heat indexes.

Anyone else struggling out there?

Oh...and keep your "Im writing 75 apps an hour" stories to yourself. Not looking to hear someone blow a bunch of smoke up my a**!

 

[Guest]

Just curious if anyone else is having a rough time out there right now? June was awesome...July sucked...and August doesnt have much promise thus far.

Pipeline is near empty (unless you count all the BS leads I bought last month)....Cant seem to get in contact with many of my prospects and the most promising ones keep dragging thier feet.

Marketing dollars are all but drained. And B2B is tough with 115 degree heat indexes.

Anyone else struggling out there?

Oh...and keep your "Im writing 75 apps an hour" stories to yourself. Not looking to hear someone blow a bunch of smoke up my a**!

Hey man, even the best ball players slump. Here's what I would do:

If the weather heats up outside, cold call indoors by phone.

Try a new lead source that offers some freebies.

Refresh your memory as to what was working in June and try to re-establish those habits if they're off a bit.

And remember, it's not how you start, it's how you finish so kick some butt!!

 

[ABC]

Your not alone. My B2B sales is super weak at best. Its been 4 months since I wrote new group business. Usually I write about 2 small groups a month. I have one 3 life group I am writing for 9/1 which I had to fight for.
Right now I are gearing up for 4th quarter business and have a handfull of prospects. On the group renewals the good thing I have going for me is I have not loss any business.

My individual sales have spiked up big time. People are losing their jobs in my state so I have seen my individual sales go up. Most of the biz I am writing the clients are in there 50's so its a higher premium.

This economy is in the dumps right now. Gas is really hurting everybody and 4 months of high gases prices are starting show. Most of B2B sale are new business that have started within the last year. None of them have a budget for group benefits right now.

ALl I can do is keep plugging.

 

[somarco]

If you are slumping it is not because of . . .

the crappy leads

the 115 temp outside

it is an election year

the total eclipse of the sun

the mortgage meltdown

global warming

There is only one reason why you are in a slump.

It is because you believe you are in a slump.

As long as you believe it you will never crawl out of your hole.

Rather than continuing on the way you are, walk away from it. Play golf. Go water skiing. Watch a movie.

Anything to change your attitude.

After you have cleared your mind, go back over those crappy leads and call them again. But first, give yourself a reason to contact them. New plans. New rates. Whatever.

A lot of times I pick up sales from leads that are 6 months old. I will email them, or call them, and simply ask how their plan is working for them. Did they get the rates & offer they expected or were they disappointed? Do they feel like they could have done better?

If you get a positive response to either of those questions you have a fresh lead.

And no, I am not writing 75 apps an hour.

Every 15 minutes . . .




Just kidding.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

You will usually find that everything tends to come and go in waves. There may be a period of time when you are submitting apps left and right. Other times, you seem to be quoting your butt off, to what SEEMS like no avail.

I will give you the same advice I give the people in my Career Network group: Continually stay active. Do something. Look for one positive step in the right direction every day. Give yourself a break. Recreate - and by this I DON'T mean to vegetate.

My app count is down this week, but I've booked myself as a speaker at two different locations - one for Sept. 3rd and the other for Sept. 15th.

It's the law of attraction. Stay active and something good will come of it. As Mick Jagger states, "You can't always get what you want, but you just might find, you get what you need."

 

[Newby]

Just curious if anyone else is having a rough time out there right now? June was awesome...July sucked...and August doesnt have much promise thus far.

Pipeline is near empty (unless you count all the BS leads I bought last month)....Cant seem to get in contact with many of my prospects and the most promising ones keep dragging thier feet.

Marketing dollars are all but drained. And B2B is tough with 115 degree heat indexes.

Anyone else struggling out there?

Oh...and keep your "Im writing 75 apps an hour" stories to yourself. Not looking to hear someone blow a bunch of smoke up my a**!

If you're writing group health, I would suggest networking with a life agent that doesn't do that. I know I could get in the door with several business owners if I felt I really knew about group health insurance. That's not what I do so those contacts just go to waste.

I would think the slow economy would make it better for group health sales if you can actually save them some money.

 

[bluemarlin08]

I had a great paid commission month in July but didn't open as many new cases and my leads were down. August started hot, however. For me, the business can ebb and flow, usually due to my activity or lack of. If you just concentrate on group maybe you should think of finding a good life agent to bring business to and split cases.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Mmmm.

Two thoughts. If you're going to network with someone, make sure it's a Financial Planner, who wants NOTHING to do with health, LTC, or Life Insurance. You can be the "health and life" guy for their clients.

It takes some time to develop, but you will find out that you will begin to get a slew of referrals, once they get to trust you.

Also, August is usually the time for "back to school" and "cover for those that are on vacation" and "last getaway before September". It may appear that people are avoiding you, but they're not.

This next week is my "Can you e-mail me a quote?" "SURE" week. It's also the week where I spend most of my day with my kids before they go back to school. As a matter of fact, I have only one appointment on Wednesday. Other than that, I'll be going to two school registrations.

 

[taterpeeler]

Thank God I Get Paid As Earned And Not Advanced!!

 

[Invain15]

If you are slumping it is not because of . . .

the crappy leads

the 115 temp outside

it is an election year

the total eclipse of the sun

the mortgage meltdown

global warming

There is only one reason why you are in a slump.

It is because you believe you are in a slump.

As long as you believe it you will never crawl out of your hole.

Rather than continuing on the way you are, walk away from it. Play golf. Go water skiing. Watch a movie.

Anything to change your attitude.

After you have cleared your mind, go back over those crappy leads and call them again. But first, give yourself a reason to contact them. New plans. New rates. Whatever.

A lot of times I pick up sales from leads that are 6 months old. I will email them, or call them, and simply ask how their plan is working for them. Did they get the rates & offer they expected or were they disappointed? Do they feel like they could have done better?

If you get a positive response to either of those questions you have a fresh lead.

And no, I am not writing 75 apps an hour.

Every 15 minutes . . .




Just kidding.

Great point. You are what you think you are. Unattractive people get unattractive results. Look back at what made you successful and continue doing that.