Guidance for New Life Agents

[DHK]

While you can buy The Feldman Method from the MDRT store, it's also available to read online for free.

ANDREW THOMSON-THE FELDMAN METHOD

Ben Feldman studied for two hours every night about his profession and worked 7 days a week. Now, I have no desire to work like that... but I do study those who have done very well in this industry.

Other good authors include:
Irwin Burt Meisel
John Savage
Joe Gandolfo

You can find their books on Amazon.

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Oh, and as Rearden posted some time ago, here is a link to FREE audio of An Afternoon with Ben Feldman:

Audio From Claude Whitacre

I think I used RealPlayer to download the audio files. I'm not sure if it still would work, but it's worth a shot.

 

[DHK]

Sid Walker is a prospecting coach for financial advisors and insurance agents. He's got a great insight into how to train your mind for prospecting.

Sid just came out with a new book... and it is THE BEST PROSPECTING BOOK I HAVE EVER READ... BAR NONE!

I have read:
- Dudley & Goodson on Call Reluctance
- "Go for No!"
- Top Gun Prospecting
- Never Cold Call and other books by Frank Rumbauskas
- Nick Murray's books (they all talk about prospecting)
- Kerry Johnson's Peak Performance Selling Course (where he promises that you'll increase your business by 80% in 8 weeks)
- Cold Calling for Cowards

None of these courses & books matched what's in Sid Walker's book.

Here's the review I put on Amazon:

Stop self-sabotaging your prospecting efforts permanently!

By DHK on November 24, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

WOW!!! I've followed Sid Walker for a few years and spoke with him a couple of occasions. THIS is the book to get!

I'm a "root" person. I like getting to the deep roots of something and figuring things out from there. It's the way I work with my clients in their financial situation. Until you get to the root of whatever it is, you'll only treat symptoms, instead of the "disease". This book gets to the root causes of self-promotion fears and call reluctance UNLIKE ANYTHING else out there! I've read Dudley & Goodson, Cold-calling for Cowards, Nick Murray's books, "Go for No!" and TONS of other books. I've had quite the selection of reading material... and NONE of them match what Sid Walker has outlined in this book!

Once you understand the internal dynamics at play in your mind, you can finally turn your mind into your greatest ally, instead of something to fight and "wrestle" with. Until you figure out how your mind is working for and against you... you'll continue to "beat yourself up" and be exhausted, instead of energized in your career. Instead of setting short-term goals and working only for that, you'll learn how to beat your mind in the sales mindset to truly become a master prospector!

If you're new in sales, well-seasoned, managing or mentoring others, you OWE it to yourself and those you hope to serve with your products and services... to get this book and spend the time to read it. Your mindset and view of promoting yourself will NEVER be the same again!

How I Conquered Call Reluctance, Fear of Self-Promotion & Increased My Prospecting!: Sidney C. Walker: 9780962117770: Amazon.com: Books

Now, Sid Walker does have his other sites, such as "Selling Without Wrestling" and others... but this book is the greatest thing that he's done so far. I'd start there for the $10 for the kindle book. I've been on his membership site, and while there's still good information there, I'd start with the Kindle book.

In that book, he also outlines his prospecting script for professional advisors - those who are giving advice, not just trying to sell a product (so his script may not be a fit for those of you that are product-based, such as FE, etc.).

Of course, I'm not affiliated with Sid Walker, except from a few conversations we've had. It's an amazon link, so you know that I'm not getting anything for this recommendation.

 

[DHK]

I was doing a search for some images to use in my marketing materials, and I came across this Singapore-based financial advisor-based blog. After reading through the posts, I thought it was great.

Here they are:
Circle of Financial Advisors Singapore

Interview Part 2 - Myths and Truths about the Financial Advisor's Career

Interview Part 3 - Guide to Interview the Interviewer

(This one should be required reading for anyone interviewing at any career agency.)

A Successful Financial Advisor

Financial Advisor vs Insurance Agent

 

[robertjrussell]

I have been in the business now for over 30 yrs and I have finally found my niche. This niche or system that I am using led me to being named Broker of the Year Finalist in 2015 by Benefit Selling Magazine.

Here are my suggestions for a new agent.
1. Subscribe to a phone system - I use SalesDialers.com - they will give you a discount with PROMO628. This system will allow you to make about 200 calls per hour. So if you call for 6 hours a day - you should make around 1200 calls per day.
2. Set a goal to send 30 Term Quotes a day.
3. Plan to sell 15 Term (50% closing Rate) per day.
4. Average Monthly premium goal of each term - $25 per mo.
5. Only sell term plans that offer E-Apps
6. If you do all of these exactly like I am telling you, you should make around $90,000 per month which will turn into around $1 Million of first year life commissions per year.

How do I know ? I do this everyday from home in shorts and a t-shirt.

Any questions ?

 

[Mutherrunner]

What TO do:

1. Focus on 2 fundamental skills:
   1. Prospecting activities
   2. Fact-Finding skills.
2. Have a prospecting system and methodology that will allow you to get in front of as many people as possible.
   1. Two major ways to do this: Phone & In Person
   2. Two major markets: Residential & Business
      1. Find your ideal market and targeting strategy
      2. Obtain local business tax licenses & solicitors permits as necessary. Better to have them, than not have them.
3. Resist the urge to want to offer "brain surgery" to someone who only needs vitamins.
   1. Business owners are individuals too. They need to have their life insurance reviewed. Once they're a client, you can talk to them about business planning and other creative uses of life insurance. It's more difficult to do that when they're still a prospect.
4. Agent Joint work – is important for any case that's "too big" for you to handle.
   1. Don't get bogged down in learning everything about this case, but participate in all of the meetings with the prospect. Don't "dive into details & analysis paralysis."
   2. Be ready to give up AS MUCH COMPENSATION AS POSSIBLE just so you learn how your joint work partner works with such a case. Let your joint-work partner DO ALL THE CASEWORK. The education and small compensation is worth the cost for an invaluable education. Eventually, you won't need joint-work to help you work with such cases. Remember: 20% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
   3. Have a case-compensation agreement in writing BEFORE you begin working together. Keep your manager and GA in the loop of your working together
5. Beware of parasidic "partnerships" in youragency.
   1. If you go into a "partnership", never stop prospecting for your own business. If the partner is not interested in helping you build your clientele NOW, then say no. You'll end up being a case-slave working on a commission basis.
   2. If you decide to entertain a partnership idea, make sure you truly understand what their current workload really is. (I was once told by a "partner/mentor" that he had 30 open cases. What he really meant was that he "brought up"a product and the other person said he'd be interested in some information. That's NOT an "open case", but a suspect. Far from it being an "open case". Found this out the hard way.)
6. Build your clientele as quickly as possible.
   1. One-call closes are preferred; learn the medical close
7. Send a newsletter of some kind every month to every person who has ever contacted you, applied for insurance or is a policyholder
   1. Be sure to send a newsletter to everyone in your address book, including your friends and family. You can start with a "business announcement" and then just send them newsletters going forward. Eventually, they'll ask you how business is going. They'll see you more as a professional since you're sending a newsletter every month. Your positioning is improving in their eyes.
8. Focus on selling term life insurance for your entire 1st year to each person
   1. Depending on your contract and number of apps you submit, you CAN make a decent living (despite what your manager or home office may tell you).
9. Get a LOT of applications for term life insurance – 1st year goal should be a minimum of 200 applications for the year.
   1. 200 apps x $500 Annual Premium = $100,000 Annual Premiums
   2. Is this not a reasonable goal?
   3. Some term applications will be much higher than $500/year, so you should make more even with "not-takens" and other issues.
10. Study the creative use of permanent life insurance to help inspire others to WANT to convert a portion of their policy.
    1. Infinite Banking, LEAP, Circle of Wealth, Found Money Management, Missed Fortune, Premium Offset by Policy Values
    2. Study during "non-paytime" hours, not as a substitute for prospecting. There is nothing you'll learn that will create an instant prospect.
11. HELP your prospects & clients by doing MORE than they expect:
    1. Help them free up MORE money in their budget than you'll ask for in insurance premiums
    2. Note: If you ask for less than 50% of what you find… and ideally less than 25%... you're going to get the sale and a client! They will become your raving fans and refer you to others… because you aren't greedy with their money.
    3. Of course, some may want to put in more. Restate why you made your recommendation, then ask if you misunderstood their intentions. Be sure you are clear with what they want to accomplish, then help the client get what they want. (Think of how it would feel for the client that they want to put in more and you're resisting it! Doesn't that make them want to do MORE business with you?
12. Help them with all facets of their financial plan. Ask them about their wills & trusts. Ask them about their investment performance (without giving specific buy/sell or other portfolio advice if not properly licensed to do so.). Ask them about their P&C coverage, their employee benefits and banking.
    1. Re-emphasize that you get paid on the area that's the "Least Important" and that's their life insurance! – High Touch Selling, John F. Savage, CL
13. If you have to do a 2-call close:
    1. Learn to do a complete fact-find session along with a 1-page presentation summary that shows that you were listening.
    2. Always propose and expect to sell an appropriate amount of Term Life. (Some insurance is always better than none.)
    3. Show what a permanent policy CAN do for them… so they'll WANT it. (That's a good"take-away")
       1. When you do this, show a simple illustration with a small policy ($100,000 face is a good amount to show what's possible.)
       2. Emphasize that this is one of the reasons why you'll be in continuous contact with them: overall financial improvement and to help them to convert their policies to where they'll have more cash than they put in and increase their overall protection portfolio.
14. You don't need to "get it all" right now. Once you have them as a policyholder or client, you have the opportunity to convert a portion of their policy every year. (You will be in the business for a long time,right?)
    1. Allow no "china eggs"! Follow up with newsletters, but after 2 meetings, they should either apply for coverage or not. Since you have a prospecting system to get in front of as many people as possible, you're simply too busy to wait for them to decide. You'll be happy to hear from them once they've decided. Keep their file on record, but take them off your "pending business" list.
15. Review their situation every year to be sure that they're actually making progress towards their total financial situation.
    1. Always ask for an opportunity to convert a portion of their policy every year
    2. At each review, ask for referrals &recommendations
       1. You have done exactly what a good agent should do– remain in contact by mail, email, phone. You have sent newsletters & letters. You have not been greedy with their money. You are building a relationship worthy of trust and confidentiality.
16. Securities licenses
    1. Wait as long as possible before studying and obtaining these "professional handcuffs".
    2. If you're producing, your manager needs to just "get out of your way" and let you keep doing what you're doing. Remind your manager that if you take time out to study, that your production will drop immediately. (He won't like that.)
    3. In the meantime: find a good investment rep in your firm to refer such business to them and keep the relationship "in house". You won't get paid on it, but once you are licensed, you can transfer the account back to you to collect the trails (if any).
    4. Or establish your own RIA firm in the future to handle securities on a fee-basis (if you're an independent agent)
    5. Or work with another registered rep outside of your firm with an express agreement that you won't do what they do and they won't do what you do.
17. Begin taking LUTCF courses.
    1. These are SALES courses. This will help you accelerate your progress and education in your new career.
    2. Once completed, take CLU & ChFC courses.
18. Join NAIFA & attend local meetings along with YAT meetings
    1. This will help you understand more of the industry and political movements. YAT meetings (when properly organized) are a great recruiting ground for more NAIFA members and offer additional training opportunities.
19. Focus on the "organic growth" of your clientele. Always lead with term and work on conversions overtime. Build a HUGE term insurance book of business with companies that offer competitive permanent products to convert to.
    1. After the policy holder has term, review their disability coverage. This is a natural "cross-sell". A 2-year benefit with no COLA rider is better than nothing, and should be affordable – if you helped them to free up the money and you didn't ask for all of it!
    2. Your mission and goal should be to have as much death benefits on the books as possible. Plenty of room for conversions and it's a great indicator of how much good you have done to help protect the families you work with (even if it is terminating protection).
    3. If you're looking for small deals, you have bigger deals come to you because you are actively engaged in building your clientele. See the Joint Work recommendation above.
20. Resist the urge & temptation to put everyone you meet through the "same sales system process".
    1. The temptation lies in the myth that committing to ONE system and platform will make YOUR JOB easier. The end result is that you will cap your income and limit your communication tools available to you. The vendors who offer these systems have a "siren song" that if you use their stuff, all your troubles will be over and it'll be easier to manage your business. It's a myth – don't fall for it.
    2. Instead, you may want to obtain and utilize multiple tools for different situations:
       1. Learn how to fully utilize your company's illustration systems.
       2. LEAPers would have you believe that they are the "be all and end all" to financial planning and that everyone should go through and experience 'LEAP'.
       3. Circle of Wealth – same thing
       4. IPS Found Money Management – same thing
       5. IPS Mortgage Life Insurance Tool Kit – same thing
       6. Virtual Sales Assistant – same thing
    3. But imagine a MIX of some of the above… would be great at the hands of a skilled practitioner who knows how to utilize and maximize their use of these tools!
21. Focus on your company's product line.
    1. The image of "offering a lot of products to be objective" is also a myth. Your company offers enough variety for you to be objective.
    2. You can be objective by simply stating: "My company would rather have me sell you the most expensive product possible, so it would line their pocketbook. It's a great product, but I don't agree with that idea for you and your situation. I like my company, but I'd rather see you have the protection you need at a reasonable price for you and your family. So, I recommend ____. This will help you get what you need without "breaking the bank". Now, here's what their "flagship" product can look like for you… but we can do that over time. There's no rush to do that today."
    3. Only go outside of your primary carrier when the applicant is declined. THEN you shop around to see who can make an offer of insurance for the declined app.
    4. When you put all your business with one company, you will have "business bargaining power" with underwriters. If you spread all your business around, you will have NO bargaining power because each company is only getting a fraction of your business. You want underwriters to know you by name (in a good way)

This is what I've had to learn the HARD WAY in this business. Somewhere I learned this - either as a conclusion to events, or I read it somewhere and it "didn't take".

I truly don't want anyone else to have to go through what I went through (and AM going through). I'm smart, but I've been "too smart for my own good".

Learn and apply the simplicity of this business... despite what you learn in agency meetings. Keep to "plain vanilla" and make MORE money! You'll find more opportunities to do the advanced stuff when you learn to recognize those opportunities. However, those opportunities will never materialize unless you are in front of prospects on a regular basis (multiple times a day).

wow, thank you so much for taking the time to share! I passed my LH exam last week and all of a sudden am overwhelmed by what to do next. Your advice sheds much light.

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I'm also new at utilizing this website... Sorry for the re quote!

 

[caudill1966]

I am interested in your system. What level of salesdialers do you use? Do they provide the leads? Please contact me if you can at [email protected]. TIA

 

[DHK]

I'd send him a PM, otherwise he won't know that you posted a question to him.

 

[caudill1966]

I'd send him a PM, otherwise he won't know that you posted a question to him.

Thanks, already did. Already responded. What did you think of his posts?

 

[DHK]

If it works, keep going.

My only hesitation, is that the insurance companies could do exactly what he outlined. At the root, agent-based sales is a relationship business. If you're doing business in a way that the insurance company can do... why would they need you?

I know there are lots of people who do it exactly like this, and if one company cuts you out, you can easily find others to sell for. I suppose I just don't want to encourage them.

 

[ccma]

DHK, do you mentor other agents?