Hello Insurance Forums - I am new here

[WinoBlues]

Great post!!

I drink and know stuff.

Wino Wisdom

 

[TexasLifeAgent]

And some of us stayed at a Holiday Inn once.

Nurse Ratched will be along shortly with your straightjacket.

42 regular.
I my color preference is blue.

And some of us stayed at a Holiday Inn once.



Nurse Ratched will be along shortly with your straightjacket.

42 regular.

I my color preference is blue.

 

[Life Hawk]

I drink and know stuff.

Wino Wisdom

Question ... you know stuff before drinking or after drinking?

 

[TexasLifeAgent]

Welcome to the business and the forums! (Just keep away from my clients, Tex!)

Glad to see a newbie with a sense of humor. That will serve you well in this business!

Thanks! Yes, we have a BIG State! Yes, I also go by ... your clients are yours and my clients are mine. And we do our best for them.

 

[TexasLifeAgent]

Welcome

Organize files, design cards and sharpen pencils on your own time. Business hours are for selling.

Aggressively getting ready is expensive.

The color of your shirt, type of pen or an expensive case mean nothing to your prospects and less to your clients.

Embrace the new technology but don't discount the old tried and true.

Check. =) Thanks! My first policy issued was a telephone sale and the rest have been face to face. I think face to face is still good because we can really build rapport and trust when we meet with our clients.

The challenge I've experienced in a rural area is the internet connectivity so we have to make sure that when we go meet face to face, we always bring, still, some paper applications, so for when tech doesn't work, there is the paper application too and the trip is not wasted.

Some senior clients I have visited with don't have printers so I'd share that also for the New Agents. Order paper applications from carriers, because there are some "disclosures statements" we have to leave with the client when we take their application. And Seniors like to see it in paper forms too. Since some of them are not so tech-savvy.

Yes, old agents do sound grouchy. You will too.

LOL! While we all can't escape getting old, we can surely avoid "getting old AND grouchy". That's why I typed my long comment above ... "talk it out with the microwave and toaster" Comment Link is HERE

https://insurance-forums.com/commun...nce-forums-i-am-new-here.109072/#post-1429986

Know that you will hit a slump and it will suck. Bad. Figure out your way to get out of it. Some of us power through, some of us step away for a family vacation, some of us choose a weekend of drunken debauchery. Slumps happen.

I hit that slump badly early on. BUT we have to always evaluate ...

... when we feel like quitting

... remember WHY we started.

So if we are hit with something that is NOT what we expected (when people are not TRUE to their words), is that a reason to quit? Nope. Just don't do what they do. Do what's right. Move forward. =)

We are going to be NO collectors until we get the YES'es.



This is a "Simple Job" but it requires hard work, tenacity, and grit. And a sense of humor. But most importantly, God's leading to always do the right thing. Like, no matter what. Do the right thing.

Notes - keep client notes so they are clients over customers. Beneficiary relationships, DOB, Jobs, kids, cell and emails. The clients are making them beneficiary for a reason. Notes on the client, they love golf, they are crazy for Chubby their Bassett Hound, religious, Veterans, and so on. Why? Because when you speak with them the next time (and if you don't someone like me will) you sound like someone that knows them not just what's his name the insurance salesman. All of those notes may add 5 minutes to your conversation and the questions are sprinkled into your presentation and fact gathering.

Yes thanks for sharing those tips. My little personal CRM (not connected to the internet) that I developed when I started has those fields for important information. It's our job to get to know our Clients, and so when the Lead Vendors provide the following info on a csv file:

First Name
Last Name
DOB
Address
Phone Number

.. we can just add additional columns on that csv file so we can keep info and notes together. That will be information that can be easily retrieved by the Agent and also have columns for the usual responses. Who said what and when. I also have a "prequalification questionnaire" that I ask the clients so I would know what Insurance Carrier to recommend for their specific circumstances.

Everything that agents do today, some agents said couldn't be done yesterday.

A.L Williams - 'Just do it'. (Great speech)

Lastly, use the search function here. There is some great stuff in there. I wish this was around when I started.

Thank you so much for your very insightful suggestions! I appreciate it, and surely will help other new agents on the forum as well as those who visit this website but have not joined the forum yet.

My apologies for the length, but I thought I'd share what I have also learned personally from my own experience so far. I haven't spent that much on leads, but I was able to sell some policies from those leads. After weeks or months following up, I've already built rapport and have researched a lot of quotes so clients can make informed decisions. So the money I spent on leads, I have made and earned back, and then some.

I am not about pushing people to buy policies, I work with what's comfortable for their budget, and then wait for them to decide. That would put the clients at the best place, so that they don't have to cancel their policies because the premiums are too high.

While of course earning the commissions is good, we must prioritize what is best for the clients first. Give them the best one that they can afford, even if we just get a little commission out of it.

I think that those who have a genuine heart for helping people are those that stay in the industry. But we ALSO need to keep our eyes open and not fall for the hype too much. If someone recommends YET another product, ask the person if they are "product affiliates".

During the gold rush, it wasn't the people looking for gold that got rich. It was the people selling wheelbarrows and shovels. =)

Be on the alert, and we do our best and what is right by and for our clients =)

If we raise the bar and work in excellence, we also get to help our fellow Agents =)

There's enough clients to go around =)

We just gotta find them =)

 

[TexasLifeAgent]

Great post!!

Indeed and thanks to you and WinoBlues

 

[WinoBlues]

Question ... you know stuff before drinking or after drinking?

Yes.

But the clarity comes with the fog and the 'don't give a chit' of hooch.
So it seems.

 

[Life Hawk]

Yes.

But the clarity comes with the fog and the 'don't give a chit' of hooch.
So it seems.

Glad your an agent and not a surgeon.

 

[Up In Smoke]

I am a new independent life insurance agent too (couple of months in the industry as a Licensed Life, Health Agent). And I wish I saw this forum before I started! Better late than never, I just joined. =)

Welcome!

 

[rousemark]

And some of us stayed at a Holiday Inn once.

I am scheduled to stay in one tomorrow night. Will I wake up smarter Wednesday?