How do you make it visual?

[agent4sail]

I'm new in town; I've been following some of the posts and have visited the various links; Still have a few questions and would really appreciate your help. I have chosen the health insurance field as my second career. There seems to be an opportunity for good agents in this industry.
I recently retired from selling advertising in the b2b markets.

I feel fortunate to have found this forum and its wealth of information.
I appreciate the experiences and open sharing of information here, and hope to find the help I will need.
My questions:
How does an independent agent get contracted with the various providers; Aetna, Assurant, Humana, Golden Rule etc...?
Can it be done directly, or will I have to find a fair and honest Gen Agent? Are there any GA's that rep several health insurance companies? Is it better to find a GA for each individual provider?

How does an independent agent get non resident licenses? Is there somewhere that I can make one application to the various states that I choose to work in, rather than having to go to each state individually?
I want to sell on line if it's possible to make $$$$'s.
I don't want to continue working face to face spending my productive time in the car wasting gas.
I would really like to find a process where I can market stictly from my home office. An automated system that would allow my client and myself to be on-line at the same time, reviewing available plan specifics; and to be able to do a quote at that time. Is this possible?
How do you get the client to make the policy purchase at the time of the presentation?
When selling clients an advertising program it is usually very visual; How do you make selling insurance a visual experience that the client can participate in?
Please accept my appreciation for your advise and experience.

 

[somarco]

Plenty of answers to your questions already here. Search and dig in.

 

[agent4sail]

certainly enlightening ...

 

[Frank Stastny]

My questions:

...I want to sell on line if it's possible to make $$$$'s.
I don't want to continue working face to face spending my productive time in the car wasting gas.
I would really like to find a process where I can market stictly from my home office.

Every new agent wants to become an "underwear agent". The internet has everyone believing that all they have to do it put up a website, do a Power Point presentation, call people on the phone and the money will come rolling in.

The successful agents who are able to do that have "paid their dues" by spending years face to face with prospects learning how to sell and close. Doing as you are suggesting is not the way to learn this business and be very financially sussessful.

You can give it a try if you want to but don't be surprised when things don't go the way you expect them to.

I would suggest that you start by contacting Healthagent on this discussion board. John can help you get started, without his help you will founder and a year from now still be trying to get going.

You do realize that in order to be successful you are going to have to make an investment in your future. There ain't no free lunch. Life's tuition can be very expensive unless you get some help from a qualified person.

 

[WinonasAlibi]

I'm actually in the same boat as agent4sail and they might be having the same problem I am which is that there
IS a wealth of info on here....so much so that it is at times difficult to sort through.... If anyone can give a direct answer to A4S's question to a link to a specific thread or reply, I'd much appreciate it too.
Thanks in advance.

~Winonas Alibi

 

[tryan326]

agent4sail and WinonasAlibi
First off, If you've never sold health insurance before you may want to start off capitive or find a experienced agent to take you under their wing. Don't worry about non-res licenses just try to focus on your own state then branch out unless you don't plan on selling where you live. You’ll also need to figure out what amount of money you can sacrifice to get you going. Health sales aren’t hard if you know what you doing but it can take sometime to learn and perfect for you to get to a point where insurance can be your only job.

How does an independent agent get contracted with the various providers; Aetna, Assurant, Humana, Golden Rule etc...?

You can get contracted with all or most of the carriers through a GA (usually with advances) or you can go direct with each carrier (some will only pay as earned). If you can afford to get paid as earned then go that route.

How does an independent agent get non resident licenses? Is there somewhere that I can make one application to the various states that I choose to work in, rather than having to go to each state individually?

You can visit sircon.com or nipr.com and submit for licensing electronically.

I would really like to find a process where I can market stictly from my home office. An automated system that would allow my client and myself to be on-line at the same time, reviewing available plan specifics; and to be able to do a quote at that time. Is this possible?

Yes. What your talking about is Web Conferencing this will allow your client to view your cpu while you compare quotes

How do you get the client to make the policy purchase at the time of the presentation?

It’s called applying pressure or hard-selling…This is what you DON'T want to do. Only sell a prospect on first contact if their extremely interested. It is better to go over the quotes on the first call let them absorb the information. Then on the second call answer there questions and do the app. If you hard sell you WILL have a high lapse percentage. Keep in mind your commission is based on 12 months not 1 so whatever you write needs to stick.

Also take some time read through the form and take notes lots of useful info here if you dig for it. Hope this helps!

 

[somarco]

there IS a wealth of info on here....so much so that it is at times difficult to sort through.... If anyone can give a direct answer

If you are looking for an easy answer, then you probably won't make it.

Most, if not all, of the questions posed in this thread have been answered. The folks who donate their time to respond do so without asking for anything in return.

Well, most of us at least . . .

If you want to pick the brain of those who have been in this industry 10, 20, 30 yrs or longer, the least you can do is start with a search, then come back.

That is what I did with my kids when they wanted to know the answer to something. They turned out to be independent adults able to operate on their own.

No one will refuse to answer your questions once you have put forth some effort.

When I found this forum I spent an entire weekend reading through, copying and pasting, information that was pertinent. It was enlightening to me and I have more experience in the industry than most of the folks here.

I suggest you do likewise.

 

[WinonasAlibi]

Thanks Tryan!

 

[wildcat]

If you are a new agent, I would do whatever the prospect wants (as long as you qualify). I've been doing this for quite a while, and today I drove 1 hour each way to see a prospect I've spoken to twice on the phone. I could have tried to offer information over the phone and email, although they have many issues to deal with. Small bus. owner (photogs), husband will be 10 years cancer free next month, wife currently has Kaiser, doesn't like it, wants to have another baby. Current child is 2, they like the pediatrician, but hate the kaiser structure. They can go group or individual. "What should we do?"

So I took a drive and spent about an hour with them. It'll be a great acct. I've started a relationship and spent the time with them to lead them in the right direction. These types of Accts last for years and years.

Plus they have several Photog friends they want me to talk to.

 

[Guest]

If you're buying leads that may be shared among agents this piece of advice (below) will spell DOOM because another agent will sell the same policy after you did the work.

There's no pressure or hard selling in a one call close. It's just a matter of asking for the sale and handling objections.

If it's a real objection they'll be stern, if not, they'll budge.
Everyone of us has turned around an objection right?

So that must mean that not everyone is stern, just stalling.

Find out and close again. No pressure.

The climate is changing as more people are gravitating to the internet, shopping in their underwear. Esurance is getting them in the habit of realizing that you don't need to go face to face any more. The market has seen an increase in online insurance purchases. Do you think it will go down? I don't.

It’s called applying pressure or hard-selling…This is what you DON'T want to do. Only sell a prospect on first contact if their extremely interested. It is better to go over the quotes on the first call let them absorb the information. Then on the second call answer there questions and do the app. If you hard sell you WILL have a high lapse percentage. Keep in mind your commission is based on 12 months not 1 so whatever you write needs to stick.