Is cold prospecting dead to most agents/agencies?

I do not cold call. When I restarted offering insurance in 2019 I decided I was going to hire a telemarketer and that's how I was going to get business.

God I'm glad Bob talked me out of that.

I have/had the time to build out a website that delivers leads to me.

The down side is that they're sporadic, which I work part time, but I also wanted to build a book.

So after I got a few sales, I started using a drip local DM plan. Those sales don't start until May, but I'm already getting prospects calling in 5-6 months out.

Currently, the leads I have from website run until March and I close 40%+ of those.

I'll call people that have engaged with me, but I don't cold call.. Inbound changes the whole game in selling. I mean, even psychological I don't feel gross about it.

I bought some Facebook leads that were "call verified" and it was the worst.

1) Emails were crap. Telemarketer were telling them just to give an email.

2) Numbers were crap.

3) I just felt gross because I didn't develop them on my own.
 
I do not cold call. When I restarted offering insurance in 2019 I decided I was going to hire a telemarketer and that's how I was going to get business.

God I'm glad Bob talked me out of that.

I have/had the time to build out a website that delivers leads to me.

The down side is that they're sporadic, which I work part time, but I also wanted to build a book.

So after I got a few sales, I started using a drip local DM plan. Those sales don't start until May, but I'm already getting prospects calling in 5-6 months out.

Currently, the leads I have from website run until March and I close 40%+ of those.

I'll call people that have engaged with me, but I don't cold call.. Inbound changes the whole game in selling. I mean, even psychological I don't feel gross about it.

I bought some Facebook leads that were "call verified" and it was the worst.

1) Emails were crap. Telemarketer were telling them just to give an email.

2) Numbers were crap.

3) I just felt gross because I didn't develop them on my own.
Out of curiosity, where did you get the crap Facebook Leads from?
 
I do not cold call. Inbound changes the whole game in selling. I mean, even psychological I don't feel gross about it.

I bought some Facebook leads that were "call verified" and it was the worst.
1) Emails were crap. Telemarketer were telling them just to give an email.
2) Numbers were crap.

^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^
Yes. That cat versus mouse game...I've been both and trust me - it's better to be the cat.
Cats work with buyers. Mice..well they're always trying to make a sale.

To "make it" in telesales you MUST have consistent talk times. It's kinda the same as - to "make it" in F2F you MUST be in front of as many people as you can.
  • The more you talk - The more you make.
  • The better the talker (building rapport so they know, like & trust you) - The higher your close rate.
You gotta ask yourself:
Do I want to spend my time only talking to people who made the effort (right then & there) to talk to me?
OR
Do I want to spend hours & hours dialing and dialing trying to hunt someone down just to try and talk to them?

I ask everyone - what's your number? What are you looking to make by working for yourself? And would you like to make it - all from the comfort of your home?

To make it you're gonna need a steady supply of people (buyers) to talk to - people that actually want to talk to you. You'll want to be the cat not the mouse.

With live inbound calls from people watching TV commercials (along with your ability to give good phone) - the first target for your NET should be about $5,000/week...and that's just from the advance and after paying for the calls. Taking 40 calls/week somewhere between the hours of 10a-7p est and closing 23%. Go for 5 hours of real talk time/day. But time flies because these conversations are actually pleasant. You get on a nice roll...

When you up your phone game to unicorn status...that's 13/40 deals closed in a week - you're looking at about $30k/month...that's Net just from the advances. Wait till months 10, 11 & 12 start flowing in...

Hey work less. Make less. Log in for 20 calls/week make $2,500. Very linear. Very predictable.

This is how the largest Final Expense telesales organizations put consistent food on the table. They're taking thousands of calls/day...if it wasn't working with their captive agents - they wouldn't still be doing it!

89% of agents will fail out within the first year. Some because they suck and others because they didn't have a solid 3 legged "stool" to stand on (agency/training/leads).

10% will slug it out working long hours and making that magic $100k/year by dialing and dialing or driving and driving. $100k today - ain't what it used to be.

And 1% will be the Elite. The Tier One Operators. The Unicorns. They have a methodology that works for them. It delivers the income they want, the workday they enjoy along with consistent staying power. Good for them. You can be in that Elite group too. You can control your destiny.
 
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I break my talk time down to hourly.

100k sounds nice, but doesn't provide enough context.

If you're dialing and driving, total work time is 60 hours per week and you make 100k, you're making 32 dollars an hour, without benefits.

To put that into perspective, my state job pays me $32/hr plus benefits, for a total compensation package of about $50/hr... With a crap-ton of flexibility and autonomy.

If I'm taking on all the risk, I need to make a significant amount more than $50/hr. When I'm selling insurance, I've average out my FYC to about $100 an hour, which grows each year with renewals.
 
I break my talk time down to hourly.

100k sounds nice, but doesn't provide enough context.

If you're dialing and driving, total work time is 60 hours per week and you make 100k, you're making 32 dollars an hour, without benefits.

To put that into perspective, my state job pays me $32/hr plus benefits, for a total compensation package of about $50/hr... With a crap-ton of flexibility and autonomy.

If I'm taking on all the risk, I need to make a significant amount more than $50/hr. When I'm selling insurance, I've average out my FYC to about $100 an hour, which grows each year with renewals.


If you can net $5k FYC on 40 calls working 45 hours. That's about where you are @ $111/hour. That's net after marketing on the 75% advance (yes there are always charge backs so months 10, 11 & 12 pay for a lot of that). Then plus the renewals.

Travis - that's unicorn status...good for you.
 
If you can net $5k FYC on 40 calls working 45 hours. That's about where you are @ $111/hour. That's net after marketing on the 75% advance (yes there are always charge backs so months 10, 11 & 12 pay for a lot of that). Then plus the renewals.

Travis - that's unicorn status...good for you.

Mine is without marketing costs BECAUSE I just started spending money on marketing that won't begin to pay off until May 2021.

I don't count all 3 years of FYC, because that would put my average sale at around $1300 and make my actual earnings quite insane. It's also lower because I don't do 1 call closes due to working T65. That means I'm doing 2-3 calls for a sale.

For marketing, I'm willing to pay $300 per sale because I make so much more over time.
 
Mine is without marketing costs BECAUSE I just started spending money on marketing that won't begin to pay off until May 2021.

I don't count all 3 years of FYC, because that would put my average sale at around $1300 and make my actual earnings quite insane. It's also lower because I don't do 1 call closes due to working T65. That means I'm doing 2-3 calls for a sale.

For marketing, I'm willing to pay $300 per sale because I make so much more over time.

What state(s) are you working?
 
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