Mainly for New Agents, Near Perfect Company

[seeknulfind]

Perfect Scenario in random order:

* Independent over captive
* Free or low cost leads
* Company paid E&O
* Ability to use office if needed or free to use home office
* Street (non-assigned) commissions (above street if paying a portion of lead cost)
* Subsidized mailers
* Use of dialer system at low or no cost
* Company paid initial licensing for many, if not most, States
* All the training you could ever want at no charge

You forgot some stuff like:

*Free laptop
*Free smartphone with unlimited minutes and data
*Free car with unlimited gas and milage
*Free child care
*Medical Insurance
*Bonuses for EVERY sale

Am I starting to get ridiculous here?

Look m&m may have a point about being too new to know all of what I might want or need but I wadn't born yesterday eider.

I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as unrealistic. The ONLY thing in the my list I would even hope for would be the medical insurance. Notice that one didn't say "free".

Free leads AND a low/no cost dialer AND subsidized leads? Not sure if I need the latter two if the first are any good.

I've got considerable sales experience so I'm not sure how helpful a ride along would be but I'd never turn any down.

An office would be great, especially if it were close enough to stop in on every day as I could start writing off mileage from there. It would also be nice to have someplace where the phone was answered professionally during business hours. Also someplace where marketing materials and records were kept. Trouble is all that costs money and the money has to come from someplace. Now lets see... WHO would pay for all that? I know! A rich, philanthropic IMO! Right?

Company paid licensing? No. Again, the money has to come from somewhere and not only would I end up paying for my own license, one way or another, I'd also be paying for those folks who sign on because they don't have to invest anything and then quit when they find out they actually do have to work. No thanks.

Company paid E&O? What JD said, plus what I said above. I gave up believing in free rides and Santa Claus a long time ago. But I still have a glimmer of hope for the Easter Bunny.

Now how about a real list?

Let's start with honesty. By the grace of God, I believe I found that one. Check. (Thanks Todd.)

A choice of sources for good leads. Cost is a lesser consideration than ROI. I see a lot of debate here on whether a lead costs $15 or $20 or less or more. While they do add up very quickly - especially when you need to burn through, say 20 per week, the cost differential is insignificant they are converted into sales.

I come from a direct sales background so tracking conversion ratios, etc. seems to make sense.

Good advice and support. This is what I need more than anything right now. Not really a lot of hand-holding but when I do have questions, I need answers.

Training. How much do I need? I don't know. I'd like to think I need less than some others might. I probably could benefit from more than I realize. If I had one wish, it would be access to unlimited training of all sorts and topics. My second wish would be the wisdom to know what to choose and when to quit for the day. Free? Is anything really free?

Mailers. I've given this a lot of thought. Still don't have a handle on answers but...

I know the real answer to most of the problems is volume. As volume increases so does cost but price per piece goes down.

Also, testing is more viable with larger mailings. And testing is really the only way to increase response with any certainty. (Of course there is also risk here that the changes will bomb, but these can be somewhat offset by lower costs per piece.)

Thus my foolish, newbie wish is a mailing co-op. I have no idea how the numbers would work out but I do know some cost savings would be realized. Of course someone would also have put the whole thing together. If we had to pay for his/her time, those cost savings could be wiped out. Sigh.

Finally, (yes Virginia, while there is no Santa Claus there IS an end to this post) I'd love to see a newsletter that updates me on what's going on with the IMO and with current events in the industry. Sure I can get a lot of this from the forum, but can I count on that alone? Besides, it would be nice to share success stories, tips and tricks from others with the same IMO. Again, a lot of work but there could also be more than a few advantages.

Andy

 

[pcbinsurance]

"I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as unrealistic."
******************************
I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as realistic.....but not always available. Hey, the OP asked what the perfect scenario would be.
******************************
"The ONLY thing in the my list I would even hope for would be the medical insurance. Notice that one didn't say "free".
******************************
Don't worry, Obamacare's got ya covered.
******************************
"I've got considerable sales experience so I'm not sure how helpful a ride along would be"....
******************************
Your "considerable sales experience" mentality can be a positive or a negative here. Many think "sales is sales" while others find that selling FE is quite a bit different than whatever it was they sold before---making "ride along" opportunities valuable.

 

[digfesales105]

You forgot some stuff like:

*Free laptop
*Free smartphone with unlimited minutes and data
*Free car with unlimited gas and milage
*Free child care
*Medical Insurance
*Bonuses for EVERY sale

Am I starting to get ridiculous here?

Look m&m may have a point about being too new to know all of what I might want or need but I wadn't born yesterday eider.

I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as unrealistic. The ONLY thing in the my list I would even hope for would be the medical insurance. Notice that one didn't say "free".

Free leads AND a low/no cost dialer AND subsidized leads? Not sure if I need the latter two if the first are any good.

I've got considerable sales experience so I'm not sure how helpful a ride along would be but I'd never turn any down.

An office would be great, especially if it were close enough to stop in on every day as I could start writing off mileage from there. It would also be nice to have someplace where the phone was answered professionally during business hours. Also someplace where marketing materials and records were kept. Trouble is all that costs money and the money has to come from someplace. Now lets see... WHO would pay for all that? I know! A rich, philanthropic IMO! Right?

Company paid licensing? No. Again, the money has to come from somewhere and not only would I end up paying for my own license, one way or another, I'd also be paying for those folks who sign on because they don't have to invest anything and then quit when they find out they actually do have to work. No thanks.

Company paid E&O? What JD said, plus what I said above. I gave up believing in free rides and Santa Claus a long time ago. But I still have a glimmer of hope for the Easter Bunny.

Now how about a real list?

Let's start with honesty. By the grace of God, I believe I found that one. Check. (Thanks Todd.)

A choice of sources for good leads. Cost is a lesser consideration than ROI. I see a lot of debate here on whether a lead costs $15 or $20 or less or more. While they do add up very quickly - especially when you need to burn through, say 20 per week, the cost differential is insignificant they are converted into sales.

I come from a direct sales background so tracking conversion ratios, etc. seems to make sense.

Good advice and support. This is what I need more than anything right now. Not really a lot of hand-holding but when I do have questions, I need answers.

Training. How much do I need? I don't know. I'd like to think I need less than some others might. I probably could benefit from more than I realize. If I had one wish, it would be access to unlimited training of all sorts and topics. My second wish would be the wisdom to know what to choose and when to quit for the day. Free? Is anything really free?

Mailers. I've given this a lot of thought. Still don't have a handle on answers but...

I know the real answer to most of the problems is volume. As volume increases so does cost but price per piece goes down.

Also, testing is more viable with larger mailings. And testing is really the only way to increase response with any certainty. (Of course there is also risk here that the changes will bomb, but these can be somewhat offset by lower costs per piece.)

Thus my foolish, newbie wish is a mailing co-op. I have no idea how the numbers would work out but I do know some cost savings would be realized. Of course someone would also have put the whole thing together. If we had to pay for his/her time, those cost savings could be wiped out. Sigh.

Finally, (yes Virginia, while there is no Santa Claus there IS an end to this post) I'd love to see a newsletter that updates me on what's going on with the IMO and with current events in the industry. Sure I can get a lot of this from the forum, but can I count on that alone? Besides, it would be nice to share success stories, tips and tricks from others with the same IMO. Again, a lot of work but there could also be more than a few advantages.

Andy

I'm exhausted! Lol. This is so all over the place I don't even know where to begin?

The only thing that kept popping into my mind over and over again is that you may be a tough cookie to manage and train.

On hand, you seem to have the answers. But on the other hand, you're open to training. But then again on the other hand, you only want training when you feel it necessary. But then back to the other hand, you would cut off training when you feel it necessary.

Lol. If you think you would need training, how would you know you're knowledgable enough to say "ok...I got it"?

Op is right. So many tell me that "sales is sales" and they can sell anything. Those are the first ones fail miserably at FE sales. I literally want to hang up the phone and a potential recruit tells me that. Also when they say they "don't want to reinvent the wheel". Those are the ones to roll their wheel through my door and show it off.

Lol

 

[seeknulfind]

I'm exhausted! Lol. This is so all over the place I don't even know where to begin?

The only thing that kept popping into my mind over and over again is that you may be a tough cookie to manage and train.

On hand, you seem to have the answers. But on the other hand, you're open to training. But then again on the other hand, you only want training when you feel it necessary. But then back to the other hand, you would cut off training when you feel it necessary.

Lol. If you think you would need training, how would you know you're knowledgable enough to say "ok...I got it"?

Op is right. So many tell me that "sales is sales" and they can sell anything. Those are the first ones fail miserably at FE sales. I literally want to hang up the phone and a potential recruit tells me that. Also when they say they "don't want to reinvent the wheel". Those are the ones to roll their wheel through my door and show it off.

Lol

Okay Mr. LOL, so go take a nap. But before you recharge your batteries...

should I just decide everything is "just so" and leave it at that?

I think we agree past sales experience can be both good and bad.

Good because I know what it's like to call 100+ people a day for leads. Good because I know what it's like to knock door to door looking for leads. Good because I know what it's like to sit in front of someone at their kitchen table and sip what they call coffee while praying the cup doesn't give me dysentery or worse.

Bad for all the reasons above. Yes, I have some idea of what I'm getting into but that doesn't make any of it any easier or any more palatable. Bad because I KNOW I've picked up too many bad habits along the way. Let's face it if I was a super-successful salesmen in any one of my past jobs, would I be here now? Who knows? On the other hand, I actually was competent in many of them. Not so much in some. This is all new to me. All different.

Sales is sales? What the heck does that mean? Nothing to me. That much I can tell you from experience.

The fact is, I plan on tossing most of what I think I know about sales out the window. Hopefully, I 'll get rid of some of those bad habits. The only way I can do that is to replace them with good habits.

All over the place? I don't think so. At least it seemed pretty straightforward to me at the time. You must be talking about the paragraph on training. Now, I realize to someone like you who has everything figured out, my own admissions must be pretty hilarious. The fact is, I haven't been in f2f with anyone for 10 years. Not to mention I'm starting out in a new field I've never sold in with products that are fairly new to me. Oh yeah, then there's the fact that MOST new agents selling insurance FAIL. The "good" ones close what? 25%? So I'm supposed to bull my way into this, cocksure this won't happen to me? Right.

Ride alongs or not, I have not way of knowing how well things will go until I run my first few appointments. And then I'll need to run some more.

Talk to me in 30 days. My perspective will be totally different then. Guaranteed.

Hard to train? Not if you know your stuff. I don't have the answers -- I don't even have all the questions. All I ask is the trainer tells me what s/he wants clearly and concisely and turn me loose.

Hard to manage? Not at all. Again, clarity and concision are key.

Hard to BS? Well, not really, but I tend to catch on quick and from then on, you're likely to find yourself talking to a great big empty.

Sorry to keep you up for so long. Nighty night.

Andy

 

[digfesales105]

Okay Mr. LOL, so go take a nap. But before you recharge your batteries...

should I just decide everything is "just so" and leave it at that?

I think we agree past sales experience can be both good and bad.

Good because I know what it's like to call 100+ people a day for leads. Good because I know what it's like to knock door to door looking for leads. Good because I know what it's like to sit in front of someone at their kitchen table and sip what they call coffee while praying the cup doesn't give me dysentery or worse.

Bad for all the reasons above. Yes, I have some idea of what I'm getting into but that doesn't make any of it any easier or any more palatable. Bad because I KNOW I've picked up too many bad habits along the way. Let's face it if I was a super-successful salesmen in any one of my past jobs, would I be here now? Who knows? On the other hand, I actually was competent in many of them. Not so much in some. This is all new to me. All different.

Sales is sales? What the heck does that mean? Nothing to me. That much I can tell you from experience.

The fact is, I plan on tossing most of what I think I know about sales out the window. Hopefully, I 'll get rid of some of those bad habits. The only way I can do that is to replace them with good habits.

All over the place? I don't think so. At least it seemed pretty straightforward to me at the time. You must be talking about the paragraph on training. Now, I realize to someone like you who has everything figured out, my own admissions must be pretty hilarious. The fact is, I haven't been in f2f with anyone for 10 years. Not to mention I'm starting out in a new field I've never sold in with products that are fairly new to me. Oh yeah, then there's the fact that MOST new agents selling insurance FAIL. The "good" ones close what? 25%? So I'm supposed to bull my way into this, cocksure this won't happen to me? Right.

Ride alongs or not, I have not way of knowing how well things will go until I run my first few appointments. And then I'll need to run some more.

Talk to me in 30 days. My perspective will be totally different then. Guaranteed.

Hard to train? Not if you know your stuff. I don't have the answers -- I don't even have all the questions. All I ask is the trainer tells me what s/he wants clearly and concisely and turn me loose.

Hard to manage? Not at all. Again, clarity and concision are key.

Hard to BS? Well, not really, but I tend to catch on quick and from then on, you're likely to find yourself talking to a great big empty.

Sorry to keep you up for so long. Nighty night.

Andy

Welcome to Fe AND...to the Forum. You are DEF going to fit in well here.

Oh wait...I forgot...."LOL".

 

[seeknulfind]

"I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as unrealistic."
******************************
I can see a lot of the stuff in the first list as realistic.....but not always available. Hey, the OP asked what the perfect scenario would be.
******************************
"The ONLY thing in the my list I would even hope for would be the medical insurance. Notice that one didn't say "free".
******************************
Don't worry, Obamacare's got ya covered.
******************************
"I've got considerable sales experience so I'm not sure how helpful a ride along would be"....
******************************
Your "considerable sales experience" mentality can be a positive or a negative here. Many think "sales is sales" while others find that selling FE is quite a bit different than whatever it was they sold before---making "ride along" opportunities valuable.

I totally agree about my "considerable sales experience". I know it came across as presumptuous and maybe it is. Pertaining to ride alongs, I've had them before and they are not always as helpful as they could be. A lot of this is due to having a third wheel tends to change things.

As I mentioned in the post above, this experience could very well carry more bad than good. I won't know until I hit the streets.

Concerning the first list, I don't see much of it being all that feasible for the reasons stated. Then again, I don't believe in perfection.

Andy

 

[jdeasy]

Okay Mr. LOL, so go take a nap. But before you recharge your batteries...

should I just decide everything is "just so" and leave it at that?

I think we agree past sales experience can be both good and bad.

Good because I know what it's like to call 100+ people a day for leads. Good because I know what it's like to knock door to door looking for leads. Good because I know what it's like to sit in front of someone at their kitchen table and sip what they call coffee while praying the cup doesn't give me dysentery or worse.

Bad for all the reasons above. Yes, I have some idea of what I'm getting into but that doesn't make any of it any easier or any more palatable. Bad because I KNOW I've picked up too many bad habits along the way. Let's face it if I was a super-successful salesmen in any one of my past jobs, would I be here now? Who knows? On the other hand, I actually was competent in many of them. Not so much in some. This is all new to me. All different.

Sales is sales? What the heck does that mean? Nothing to me. That much I can tell you from experience.

The fact is, I plan on tossing most of what I think I know about sales out the window. Hopefully, I 'll get rid of some of those bad habits. The only way I can do that is to replace them with good habits.

All over the place? I don't think so. At least it seemed pretty straightforward to me at the time. You must be talking about the paragraph on training. Now, I realize to someone like you who has everything figured out, my own admissions must be pretty hilarious. The fact is, I haven't been in f2f with anyone for 10 years. Not to mention I'm starting out in a new field I've never sold in with products that are fairly new to me. Oh yeah, then there's the fact that MOST new agents selling insurance FAIL. The "good" ones close what? 25%? So I'm supposed to bull my way into this, cocksure this won't happen to me? Right.

Ride alongs or not, I have not way of knowing how well things will go until I run my first few appointments. And then I'll need to run some more.

Talk to me in 30 days. My perspective will be totally different then. Guaranteed.

Hard to train? Not if you know your stuff. I don't have the answers -- I don't even have all the questions. All I ask is the trainer tells me what s/he wants clearly and concisely and turn me loose.

Hard to manage? Not at all. Again, clarity and concision are key.

Hard to BS? Well, not really, but I tend to catch on quick and from then on, you're likely to find yourself talking to a great big empty.

Sorry to keep you up for so long. Nighty night.

Andy

You are responding to a micro manager that cannot do the job that he recruits for. As if that wasn't already obvious by his posts?

 

[seeknulfind]

Welcome to Fe AND...to the Forum. You are DEF going to fit in well here.

Oh wait...I forgot...."LOL".

Mr. LOL,

Might be the first time I fit in anywhere.

Andy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You are responding to a micro manager that cannot do the job that he recruits for. As if that wasn't already obvious by his posts?

Good point, but some things are hard to resist.

Andy

 

[digfesales105]

Mr. LOL,

Might be the first time I fit in anywhere.

Andy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Good point, but some things are hard to resist.

Andy

I hear ya! I like it though. So much so, check out my signature.