My First Day

[Frank Stastny]

I just want to publicly thank Bob/Somarco for what he has done for me today. As you know from reading this thread, I'm a new agent located just down the road from Bob, and by all rights I don't suppose you'd be very far off in calling us competitors -- we're certainly prospecting a similar market. But despite that, Bob took a good hour and a half today to sit down on the phone with me and show me how he approaches sales.

I think I learned more from Bob in that hour and a half than I have in a week and a half of getting out there and doing it myself. You can't learn to ride a bike at a seminar, but if anyone can teach it over the phone then Bob can.

Bob, I hope I'm not opening you up to a flood of phonecalls from new agents asking for your help (and if I do, my sincere apologies for killing your work time!), but I sincerely appreciate the time and effort you took today to work with me. Hell, by the end of it, I was thinking about switching you to my AOR

Long story short, Bob = awesome guy, and deserves a little public applause for it.

That was very nice. With social skills like that you are going to do very well in this business.

I think the most successful agents in this business are the ones who know how to sell themselves. You "sold" me.

 

[hlink20]

I'm presently on my first day of being full-time self-employed as an independent agent. I am super duper nervous, but I suppose things are going alright.

I've made about fifty calls today over three and a half hours (I'm not fitting in nearly as many calls-per-hour as I thought I'd be able to). So far, I've had:

Two people who wanted to change their individual plans and requested that I call them back later on today.

One person that wants to put his nine employees on a group plan.

A few angry folks who have hung up on me, but far fewer than I thought I'd have.

Lots and lots of voicemails.

I feel sort of discouraged until I get up and step away for a second. Three decent prospects after 3.5 hours of calling, I don't think that's too bad...is it?

So far, I'm still trying to find what works for me. My script feels a little unnatural right now, but I think that'll come with time.Anyway, that's my story -- just thought I'd share while waiting for my webinar to start!

Congratulations on making the decision to be independent. You are doing fine. You can not measure your success within 3.5 hours on the phone. Start measuring by weeks and quarters, and do not focus on your sales result. Always focus on the activity that generates results.

For example: Focus on making 200 calls a day, everyday, and then measuring your weekly success. Very quickly, days will turn into weeks, weeks to months, and months to quarters.

If you focus on the activity, sales will be automatic. If you focus on the end sale only, your positioning yourself to enter peaks and valleys for the length of your career.

 

[souldeux]

I wanted to pull this thread up from page two because like any good little agent, I am organized and therefore prefer to consolidate my ass kissing

The forum community here has been absolutely phenomenal in reaching out to me and helping me out. Every single time I've found myself getting frustrated and I've mentioned it on here, someone has come along and pulled me up. I also had several forum recognize my picture from my website (linked in my signature) and compliment me at the recent IHIAA Lunch and Learn, which I really appreciated -- thanks guys!

Earlier in this thread I told you all about how Bob/Somarco sat down with me and told me about his approach to sales. Not to be outdone, I had an awesome conversation with Paul/moonlightandmargaritas just a few minutes ago that truly inspired me. Paul, you may have missed your true calling -- you could knock em dead as a motivational speaker, and I mean that.

Paul, just as I had expected and hoped, told it exactly like it is on the phone with me. He listened to me tell him what was frustrating me and why, and then told me what he thought would be the best way to fix those issues -- simple as that. I sent him a PM hoping for a paragraph or two about his experiences, and he gave me forty minutes of pure gold. Between the sales advice I got from Bob, the candor and advice from Paul, and the support an inspiration I've gotten from both, I think I'm ready to take on the world.

It can be a lonely business, lacking in the office camraderie that so many jobs have. I really enjoyed getting the chance to speak with you today, Paul, and you deserve a public "thank you" for your help.

Don't worry Bob, I still <3 you too. There's enough Nick to go around!

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Nick, thanks for the kind words, it was my pleasure. Here's to your success!

 

[robyn]

Congrats on your new business! I'm new on here but thought I'd post my thoughts on telemarketing. Now we telemarket for P&C but the same things hold true.

Think about your prospects and sales as a pipeline. You are trying to obtain quotes in order to bring you sales at the end of the sales cycle. For some that is 2 weeks, other products maybe a month? You'll figure out the average amount of time it takes a quote to purchase. Anyways, you want to fill your pipeline with quotes so that you have a constant flow of new business in the cycle. Your goal is to obtain as many quotes as you can, quickly, in order to give you those sales.

Start tracking. Make a simple form to fill out when you are calling and track everything. What day, time, how many dials, how many answered, how many said no, how many you quotes, and so on. Be obsessive about this information. It will allow you to figure out your call to quote ratio as well as what days and times work best for you. Before long you should see a pattern start to emerge.

Ask "why?" Just keep asking them why to get the real answer. Not interested? Can I ask you why? You will usually get a real reason from this that you can work with. "I can't afford it, My brother is my agent, etc."

Anyways, hope that helps! Good luck.