Need Advice

[GoCubsGo]

Sure beats knocking on doors. I don't know how you could say it wastes a lot if money. I can write those expenses off. You can't write off time...

I was going with the thought that if knocking wastes time because you knock on doors that don't produce anything then mailing to houses that don't produce anything wastes money. Not saying knocking is better

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

I was going with the thought that if knocking wastes time because you knock on doors that don't produce anything then mailing to houses that don't produce anything wastes money. Not saying knocking is better

Your thoughts are wrong. Pay attention!

 

[jtow]

Agents come in at various levels based on their current level of experience. Not all agents need extensive training but those that do EFES provides that for them. We certainly show each agent what they need to do in order to increase their commission... the override is not for the benefit of EFES this is in order to pay the manager for their time, expertise and ability to train people the right way to stay in business selling FE.

As far as the audio training and recordings previously mentioned this would be referring to the EFES U... this is is a newly upgraded training module that was designed like iTunes in terms of searching for FE topics... This pulls thousands of hours of FE training from some of the most elite FE agents of the past, the present, and soon to be the future of this business.

Certainly you are right our EFES lead program isn't for everyone. JD has said this from the very beginning, but the demand to get on our lead program is still very high mainly from the reasons listed below:

1. 10 Day Lead Financing
2. Lowest Lead costs in the industry
3. No hassle with return rate issues
4. Zero worry with dealing on weekly decisions of where to mail
5. Virtual assistant that scrubs your apps for mistakes
6. Full time wingman (marketer) to assist with issues

Travis and JD are right that some agents are not best fit for EFES' lead program... These agents have a distinct quality about them... Most importantly they have the finances to bankroll their own lead program. This is why EFES provides every agent with two agent numbers... This allows each agent to have access to the higher commission if they so choose to go brokerage and take the risk in mailing their own mail. We actually also provide brokerage opportunities with discounted mail prices per thousand... EFES leverages the fact that we own and operate our own mail shop where we can generate a lower cost for all broker agents wanting to do their own mail drops...

Look at the history of the postal service, eight years ago you could get direct mail drops for 330 a thousand at any given print shop. Now you are looking at 390-420 per thousand. Just to be blunt the united states postal service is going broke and they are constantly raising the cost of mail. This directly affects everyone!!!

The facts are that during my 8 years of recruiting and offering both programs to every agent I have ever spoken to 95% of the time the agent wants to go with the lead program. If I could have it my way I would have every one of our agents on the brokerage side where they do their own mail. The reason for this is very simple they assume all the risk.

Ryan

Ryan, can you say how much the mail drop per 1000 is for the broker side of EFES?

 

[Ryan Caras]

Ryan, can you say how much the mail drop per 1000 is for the broker side of EFES?

that is a hard question to answer in this type setting...

it depends on a few factors

how often someone wants to mail
how much they want to mail
how much perm the company would get

i have no problem losing money on the mail if i can make it up with prem...

sorry for a vague answer but the truth is it just depends... these are type of deals i just cut based on individual conversations...

i have a broker that gives us between 15-20 a month every month for three years and i do his mail for much less than 350 per thousand...

loyalty to me is worth a lot of our companies money... something to be said about a agent that cares about their upline as much as the upline cares about the agent... when it happens which is not often is usually the perfect brokerage relationship...

 

[HomeService]

So.... how many policies did you sell last month?

I've actually been doing well lately, which is why I've been kind of boasting around here, lately.
But that could bite me in the rear end eventually.

 

[VolAgent]

I've actually been doing well lately, which is why I've been kind of boasting around here, lately.
But that could bite me in the rear end eventually.

That is good to hear. Usually you are on the outside looking in or looking for the next great thing. It is good to hear you have found a home and some success.

 

[HomeService]

That is good to hear. Usually you are on the outside looking in or looking for the next great thing. It is good to hear you have found a home and some success.

Yes, thank you. I gotta admit I was really really negative. For years. From like 2007 to 2012. How can somebody post on here for like 5 years about negative stuff and just complain and be a debby downer? I did it. I dunno what the heck was wrong with me. I'm starting to snap out of it.

Part of the problem was I had a business of my own, it was non-insurance related. I thought it was rockin'. I built it up all from going door to door, well, business to business. I built that thing. 7,000 a month coming in. I thought I was on top of the world. But the expenses were like 5,000 a month, so I really wasn't rockin'. My wife forced me to give it up. I was mad at her, I should have been mad at me.

So I decided to replace that money with insurance premium coming in. Maybe the expense will be less, if I keep the expenses down. I did not keep the expenses down with my other business. This is why I don't want to spend money on leads, right there, that's the reason.

 

[PittAgent]

Yes, thank you. I gotta admit I was really really negative. For years. From like 2007 to 2012. How can somebody post on here for like 5 years about negative stuff and just complain and be a debby downer? I did it. I dunno what the heck was wrong with me. I'm starting to snap out of it.

Part of the problem was I had a business of my own, it was non-insurance related. I thought it was rockin'. I built it up all from going door to door, well, business to business. I built that thing. 7,000 a month coming in. I thought I was on top of the world. But the expenses were like 5,000 a month, so I really wasn't rockin'. My wife forced me to give it up. I was mad at her, I should have been mad at me.

So I decided to replace that money with insurance premium coming in. Maybe the expense will be less, if I keep the expenses down. I did not keep the expenses down with my other business. This is why I don't want to spend money on leads, right there, that's the reason.

What kind of business was it? 28.5% profit margin isn't really that bad for most businesses.

 

[HomeService]

What kind of business was it? 28.5% profit margin isn't really that bad for most businesses.

I know, right? I liked it, I thought it was good. And I was on the verge of making it more like 3000 bring home for me. That would have been good. That was my next move. It was a courier delivery business. I delivered from Austin to San Antonio, I even took runs to Bryan/ College Station, to Aggieville. I used to deliver hot shot meds for a company when somebody was shot and losing blood, so I used to go to hospitals all over like Houston and Dallas and even Tyler. I got my insurance license back around 2005. This delivery company was from 2002-2006. I let my insurance license go from 2000 to 2005, however I used to drive around TX thinking I wanted to sell inbetween the deliveries, and so I got it back around 2005 or so. I had a driver in San Antonio and one here in austin and me, and my wife helped out when she could on her days off from her work, but that made her angry because she wanted time off and not to spend it working for me!! I don't blame her.

 

[PittAgent]

I know, right? I liked it, I thought it was good. And I was on the verge of making it more like 3000 bring home for me. That would have been good. That was my next move. It was a courier delivery business. I delivered from Austin to San Antonio, I even took runs to Bryan/ College Station, to Aggieville. I used to deliver hot shot meds for a company when somebody was shot and losing blood, so I used to go to hospitals all over like Houston and Dallas and even Tyler. I got my insurance license back around 2005. This delivery company was from 2002-2006. I let my insurance license go from 2000 to 2005, however I used to drive around TX thinking I wanted to sell inbetween the deliveries, and so I got it back around 2005 or so. I had a driver in San Antonio and one here in austin and me, and my wife helped out when she could on her days off from her work, but that made her angry because she wanted time off and not to spend it working for me!! I don't blame her.

I divorced a woman over being negative about my business. She told me to pick my business or her. I picked my business.