New Agent- 2 FE questions

[DayTimer]

My thoughts are to qualify my leads' potential criminality with background checks, avoid the worst neighborhoods based on my knowledge of my city (or crime reports if it's another city),

I'd eliminate about $150K in premium per year if I did that lol ... and background check your leads? That can't possibly mean what it sounds like it means. If they can answer the felony related questions on the app, they qualify for life insurance.

EDIT: I don't mean to make light of your concerns, by the way. I have posted here in the forum recently that I was working a lead (door knocking) the week before last when a shooting occurred just two blocks North of me on the same street in broad daylight around 6 o'clock in the evening. An innocent bystander was shot, though she is expected to survive. There is nothing saying that someday I may not be the innocent bystander who gets shot.

 

[BibH]

I sold a policy in an area were 1 block away a person was shot dead the day before . It's the chance we all take although I've never felt threatened . But I'd never advise a woman to go to the places I go . Last week dk'ed a man . He had padlocks on his front door . He opened them. I looked down and he's in a wheelchair with no legs smoking a cig . Dog crap on the floor and no carpet . I actually went in and he's telling me how people after him . I stopped the bs immediately and asked him can you afford $25 a month . He said no and I said ok and walked .

 

[Baseball7]

stopped the bs immediately and asked him can you afford $25 a month . He said no and I said ok and walked .

Right for the kill i see. Shame he has a $200/m senior life policy you missed.

 

[BibH]

Nope . He said he had no ins . Regardless of conditions or craziness I always ask that first . I never prejudge anyone .Wrote a guy $93 a month last week that drives a riding lawn around and lives in squalor. He had Colonial Penn Gi I replaced . He had a DE card that expired in 2021 which excites me as I know he rarely loses his card which means I don't have to worry about lost cards .He had 2 cards he was about to send it . I tore them up and told him never send another card in

 

[KRobby]

I'd eliminate about $150K in premium per year if I did that lol ... and background check your leads? That can't possibly mean what it sounds like it means.

Are you saying your closing rate would suffer tremendously, or that you wouldn't know how to expand your territory to keep a similar lead count? Isn't Douglas known to pretty much avoid all of south florida (for different reasons), but also managed to work a ton of leads. Great thing about indy is you can choose the zips to drop..and if Ho is concerned about safety, they also come with crime stats, so you might have a threshold to avoid. Really cool feature.

 

[indiana260]

Right for the kill i see. Shame he has a $200/m senior life policy you missed.

This is one of the biggest mistakes agents make. They walk when a client says can't afford or they have coverage/taken care of.

Those situations just perk my interest in the client.

 

[rousemark]

Hey y'all!

I will be licensed in L&H at the end of this month, so I'm working on getting my ducks in a row and I have a couple of FE specific questions.

I'm interested in FE for a few different reasons. I feel like I can understand the challenges of the clients in that market, which should help me know how to present to them, how to identify their needs, and how to select the best product for them and their income (and one that actually has a chance for good persistency.) I grew up with my great-grandparents on a fixed income, I have been a caretaker for two elderly relatives who were both on a fixed income and Medicare, and I have personally benefited from an FE policy (without which I would have been in major trouble paying for burial expenses), so I understand how important it can be.

Question 1: From my research, it sounds like most successful FE agents work FE exclusively (and sometimes as an adjunct to Med supps.) This makes sense since it sounds like a pretty niche market without a whole lot of overlap from "regular" insurance policy clients. So if I go this direction, I would need to focus on just FE, yes?

Question 2: From my research, it sounds like the FE market is lower to lower middle class seniors. In my city and surrounding area, these populations live in three basic areas: the surrounding rural area, lower middle class neighborhoods with very small homes and low crime (I live in one of these!), and lower class neighborhoods with moderate to high crime. Obviously, the last type is my concern. So how do you protect yourselves (or suggest a slightly built woman would protect herself?)

My thoughts are to qualify my leads' potential criminality with background checks, avoid the worst neighborhoods based on my knowledge of my city (or crime reports if it's another city), and finally get my CCP. Other suggestions? Do you think disqualifying whole neighborhoods because they're possibly unsafe is going to seriously damage my ability to work FE? We all know there's a big difference in safety concerns between women and men, so don't feel like you have to be totally PC with your responses.

Sorry for the novel! Thanks for any help you can give me. I really appreciate it.

P.S. You are welcome to make fun of my terribly selected user name. I used to work a Home Office, not a corner. I thought about changing it, but what the hell, I love a good laugh at my own expense. I'm sure it will surprise none of you that Goillini52 already got me pretty good.

One comment. It is preferable to classify people as lower to middle income. No one likes to be called low class. Don't judge people's pocketbooks by where they live or how they dress but do not work any area where you do not feel safe.

 

[HOtoAgent]

One comment. It is preferable to classify people as lower to middle income. No one likes to be called low class. Don't judge people's pocketbooks by where they live or how they dress but do not work any area where you do not feel safe.

Thank you for pointing that out! I definitely didn't mean to sound judgmental or sound like I'm looking down on folks in a lower income bracket, but I can see that's how it comes off. (Ironically, I grew up in a lower income bracket and I wouldn't want anyone to judge my family, friends, or myself due their income because it has zero correlation to their character or anything else important about them.) My wording sucked and I'll correct it going forward.

 

[rousemark]

My state provides a public database of convicted felons as well addresses and maps of the homes of all registered sex offenders, so it's pretty easy to identify known offenders once you have a name or address.

You are assuring they actually register and live where they cka

Thank you for pointing that out! I definitely didn't mean to sound judgmental or sound like I'm looking down on folks in a lower income bracket, but I can see that's how it comes off. (Ironically, I grew up in a lower income bracket and I wouldn't want anyone to judge my family, friends, or myself due their income because it has zero correlation to their character or anything else important about them.) My wording sucked and I'll correct it going forward.

. I didn't think you meant anything by it. You were talking about working FE, it does not have to be in the most rundown areas and the government projects. There are plenty of blue collar working class areas a person can work.

 

[BibH]

Lol Indiana 260 . The dude lived in filth , had holes in his floor and dog poop everywere and if you jam it down his throat he's simply going to call the company before the first draft and cancel it . But we have super salesman on the board that can sell anything yet 95% of The supposedly big hitters over the last 5 yrs on here are recruiting like crazy and hawking leads now .