New Agents - Inside Please

Crabcake Johnny

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Maryland
You're going to get a lot of advice about how to get off the ground in this business. I deal with a lot of "ok, I just got appointed yesterday and need internet leads - oh, and I want my website to generate leads to - oh, and...."

Stop.

Study. As in, a lot. Study your products and underwriting. Then when you think you know it, start over and study more. I'll go ahead and say that the knowledge your prospects perceive you have or don't have is most of the battle.

For health, study the HIPAA and COBRA laws. You should know the options for people expiring COBRA. Know the PCIP rules.

After you've studied....don't buy shared internet leads. First, you'll likely get clobbered by senior agents. Secondly, you won't be building any prospecting or marketing skills.

The worst that can happen is you actually close a few. That's like a hit off the crack pipe and you'll be chasing that forever. 2 years later you'll be curled up in corner with your laptop trying out the "8th" lead vendor. This isn't to say "never buy leads." Just don't buy them now.

Selling online? Ok - are you FANTASTIC on the phone? Are you fluid? Can you convey confidence and not rush it? Then you may want to start out with face to face meetings. Set appointments and drive on out. With very, very few exceptions the biggest producers on this board started out face to face. I understand online app weren't available back then, but they built up their chops.

I got off the ground by driving to appointments with my manager. If they would have kicked me out of the office without training and said "sell online" I'd likely be showing people where the power tool section is right now. If anyone wants to be a millionaire, start a "learn and drive" business where you take new agents on appointments they set for independent agents. In theory captive shops still do this - although that depends on "your manager."

A sales manager once told me that if I learn how to create my own business I'll never be out of work a day in my life. He was right. Learn to cold call. Learn business to business and telemarketing.

Prospecting is mainly free, so as you slowly get off the ground at least you won't be wasting hundreds a week.

Onto SEO. Forget about it for now. It's a mental diversion you don't need when you're brand new. Your sole focus should be on learning your products, generating your own leads through prospecting and running presentations. Focusing on getting on 1st page Google is a mental time suck you can't afford. That comes later.
 
Nothing but good, solid advice. I might also add don't be worrying about becoming incorporated or starting and agency until YOU KNOW the ropes.
 
I like the theme....you have to put your time in, there are no shortcuts in this business.

I started on the life side as a wholesaler....and it was a great experience to see all types of agents from multi-line to specialists..all income ranges, from solo agents to large groups with hundreds of agents.

The average agent makes about $45,000 per year...not too good.

What I learned from observing my top agents was that they had a system in place where they were always selling..prospecting, meeting with clients, asking for referrals, networking, self promotion....those were the agents making the $$$.
 
Good stuff! New agents are very fortunate that there are so many good resources on this Forum. If you're new...talk to veteran brokers on this Forum and ask away.

There is so much free advice here, you don't realize how lucky you are. And it won't cost you a dime!
 
14 years of sales training and about a year of successful face to face insurance sales, then online apps hit with tools like web conferencing.

My closing ratio dropped through the floor. I used to qualify, run the appointment and close around 80%. Pretty high face to face closing because I didn't run garbage.

All of a sudden I was getting hammered with "I don't have time right now" when I started to go into an online presentation and pretty much everyone pulled a no-show for "online appointments" meaning - "call me back tomorrow at 5pm and we'll do the application." Yeah...right.

It took me a great deal of time and a great deal of money to figure out how to put in enough apps online to make a good living. Even at that, my closing ratio was only a mere fraction of what it was when I sold face to face.

That doesn't mean face to face was fantastic or that it should be your business model. There is nothing better than selling online. It rocks...really. What I'm saying is your odds of successfully selling online when you're brand new are between low and zero.

And by the way, this is for indie health insurance which is relatively easy to sell online. I can't even imagine the total nuclear destruction of brand new agents trying to sell senior of life online.

The issue with that? Everyone parades the "super star." We've all seen this, right "Our new agent, Tom Smith just wrote 10 apps this week online?" But that doesn't give anyone perspective. Did Tom succeed where 500 other agents failed?

When you play roulette you know it's bad odds to put $500 down on "34." What if you didn't know that and it was sold to you that putting $500 on "34" meant average odds?
 
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Ah yes the captive life carriers prod out the project 100/200 and point you to a 20 year veteran and tell you that he does 100 percent of his business by referral.

True or false the above statement is irrelevant to you the newbie agent. There is no real reason for someone you just met, just took and application on to refer you to all his friends and family. The old school referrals don't work in todays environment anyway...

Old School you ask for the referal and then pick up the phone and call said referall. Problem they are on the DNC list.

Now your 20 year veteran is getting true referals. His clients have been asked, hey who do you work with...Is he any good and the 20 year veteran has done things right and the client says yes he is he is his number call him or I'll call him right now and you can speak to him.

So even if your manager is telling you the truth about their superstar it doesn't mean his model will work for you right now.

The real reason the manager pushes the project 100/200 is they have no earthly idea what else to do...The odds are your manager spent a year or two in production and managed to survive into management...Management pushes the project 200 because they know you as a noob agent should be able to get 10-20 friends to feel guilty enough to sit down with you and they will make some sales off of you before you fail out of this business.

This business is brutal, do not be decieved by the picture painted that you will work only a few hours per week...These hours they speak of are closing appointments and much work must be done to get to that closing appointment.

I love this business but just want to you realize the truth that this is a career not a get rich quick scheme.
 
Great post and it gets back to prospecting. Calling your 200 closest friends and family does not teach proper prospecting and marketing techniques.

It is pure fantasy that you'll call 100 people, write deals, they each give you 10 referrals, write more, then each give 10 referrals and all of a sudden you can't even handle the business.

However, if you write your uncle and old neighbor before you blow out, it's a great for the agency since 1,000 other agents did the same. And this is what actually happens - 200 contacts in your "circle" and you write a few. It also ends there.

This is why these outfits troll Monster.com contacting anyone who puts up a resume.
 
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  • Specialize in one line of insurance in particular
  • Pick a few quality products in that field
  • Know your products - study, study, study
  • Know your market - what are the main needs?
  • Find a need
  • Fill the need
  • Explain well how your product fills that need
  • Leave the rest on the table
If you keep focused like that, and prospect, prospect, prospect, your business will grow. Then, and only then should you add. You can add a related line of coverage or two. Or maybe add websites & SEO. Or perhaps a CRM or Agency Mgmt system. Or maybe marketing/advertising.

If you don't keep it simple and keep it focused, you'll die on the vine before the fruit ever ripens.

Find a need. Fill the need. Be an expert in your field.
 
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