New Meat Has Questions!

[MaxReaver]

Hello all,

Firstly, I am thankful for a forum like this as a great resource for someone like me who is new to the FE business!

Secondly, being familiar with traditional life and DI, FE is an entirely new beast to me! I am respectfully requesting some advice on the following from you salty dogs

I will be in-production part time as I have a full time job M-F I don't want to give up (just yet anyway )

1) Phoning leads versus door knocking and expected conversion rate for each: I will only be working weekends, but I could call for appointments during the week if necessary. Any advice as to what is statistically more successful on converting leads to sales?

2) What to wear: I know this is a lower income target market. I despise neckties with a passion! What are most of you guys wearing in the field? Can I get away with a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt? Would dress slacks & shoes be better? Does it even matter?

3) Working on Sunday: I will definitely be putting in some Saturday time, but what about Sunday? Any of you heavy hitters having luck on Sundays? Any drawbacks?

4) Being armed: No, I am not trying to start a mess here so please don't turn this into a gun debate. I live in TX and take my 2nd amendment rights seriously within the limits of the law. Have any of you had any safety issues that make concealed carry worth considering? In the interest of your privacy, please do not tell me if you do/don't...I am merely asking for input as to whether some people feel it is advisable or if many have had issues with feeling safe.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I look forward to contributing as an active member.

 

[Thedude]

Hello all,

Firstly, I am thankful for a forum like this as a great resource for someone like me who is new to the FE business!

Secondly, being familiar with traditional life and DI, FE is an entirely new beast to me! I am respectfully requesting some advice on the following from you salty dogs

I will be in-production part time as I have a full time job M-F I don't want to give up (just yet anyway )

1) Phoning leads versus door knocking and expected conversion rate for each: I will only be working weekends, but I could call for appointments during the week if necessary. Any advice as to what is statistically more successful on converting leads to sales?

Honestly I would learn to door knock first then transition to calling. Setting appointments is definitely the most efficient way. Door knocking keeps you on your toes and it's good to know at any point you can revert to it to make money. If you are good on the phones go for it. There are some good people on here to ask about phone appointments. I think JDeasy only sets appointments....bboman and others have phone scripts on here. Both great people to learn from
2) What to wear: I know this is a lower income target market. I despise neckties with a passion! What are most of you guys wearing in the field? Can I get away with a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt? Would dress slacks & shoes be better? Does it even matter?

I never wear jeans. Polo/button down and decent pants. Honestly it depends on where I'm working.
3) Working on Sunday: I will definitely be putting in some Saturday time, but what about Sunday? Any of you heavy hitters having luck on Sundays? Any drawbacks?
i've never worked Sundays personally. Saturdays are great days for me and in fact I will sometimes not work a day during the week and work a Saturday instead
4) Being armed: No, I am not trying to start a mess here so please don't turn this into a gun debate. I live in TX and take my 2nd amendment rights seriously within the limits of the law. Have any of you had any safety issues that make concealed carry worth considering? In the interest of your privacy, please do not tell me if you do/don't...I am merely asking for input as to whether some people feel it is advisable or if many have had issues with feeling safe.

I personally have never had any issues and I've been doing it over 5+ years now. I guess I have had some situations where I felt uncomfortable but just trust your gut and leave and try not to escalate anything. Out of all the agents I know very few that have had true security concerns. There are different types of crazy (in the city and outside) so just be prepared to run into all of them and just roll with it....if you are likable you *typically* won't have any problems

Thanks to everyone for their input. I look forward to contributing as an active member.

Good luck with your transition.

 

[rousemark]

Hello all,

Firstly, I am thankful for a forum like this as a great resource for someone like me who is new to the FE business!

Secondly, being familiar with traditional life and DI, FE is an entirely new beast to me! I am respectfully requesting some advice on the following from you salty dogs

I will be in-production part time as I have a full time job M-F I don't want to give up (just yet anyway )

1) Phoning leads versus door knocking and expected conversion rate for each: I will only be working weekends, but I could call for appointments during the week if necessary. Any advice as to what is statistically more successful on converting leads to sales?

2) What to wear: I know this is a lower income target market. I despise neckties with a passion! What are most of you guys wearing in the field? Can I get away with a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt? Would dress slacks & shoes be better? Does it even matter?

3) Working on Sunday: I will definitely be putting in some Saturday time, but what about Sunday? Any of you heavy hitters having luck on Sundays? Any drawbacks?


Thanks to everyone for their input. I look forward to contributing as an active member.

Welcome to the world of FE. I am not an FE "expert" but I will give my take on your questions based on my experience plus what I have seen the "experts" say.

1 & 3) There are guys on here that always call for appointments and then there are those that door knock every call. Seems like more of the top of the top producers call for appointments. However, you may want to give a try and see which suits you best. As for Sundays, I live in the Bible Belt so it may make a difference but I would not go out door knocking on Sunday. If I were going to work Sunday, I would do it only by appointment. A lot of people get really upset by someone knocking on their door uninvited on Sunday.. even those that are not religious.

2) I no longer wear a tie but do wear dress slacks and dress shoes with either a button down shirt or occasionally a polo. However, I worked with a guy the other day that had on jeans and a polo and he does just fine. The secret is what do you feel comfortable with? If you aren't comfortable, it will afffect your performance.

4) I see for some reason you deleted this question. Don't know why because it is a valid question. I have never had any real problem in the field but I always carry a .380 in my pocket. Better safe than sorry in this day and age. In fact, if you read the forum, you will see there are many agents that carry.

 

[PA Bill]

No need for ties and with some of these guys it's "anything goes" as far as their dress code. I am a big guy and am more comfortable in slacks. I like the lighter weight as I have no ass, so I am not constantly pulling them up. I personally prefer and need the support of a high quality dress shoe.

NEVER work Sundays, you will get burned out.

 

[MaxReaver]

4) I see for some reason you deleted this question. Don't know why because it is a valid question. I have never had any real problem in the field but I always carry a .380 in my pocket. Better safe than sorry in this day and age. In fact, if you read the forum, you will see there are many agents that carry.

Thank you for your responses. Yes. I had the deleted the question as I thought it might be too controversial. I have since added it back.

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NEVER work Sundays, you will get burned out.

I understand the concern here. This leads me to another related question.

If I am to focus on Saturdays only then, is it reasonable to set $2000+ in AP a week as a target for one day a week of appointments?

This a number I came up with, and I am concerned about the ability to do so operating only on Saturdays. Please keep in mind I have no frame of reference.

 

[PA Bill]

Thank you for your responses. Yes. I had the deleted the question as I thought it might be too controversial. I have since added it back.

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I understand the concern here. This leads me to another related question.

If I am to focus on Saturdays only then, is it reasonable to set $2000+ in AP a week as a target for one day a week of appointments?

This a number I came up with, and I am concerned about the ability to do so operating only on Saturdays. Please keep in mind I have no frame of reference.

$2000 in one day might be a little (lot?) aggressive, but you may be able to swing two grand in a months worth of Saturdays if your dedicated. You could do a lot with an extra $2000 every month.

 

[MaxReaver]

$2000 in one day might be a little (lot?) aggressive, but you may be able to swing two grand in a months worth of Saturdays if your dedicated. You could do a lot with an extra $2000 every month.

Okay - good to know. Perhaps I should revisit some expectations. And yes...a couple of extra thousand a month would certainly be noticed

 

[Baseball7]

-Worked in some of worst areas known in America and see no need to carry.

-generally wear nice jeans or khakis with a polo in the summer

 

[rousemark]

-Worked in some of worst areas known in America and see no need to carry.

-generally wear nice jeans or khakis with a polo in the summer

Easy for you to say.. You are not old and slow!

 

[MaxReaver]

So, with regards to setting goals, someone already mentioned $2000 in weekly AP working only on Saturdays might be a bit unrealistic.

What is realistic? Is $720 in weekly AP working only on Sats reasonably doable? $500?

As for my background, I would characterize my sales experience as novice.