Number of Days in Field

[DayTimer]

Edit: this is another thing. One 12 hour day is more productive than two 6 or even two 8 hour days. The time you spend in the field increases productivity logarithmicly not linearly.

This assumes you hit your production goals and your activity goals. But I don't see why any agent couldn't do that in 3 days 4 days tops. Even green peas.

I agree with that 100% - a 10 to 12 hour day easily equals two, sometimes three 8 hour days. Those extra 2 to 4 hours knocking or running late appoinments are very potent.

That being said, I still manage a few 10 to 12 hours days each month where I swing and miss at everything. But that happens on 6 hour and 8 hour days as well. I had a good start to the week on Monday and wrote $2K. Went out yesterday and I was shut out. I need $2K more and if I get it today and tomorrow I may slow down Friday and Saturday. But if tomorrow ends and I haven't hit it, I'll be out on Friday, and again on Saturday if necessary.

 

[somarco]

I still manage a few 10 to 12 hours days each month where I swing and miss at everything. But that happens on 6 hour and 8 hour days as well.

Which is why I always suggest going for something in your control.

You control how many leads you can generate.

You control how many hours you work.

You control how many hours you are on the phone.

But you have NO CONTROL over how many sales you make per hour, day, week, etc.

Most baseball players know their batting average, RBI's, home run's, etc. But a GOOD player will work harder when their average drops. Not everyone is a consistent .330 hitter. But when their average drops they work harder. Sometimes they listen to the hitting coach, sometimes not.

They can't control how many curve balls they see but they can control how much they practice.

If you only focus on sales (results) you will probably eventually fail. But if you focus on practicing your presentation you will eventually climb out of the slump. It might take a few days, few weeks or longer. But eventually a good salesperson will find their groove.

 

[NAF1138]

Which is why I always suggest going for something in your control.

You control how many leads you can generate.

You control how many hours you work.

You control how many hours you are on the phone.

But you have NO CONTROL over how many sales you make per hour, day, week, etc.

Most baseball players know their batting average, RBI's, home run's, etc. But a GOOD player will work harder when their average drops. Not everyone is a consistent .330 hitter. But when their average drops they work harder. Sometimes they listen to the hitting coach, sometimes not.

They can't control how many curve balls they see but they can control how much they practice.

If you only focus on sales (results) you will probably eventually fail. But if you focus on practicing your presentation you will eventually climb out of the slump. It might take a few days, few weeks or longer. But eventually a good salesperson will find their groove.

Don't know if I'm still on your ignore list, but I agree with this 100%.

 

[martha ramirez]

There's a lot of good replies here. It really comes down to how each agent works, and how you like to have your routine. Some people thrive on a very set routine, and they need to break up their week into doing different things. Then there's obligations, family, other business ventures, etc.

When I worked for a mega-giant insurance company, we had a set office schedule, where we'd be in the office 2 days, and in the field 3. Those of us that really wanted it were also in on Saturdays to get a head start filling in gaps for the next week.

When we opened our agency, it was just two of us, and we divided work based on what our strengths were. I'm a very people-oriented person, and people seem to be very comfortable buying from me with little effort. I have an accent, and it's more of a challenge for me to set appointments on the phone. My partner is very well spoken, and has a great phone voice, so for the first year he was on the phones every day just setting appointments, and I was in the field every day running them. He'd take care of the case work, office admin, etc, and I'd sell, sell, sell. A lot of the grunt work is handled by our software, now.

We then hired a lady who has proven to be an amazing appointment setter over the years. Once we started developing our own lead program, plus our referrals, and our lady doing cold calling, she was able to start scheduling between 40-60 appointments each week, which kept us both in the field. Then, we started hiring in agents. It was a progression, and everyone will find their own routine that works to help them maximize their productivity on the journey to success.

 

[DayTimer]

Which is why I always suggest going for something in your control.

I agree with you 100% and so does Nick Frumkin (@NAF1138)

I have really focused lately on just hitting my activity goal, which for me is to knock 18 doors everyday I am in the field - whether that is a pre-set appointment or the door of someone who sent in the lead card but has not set an appointment.

I know if I do that I will over a large number of days and weeks write an average AP between $4-$5 per week. Some weeks it will be $10K, and other weeks it will be a weak little $2K. I can't control who is home, who will answer the door vs who will peak out from behind their curtain and turn off the tv and pretend not to be home. I worked backwards from where I want my income level to be in order to determine the activity goal.

I believe Allan Benedict, a long time FE agent, used to say that 10 door knocks a day, 5 days a week should allow you to average around $3k/week in premium over time. He also said you will have bad days and bad weeks, but if you do the activity you should never have a bad month. Therefore, he warned new agents to focus on the activity, not the result.

Good stuff, Somarco!

 

[goillini52]

But I don't plan to put you on ignore. I'm not really sure why you are so angry.

Because he's old, or maybe he's got a prostate exam or a colonoscopy coming up. All 3 always make me angry.

 

[rousemark]

I agree with you 100% and so does Nick Frumkin (@NAF1138)

I have really focused lately on just hitting my activity goal, which for me is to knock 18 doors everyday I am in the field - whether that is a pre-set appointment or the door of someone who sent in the lead card but has not set an appointment.

I know if I do that I will over a large number of days and weeks write an average AP between $4-$5 per week. Some weeks it will be $10K, and other weeks it will be a weak little $2K. I can't control who is home, who will answer the door vs who will peak out from behind their curtain and turn off the tv and pretend not to be home. I worked backwards from where I want my income level to be in order to determine the activity goal.

I believe Allan Benedict, a long time FE agent, used to say that 10 door knocks a day, 5 days a week should allow you to average around $3k/week in premium over time. He also said you will have bad days and bad weeks, but if you do the activity you should never have a bad month. Therefore, he warned new agents to focus on the activity, not the result.

Good stuff, Somarco!

I agree that the activity goal is important but so is an income goal because that is the only way to measure if your activity goal is effective.. You can tons of activity but if you do not earn enough to pay your bills, you won't last long...

 

[NAF1138]

I agree that the activity goal is important but so is an income goal because that is the only way to measure if your activity goal is effective.. You can tons of activity but if you do not earn enough to pay your bills, you won't last long...

Look at me continuing to be agreeable! I'm pretty sure this is my thesis that got me on an ignore list though, so be careful.

There is no one thing. Life is too complicated for easy answers. It's all a balancing act and different things are going to tick different people's boxes.

 

[Abrasax]

I keep reading that many of the top agents only spend 2-3 days in the field.. If that is all they want to work in the filed that is fine.. But most say they spend another 2-3 days doing the grunt work, making phone calls, scrubbing apps, etc. Some say they use appointment setters in order to maximize their time but I don't hear anybody talking about hiring or contracting secretarial help. It would seem that would be a more efficient use of resources..Almost anybody can be trained to scrub an app and handle the majority of phone calls..That could really free up an agents time, allowing them to spend another 1-2 days in the filed doing the things that make the money.. Opinions??

Being from the midwest, I've always had a strong work ethic. I'm surprised the amount of effort others go through to make half of what a good insurance agent makes, and the insurance agent usually puts far less effort into it.

 

[KRobby]

Sales $ goals have an element of activity goal needed to generate them.
Activity goals have an element sales $ goals that it generates.
Regardless of if you call it backwards or forwards, the elements are the same, and the calculator doesn't care how you compute it.
The difference is in approach. Like somarco alluded to, having an idea of how your numbers will play out, what is the hitter striving for each day? Is 0-5 with improved looks, swings and contact better than 2-4 with 2 bloop singles? It depends on the hitters approach.
And like frumpkin said, "different things are going to tick different people's boxes."