Numbers Game

rousemark

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Niota, TN
I grit my teeth a little every time I hear that said abut insurance sales. It gives new or failing agents the idea all they have to do is see more people. It does not take into account that selling is a skill and if a person is to be successful they need to put in time and effort perfecting that skill. They also need to put in time studying their chosen market.

I have known guys that would not be a successful if they were taking 50 Leads per week. One that comes to mind is a debit Agent on my staff that had a habit of not knowing when to shut up. He talked himself out of more sales than he ever talked himself into.

Then, you have agents take 10-20 Leads per week that do a tremendous amount of business. JD is one that comes to mind. Why is it possible? Usually they have taken the time to know their product inside and out but more importantly they know their market and the people that comprise it. Plus, they have polished their presentation and do not go into the pitch stumbling around wondering what to do or say next.
 
I grit my teeth a little every time I hear that said abut insurance sales. It gives new or failing agents the idea all they have to do is see more people. It does not take into account that selling is a skill and if a person is to be successful they need to put in time and effort perfecting that skill. They also need to put in time studying their chosen market.

I have known guys that would not be a successful if they were taking 50 Leads per week. One that comes to mind is a debit Agent on my staff that had a habit of not knowing when to shut up. He talked himself out of more sales than he ever talked himself into.

Then, you have agents take 10-20 Leads per week that do a tremendous amount of business. JD is one that comes to mind. Why is it possible? Usually they have taken the time to know their product inside and out but more importantly they know their market and the people that comprise it. Plus, they have polished their presentation and do not go into the pitch stumbling around wondering what to do or say next.

Like any sales, it is a numbers game, but you need to know your personal numbers as a base reference point in order to scale it up or down. Many people in this niche arena aren't knowledgeable enough to teach it, like in other channels. Has nothing to do with underscoring skill or effort to improve (and adjust) base numbers.

And what's with the JD butt kissin :1laugh: 10 leads a week won't work well for newbs, knowing their numbers will.
 
Like any sales, it is a numbers game, but you need to know your personal numbers as a base reference point in order to scale it up or down. Many people in this niche arena aren't knowledgeable enough to teach it, like in other channels. Has nothing to do with underscoring skill or effort to improve (and adjust) base numbers.

And what's with the JD butt kissin :1laugh: 10 leads a week won't work well for newbs, knowing their numbers will.

:laugh: No matter what you think of JD, when you talk about knowing the market, you have to think of JD... And no, 10 leads per week will not work for the average Newbie and I doubt it worked for JD in the beginning.. And, that is my point, he has honed his craft to the point that he can accomplish much more than average with fewer leads (numbers) than average.

I know that if a person sees more people they should close more but when the newbie hears "it's a numbers game", they think that is all there is to it. They don't realize there is far more to it than that.
 
:laugh: No matter what you think of JD, when you talk about knowing the market, you have to think of JD... And no, 10 leads per week will not work for the average Newbie and I doubt it worked for JD in the beginning.. And, that is my point, he has honed his craft to the point that he can accomplish much more than average with fewer leads (numbers) than average.

I know that if a person sees more people they should close more but when the newbie hears "it's a numbers game", they think that is all there is to it. They don't realize there is far more to it than that.

actually, you are correct. When I started I started with 5 leads per week. Did $12K in my first month on 5 leads per week. Doesn't get more new than that. Completely new to insurance.

After a couple months at 5 leads per week I moved to 10 leads per week and stayed at that level for 2 years. My first full year in the business I did about $270K on 10 leads per week.

So for the ones that say a new agent can't do that, they simply don't know what they are talking about.

And I also have always hated to hear it referred to as a numbers game.

That garbage comes from marketers. They don't care how many leads an agent has to buy or how many miles they have to drive or how many hours they take to get the "numbers". They just want the numbers because that's where they get paid. They make the same percentage off the agent regardless of how much it costs the agent to get it.

That's why it's refreshing to work with a trainer like Travis Tubbs. You will never hear him an agent to just get more leads. In fact, I've heard him tell agents to stop burning through leads because their problem is not a lead problem.
 
actually, you are correct. When I started I started with 5 leads per week. Did $12K in my first month on 5 leads per week. Doesn't get more new than that. Completely new to insurance.

After a couple months at 5 leads per week I moved to 10 leads per week and stayed at that level for 2 years. My first full year in the business I did about $270K on 10 leads per week.


So for the ones that say a new agent can't do that, they simply don't know what they are talking about.

And I also have always hated to hear it referred to as a numbers game.

That garbage comes from marketers. They don't care how many leads an agent has to buy or how many miles they have to drive or how many hours they take to get the "numbers". They just want the numbers because that's where they get paid. They make the same percentage off the agent regardless of how much it costs the agent to get it.

That's why it's refreshing to work with a trainer like Travis Tubbs. You will never hear him an agent to just get more leads. In fact, I've heard him tell agents to stop burning through leads because their problem is not a lead problem.

Does that horn hurt your forehead? :) Not many agents are going to write 12K per month off five leads per week..
 
actually, you are correct. When I started I started with 5 leads per week. Did $12K in my first month on 5 leads per week. Doesn't get more new than that. Completely new to insurance.

After a couple months at 5 leads per week I moved to 10 leads per week and stayed at that level for 2 years. My first full year in the business I did about $270K on 10 leads per week.

So for the ones that say a new agent can't do that, they simply don't know what they are talking about.

And I also have always hated to hear it referred to as a numbers game.

That garbage comes from marketers. They don't care how many leads an agent has to buy or how many miles they have to drive or how many hours they take to get the "numbers". They just want the numbers because that's where they get paid. They make the same percentage off the agent regardless of how much it costs the agent to get it.

That's why it's refreshing to work with a trainer like Travis Tubbs. You will never hear him an agent to just get more leads. In fact, I've heard him tell agents to stop burning through leads because their problem is not a lead problem.

Interesting topic

I have never thought about the "numbers game" in the light that is being shed. I do look at it as a numbers game but I guess I always assume that everyone is like me. They will actually work and can close.

Where I see it as a numbers game is... I am confident that I can write x amount of premium working x amount of hours and I will profit x. If I want bigger numbers/profit I simply increase the hours or leads.

It's hard to understand how others minds work.
 
Interesting topic

I have never thought about the "numbers game" in the light that is being shed. I do look at it as a numbers game but I guess I always assume that everyone is like me. They will actually work and can close.

Where I see it as a numbers game is... I am confident that I can write x amount of premium working x amount of hours and I will profit x. If I want bigger numbers/profit I simply increase the hours or leads.

It's hard to understand how others minds work.
That is what the term is supposed to mean but that is not what many hear.. especially an agent that is already failing. By the way if you are already working to your maximum effectiveness, the only way you can increase the numbers of leads worked is by increasing the umber of hours worked.. It is not an either/or choice. And, therein lies the problem... if a n agent is already busting their butt putting in the hours and failing, simply telling him it is a numbers game and to see more people is only going to serve to burn him out quicker..
 
JD........................The numbers for your first year are huge, especially getting only five leads per week. How much of your business is referrals and how do you go about getting them?

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I mistakenly said five leads per week instead of ten. Still huge numbers for so few leads
 
JD........................The numbers for your first year are huge, especially getting only five leads per week. How much of your business is referrals and how do you go about getting them?

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I mistakenly said five leads per week instead of ten. Still huge numbers for so few leads

That was 14 years ago. Very few referrals back then. Those were MP leads and to this day I say they were the best leads I ever worked.

And I didn't know anything about selling. Not just life insurance, anything. So I just did what I was taught. To the letter. That was the early days of NAA and they were all about production then. They started changing to recruiting over my second year and by 3 years I was gone as I wanted no part of that.

I didn't like some of the teachings about the presentation but I did it anyway. I got with the best producers and asked them how they did it. Especially appointment setting. Telling people no was the hardest thing I ever learned in this business.

As I learned my way I dropped the things that I didn't like and kept what I did. I still use some of my early teachings to this day.

I see the most failures from agents that just refuse to unlearn what they think they know and just follow the path.

Just speaking of FE now, this is not a career path that can be taught by someone that's never done it. There are some things, especially sports, that can be taught by a person that might not be able to excel at what they are teaching themselves.

FE is about the nuances of the market. If you want to be good at FE then get with someone that's good at it and copy them.

If that person is a piker then their advice will be, "it's a numbers game, buy more leads".

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Does that horn hurt your forehead? :) Not many agents are going to write 12K per month off five leads per week..

Dude, you brought me into this. I didn't bring this up.
 
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