Project 200

Also, may I add 100% of your friends and family that you dont want to add to your project 200 list will eventually die and you will have to attend most of their funerals. You will be asked, talked behind your back on how much life insurance you may have sold them. No one will care about that you were so honorable and never used their names for your project 200 when you started. Sometimes the hardest sales are to your spouse, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents and not knowing which policy will pay first.
 
I believe there is a personality type that excels in approaching friends and family and there is the opposite. It certainly is a failed formula from the traditional agency system. I say failed as the insurance industry is not successful in developing agents.

I worked in these systems many years ago and they were no more effective then than they are now. As someone stated earlier, it's helpful to the agency as they get to your natural market before most agents blow out of the business.
 
I believe there is a personality type that excels in approaching friends and family and there is the opposite. It certainly is a failed formula from the traditional agency system. I say failed as the insurance industry is not successful in developing agents.

I worked in these systems many years ago and they were no more effective then than they are now. As someone stated earlier, it's helpful to the agency as they get to your natural market before most agents blow out of the business.

what other industry does a better job at launching new commission only business people who many times have either no prior business experience or sales experience? I am not a fan of traditional life only agency system, but I think many people fail to remember that 80% of all new businesses fail, why would insurance startup businesses be any different.
 
what other industry does a better job at launching new commission only business people who many times have either no prior business experience or sales experience? I am not a fan of traditional life only agency system, but I think many people fail to remember that 80% of all new businesses fail, why would insurance startup businesses be any different.


Actually there are many businesses that succeed at an extremely high rate as compared to insurance agents. For example, franchise businesses have a 90% success rate. This includes all types of industries.

The number they tout may not be accurate, but it by far exceeds the insurance industry. We have failed as an industry to provide a model for success. This could be argued by saying human nature doesn’t support our industry well.

Call reluctance, lack of work ethic, etc. can be blamed. I say the insurance industry just sucks at providing the training and support necessary to help agents be successful. Certainly the FMO/IMO model is a major failure.
 
Let me reply as another new agent. Project 200 is pure BS. What other industry makes it's entry level sales professionals learn their trade sellng to family and friends? Well there is one- stock broker. But not so much anymore.

The insurance company is basically making you learn and start your career at the expense of your family and friends. This is bad for you, and short sighted of the company.

How to get started selling a great and useful product? Attend business and professional events, post on Facebook and LinkedIn, develop and buy leads, train with and support senior agents, or be the insurance person for a non-insurance financial services firm. Don't use your family and friends as cannon fodder.

Project 200 belongs in Amway, Herbalife, business history books and TV shows like Mad Men. LIMRA should be disbanded for this travesty of a faded marketing and networking concept.
 
Haha! I’ve been at this so long, I can remember when it was still a Project 100! When I was a new agent I was also new to the area. My district manager handed me a Project 100 to fill out. I told him I didn’t know 100 people. I didn’t even know 10 very well! I definitely had more success with other marketing methods (I did a fair amount of cold door knocking, among other things.)

However, as a sales manager myself I did have people use the Project 200 to start. My main purpose wasn’t to necessarily make sales in that group. I mostly wanted to have the new agents practice their presentation with someone with whom they were comfortable. I even told them to set the appointment up that way. “We’re not planning to pressure you into buying anything. My boss just wants me to get some practice.”

On the appointments I stayed true to that commitment, and while we were certainly looking for needs to fill, I always kept it at an educational and consultative level. But we did always ask for referrals from them, and that’s where you really start building your business.

Approaching your friends and family that way helps them feel like they're helping you learn in your new job, and not feel like you’re a hungry predator. Helps you feel less like that, too!
 
Now having said all that, I must confess that I’ve never gotten over my discomfort with approaching friends and family. But part of success in this business is being willing to break through in your areas of discomfort. I’ve also never seen a new agent last long who tries to circumvent his training. Yes, you might be able to come up with a better way. But do it their way first. Learn your presentation, and work your warm market and any other method they teach you. After you’ve gained some confidence and experience, you can experiment with some other methods until you find the right system for you,
 
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As a company, Edward Jones does it the best. They have a standard of collecting 25 contacts per day door-knocking in their defined areas. They set the expectations up front that cold-calling and door-knocking are expected activities.

Too many firms promote "No cold-calling"... and we wonder why the industry drop-out rate is so high. It's because they promote a bar that's so low.
 
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