Question about door knocking

[Lvm82]

Where in Texas are you located? There are probably some small, semi-rural towns within driving distance. I've heard that East Texas small towns are fertile ground for FE.

Again, I don't know what part of Texas you live in, but I frequently see female agents working around inner city Dallas. Most of them don't seem to last long. But I know of a couple female debit agents that had a 30+ year career working here.

Hmm... interesting. I am in the Dallas area. Why do you think the women down here don't last long? It is saturated, competitive or is it best to go to the rural areas? I know you mentioned the weather yesterday and it has been above 100 degree weather here for the past 2 or 3 months. Hopefully than doesn't stop anybody from making money though.

 

[WinoBlues]

In my yrs that's were I've had the toughest persistency

I have been doing this for a while also.
Just curious, is this really a problem? Do single males send in DMs?

The majority of my single-male policies are owned by someone else probably a female. Mother, sister, daughter, grandma or baby mama. And they stick.
My biggest issue is getting them to cooperate with underwriting. Sometimes taking the easy way, SI, is the best way. Not the best policy, but a policy.

 

[DonP]

I have been doing this for a while also.
Just curious, is this really a problem? Do single males send in DMs?

The majority of my single-male policies are owned by someone else probably a female. Mother, sister, daughter, grandma or baby mama. And they stick.
My biggest issue is getting them to cooperate with underwriting. Sometimes taking the easy way, SI, is the best way. Not the best policy, but a policy.

Overall it's not an issue . I vent them hard and if any red flags I walk . Yes they send them in . If I'm mailing fe I mail 55-80 . I've been doing this long enough to have a general feeling if there's a flag . For instance if it's a serial mailer I'm very cautious .

 

[shonceman]

Hmm... interesting. I am in the Dallas area. Why do you think the women down here don't last long? It is saturated, competitive or is it best to go to the rural areas? I know you mentioned the weather yesterday and it has been above 100 degree weather here for the past 2 or 3 months. Hopefully than doesn't stop anybody from making money though.

It's not just female agents that don't last long. Really, almost none of the agents I run into in "the hood" make it very long. Most people just aren't cut out for it. I do believe, though, that there is a higher degree of trepidation for a female working the inner city, so some may fall out for that reason.

At the same time, I think the lower income areas I work in are just better suited to the Home Service system. Most agents that I run into out here are selling bank drafted FE type policies. Persistency is definitely worse on those type of policies, if the agent isn't willing to do the extra work needed to keep them on the books.

I write both FE and Home Service products. Many, if not most, of my clients need and/or appreciate the extra level of service that a Home Service agent provides. So, my persistency is pretty high on those policies, even among a somewhat younger clientele (40-50ish). Agents who try to write FE type policies in the same neighborhoods usually crash and burn in short order due to poor persistency. After they go through chargeback hell for a couple months, most are out of the business.

 

[WinoBlues]

I have figured out what I want to do, just trying to see if finances warrant it. Right now Im not working. I have only 8 months to a year saved up worth of savings for business expenses such as leads/marketing, charge backs plus my daily living expenses.

You sound miles ahead of many people coming here thinking about "getting into the game" <I hate that expression>

 

[shonceman]

I have figured out what I want to do, just trying to see if finances warrant it. Right now Im not working. I have only 8 months to a year saved up worth of savings for business expenses such as leads/marketing, charge backs plus my daily living expenses.

I was thinking I should take the SF job to save up more money for the business as I'm terrified of spending/wasting money or I could hit the ground running with final expense and work hard to market AEP medicare this season. I did join a medicare only imo and they told me that I dont really need to spend any money for medicare. They told me to just reach out to some senior facilities or senior recreation centers and do seminars. Cigna reached out to me for seminars at Walgreens. I will definitely have to do final expense dior knocking as medicare alone won't pay the bills.

So If I don't take the job come October 1st, I'm going to have to really hustle hard to make this thing work. It is so easy for me to fall back in a comfort zone of a 9-5 job right now, but anything could happen in the future. I could get laid off, fired or worse have to deal with managers/co-workers bullshyt with little to no vacation or free time and barely any increase in salary to fight inflation. This is what I don't want to go back to.

I haven't worked an hourly job since my mid-20's. Best thing I ever did in my career was to move into commission based selling. Second best thing was to leave my captive situation and go indie. You sound like you've got plenty of drive and motivation. I think you're on the right track!