Sales systems: Think first... buy later

[Guest]

[I took this from the Cold Calling thread and stared a new one on it]

And now I'll plug getting Gary's CRM - instead of manually dialing 40 or 50 numbers an hour dial into a server and let it dial 120 numbers an hour. Triple your results.

Before you spend serious money on this service you might wait a while until his operation gets the kinks out. I won't go into detail (not necessary) but his customer service and follow-up is less than desired.

As with concepts like Vimo's "live leads," I'd wait until there are a lot more success stories posted here by agents with deeper pockets who are (i.e. can afford to be) early adopters. Otherwise I get the gut feeling that this could turn out to be another "Jami" situation where lots of us got 'taken' (including myself.)

I don't mean any disrespect to Gary, but I do urge caution before your expectations are raised to where you are committing substantial funds toward this system.

One facet always 'bothers' me about people who sell 'systems' or 'leads' or even 'productivity' be it in stocks, bonds, insurance, or anything else. If it is SO GOOD, why are they sharing it with us?

If a guy has a 'system' to sell $5M a year in annuities, why is he spending the money in expensive magazine ads trying to sell US that system? Out of the goodness of his heart?

If Gary's system was so terrific, you'd think he would keep it bottled up for his own agency's use and just vacuum in the money!

There is a local agent here who sells worksite products to blue-collar (or no-collar) micro-companies (like the 4-guy auto repair shop for example) via Colorado Bankers Life, Value Benefits Assoc., Farm Bureau, etc.. He has a 'system' and his own expensive call center (he gave me the tour... he knew I would not try to copy it) ... and he is not sharing all of his hard-earned knowledge with anyone.... except the agents who work for or through his GA. This operation is highly successful (I've seen the commission reports) but they keep a low profile and have no desire to sell or market their marketing system (which took them years to perfect.)

With all the lead generation companies out there and all the 'coaches' and all the FMOs with 'systems' that are claiming that THEY have the "holy grail" to success in selling financial products... you need to sit down and think a minute and ask yourself "Why are they doing this?"

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency

 

[GreenSky]

Al - When you post something inaccurate, I jump down your throat.

However, in this case I agree with you 100%.

All these systems remind me of the guys promising that if you buy their football picks, you "can't lose." If I had a way to sell insurance that could make me millions (or pick sports), I would have no incentive to sell it.

Rick

 

[djs]

Al

In many ways I agree with your sentiment. Whether its buy real estate no money down, buying and selling stocks, or the latest home based business, you have to ask yourself how does it help someone to sell the system. This doesn't mean they are all frauds, some are legit, but probably the overwhelming minority.

Lumping Gary's system in here is probably a bit disengenious, since he is currently offering it for free (you pay for data, not the biggest issue). This doesn't make it right, but removes one of my 'caution' flags on these types of systems.

My big concern with most of these things is the cash outlay and commitment. Spending a $1000 a month on leads when you have no control over the leads and have a time commitment is a fool hardy thing to do.

A few hundred dollars for something you use, can be money well spent. You just have to figure out what you need to accomplish to pay for the 'thing' and to make a profit.

To me, most insurance agents (myself included) could benefit from having a solid sales system, that they utilize, and not just sit on the shelf somewhere. Gary's phone system is not a sales system by itself, it's a tool that can be implemented within a sales system though. In other words, signing up for his (or any phone) system won't do you a bit of good if you don't have the rest of the plan in place, such as -

- Product to sell
- Target market that you are pursuing
- Way to get the appropriate data
- Defined planned to pursue leads
- Sales process in place from lead to prospect to client to sustaining
etc...

I have a system similar to Gary's that I pay significantly less for on a monthly basis, but it doens't come with some of the extras that Gary offers, which can substantially alter the benefit one way or the other. I pay for my system based on the time I actually use it, not by the month, which is important to me, since I don't work on it full time.

I guess my point is, whether you like or dislike Gary, his isn't a system that I would lump into your statement above. It's 2 separate things. Most true insurance sales systems are simply systems to part you with your hard earned money. Gary appears legit, and provides a tangible value type of product, not just a process that may or may not work (i.e., a book)

You are correct though in asking what motivates the person selling the product. This is true whether you are buying something on ebay, a home, or a sales system.

Dan

 

[Guest]

All these systems remind me of the guys promising that if you buy their football picks, you "can't lose." If I had a way to sell insurance that could make me millions (or pick sports), I would have no incentive to sell it.

Rick

When I was a young teen, my divorced mother married a wealthy man who had a couple of medium quality race horses.... as a hobby. He would take me to the track and there were guys who were 'touts.' Most sold green or pink 'tout sheets' for a few bucks that had their picks for the 9 races of the day. I never understood why they would share (sell) that info and not just use it for their own livelihood. It was an important eary-life lesson.

(There were also guys who would 'tell' you their picks IF you would place a bet for them... with your money... all done on a handshake. I also met a lot of low or mid-level crime syndicate loan shark or numbers guys whom my step father knew as they also were horse owners. Nice men, actually. They all looked like accountants, not Tony Soprano. When you are 12 or 13 and "real men" treat you like "a man" and buy you a hot dog and pizza and soda and use "hard " language with you...of course you think they are cool! They beat hell out of my dottering relatives! No, my stepfather (long dead... heart failure, not 'lead' poisoning) was NOT in the mob (as a kid I wish he had been!)... but knew a bunch of them who hung out at the track.)

But I ramble.

When it comes to the coaches, the FMOs, the 'super' annuity guys, and the lead companies... in the immortal words from Tibetan Buddhism... "Grasshopper, once you learn that the truth will set you free... find out how much it will set you back!"

Al

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I think I need to clarify - I'm talking about renting the CRM and making calls yourself. This is no "system for success" and in all fairness Gary's not the only one that offers an auto-dialer program - they can be purchased from a wide variety of vendors. It's just that Gary's can be configured and doesn't use VIOP.

All I'm talking about is using an auto dialer to make calls instead of manually dialing. So call Gary and go ahead and compare others - not a problem.

But I don't think there's gonna be much argument that when you're making calls yourself that you're gonna get better results if you're speaking with 30 owners per hour instead of 10.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

There is a local agent here who sells worksite products to blue-collar (or no-collar) micro-companies (like the 4-guy auto repair shop for example) via Colorado Bankers Life, Value Benefits Assoc., Farm Bureau, etc.. He has a 'system' and his own expensive call center (he gave me the tour... he knew I would not try to copy it) ... and he is not sharing all of his hard-earned knowledge with anyone.... except the agents who work for or through his GA. This operation is highly successful (I've seen the commission reports) but they keep a low profile and have no desire to sell or market their marketing system (which took them years to perfect.)

There you go.

Most folks selling leads and systems are making more from the leads and systems than they are working them...what is it they say, there's a sucker born every minute?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - for any type of long term success in the business, you've got to build yourself a little "marketing machine". A lot of different ways to do it, but ya gotta do it!

Any other way gives you no control, which is critical.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well again, we're not talking about buying leads here, we're talking about generating leads yourself, but simply being able to generate more.

 

[Mike_Golden1]

[I took this from the Cold Calling thread and stared a new one on it]



Before you spend serious money on this service you might wait a while until his operation gets the kinks out. I won't go into detail (not necessary) but his customer service and follow-up is less than desired.

As with concepts like Vimo's "live leads," I'd wait until there are a lot more success stories posted here by agents with deeper pockets who are (i.e. can afford to be) early adopters. Otherwise I get the gut feeling that this could turn out to be another "Jami" situation where lots of us got 'taken' (including myself.)

I don't mean any disrespect to Gary, but I do urge caution before your expectations are raised to where you are committing substantial funds toward this system.

One facet always 'bothers' me about people who sell 'systems' or 'leads' or even 'productivity' be it in stocks, bonds, insurance, or anything else. If it is SO GOOD, why are they sharing it with us?

If a guy has a 'system' to sell $5M a year in annuities, why is he spending the money in expensive magazine ads trying to sell US that system? Out of the goodness of his heart?

If Gary's system was so terrific, you'd think he would keep it bottled up for his own agency's use and just vacuum in the money!

There is a local agent here who sells worksite products to blue-collar (or no-collar) micro-companies (like the 4-guy auto repair shop for example) via Colorado Bankers Life, Value Benefits Assoc., Farm Bureau, etc.. He has a 'system' and his own expensive call center (he gave me the tour... he knew I would not try to copy it) ... and he is not sharing all of his hard-earned knowledge with anyone.... except the agents who work for or through his GA. This operation is highly successful (I've seen the commission reports) but they keep a low profile and have no desire to sell or market their marketing system (which took them years to perfect.)

With all the lead generation companies out there and all the 'coaches' and all the FMOs with 'systems' that are claiming that THEY have the "holy grail" to success in selling financial products... you need to sit down and think a minute and ask yourself "Why are they doing this?"

Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency

Al,

Instead of taking shots at me for being satisfied with Gary's results and service and inferring I was receiving something in exchange for posting something positive why didn't you just come out and say what it is that you don't like about him and his services? I could add several paragraphs like you did when questioning my motives but will just let others think what they will, I don't really care.

 

[Guest]

Al,

Instead of taking shots at me for being satisfied with Gary's results

I didn't take a 'shot,' I stated that I was NOT satisfied. I don't see where your opinion has any more validity than mine. I let people make up their own mind.... and to be honest... it is NOT about YOU.

and service and inferring I was receiving something in exchange for posting something positive

I didn't infer anything. I flat out asked. And you answered. What is your problem? You think people are going to believe me over you? Yeah right! I've got little if any credibility on this board. I know it, you know it, and everyone's NAA hating dog knows it. So chill. No harm was done. Don't you know that according to some (most?) you are dealing with the board-*** here? I'm no threat to you. I'm flattered that someone of your statue even pays me any attention! (Same with Rick, John, et. al. It's like I really 'matter'.... although I know I really don't!)

I know I don't know what I don't know. I'm OK with that. That's why I'm here.... to learn from you, Rick, John P., STI, James, Chumps, Mr. B., Margarita, Ritter, and a whole bunch of others.

why didn't you just come out and say what it is that you don't like about him and his services?

I did. Re-read the post. What do the words "customer service" and "follow-up" mean to you?

Basically, my VERY LIMITED experience with his company (not him personally) has been different than your experience. There is no need for me to go into detail... as I won't convince you or anyone else... and that is not my intention. My intention is not to 'dump' on Gary. My intention is the title of this thread. Read it. Again, what is your problem? As long as YOUR needs are being addressed by Gary, what issue do you have with me?

I could add several paragraphs like you did when questioning my motives but will just let others think what they will, I don't really care.

Now that's crap. If you really didn't care... you would not have posted about it. I don't care what you think of me or Gary or anyone else... "but to thine own self be true."

Al

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

If Gary's system was so terrific, you'd think he would keep it bottled up for his own agency's use and just vacuum in the money!

T
Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency

Well that's an odd statement Al. So if I designed some kind of new kitchen appliance that I really thought a lot of other people would want then instead of trying marketing it I should just design one for my own kitchen and go about my life?

Doesn't the inventor of any product try to get it into the hands of as many people as possible? If someone successfully designs an all electric car should he just make one car for himself?

Hey, I'm not stupid - if I could make $10,000 a week by having people purchase something I came up with that's legitimate and works do you think I'd be grinding it out selling individual plans?

But to directly answer your question the reason Gary doesn't keep this a secret and just use it grow his agency is because agents don't work. And agents who do work can't close. Agents who do work and can close do it unethically and everything blows back on 'em.

You want the percentage of agents you'll hire that will work hard, put deals on the books and sell ethically? Lord 1% of 1% of 1%.

I know agents I could give a referral to that I've already closed and they'd mess it up.