Selling locally (re:online sales)

DexterManleyReading

New Member
18
My plans are to sell exclusively in my home state and not venture outside the state at first. So am I better off NOT selling over the phone via leads from my website (I don't actually have a website yet, but will in the near future) or since I'm only selling inside my state am I better off selling face to face?

I will be selling Life & Health. No P&C.
 
For heavens sake, whatever you do, don't purchase any business cards or thank you notes.

The rest of the armchair quarterbacks will be along shortly.
 
I guess the size of your home state will have a lot to do with your decision.
Around 7 years ago I did face to face all over Texas, put 58,000 miles on my car in 11 months.
 
I would argue you are far better off selling over the phone, but there is a place for both models.

If you like $4 gallon gas, rejection, missed appointments, and bugging people at home and work - you might like the drive around model.

Both have pros and cons, your call.
 
I would argue you are far better off selling over the phone, but there is a place for both models.

If you like $4 gallon gas, rejection, missed appointments, and bugging people at home and work - you might like the drive around model.

Both have pros and cons, your call.

As you can see, Joe loathes phone sales and only does face to face appointments...
 
Do as much as you can via:
  • Phone
  • Internet
  • Fax
  • Mail
I try to limit my face-to-face work to about one in every 1 or 2 hundred clients. I have a few clients that are from the old days that I like to visit and a few older clients who need the face-to-face.

You have to have volume to make it work. If you can only come up with 10 real prospects a week, you need to see each one of them. If you have 10 or 20 viable prospects a day, you will need to "see" them over the phone. Your closing ratio will drop when you stop shaking hands, but the volume will more than make up for it.

It is kinder to the planet and your wallet. It is safer. I might trip over one of my kid's toys, but I'm not going to get hit by a tractor trailer unless it is plastic.

I'm also home to handle emergencies. If my kid's school calls or my wife has a car problem, I'm reachable and not at the other end of the state.
 
You have to have volume to make it work. If you can only come up with 10 real prospects a week, you need to see each one of them. If you have 10 or 20 viable prospects a day, you will need to "see" them over the phone. Your closing ratio will drop when you stop shaking hands, but the volume will more than make up for it.

Hey Alstom,
Where do you get your 1-200 leads weekly? I'm in TN. Can I do the same? You call and "weed" out the uninterested, and then meet the ones who say "yes"?
 
Hey Alston,
Where do you get your 1-200 leads weekly? I'm in TN. Can I do the same? You call and "weed" out the uninterested, and then meet the ones who say "yes"?

I don't meet very many. I haven't met with one all year. I meet with one out of 200 clients, not prospects.

I get almost all of my clients from my website. The site is promoted with SEO and PPC marketing.

I also do email drip marketing, direct mail and telemarketing but almost all of my prospects got into my database via the Internet.
 
Personally, I like meeting with people, but I'm also comfortable on the phone.

The biggest question is HOW to find clients being new? Sure, I can sell a policy over the phone but what are the best types of ways to generate leads? Buy leads? Generate them off your website? Flyers? Email? Telemarket B2B? Which of those generates the most Life/Health leads?

I would think using your website to bring in clients would be the best way if you know how to optimize your site so that you'll get enough prospective buyers. But where can I get help with SEO optimization? I know the basics of it but that's not enough.

How do those of you who sell over the phone while generating leads from your website compete with the insure.com's of the world?
 
I think I must be missing something. When everyone that does it refers to selling on the phone, is this someone buying insurance from you just off the conversations you have with them? I would imagine if you called me wanting to talk about insurance and had nothing "tangible" for me to read, touch, and feel, i would just assume you were trying to get me to make a deposit into the personal bank of your pockets. Is there something that you are mailing the prospect prior to talking plans on the phone? how are you building your credibility over the phone?

I'm new to all of this and I am most likely missing something...could be that my brain turns to mush after reading a chapter from this health and life license book.


thanks in advance
 
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