Set up for Telephone Sales

[rousemark]

When it comes to selling FE, we already know going into the call that the prospect is going to look for the smallest excuse to continue procrastinating. I

That brings up another question I have. When you have your client on the phone and you put them on hold to connect the three way call, at what point do you merge the call and get your client back on the line. When the other phone starts to ring? When the third party answers? May be nit picking but it seems to me the longer the client is on hold, the more the chance they will hang up. F2F, you can recover from a mistake or reinterest the client, but I would think that you have no such "second chance" with telesales. One they hang up you are done.

 

[shonceman]

That brings up another question I have. When you have your client on the phone and you put them on hold to connect the three way call, at what point do you merge the call and get your client back on the line. When the other phone starts to ring? When the third party answers? May be nit picking but it seems to me the longer the client is on hold, the more the chance they will hang up. F2F, you can recover from a mistake or reinterest the client, but I would think that you have no such "second chance" with telesales. One they hang up you are done.

I put them on hold while I give the interviewer the application info. I prepare the client, before dialing the interviewer, that they'll be on a "brief" hold for "a few minutes". Honestly, I don't do loads of these phone apps, but I've been doing them since they were first rolled out. So far, I've never had anyone hang up while on hold. At first, I would dial the interviewer with the client on the line, but they would sometimes become impatient with the length of the call, usually about halfway through the reading of disclosures. Putting them on hold while I handle the initial communication with the interviewer seems to break up the process enough to mitigate some of the "antsiness".

 

[titeye]

That brings up another question I have. When you have your client on the phone and you put them on hold to connect the three way call, at what point do you merge the call and get your client back on the line. When the other phone starts to ring? When the third party answers? May be nit picking but it seems to me the longer the client is on hold, the more the chance they will hang up. F2F, you can recover from a mistake or reinterest the client, but I would think that you have no such "second chance" with telesales. One they hang up you are done.

I hate it when people tell me "don't over think it", so I won't say it to you. LOL
I don't put them on hold to start the conference call, until I have ALL of their information. That includes SS#, their bank routing and account number. Once they give you those two pieces of personal information, you are both on the same team. No one is going to give you their SS# and bank account # and walk away without expecting something for it. Once I get all of this, I tell them what to expect from the health interview. I tell them EVERTHING the health interviewer will ask so that none of us are surprised. Especially me! I read all the health questions and tell them these are the same questions the interviewer will asks. Once I have properly prepared them for the call, I perform the 3-way call. As soon as my device allows me to merge the calls, that's when I do it. Sometimes, it doesn't allow the merge until it recognizes a voice on the other end.
Check this out, there have been times when I have accidentally disconnected the prospect. However, since I already had their SS# and banking info., they picked up on the first ring when I called them back. LOL

 

[titeye]

One other thing. I had a bad experience with Liberty Bankers the other day. Both my client and I were on the phone for over 50 minutes waiting for a health interviewer to pick up. That has NEVER happened before. I called LB from a different phone to complain, while my client and I were still holding on the other line. Finally, the health interview answered while I'm talking to LB. Do you know the client stayed on the phone with me the entire hour!!! I will add, this may have been the 4th or 5th time that I had some conversation with her, however. I had already established enough trust, but I was still concerned.

It happened again with a different client the next day. Rather than risk losing the client, I called another carrier unbeknownst to the client.

 

[titeye]

Unlike many agents in the forum, I became independent because I thought I should be more loyal to my clients, rather than the captive company, considering it is the client who hires and pays me. I have absolutely zero loyalty to a carrier. I emailed LBL to explain the problem when it occurred the second time. Only this time, after waiting 10 mins for the health interviewer to pick up, a recording came on instead and said, "please leave a message". Really??? I have a client waiting to give you their money and you have a recording stating, "please leave a message"?
I politely advised LBL of the situation in the email, that I had to place the business with another carrier, and that I suspected that other agents would follow suit. Do you know I still have not received a reply from LBL? Did I mention the fact that I have ZERO loyalty to these carriers?

 

[myinsurebiz]

OK, I have a headset that I bought several years ago but it plugs into my computer..(not USB) Can't use it with my cell phone.. My home phone is a Verizon Home Phone..

Get a Google Voice # . . .

 

[myinsurebiz]

Totally the best wireless on the planet:

Wireless Headsets and Headphones | Headsets for deskphone and softphone

 

[titeye]

This is my headset:

Sennheiser MB Pro 1 & MB Pro 2 - Bluetooth Business Headset for mobile phones and mobile devices

You should really look into a VOIP-based system like Ringcentral or Dialpad. Being able to click and dial a phone number is very convenient and efficient.

I like the sound of that! One click and it dials your numbers?

 

[somarco]

Did you say DON'T do 3-way calls? How do you handle the POS interview for a phone app like LBL uses without adding the interviewer to the call?

I don't use LBL.

Carriers I use don't allow agents to be on the line during POS.

This is Medigap, not FE.

@Tahoe Ray , I have had wireless headsets, wireless phone and VOIP in the past (3+ years ago). Too many dead spots in my home, even if I stay on the same level. Two living areas + finished basement where my office was at one time.

Changed to mesh network last year which eliminated dead spots. The setup I have now, and have had for 2+ years works best for me. No dead spots. No dropped calls. No buzzing or other noise.

is there any such thing as interchangeable headsets?

Maybe, but can't say.

For me the jack is different for the Panasonic headset vs Samsung mobile phone. Headsets relatively low cost and I rarely use my cell for business in the car. Don't travel that much (even before Rona) so don't use my cell for biz as much as I have in the past.

I also prefer landlines because it's not a matter of "if" your internet will cause communication problems, it's a matter of "when". More often than not, I can tell when someone is talking to me from VOIP system. Either the conversation is delayed, causing both parties to speak at the same time and interrupting one another; there is an echo; or, I can't understand them because the call keeps breaking up in the middle of their sentence.

Same issues.

Same objections.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

Changed to mesh network last year which eliminated dead spots. The setup I have now, and have had for 2+ years works best for me. No dead spots. No dropped calls. No buzzing or other noise.

That's what I have as well and got it for the same reason you did.

I like to work outside in the summer and need internet out there.