Telemarketing

[Ahnuld]

salpro22,

I have a rough idea, but I will get the info for you. I forgot to point out, but this is strictly individually issued health insurance, mostly HSAs. And most of the appointments are to small businesses either 2-9 employees. No small group plans are sold (I'll have more later on this if you want). If they cross sell, say a life policy, she does not get as big a cut. On the other hand, if they do not sell a health policy but do sell a life, etc., she's on for her 20%. She's not on any referrals coming from the appointments.

As usual, I digress. It's something like $25 a set appointment and 20% of the agents' commissions.

Example:
$3,000 annual premium at 15% commission = $450
$450 annual commission X 20% = $90
20 appts/wk X $25/appt X 50 wks = $25,000
10 apps/wk X $3,000/app X 50 wks X 3% (20% of the agent's 15%) = $45,000​

That's $70,000. They live in Nebraska. Price of living is no where near that of Stamford, CT. She's home at night and on weekends. They are not out to create a mega agency, just a nice living for a handful of agents. With businesses, they have mostly daytime appointments and the occasional evening and weekends.

Hope this helps.

 

[SureShot]

I have my own individual call sessions where I make up a weird "two last name" name like O'Neill Richardson. I set appointments for myself at ease without the worry of having to answer any questions and leaving all business talk for the actual appointment. I feel that when you want something done, you do it yourself.

On the flipside, I did telemarket once in my past life for a lady that owned a mortgage business. It sucked because I did set appointments and the fat hippo ate all the commissions and paid me 7 bucks an hour. When I figured how much money she made, I flipped. I was 16 setting 3-4 appts a day from cold sources.

 

[Ahnuld]

Live and learn. What circus is she working with now? Does she still sport the beard?

 

[J.R.]

salpro22,

I have a rough idea, but I will get the info for you. I forgot to point out, but this is strictly individually issued health insurance, mostly HSAs. And most of the appointments are to small businesses either 2-9 employees. No small group plans are sold (I'll have more later on this if you want). If they cross sell, say a life policy, she does not get as big a cut. On the other hand, if they do not sell a health policy but do sell a life, etc., she's on for her 20%. She's not on any referrals coming from the appointments.

As usual, I digress. It's something like $25 a set appointment and 20% of the agents' commissions.

Example:
$3,000 annual premium at 15% commission = $450
$450 annual commission X 20% = $90
20 appts/wk X $25/appt X 50 wks = $25,000
10 apps/wk X $3,000/app X 50 wks X 3% (20% of the agent's 15%) = $45,000​

That's $70,000. They live in Nebraska. Price of living is no where near that of Stamford, CT. She's home at night and on weekends. They are not out to create a mega agency, just a nice living for a handful of agents. With businesses, they have mostly daytime appointments and the occasional evening and weekends.

Hope this helps.

That's not a bad system, but I've been down the road and don't wish to go down there again unless the person who knew what I was making ONLY included my wife.

IMHO, it is nobody's business how much money I make, especially one of my employees and as the person after you wrote... somebody finds out gets pissed and does there own thing and then their back to something else because they failed to realize that sales is a bit different then telemarketing and can be quite a challenging living.

That means you either have to hire somebody who is stupid AND motivated. Good luck there...OR...Pay on a sliding scale basis w/ a base salary, some nice benefits and bonuses.

So in your scenario the person is closing 1 out of 20 telemarketed leads or were you using that to get close to the break even point??? That's about 5-10 hours of work, but lets just say 8 because we have a killer telemarketer here. Using your number's I'd make $450 for the week (Does Nebraska really pay that low) and have to pay the marketing $90 in commission + $500 for appointments...making the grand total of $590...leaving me negative $140 for the week. What am I missing here?

 

[Ahnuld]

You make excellent points on why this would not be your marketing strategy of choice. One man's meat is another man's poison. Regardless, it works for them.

They send out letters to small employers targeting a single trade, say plumbers or auto repair shops. They do better in small towns.
They use a variety of messages, but the essence is this:
​

Our focus is to help small business owners be informed healthcare consumers. Because group insurance rates are two to three times as expensive as individual plans, we believe that the best option for most small businesses of less than 20 employees is to let the employees sign up for individual coverage...yada, yada, yada...

The end result is that you can cut your costs in half, while providing your employees with better coverage. To learn about whether an HRA plan is right for your situation, please enter your contact information to order our special report:​

Some respond by returning the postage paid postcard, but many do not. They call every employer mailed a letter. They gather the basic information needed to run a quote on the owner only, not his employees (if you can't save the employer money, what's the point? If he can't get underwritten for an individual policy, stay on a group policy). They run the quote and call back to set the appointment. If the owner says to mail the quote or tell him over the phone, they say that he would never understand it anyway and it would be a waste of everyone's time trying to explain it over the phone. If the business has 5 employees, that's up to five individual sales. Not everyone wants an HSA, so they sell them the traditional co-pay health.

Forget the math for the moment. Forget how many appointments are set a week. Hypothetically, if you sat in front of 10 employees a week, how many would you close on average? My guess is 50% or better. Each appointment is with an employer who has one or more employees. Two appointments a week with 5-employees each is potentially seeing 10 employees.

Again, it works for them. A variation seems to work for Agent045, too.

 

[J.R.]

You make excellent points on why this would not be your marketing strategy of choice. One man's meat is another man's poison. Regardless, it works for them.

They send out letters to small employers targeting a single trade, say plumbers or auto repair shops. They do better in small towns.
They use a variety of messages, but the essence is this:
​

Our focus is to help small business owners be informed healthcare consumers. Because group insurance rates are two to three times as expensive as individual plans, we believe that the best option for most small businesses of less than 20 employees is to let the employees sign up for individual coverage...yada, yada, yada...

The end result is that you can cut your costs in half, while providing your employees with better coverage. To learn about whether an HRA plan is right for your situation, please enter your contact information to order our special report:​

Some respond by returning the postage paid postcard, but many do not. They call every employer mailed a letter. They gather the basic information needed to run a quote on the owner only, not his employees (if you can't save the employer money, what's the point? If he can't get underwritten for an individual policy, stay on a group policy). They run the quote and call back to set the appointment. If the owner says to mail the quote or tell him over the phone, they say that he would never understand it anyway and it would be a waste of everyone's time trying to explain it over the phone. If the business has 5 employees, that's up to five individual sales. Not everyone wants an HSA, so they sell them the traditional co-pay health.

Forget the math for the moment. Forget how many appointments are set a week. Hypothetically, if you sat in front of 10 employees a week, how many would you close on average? My guess is 50% or better. Each appointment is with an employer who has one or more employees. Two appointments a week with 5-employees each is potentially seeing 10 employees.

Again, it works for them. A variation seems to work for Agent045, too.

If I conducted face to face presentations I would do something similar to that with a few variations. I do like their approach. However, it does all come down to the math. I may very well implement a similar strategy IF I decide to work the small business market, but then I'd have to trade in my bathrobe for a suit and I'm apprehensive about that commitment

 

[k1s1h1]

I have decided that on march first I am going to start hiring someone to make calls. I would like to hear from some of you about your script. What works.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

IF I decide to work the small business market, but then I'd have to trade in my bathrobe for a suit and I'm apprehensive about that commitment

No Men's Warehouse in the Nutmeg State JR?

 

[arnguy]

Agent045 mentioned being a licensed agent. In PA, if you have a person who is not a licensed agent discussing the details of an insurance plan/policy, the agency is subject to a fine by PA DOI of 10K. It has happened.

 

[Agent045]

Agent045 mentioned being a licensed agent. In PA, if you have a person who is not a licensed agent discussing the details of an insurance plan/policy, the agency is subject to a fine by PA DOI of 10K. It has happened.

I agree Arnguy if you can get a license agent to make calls it is best to do so to avoid being misleading or presenting incorrect information. I highly suggest CYA..