- 7,066
Getting them to agree to the appointment, that's the fly in the ointment!!!
When an agent is selling Med Supps it is quite easy if you can quote them a price that saves them money.
Telephone Prospecting FE
- Thread starter Frank Bettger
- Start date
When an agent is selling Med Supps it is quite easy if you can quote them a price that saves them money.
- 19,619
Getting them to agree to the appointment, that's the fly in the ointment!!!
That's pretty much stating the obvious.
It's much more difficult when cold calling than when calling from a reply card. I don't find it difficult at all to make appointments from reply cards that already say "life insurance" on them and I say I'm calling about "life insurance".
Everyone tells me to not say that as they won't meet. That is true, there are some that won't meet because I say that. They didn't understand the card they sent with life insurance clearly printed on it was about life insurance. I don't mind that they won't meet with me. Those are complete time wasters.
How you say what you say on the phone is a well practiced art. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Frank Statsny calls it giving "good phone".
Some can grasp it and run with it and some can just never learn it. I can consistantly get 10 appointments from 15 reply cards. I think anyone should be able to do that, but the records show that most can't.
When I first got with EFES a little over 3 years ago I got with two of the best FE agents I have ever met, Travis Tubbs and Dan Runge. They were saying then that an agent should make 10 appointments from 15 leads. I thought they were full of shat and told them so. Now I say the same thing.
Still, many can never get to that point. They either give up or the "no's" just get to them. Or they just won't put in the work.
The work really kicks in about 2 or 3 months after the first real success in this business. I've seen so many flash in the pan "super" agents come and go that I could write a book. They come in fromother fields and tear it with production writing their warm market and current book and they think they have it "wired". I'm quoting one of those flash in tha pan guys right there. he still owes an IMO money from his two good months. He is a self annointed FE sales trainer now.
There's not many things in this world that I could be considered an expert on. I can think of only tow where people should heed my advice. Flag racing at horse shows and selling FE.
We don't discuss horse showing here, so selling FE is about the only value I can bring to this forum. I can give people the unvarnished truth as I don't recruit, don't have a team and don't want one. I have been associated with most of the big players in the FE market at one time or another and made many, many mistakes. All I try to do here is shorten that learning curve for others.
- 687
That's pretty much stating the obvious.
All I try to do here is shorten that learning curve for others.
And for that JD I say "thank you." You are someone on this forum that I actively your posts.
Ron
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"actively read"
Ron
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Yep, same here. Great posts...
That's pretty much stating the obvious.
It's much more difficult when cold calling than when calling from a reply card. I don't find it difficult at all to make appointments from reply cards that already say "life insurance" on them and I say I'm calling about "life insurance".
Everyone tells me to not say that as they won't meet. That is true, there are some that won't meet because I say that. They didn't understand the card they sent with life insurance clearly printed on it was about life insurance. I don't mind that they won't meet with me. Those are complete time wasters.
How you say what you say on the phone is a well practiced art. It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Frank Statsny calls it giving "good phone".
Some can grasp it and run with it and some can just never learn it. I can consistantly get 10 appointments from 15 reply cards. I think anyone should be able to do that, but the records show that most can't.
When I first got with EFES a little over 3 years ago I got with two of the best FE agents I have ever met, Travis Tubbs and Dan Runge. They were saying then that an agent should make 10 appointments from 15 leads. I thought they were full of shat and told them so. Now I say the same thing.
Still, many can never get to that point. They either give up or the "no's" just get to them. Or they just won't put in the work.
The work really kicks in about 2 or 3 months after the first real success in this business. I've seen so many flash in the pan "super" agents come and go that I could write a book. They come in fromother fields and tear it with production writing their warm market and current book and they think they have it "wired". I'm quoting one of those flash in tha pan guys right there. he still owes an IMO money from his two good months. He is a self annointed FE sales trainer now.
There's not many things in this world that I could be considered an expert on. I can think of only tow where people should heed my advice. Flag racing at horse shows and selling FE.
We don't discuss horse showing here, so selling FE is about the only value I can bring to this forum. I can give people the unvarnished truth as I don't recruit, don't have a team and don't want one. I have been associated with most of the big players in the FE market at one time or another and made many, many mistakes. All I try to do here is shorten that learning curve for others.
im not sure how you book 12 appointment out of 15 leads. that is just crazy. i have tried calling these leads but most of them hangup on me or they say "send information". i even tried my manager "shannon" appointment setter and she gave up after calling 7 leads. she was shocked at the response she got from these people. so all i do now is drive by. its a little bit better but i waste alot of leads.
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JD is a professional agent who has "paid his dues". Using the phone is a learned, well-practiced art. It just doesn't come naturally to people.
I'm sure he experienced similar "luck" when he first started also, most of us did until we learned how to use the phone.
she is the top appointment setter for the company and she gave up after calling 7 people.
- 19,619
It just takes time. I don't always get 12 appointments in a week. I am only in the fireld two days. That's Tues. and Thurs. My goal is have 6 on each day. I can almost always get 6 for Tues. I can't even remember a time I didn't. I can't always get 6 for Thurs. In fact, most time I don't. I can't remember when I did have 6 for Thurs.
Also, I could not get 12 or 10 appointments from 15 leads in an area new to me. That comes from getting 15 leads in an area months at a time. Some of the people I met with last week were from leads I had over a month. One of them I had the lead for over 3 months and it was the first time I was a ble to contact him.
I got leads Sat. in a county I haven't worked in over two years. It will be very difficult, if not impossible for me to get 10 appointments from those 15 leads since I don't have any leftovers. Most likely I will just work that area tomorrow and then work some old leads for Thurs.
I also get quite a bit of referral business. I just got a call this morning from a long time client that wants to take a policy on her father in law. I wrote 3 apps last week from referrals.
The referal also come with time. I do doorknock even though I hate it. I fhtere is no number on the lead and I can't find one I will doorknock at some point. I never leave the house with intentions of doorknocking. I always carry my old leads from whatever county I'm working with me. If I have a no show I will doorknock some of those no number leads. I do most of my doorknocking on thurs since I don't usually fill that day with appointments. If I have only 3 appointments set on Thurs. I know I'm gonna be doorknocking on that day. However, I do have a weekly goal for production. If I have already hit my goal I don't doorknock. I just go home and am done for the week.
The only way I would doorknock after I hit my weekly goal is if I screwed up on scheduling and had a big gap of time between scheduled appointments and was too far away to go home and come back.
I really don't 10-12 appointmnets anymore to meet my goals. But, it's become habit to work my schedule the way I do, so I keep at it.
Every agent needs to have clearly defined goals and it needs to start with annual production and you work backwards from there. How may sales do I need to get that production? How appointments do I need to get that number of sales? How many leads do I need to get that number of appointments?
Some of my schedule and goals are dictated by the EFES system. I get 15 leads per week because that's their minimum. If I could only 10 or 12 a week that's all I would get.
It takes time, disipline and continued education to get tot his point. I'm constantly learning. This forum is just one source of education. I was a better agent last year than I was the year before. I'm a better agent now than I was last year. I'm sure I will be better next year than I am now.
You apparently are with EFES. There is a wealth of information available there. Their whole system is predicated on the agent being successful. But, it ain't easy.
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There are some areas that are just suited to what we do. The just removed a zip code in one of my counties because the returns were so low and the people in that area weren't buyers if they did send it in. That's all part of the learning process for you and them. On our friday call there was an agent in Indiana that complaining about the area. Travis said he thought he had told her previously to not mail that area because he had already learned it was a dud.
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- 7,066
She may very well be, however, if she hasn't perfected prospect for FE then she is still going to have a learning curve.
If I gave up after only calling seven people for Med Supps then I would not have ended up being in this business for eighteen years. Maybe that is why she is an appointment setter and not an agent.
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