Where To Start Calling? P&C And Life Need Help

yomomma

New Member
17
Just starting out in the industry, and have my P&C and Life licenses plus Series 7 and 63. I am moving over from the securities side since not everyone needs investment advise.

Need help on where to start. I plan on making 50- 100 calls a day, but want to use my time efficiently. Guy I will be working with has been in the industry 30 years, and said just to write anything and all the time.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Based on what you wrote, I would just say open the phone book to a random page and start dialing.

What kind of products are you looking to sell, who is your ideal client, are you going to focus on life, P&C, securities, or try to be a jack of all trades?
 
Not a jack of all trades. I figure someone here would have an idea of what area in P&C would be favorable for beginner.
 
Personal lines of P&C is the best place to start. You aren't an "order taker" but you see a lot of the same things over and over and it gets you familiar with things. I'd find an agent to work with at this time and see if he can teach you the P&C since it can be rough and the E&O is expensive and it is VERY customer service based. Do the basic home and auto right now. Don't worry about motorcycle, PUP/PCL (umbrellas), mobile homes, and boats until later. They aren't the main focus, those are just addons. You can get those down quickly but it's not going to be something you go out and prospect for unless you spend time at a campground or yacht clubs or something.

Do the life to supplement your income at the beginning. Door to door and cold-calling is a good way to start, definitely. Don't do a lot with commercial right now other than set appointments for a commercial agent to go and close and do a 50-50 split. I repeat, DON'T SCREW WITH COMMERCIAL AT THIS TIME.

You can always go find some people to partner with such as attorneys, real-estate brokers and agents, car-dealers, and things like that where the insurance is something people will just buy for the good of getting another product instead.

But definitely get a mentor if you are new to this.
 
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yommama, good luck. I am also new and will be doning mostly P&C. Let me know what you do. I am planing to be a prospecting machine and doing alot of networking.
 
P&C, life, and investments are all different critters with some, but not much overlap.

Personal lines can be an easy way to get in front of people because saving money on their auto and home insurance is easier than trying to talk to them about dying or saving for retirement. That being said, once you have a dialogue open, even if you can't save them money, you have more of a rapport with them and it isn't a bad time to offer a life insurance review and/or retirement plan review. The nice thing about writing the P&C along the way is that even if you don't get much life business out of it, at least you're getting paid to prospect by the P&C deals you close.

Some folks can cold call on life insurance and do well with it, most struggle with it.

One last point is 50-100 calls/day isn't really very many. If you're dialing by hand it'll probably take you 2 hours to get through the 100 calls, if you're using a dialer you can probably do that in an hour or less, especially if there are a lot of busy signals and answering machines.
 
Do the life to supplement your income at the beginning. Door to door and cold-calling is a good way to start, definitely. Don't do a lot with commercial right now other than set appointments for a commercial agent to go and close and do a 50-50 split. I repeat, DON'T SCREW WITH COMMERCIAL AT THIS TIME.
Good advice, Thanks. I am working with an agent who is a top producer at Farmers, and has been in the industry for 30 years. He said to write anything, but it is easy for him to say since he knows how to write it.

What do you do with the dilemma of xdates? From what I understand, if you are writing car or home it is better to wait for their renewal data otherwise they will be penalized with their current carrier?

One last point is 50-100 calls/day isn't really very many. If you're dialing by hand it'll probably take you 2 hours to get through the 100 calls, if you're using a dialer you can probably do that in an hour or less, especially if there are a lot of busy signals and answering machines.
I just set up Vicidial on a server. I am use to calling businesses, and by the time I get through the gatekeeper, menu, and etc., I can only dial about 15 an hour. Maybe I am slow as hell.

One of the reasons why I am adding P&C is the ability to talk about saving money which I find appeals to most people. I have a heck of a time pitching retirement planning and etc., The restrictions they put on your calling and their expectations in the broker/dealer world is beyond reality. It really is a rich kid's profession since I don't think even the veterans could meet the hurdles from a standing start. I raised almost 3 million in assets this year, and it is not enough to make a living. I see so many banks and State Farm like insurance firms adding investment advisory services that I figure I better add the P&C insurance on my side.


I appreciate everyone's help. Thank you.
 
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One of the reasons why I am adding P&C is the ability to talk about saving money which I find appeals to most people.

If you like to talk to people about saving money there is no easier product to get in to talk to people about than Med Supps.

Med Supps in my opinion lend themselves to cold calling more so than any other product I have sold. Everyone 65 and older is a prospect and potential buyer. When premiums go up seniors go shopping.
 
I see that you offer a course through your link. I was wondering what kind of commissions are involved with this product?
 
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