Help me I feel like quitting...

[darkyvader]

Hello
I am an agent completely new to sales. I have been recommending medicare advantage apps for 6 months. I hope its ok to post this here, if not i apologize. I spend about 12 hours a week camped out at doctors offices. I have a website and just got started on facebook business. I am 50 years old and retired from a good paying job. Kids are grown no bills really and i can live comfortably on my pension check.
I also have a decent 401k that i dont touch.

I dont mind kicking my hours up to any level if they would pay off. I ttold myself if in 6 months i have signed 20 people so what would 8 hour days do 5 more apps?

I also am not accustomed to the undermining characteristics of some agents. Is it cool to add your business telephone number to business cards your printing for your downline...jeez?

But on the flipside there are a couple of agents who i love for the selfless help they afford.

I sit here at a restaurant after breakfast the weather very cold and rainy. I am supposed to be at a doctors office that has got me zero apps. I told myself f#@k this....

I have not touched the life insurance side yet because i havent found the help I and support I need to get rolling as i did with my current team. I feel i could probably do well in life sales given the same kind of support i recieved selling MA plans.

I have not tried direct mail or live leads. Live leads seem expensive and shady.

Why do I feel like quitting?
low sales (26 weeks = 20 apps )
slow payment of commissions
I dont trust my direct upline
marketing is inneffective so far
The pay is crappola


Why continue?
I like helping people.
I like doing the right thing when i sell
I like meeting new people
I like a challenge

Maybe i can read your opinions and get thru this...maybe im doing something wrong

 

[rousemark]

Perhaps, a change of market would be in order. I quit the MA market years ago, not because of the money but I just didn't like it. I decided to concentrate on supplemental health plans such as cancer, CI, accident, blue collar life and FE. Haven't missed the MA/Med Supp market one bit. On piece of advice is have your own cards printed.... If one of my clients needs something, I want them calling me not the upline or the company. You are welcome to PM me if you want to discuss the pros and cons of other markets... I don't recruit so you don't need to be concerned about me giving you a sales spiel.

 

[darkyvader]

Thank you....yes I did have my cards own cards printed and started marking out the cards they printed with their number....although some of them slip through the cracks. That upline keeps telling me people are calling looking for me....i think its a ploy because they want me to work out of that office so i can help with their customers dropping by needing help (they have about 1200 people signed up) which means I get nothing out of it....

 

[rousemark]

Thank you....yes I did have my cards own cards printed and started marking out the cards they printed with their number....although some of them slip through the cracks. That upline keeps telling me people are calling looking for me....i think its a ploy because they want me to work out of that office so i can help with their customers dropping by needing help (they have about 1200 people signed up) which means I get nothing out of it....

You are looking at it wrong.. Look at those folks for referrals and prospects for additional products. Never do service work for "free".. Always try to make it pay in some fashion.

 

[darkyvader]

ahhhhhh......that is an angle i didn't see.....that office can be very busy with customers coming in for help but they usually only want the one agent to help her so what happens is you end up answering the phone....should I start going there say a couple of times a week and see what happens?

 

[rousemark]

ahhhhhh......that is an angle i didn't see.....that office can be very busy with customers coming in for help but they usually only want the one agent to help her so what happens is you end up answering the phone....should I start going there say a couple of times a week and see what happens?

Wouldn't hurt unless the agency has some rule about prospecting among existing policyholders.

 

[Chazm]

I would shoot my self if I had to sit in doctor offices all day.

What exactly is your up line doing? They aren’t taking commission from you are they?

I personally love working t65’s and you get more upfront commission. And why does it take so long? I get paid in a couple weeks.

 

[StephanieCJ]

Hey, don't know what or where they have you in the doctor's offices hanging out, but I copy/pasted this from the CMS marketing guidelines to help you make sure they don't have you doing something that shouldn't be.

Plans/Part D Sponsors are prohibited from conducting sales presentations,
distributing and accepting enrollment applications, and soliciting
beneficiaries in areas where individuals primarily receive health care services
or are waiting to receive health care services. These restricted areas
generally include, but are not limited to, waiting rooms, exam rooms,
hospital patient rooms, dialysis center treatment areas (where individuals
interact with their clinical team and receive treatment), and pharmacy
counter areas (where patients interact with pharmacy providers and obtain
medications). The prohibition extends to activities planned in health care
settings outside of normal business hours.

 

[keese]

Sitting in a doctor's office/pharmacy/walmart is going to be about as entertaining as watching paint dry and only a little more profitable. I would only recommend doing it if you have waaaaaaay more time than money. You can get a list of 1000's for cold calling for like $50. Leads are going to be much more pricey but much better in terms of $$/hour worked. Figure out what works for you and tailor your business to that. This forum is a goldmine for useful information.

Also, every single agent I've talked to says if you make it to year 3 it gets a whole lot easier. First 2 years are going to be super rough because you don't have the steady income residuals bring, or the steady referrals that having a decent sized client base brings.

 

[GoPokes]

If you are going to continue only selling MAPD, it might be worth checking out an ICA position with a local UHC office. I am not one, and have never been, but have a good relationship with one nearby, and they seem provide a lot for their agents.