Help with Selling Life Insurance...

[Mark]

Also, Mark Rosenthal (markingriffin, Is his username, I think) does a great job on Target Marketing, go to his website and check out his FREE resources. Targeted Marketing is about finding multiple sources of prosects that fit your niche.

Joe

You want to open and read this email from Mark Rosenthal

Here is something I wrote about Niche Marketing that can help you.

 

[Johnnyboy29073]

I bought a 1,000 piece final expense lead drop from Main St. Power Mail and only received 8 leads. That works out to over 50.00 PER LEAD. The horrible kicker is NONE of the 8 leads I got knew what they were sending in for; NONE OF THEM! I am so despondant right now because of this. I saved money to do this drop and will get NOTHING from my 410.00 investment. I was so excited when I finally took the plunge to buy them and this response is bordering on devastation for me. They say it takes money to make money and I went ahead and did it and THIS is what I get. MSPM will do nothing to reimburse as they say it's not their fault, and I agree to a point, but every house I go to and then show them the card in their own handwriting that they signed and ask them what they had in mind when they sent it in say "I don't know. I thought you were gonna send me somethin'". When I explain that the "final expense program" the card refers to pertains to life insurance they immediately shut down and say they aren't interested. Why is it we have to trick people into responding to a final expense mailer?

I have to admit that this is totally demoralizing. I was told by my manager that i need to make an investment in myself, and I did. He was the one that suggested this would get me off to a good start. "Primo leads" he told me. The only interest I have gotten is from one lady I called on the phone (after numerous stop bye's and not catching her home), and I literally had to beg her just to "allow me" to drop off some information. She finally reluctantly agreed to allow me to "send her something" in the mail. That's it! 410.00 dollars later and I get to "send" something in the mail. This is such a joke. Seriously, how does anybody sell final expense?

I need help PLEASE!!!

Thanks,

Dave Garvin.

I use MSPM every month and these are my obsvervations:

1) your demographics are almost certainly off....you should be using the $20k to $50k income bracket, ages 50 to 75, (those 2 being the most obvious facets), then try a more rural zip code.......if you used (at their direction or yours) a suburban or metro geo, your numbers will be down.

If it helps, I've used MSPM 4 times and they average a 1.6 response rate).........again, its likely your demographics are wrong.

2) Your numbers are way too low to make any conclusions. I just started in Life (was a mortgage banker for 21 years) and I am buying 100 leads a month, either direct mail or TV leads, and am averaging 18 deals per month out of those efforts....somebody above said it well-----it will cost you some money to get started, and if you're chewing fingernails over $410 spend on ONE campaign with MSPM, then I would suggest some dialing and smiling or some door to door "enrollment" projects until you can afford to spend what I and others do.


3) Your approach sounds a lot like mine when I first started.......too literal, too abrupt, and you're likely impatient.........so was I, its okay. You need to alter your script, rehearse your delivery until its smooth (yours likely isnt at this point)......you only got 8 responses and I can tell you that out of the 100 leads I buy a month, 20 of mine say the same thing.....that they either didnt send it in or arent now interested and hang up in my face...don't get excited....you just need more leads and to fix that demographic.

If you want my script, I'll be happy to send it to you, just "pm" me.

Best wishes.

 

[gmhopks]

I'm going to echo what others have said, you need training bad.

You need training on how to work a lead. You need training on talking to people.

You have to learn to have a conversation with people and identify what they need and, more importantly, want.

The FE business can most definately be worked successfully with mailer leads, in fact, it can't be worked successfully without leads. That is, if your primary business is FE.

If you are not with an FMO that provides quality training and, obviously, you are not, then get with one that does.

If you continue on the same path, you will get the same results.

Great response, but can you recommend an FMO that will provide what you say is needed to a new agent?

 

[jdeasy]

Great response, but can you recommend an FMO that will provide what you say is needed to a new agent?

I am biased towards EFES. The training and support is unsurpassed in my opinion.

I'm sure there are others that will train an agent from the ground up, I just don't know who they are.

 

[gmhopks]

I am biased towards EFES. The training and support is unsurpassed in my opinion.

I'm sure there are others that will train an agent from the ground up, I just don't know who they are.

JD,

Sorry to ask, but what do the initials EFES stand for? I want to look them up in Google.

Thanks.

 

[jdeasy]

JD,

Sorry to ask, but what do the initials EFES stand for? I want to look them up in Google.

Thanks.

Equita Final Expense Services. The website is; www.efesonline.com

 

[Fisher]

JD,

Sorry to ask, but what do the initials EFES stand for? I want to look them up in Google.

Thanks.

Not being harsh... teaching how to catch a fish, perhaps--

http://tinyurl.com/34ryaru

 

[Johnnyboy29073]

That "investing in yourself" stuff is hogwash. It's just a way to have you part with your money. The people telling you this don't know what they are talking about.

Invest in your creativity in getting in front of these people. Find out:

• where they congregate
• what their priorities are
• what they know of your product

This can easily be found out with a simple FREE visit to the library. There are reference materials, books, and actual live people for you to gain information from. Look in the Criss Cross Directory, and find apartment complexes or subdivisions that have your target market in them, and call with a survey (fact finder, not a sales call).

Find out where they meet, and offer to be a speaker.

See if a shopping mall or transit station will allow you to hand out flyers (again information), and hand them out to those who you think are in your target market.

These are just a few off-the-cuff ideas. Invest in yourself, by thinking how to get in front of these people in bunches to talk to them.

If you don't know where they live, befriend a Real Estate agent, who can give you some ideas of communities that are primarily your target market's age.

None of that is necessary, and if the poster doesn't yet have the polish to get appts by phone or drop-bys, he won't have the polish to be a speaker in front of groups, either.

None of what you propose is either necessary or even advisable, he just needs a litle guidance, a little demonstration, a little practice, a little patience.

Standing around handing out flyers or knocking door to door cold is no way to do business.

He can do it, I do it all day long every day, just by buying leads and setting appts by phone.

 

[JoeInsGuy]

Might want to watch your decimal points.

.01% is one response per 10,000. 8 of 1,000 is 0.8%.

Yeah thanks. It was late...

 

[669comche]

Frank hit the nail right on the head: 80% of his time is prospecting for clients.

$410 is not a big enough investment to make any meaningful conclusions regarding.....it takes much more than that.

Having said that, if your marketing budget is now gone then you will need to pound the pavement - something a lot of agents don't do/won't do.

There is no easy way into this business.................