I'm genially looking for advice (I'm not an agent)

[Jake Lane]

I work for a company that helps insurance agents turn their worlds around. They help agents (Not life insurance agents, we cant work with life insurance agents) get found by people actually looking to purchase policies from them. They do an incredible job with it too.

I cold call every single day. I call agent after agent and about 90% of the time I'm hung up on before they even hear what I have to say. What I have to show these insurance agents, is legitimately life-changing, and requires absolutely no work on their end. Sometimes they're worried about compliance issues but those are quickly taken care of without any problems. I'm confused, why do insurance agents refuse to listen for one second to someone calling them and offering solutions?

My question is, what can I do on my end that'll get you guys to open up and actually listen? You have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain. We've got testimonials, we have an endless clientele list that will vouch that what we do works.

Why do you guys refuse to believe that it is possible to have a win/win scenario?

Thank you so much for the advice, I really will try to learn from it.

 

[fed up]

What does your company do? Where do you get your leads? How much is your service and what are the terms

 

[Jake Lane]

We get your GMB (Google Business Profile) showing up so that what someone searches for "low-cost auto insurance" or any service you offer, then your GMB pops up, ahead of everyone else + not only ahead of the rest but we also make sure it's obvious you're the person they want to call.

So, you're showing up in a way broader search than you typically do, and you're the preferred agent to call in all surrounding areas.

Cost is about $199/mo on average, there are different things you can do such as social media handling, etc if you wanted to go more aggressive, but as a blanket statement, I would say $199/mo. It 100% produces results, and those results are tracked and reported to you every single month. There is literally no way you don't see results and trackable results.

There is a whole lot that goes into it, but that is the service in a nutshell.

 

[Al3x Lee]

We get your GMB (Google Business Profile) showing up so that what someone searches for "low-cost auto insurance" or any service you offer, then your GMB pops up, ahead of everyone else + not only ahead of the rest but we also make sure it's obvious you're the person they want to call.

So, you're showing up in a way broader search than you typically do, and you're the preferred agent to call in all surrounding areas.

Cost is about $199/mo on average, there are different things you can do such as social media handling, etc if you wanted to go more aggressive, but as a blanket statement, I would say $199/mo. It 100% produces results, and those results are tracked and reported to you every single month. There is literally no way you don't see results and trackable results.

There is a whole lot that goes into it, but that is the service in a nutshell.

I can tell you from personal experience that I get 5-15 guys per week calling me offering to sell me leads. Surprisingly it seems none of them have an insurance background, I just had one today actually. I looked him up on linkedin, 4 months ago he was working as a bartender, and now I'm supposed to think he can supply me with 'ideal leads'.

One thing that a lot of people in your industry don't understand about insurance agents is that most of us don't have a shortage of leads, we have a shortage of QUALITY leads. People seem to think we click a couple of buttons and poof, you have an insurance policy.

Good agents aren't like that, they want customers that value their services and coverages, which requires time and for our customer to be invested in the process. If we write crap policies, our ass can be on the line for E&O. Think of the people who need an SR-22 and state minimum liability, think they're going to play nice when it comes claim time? You get a lot of those kinds of leads through search engines.

On the other hand, if you had 10+ years of experience in the industry, proven that you could write a big book of insurance business and knew methods to get qualified leads, I would be interested in what you had to say.

I don't say this to be rude, but when I have a dozen guys calling me a week, offering the same thing, and most of their solutions are 'boost my search results' etc., I have no interest. We have the same problem, there's tons of competition from other agents, so we have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

 

[Jake Lane]

I can tell you from personal experience that I get 5-15 guys per week calling me offering to sell me leads. Surprisingly it seems none of them have an insurance background, I just had one today actually. I looked him up on linkedin, 4 months ago he was working as a bartender, and now I'm supposed to think he can supply me with 'ideal leads'.

One thing that a lot of people in your industry don't understand about insurance agents is that most of us don't have a shortage of leads, we have a shortage of QUALITY leads. People seem to think we click a couple of buttons and poof, you have an insurance policy.

Good agents aren't like that, they want customers that value their services and coverages, which requires time and for our customer to be invested in the process. If we write crap policies, our ass can be on the line for E&O. Think of the people who need an SR-22 and state minimum liability, think they're going to play nice when it comes claim time? You get a lot of those kinds of leads through search engines.

On the other hand, if you had 10+ years of experience in the industry, proven that you could write a big book of insurance business and knew methods to get qualified leads, I would be interested in what you had to say.

I don't say this to be rude, but when I have a dozen guys calling me a week, offering the same thing, and most of their solutions are 'boost my search results' etc., I have no interest. We have the same problem, there's tons of competition from other agents, so we have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.

No, I 100% appreciate the feedback, and it's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Do you have any recommendations on how to get these agents to hear me before writing me off? The problem I'm running into is they have a preconceived image of who I am and what I'm trying to sell (I don't blame them, I treat callers the same way without even thinking about it).

But like you said here, leads aren't your issue and there isn't a shortage of leads for agents. THAT IS HUGE FOR ME to learn from, because you're 100% right I have no idea what you do to write a policy, and like you said I assumed it was as simple as pushing a few buttons and signing someone on. Now I know I need to go learn that process and understand more about the mind of insurance agents and how they work, and what consequence follows poorly written policies. I never even considered that because I assumed they wanted potential buyers, and sales is a numbers game, and it sounds like that's not the case with insurance agents.

Also, I think you caught that I don't sell leads because you mentioned how we think a boost in showing up in search results would solve things and it doesn't. And like you said, I'm no expert in the field at all, I've been doing it for about 2 years.

Can you suggest to me what approach would work best with you? and I say work best so that we could come to a win/win not so I can sucker some poor agent into spending money he can't afford to spend. Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm confused, why do insurance agents refuse to listen for one second to someone calling them and offering solutions?

For the same reason that I, a consumer, routinely hang up on telemarketers, throw direct mail in the trash, block emails, and texts.

Once in a while, for shits and giggles, I'll answer the phone and hit somebody with as much of the foulest invective I can think of for as long as they stay on the phone.

Why?

Because people like you are freakin' nuisances.

If I want something to improve my life or my business I damned well know how to look for it.

about 90% of the time I'm hung up

Oh, so 10% of the time you aren't hung up on and actually get to make your pitch? Frankly, you may be doing better than a lot of the agents who frequent this site.

Count your blessings.

 

[Hawaii Agent]

Here's my 2cents from someone that won't buy leads and has no social media presence. If you have agents that this program is working for, see if they have other agents that they can introduce you to in different towns/states. This way they are helping their friends to succeed without it impacting their own area. Why not offer a month's free service for every converted agent that signs up with you? Use your network of people that are seeing success to do the work for you. Just like on this forum, we're here to help others so if your program is seeing results, those agents should want to help others as well (just not at their own expense)

 

[Al3x Lee]

No, I 100% appreciate the feedback, and it's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Do you have any recommendations on how to get these agents to hear me before writing me off? The problem I'm running into is they have a preconceived image of who I am and what I'm trying to sell (I don't blame them, I treat callers the same way without even thinking about it).

But like you said here, leads aren't your issue and there isn't a shortage of leads for agents. THAT IS HUGE FOR ME to learn from, because you're 100% right I have no idea what you do to write a policy, and like you said I assumed it was as simple as pushing a few buttons and signing someone on. Now I know I need to go learn that process and understand more about the mind of insurance agents and how they work, and what consequence follows poorly written policies. I never even considered that because I assumed they wanted potential buyers, and sales is a numbers game, and it sounds like that's not the case with insurance agents.

Also, I think you caught that I don't sell leads because you mentioned how we think a boost in showing up in search results would solve things and it doesn't. And like you said, I'm no expert in the field at all, I've been doing it for about 2 years.

Can you suggest to me what approach would work best with you? and I say work best so that we could come to a win/win not so I can sucker some poor agent into spending money he can't afford to spend. Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.

What you're doing is definitely an uphill battle, no matter what you will have agents who write you off, but there are agents who are willing to listen if you can speak their language and add your value to what they do.

First, I would identify what insurance agents you want to target. Insurance is a complex product, and even on these forums you'll see there's a wide variety of the types of insurance people sell. I personally sell commercial property and casualty (think small to medium businesses) B2B sales is a different game than personal lines agents (the guys selling you your homeowners, auto, etc.), and life insurance is a different game than commercial and personal lines. I know you mentioned you don't call on life insurance agents, why is that?

For commercial property and casualty guys like myself, I would read a little bit about them on their website and get the conversation started by saying something like "Hi Alex, my name is Jake and I'm calling because I was reading about your agency and it looks like some of the industries you target would be a great fit for our program. I specialize in helping agents like yourself be a preferred industry provider for your target industries. Do you mind if I ask what kind of business you have been targeting lately?"

At this point, if they don't blow you off, you've asked an open ended question. They may tell you construction, transportation, non-profits, whatever it is they like to write. To which you could reply "You're writing trucking, what kind of trucking do you like to write the most?" etc. "Log trucking? That's a perfect fit for what I offer, and the best part about that industry is that the cost for our program is minimal. Imagine if one of those truckers wants to shop his coverage, who do you think pops up first if he searches online for log truck insurance? Is it your agency? If it's not, I can help fix that. There's no obligation other than a few minutes of your time and I think you'll like what I have to propose. Fair enough?"

If you can get that far in the conversation, you may have just peaked his curiosity enough to hear your pitch. You've also made the conversation about him and his needs, rather than about your product. The mistake I see a lot of cold callers make, is that they're so focused on their product and solution, they don't allow the person they're pitching to to say anything about themselves or their problems. Much like myself, a guy who specializes in writing loggers, probably doesn't want every insurance lead that comes through the door, but if you can get him more of what he likes, he would probably bite or at least try your program.



Personal lines guys will need a different approach, but you can get creative using a formula similar to the one above.

But no, contrary to popular belief, we insurance agents do more than just click a couple of buttons and poop out a policy. There's a reason it's an industry with less than 10% of agents making it past the 3 year mark.

 

[Jake Lane]

What you're doing is definitely an uphill battle, no matter what you will have agents who write you off, but there are agents who are willing to listen if you can speak their language and add your value to what they do.

First, I would identify what insurance agents you want to target. Insurance is a complex product, and even on these forums you'll see there's a wide variety of the types of insurance people sell. I personally sell commercial property and casualty (think small to medium businesses) B2B sales is a different game than personal lines agents (the guys selling you your homeowners, auto, etc.), and life insurance is a different game than commercial and personal lines. I know you mentioned you don't call on life insurance agents, why is that?

For commercial property and casualty guys like myself, I would read a little bit about them on their website and get the conversation started by saying something like "Hi Alex, my name is Jake and I'm calling because I was reading about your agency and it looks like some of the industries you target would be a great fit for our program. I specialize in helping agents like yourself be a preferred industry provider for your target industries. Do you mind if I ask what kind of business you have been targeting lately?"

At this point, if they don't blow you off, you've asked an open ended question. They may tell you construction, transportation, non-profits, whatever it is they like to write. To which you could reply "You're writing trucking, what kind of trucking do you like to write the most?" etc. "Log trucking? That's a perfect fit for what I offer, and the best part about that industry is that the cost for our program is minimal. Imagine if one of those truckers wants to shop his coverage, who do you think pops up first if he searches online for log truck insurance? Is it your agency? If it's not, I can help fix that. There's no obligation other than a few minutes of your time and I think you'll like what I have to propose. Fair enough?"

If you can get that far in the conversation, you may have just peaked his curiosity enough to hear your pitch. You've also made the conversation about him and his needs, rather than about your product. The mistake I see a lot of cold callers make, is that they're so focused on their product and solution, they don't allow the person they're pitching to to say anything about themselves or their problems. Much like myself, a guy who specializes in writing loggers, probably doesn't want every insurance lead that comes through the door, but if you can get him more of what he likes, he would probably bite or at least try your program.



Personal lines guys will need a different approach, but you can get creative using a formula similar to the one above.

But no, contrary to popular belief, we insurance agents do more than just click a couple of buttons and poop out a policy. There's a reason it's an industry with less than 10% of agents making it past the 3 year mark.

Alex, thank you! The amount of good material and direction to go is huge! Your pitch puts things into a perspective I didn’t even think to approach. I have got a lot of work, study, and research to do. With your input I know where I need to focus my efforts and I believe it is going to do wonders for me, I can’t thank you enough.

to answer your question as to why we don’t work with life insurance agents, it’s because in our experience life insurance agents typically don’t work out of a physical location as much as out of their basement, to optimize these GMBs we need a physical location. Additionally, our process takes about 6 months to ramp up to its full effect. With life insurance they usually fizzle out before they can reap the rewards of our work. We tried to just explain that to them, but in the end we discovered it was best to just not work with them. Better for us, and them.

Sincerely, thank you! So much. I love everything you have explained and I will do something with it.

 

[ehall2]

I own a P & C agency and have been in the business 49 years. When I walk in the office each day I have more to do than I would like to have, so I don't have time to talk to some of the many telemarketing calls I get each day. I don't need any help getting prospects. I am finally at the point that I get referrals every day. It took many years of supplying excellent customer service to get to this point. Plus, if I pay $2,388 per year for your service I will have to write $238,000 in new premium to just get my money back. When I have paid for leads the people I called were just like me, getting bombarded with callers each day.