Let's Talk About Hand-Delivering Policies

[jdeasy]

A few years ago I had a very brash RD who made a last minute decision requiring that all of his agents hand deliver their policies.

The idea seemed very logical.... and it worked well for me. The problem that we had was most agents didn't have time to deliver the policies. Especially our top producers. If you write 30 apps a month and each time you deliver the policies it takes 30 mins (probably longer) that's an extra 15 hours a month you will have to spend. Nearly 3 hours a week you would have to spend reviewing policies.

Now if you write 5 apps a month it wouldn't be a problem.

If I look at my group as a whole we insure a little over 150 house holds every month. If my agents hand delivered every policy that would be a total of 75 hours of field time my agency would loose every month. That's three full days and at about 5k a day ( average ALP per day as a whole) that's 15k I would loose in production. From a manager view point increased persistency would not be worth 15k a month in production.

Years ago when my RD did this we actually saw a decrease in production and persistency..

The agents were taking too long to deliver their policies which made the clients nervous ( thinking they were not actually covered) .. that caused more policies to cancel in the first month. Coincidentally the agents weren't spending as much time writing new biz and more time servicing and reinstating policies. Which caused production to decrease.

Needless to say we didn't have to deliver our policies for very long.. also our RD didn't last very long either....

It could be a great system if you could stay on top of it and keep the review time as short as possible.

You certainly have to manage your time and that is always a factor. I average 30 apps a month and I deliver 90% of the polices now. I shouldn't take 30 minutes per home to deliver the polices unless they are doing additional business then the extra time is worth it. Last Wed I just took some to deliver policies since I wasn't running appointments anyway because I don't normally Thanksgiving week. The first one had me write an additional policy on a grandson. The second one had me write an additional policy on her son. The third one sent me over to to her son's to write him and while there he wanted to also cover his wife. That was 4 apps just by being there. It would have messed up my schedule if I was running appointments too but since I wasn't it only caused me to miss my wed night basketball league game.

None of them were large policies. Only about $1600 ap total for the four. Again, you have to be a time managr as well as being able to get leads and make presentations.

 

[Mattschmidt]

You certainly have to manage your time and that is always a factor. I average 30 apps a month and I deliver 90% of the polices now. I shouldn't take 30 minutes per home to deliver the polices unless they are doing additional business then the extra time is worth it. Last Wed I just took some to deliver policies since I wasn't running appointments anyway because I don't normally Thanksgiving week. The first one had me write an additional policy on a grandson. The second one had me write an additional policy on her son. The third one sent me over to to her son's to write him and while there he wanted to also cover his wife. That was 4 apps just by being there. It would have messed up my schedule if I was running appointments too but since I wasn't it only caused me to miss my wed night basketball league game.

None of them were large policies. Only about $1600 ap total for the four. Again, you have to be a time managr as well as being able to get leads and make presentations.

Just what JD said...make it short and sweet...I delivered a $2 million term policy to a guy I sold over the phone...Just wanted to hand deliver it, and shake his hand. It took 5 minutes as we were both in a hurry to move onto other appointments...During that 5 minute appointment, I asked him for any referrals that came to mind. He didn't have any then, but did email a business associate of his who needed some additional coverage...I doubt I would have got the referral had I not met him, and openly asked for it.

 

[lsalmans]

I deliver good sized policies ($100 monthly), replacements, and sales that were a grind. You know, the ones where the person is questioning your legitimacy as they are voiding a check.

 

[Jerard]

I deliver good sized policies ($100 monthly), replacements, and sales that were a grind. You know, the ones where the person is questioning your legitimacy as they are voiding a check.

This is why I wear my license around my neck. It also feels better than a noose.

 

[tomoverton0123]

Good thread. If you deliver policies, it's very important that you deliver in a timely manner. If a policy sits around a week or two or three then you just extended the free look period by that amount of time. Do what works best for your situation.

 

[PaperHanger]

The first one had me write an additional policy on a grandson. The second one had me write an additional policy on her son. The third one sent me over to to her son's to write him and while there he wanted to also cover his wife.. Only about $1600 ap total for the four.

Man...these clients sometimes...you take the extra effort to do something nice, like hand deliver their policy, and all they do is ask you to do more work while you happen to be there...all for a measly little $1600 bucks...
I guess good deeds never go unpunished, lol


way to hit-em-hard and do it the right way, jd!!

 

[Focus LTC]

I know of a top FE Producer that hand delivers every policy. He delivers the policy with the expectation of selling another policy.

Upon delivery, he tells the client that "the underwriters were very impressed with your good health that they offered you an additional $5,000 in coverage. All you have to do is sign here to accept it. It's only $XX.xx more per month. You should take it."

Or if they were on the sickly side, he would say something like, "they almost didn't take you, your heart medicine looks really bad on paper. I fought for you and they agreed. Now that they agreed, you have a 30 day window to take out more coverage, if I were you I would take out another $5K just to be on the safe side."

The guy was a total BSer, I couldn't do it, but he claims that he closes another policy 3-4 times out of 10 deliveries and he had the numbers to back it up. He also said he does not deliver the second one...

If you are going to deliver, do it with the purpose of selling another policy. He has the new app already filled out when he delivers...

 

[jdeasy]

I know of a top FE Producer that hand delivers every policy. He delivers the policy with the expectation of selling another policy.

Upon delivery, he tells the client that "the underwriters were very impressed with your good health that they offered you an additional $5,000 in coverage. All you have to do is sign here to accept it. It's only .xx more per month. You should take it."

Or if they were on the sickly side, he would say something like, "they almost didn't take you, your heart medicine looks really bad on paper. I fought for you and they agreed. Now that they agreed, you have a 30 day window to take out more coverage, if I were you I would take out another $5K just to be on the safe side."

The guy was a total BSer, I couldn't do it, but he claims that he closes another policy 3-4 times out of 10 deliveries and he had the numbers to back it up. He also said he does not deliver the second one...

If you are going to deliver, do it with the purpose of selling another policy. He has the new app already filled out when he delivers...

I may try that. I'm already delivering them. With most of my companies I wouldn't even have to do another app. Most will let you increase coverage with a phone call.

 

[TDFnCali]

I know of a top FE Producer that hand delivers every policy. He delivers the policy with the expectation of selling another policy.

Upon delivery, he tells the client that "the underwriters were very impressed with your good health that they offered you an additional $5,000 in coverage. All you have to do is sign here to accept it. It's only .xx more per month. You should take it."

Or if they were on the sickly side, he would say something like, "they almost didn't take you, your heart medicine looks really bad on paper. I fought for you and they agreed. Now that they agreed, you have a 30 day window to take out more coverage, if I were you I would take out another $5K just to be on the safe side."

The guy was a total BSer, I couldn't do it, but he claims that he closes another policy 3-4 times out of 10 deliveries and he had the numbers to back it up. He also said he does not deliver the second one...

If you are going to deliver, do it with the purpose of selling another policy. He has the new app already filled out when he delivers...

Thats definitely NOT my style....Id never say that unless it were true!! But to each their own, who am I to judge!

 

[Jerard]

He has the new app already filled out when he delivers...

Great idea. Especially if you it's all typed out by using a fillable PDF app. It would look like it's directly from the company. My question is what is the best way to confirm the health questions on the new app are still the same. As my older brother used to do back in the weekly debit days: "You feeling OK today, Mrs. Smith?"