Marketing Medicare Supplements to Age 66 - 68

[Superchief]

Short answer is yes, but it depends on your definititon of "living". I've already been slammed once for misusing the word "prospect".

Best way to look at it is how much money do you need to make annually to "earn a living". Take that number and work backwards.

For example to gross $50K annually; you need to learn to sell 4 med supps a week. This is based on the average GA contract at 20-22% meaning you should make around $250 an app on the low end.

You can increase that number obviously by seeing more people, but truthfully the easist way to increase your commish in this scenario is to ask every single person you sell a med supp to, "Do you already have burial insurance in place?" And give them a quick rough quote. "I just got your friend Ms. Jones fixed up with $10,000 for only $46 per month. Would that be a help to you as well?"

So 4 med supps a week = $1000 a week. 1 FE app every 2 weeks will add roughly another $1000-$1200 a month to your income.

The more important question now is how much $ do I have to spend to get in front of enough people to sell 4 med supp a week? That's different for everyone. And it is highly likely it will cost you more at first than later as your pipeline grows.

 

[aheff]

Agree with your numbers, but someone brand new to Med Supps will NOT sell 4 a week. Lucky if they can do 2 a week.

 

[Superchief]

Agree with your numbers, but someone brand new to Med Supps will NOT sell 4 a week. Lucky if they can do 2 a week.

Ever? In their career? Completely impossible? Unheard of? INCONCEIVABLE!?!

You know what? You're right. They should just quit now. Suicide is likely even a smarter choice.

Of course a new guy isn't going to pick up the phone and sell 4 med supps in his first week. But he can learn to in time and he doesn't need to be held hostage to a GA to do it.

Will the first few months be lean? Damn right they will be. But can it be done? Abso$%^&*lutely!

This is of course assuming:

#1 - he has a brain.
#2 - he has discipline
#3 - can manage money
#4 - doesn't sit on this forum listening to you tell him he can't do it

It takes work. Lots of work. Hard work. The first year you'll likely be working 6 day weeks prospecting and learning to prospect better and more efficiently.

Unless you have a decent savings or are willing to max out any credit lines you have you're likely going to be eating thin and drinking water, and you'll probably still be doing that for a while.
But if you're willing to eat $#!% for a year and keep a good attitude doing it, you can tell all naysayers to go #$%^ themselves; because you're building your business; one brick at a time.

And let's face it, some people are just better at sales than others. But I've met guys who couldn't poor piss from a boot still earn good money in this game.

 

[aheff]

Superchief,
Take a deep breath and relax, since it is quite obvious you are are dumb and your reading comprehension is quite poor.
My first post was that it will be very hard to make a living in their first yr selling MS. I stand by that statement- sure, if you tap credit cards and live in your car (as you implied), you can get by, but that was NOT his question.
In my 2nd post, I stated that someone brand new to MS will not sell 200 apps a year. Do you disagree with that statement??
Superchief, if you take a moment to re-read my prior two posts-You, however, will probably will require several reads- you will see that we are agreeing with each other.
Lastly, I have no ax to grind. I am just an independent agent, doing his own thing, who doesn't want to work this Friday afternoon, and biding my time until I leave my office, and pick up the wife and kids to go to my beach house for the weekend.

 

[Superchief]

We are not agreeing with one another. You say an agent CANNOT make a living year one.

I say an agent CAN.

Those are two different statements.

I are are not dumb as you imply in your exact words.

it is quite obvious you are are dumb.

You're correct though; I did have to re-read that a few times to make sure you actually typed that.

I earned a living by my definition in my first year. It sucked. My wife left me. I ate shitty pizza, paid rent late sometimes and rode my credit cards into the ground. But 8 years later I don't regret it.

My apologies for being "unrelaxed". I get flustered when people just blatantly say NO you can't do it, as if it's that black and white.

And in your defense, your first post was much more intelligent than your second one. Your third post is not helping you though.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I am just an independent agent who doesn't want to work.

No wonder you can't earn a living.

 

[aheff]

I'll finish with this and you can have the last word. This is what I said:
Depends how you define "make a living", but I believe the answer to be no."
I don't consider: "My wife left me. I ate shitty pizza, paid rent late sometimes and rode my credit cards into the ground." as earning a living.
Now, if he phrased his question differently, I certainly would have answered differently, maybe saying that it will be really hard the first year, but hang in there, work very hard and smart and you'll have the potential to make a very nice living several years out.

 

[Superchief]

Truthfully we just differ in our definition of "living". I never died in my first year of insurance. It felt like it at times, but I lived the entire way.

 

[Iowa77]

I enjoy reading both of you guy's posts. I guess I'm learning that FE is important to you income, when selling Medicare. I appreciate the knowledge of everyone here, by the way. I've heard of guys only selling FE. Can you really make 50k by selling two a week? How difficult is it to sell compared to other life policies?

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

I will give this question a stab.
"Can a person make a living selling Medicare and Medicare supplements in their first year?"
Depends how you define "make a living", but I believe the answer to be no, for two reason.
First, there is a learning curve how to best prospect. I've been selling MA & MS for a few years now, and feel like I am finally starting to prospect smart and hitting my stride.
Second, the one year commission on MS sucks. BUT, it is all about building the block of business and building up those renewals.

I agree, it is not likely to make a living on med supps alone the first year. It depends on how hard you work and what you have planned to get leads. It is possible but its more likely that you will make around 20-30k first year. I made 10k my first year. I was young and didn't have a plan or a desire to work that hard though.

 

[Superchief]

I enjoy reading both of you guy's posts. I guess I'm learning that FE is important to you income, when selling Medicare. I appreciate the knowledge of everyone here, by the way. I've heard of guys only selling FE. Can you really make 50k by selling two a week? How difficult is it to sell compared to other life policies?

Depends on the client's premium and commission level on your contract, but yes it is possible.

Average FE sale on an average GA contract should gross about $500 in commish.

From a field underwriting perspective FE is generally easier than other life products.