Med Supp Newbies, Why You Should Cold Call

[GoCubsGo]

You don't agree with him so you've determined he shouldn't post them here? Who died and left you in charge?

Well he's been here a WHOLE month. ha

 

[germanwine1]

"Anyone want to post their cold calling script for medicare supps?"

Great question Reardon wouldn't mind looking at one myself.

 

[Focus LTC]

You're missing the point of the whole post here, I think.

While I do agree that time is money, sometimes you just don't have quite enough money to buy leads. You have to buy cheap lists (scrubbed against the DNC of course), and cold call.

What if an agent just starting out only has a couple hundred bucks to invest in leads of some sort? Is he going to buy mailers? Not at that price.

I think you're missing the whole concept of time, money, and cash.

Cold calling will cost an agent serious money in term of lost sales vs more efficient marketing methods. Especially when you look at lost commissions over time.

There is a difference Between money and cash. Cash buys you time which is money. Agents who don't have cash or access to it will be subject inefficient low cost marketing methods that will ultimately prove to be very expensive.

Cash is a tool businesses use to make more money. Some people see money and cash as the same thing in this context. Those people are incapable of making wise business decisions.

Cold calling is so 1980's. To say that it "works" is disingenuous. Blockbuster worked until it didn't.

To say that cold calling is a great way to get started and get past the learning curve is also BS. The opposite is true. It is going to take a new agent forever to get past the learning curve. The only experience you get from a 40hr cold calling week is 37 hrs listening to dial tones. 3hrs of meaningful insurance discussions per week is not going to get you over the hump.

The OP touted that cold calling works. He's no longer in the business. That should tell you everything you need to know.

 

[Josh]

Cold calling is so 1980's. To say that it "works" is disingenuous. Blockbuster worked until it didn't.

Make no mistake about it, cold calling still works in 2013. It's not a silver bullet, it works differently than it used to, but people still cold call for many products including insurance and generate sales from it. Blockbuster might not have stood the test of time, but people do still rent movies (redbox being a prime example). Netflix also just has a better method to get the discs into the players of folks interested in them.

I clearly have a bias as someone that sells telemarketing lists, but there is a reason why people consistently order and reorder marketing lists: it works.

Perhaps time is better spent working direct mail leads or building a referral base, but to dismiss cold calling at it's face is as inaccurate as it is to say it works for everyone in all markets. It's particularly effective in the b2b arena, but folks still do well with it in the b2c arena.

 

[sman]

Talk to any successful person, regardless of industry, and they'll tell you their most valuable commodity is their time.

I consider myself fairly successful, but I know some REALLY successful people and it's hard to get them alone for 30 minutes. I believe one of the traits of most successful people (at least my definition of success) is they value their time more than anything. That's because they know time is money.

I see both points being made regarding cold calling. Very few people are cut out for this business. And even fewer for cold calling. Is it possible to make it cold calling? Yes. Is it common? No. Keep in mind, I'm speaking of starting new in the business. An experienced person could likely have more success cold calling. Assuming they, as Frank would say, can give good phone.

One thing to remember, this IS a business. And with any business it requires proper funding. Too many people start in this business without proper funding. And that, among other things, can lead to failure.

 

[Focus LTC]

Make no mistake about it, cold calling still works in 2013...

It's particularly effective in the b2b arena, but folks still do well with it in the b2c arena.

Cold calling works if you are a MGA/BGA or captive company manager. Those people are leveraging the time of 100 or even 1,000 agents. That system is designed to turn the marginal success of the many into the extraordinary success of the very few.

You have experience with this. You owned a call center. As long as there are MGA's, call centers, and captive company managers, there will be plenty of business for you to sell lists.

Per the title, this thread is aimed at the "Med Supp newbie." To tell an individual newbie agent that cold calling is a good idea is not just a bad opinion, its a lie.

I could tell you that walking to the grocery store to buy food works, and it does. It is colossally inefficient. You could carry 10X the groceries in 1/10 of the time if you drove your car.

The "newbie individual med supp agent" that is reading this thread can take the advice of a paramedic and a Cold Calling List vendor or they can take the advice of experienced insurance agents who are actively writing policies everyday in the senior market.

 

[Josh]

The "newbie individual med supp agent" that is reading this thread can take the advice of a paramedic and a Cold Calling List vendor or they can take the advice of experienced insurance agents who are actively writing policies everyday in the senior market.

Two questions if I may.

1. What would you like to say to the agents on here that are currently using cold calling to sell Medicare supplements to seniors every week?

2. What would you suggest as an alternative?

 

[Focus LTC]

Two questions if I may.

1. What would you like to say to the agents on here that are currently using cold calling to sell Medicare supplements to seniors every week?

2. What would you suggest as an alternative?

1. Good Luck

2. SEO, internet leads, direct mail, senior center seminars, pharmacy seminars, PPC, event sponsorship, hire 5 or 6 telemarketers to cold call for you... anything that will leverage your time to help you find interested prospects beyond a dialer and CC list.

I have some questions for you:

1) How many hrs a week do you personally spend cold calling agent lists looking for new customers?

2) If you could do it all over again, would you trade the hrs you personally spent on SEO for cold calling hrs?

 

[tins]

Per the title, this thread is aimed at the "Med Supp newbie." To tell an individual newbie agent that cold calling is a good idea is not just a bad opinion, its a lie.

Cold calling works.
I lost another telemarketer last week. So, I didn't want to sit around all week doing nothing. I cold called for Med Supps. Ended up writing 3 new Med Supps from the cold calling (plus a couple others from working my current book).
I agree there are better methods that are more cost-effective for an experienced agent. BUT, many agents starting out have a lot more time than money on their hands. With no money to prospect, it IS worthwhile for agents starting out to cold call for new business (in regards to Med Supps) because it still works.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Whats your intro tins? Do you do online apps or do you mail it to them?
Thank you,