- Thread starter
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Wowsers! alot to process.
Thank you for everyone's advice.
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Thanks. Seems like hard to pick who to go with. Someone said good things about Kellogg.....but now little different opinion.
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Already have:
Desktop
Printer/scanner
2005 Prius 40 mpg costs about 15 cents/mile! Can sleep in it if need be.
Questions:
Will my personal cell phone work for answering machine or do I need separate line?
Do I need tablet or laptop with internet access if I go to someone's home?
How much paper will I have to file? How long do I have to keep it?
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Thanks Matt. I should be able to fund without any advances. $400 times 40 weeks = $16,000 in leads. Then should be self sustaining (fingers crossed). What interest typically charged for advances?
If I don't take advances any chance/risk I wouldn't get paid?
re discounted classes. In Illinois, I have requirement to have a in classroom 8 hours for life and 8 hours for health. So found provider within 20 minutes. No hotel. I typically learn best in classroom.
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Thanks. I was able to get my car costs down around 15 cents a mile. 2005 Prius still looks decent to pull up to prospects' houses. Have vanity Air Force plates! 40 mpg. paid $3,575. Already made almost double the car cost back driving Uber. Made as much as car cost in 3 months. Very little depreciation racking up miles. Way better than 6 or 7 year loans on vehicles.
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Thanks Chazm for input. I feel more comfortable F2F, as I'm sure most do. I don't know how to answer question about buying leads/cold calling.
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I feel I'm much stronger in person and don't mind knocking on doors. I don't mind spending money on quality leads.
I'm just worried /concerned that I spend lots of time/energy /money and I don't make my money back.
I'm very frugal and have worked pretty hard for my money. I'm worried, I spend $2k getting going and I'm not able to sell/prospect well enough to make my money back.
Thank you for everyone's advice.
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I suggest someone other than Kellogg. They are local to me and from what I understand, all talk and no action. There are a few on the forum that are pretty helpful and I am sure others will chime in. Good luck either way.
Thanks. Seems like hard to pick who to go with. Someone said good things about Kellogg.....but now little different opinion.
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Thank you Lost Dollar for taking the time. Phew lot to process. Little overwhelming.(I am not an agent)
Electronic equipment-Tablet, laptop, phone and phone plan.
Answering machine.
Call recording software?
Call dialing software?
Mobile scanning and printing equipment?
Desktop computer? Fax? Copier? Scanner? Printer?
Internet access.
Education on how to use that stuff.
Office equipment. For a home workspace and for car.
Filing and organization. Organize and monitor lead cards. File and find customer apps. Track and file business costs for taxes.
Dependable car.
If you choose to do any doorknocking from lists-cost of lists.
Travel money for a ridealong with someone.
The following may come farther out than you are looking for:
Continuing education hours for state.
Medicare training, sales training, motivational training -Books-courses-site memberships.
Certifications. I have not carefully worked out the answers to this yet so I may have some inaccurate information here.
I believe to sell Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans you have to have an annual certification called the AHIP. I also think it has to be done for each carrier you use. Posts I have read suggest that this can run into a significant time requirement-have not gotten a good read on the financial cost.
It doesn't sound like there are any certification requirements to sell Med Supps, but I am not absolutely sure about that.
As far as IMO's are concerned-I have no experience-only reading of posts and some opinions.
My short list of two is:
Todd King
SMS (Senior Market Specialists) Columbia, MO.
(does an annual seminar and is close enough to me I could go.)
(do not confuse this one with another SMS in NE.)
Which one I would choose depends on the week I think about it and at the moment it is purely academic because I have not got a license.
There is a 3rd possibility-If you go to top posters and click on goillini52, you will see a link in his signature for one called Senior Market Design. He was very excited about the quality of their leads when he first posted about them. Goillini has not posted for some time so I do not know if his ongoing experience has continued the way it started.
Others will present other options, those are just the ones that I thought would make the most sense for me personally, starting completely from scratch and needing help.
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edit-another thing which I missed is a quote engine to let you easily see comparative rates and company characteristics when you have a specific age, gender and zip code potential client identified.
Already have:
Desktop
Printer/scanner
2005 Prius 40 mpg costs about 15 cents/mile! Can sleep in it if need be.
Questions:
Will my personal cell phone work for answering machine or do I need separate line?
Do I need tablet or laptop with internet access if I go to someone's home?
How much paper will I have to file? How long do I have to keep it?
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Great points by LostDollar, and also thank you for the shout out on the short list.
Not wanting advances is great but, I believe that you might need them in the beginning to get started. Also, who are you taking your L&H courses through? There are discounts everywhere for these types of classes.
There are also tons of training sites to get ready to sell as well. A lot of the IMOs and training sites have many discounts on stuff like this.
I believe in the beginning you should take advancing on Medicare, then as you build, dial it back until you make it to as earned. The rule is always, if you get 1000 leads (for medicare) with direct mailers expect about a 2% return. So, let's say you get 20 leads, expect to get in touch with about half, 10, then expect to sell about half, which is 5. These are good goals on the law of average numbers.
Somedays, you may not hit this number, and some days you may crush it.
Thanks Matt. I should be able to fund without any advances. $400 times 40 weeks = $16,000 in leads. Then should be self sustaining (fingers crossed). What interest typically charged for advances?
If I don't take advances any chance/risk I wouldn't get paid?
re discounted classes. In Illinois, I have requirement to have a in classroom 8 hours for life and 8 hours for health. So found provider within 20 minutes. No hotel. I typically learn best in classroom.
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So.... be prepared to use a lot of gas. Maybe not as much as you used with Uber - but every mile you drive estimate about $.50 in total costs.
Keep that in mind as you market - you may want to keep the radius tight.
Thanks. I was able to get my car costs down around 15 cents a mile. 2005 Prius still looks decent to pull up to prospects' houses. Have vanity Air Force plates! 40 mpg. paid $3,575. Already made almost double the car cost back driving Uber. Made as much as car cost in 3 months. Very little depreciation racking up miles. Way better than 6 or 7 year loans on vehicles.
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Imo you might as well just take your first $400 on leads and just throw it in the trash. You're going to need to learn how to talk on the phone first. Don't waste your money on leads to start. Do some cold calling and get rejected.
Even if you do spend $400 on leads and maybe get 1 sale out of it. Now what? Did you do another lead drop as soon as your first leads came in? Or if you're doing internet leads, be prepared to go through that $400 in one week
Thanks Chazm for input. I feel more comfortable F2F, as I'm sure most do. I don't know how to answer question about buying leads/cold calling.
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Thanks Rick.I disagree. Trying to learn to sell Medicare (or anything else) initially on the phone is likely not going to work. While it's not rocket surgery, speaking with someone in person will teach an agent how to respond to questions without the pressure of a "5 second response."
I'm all for cold calling to set appointments. But certainly not for a new agent to sell.
Cold calling is great but only as good as the leads. Don't go for the unlimited monthly lists - they are not the quality needed.
Rick
I feel I'm much stronger in person and don't mind knocking on doors. I don't mind spending money on quality leads.
I'm just worried /concerned that I spend lots of time/energy /money and I don't make my money back.
I'm very frugal and have worked pretty hard for my money. I'm worried, I spend $2k getting going and I'm not able to sell/prospect well enough to make my money back.