Why is $50mp and $10,000 the average in FE?

[WinoBlues]

And what does your wife have to say about that?

As the Wizard of Oz says - That is a horse of a different color.

 

[shonceman]

As the Wizard of Oz says - That is a horse of a different color.

Dude...did you just call your wife a horse?

 

[Life Hawk]

Dude...did you just call your wife a horse?

Edit... hit edit. Quick before she sees it.

 

[tribetime32]

I’ve seen agents do dumb stuff to make their manager’s “tracking” look better though. I’ve always been about writing up what makes sense to write on each case. Some will be huge. Some will be small. Most in the middle.

But if an agent wants to impress his micro-manager he can just skip small cases. I wrote a $250 monthly AP last week. And it really was an FE case. Now if I would have had you as my manager maybe I would have skipped writing the other case I wrote that was $30. Because it brought my average way down.

I’ve seen agents do dumb stuff like that. Whatever impresses their manager they just do what it takes to impress him. Instead of learning to just write apps.

I would NEVER suggest not writing a $30 app. That was not my intention of posting what I did at all. A sale is a sale. All I'm saying is that if an agent is writing a lot of $30 apps they aren't doing something right and helping them fight for their business is in THEIR best interest way more than it is mine.

 

[Newby]

I would NEVER suggest not writing a $30 app. That was not my intention of posting what I did at all. A sale is a sale. All I'm saying is that if an agent is writing a lot of $30 apps they aren't doing something right and helping them fight for their business is in THEIR best interest way more than it is mine.

I understand you wouldn't purposely send that message. But I'm telling you that has happened to sales managers for decades. Unintended consequences.

We tell agents THEY should focus on writing a minimum of $4,000 weekly. It doesn't matter if they did that with two apps or 25 apps its the same $4,000. Now obviously if you notice one agent always hitting his $4,000 with a bunch of smalls you want to look at it and see if there is something you can help him with to increase it. But some agents write a bunch of solid smalls and if the total AP is good I wouldn't make him feel lesser than the the agent that hit the same numbers with fewer larger cases.

In other words, the ONLY real numbers that matter is 1. Total commissionable AP 2. Commission rate paid on the biz 3. persistancy And that all adds up to the only number that REALLY counts...how much $$$ goes in his bank account and stays there.

 

[tribetime32]

I understand you wouldn't purposely send that message. But I'm telling you that has happened to sales managers for decades. Unintended consequences.

We tell agents THEY should focus on writing a minimum of $4,000 weekly. It doesn't matter if they did that with two apps or 25 apps its the same $4,000. Now obviously if you notice one agent always hitting his $4,000 with a bunch of smalls you want to look at it and see if there is something you can help him with to increase it. But some agents write a bunch of solid smalls and if the total AP is good I wouldn't make him feel lesser than the the agent that hit the same numbers with fewer larger cases.

In other words, the ONLY real numbers that matter is 1. Total commissionable AP 2. Commission rate paid on the biz 3. persistancy And that all adds up to the only number that REALLY counts...how much $$$ goes in his bank account and stays there.

I think this is a wonderful perspective. I’m just pointing out an additional aspect of this and trying not to be adversarial.

What if the agent that writes $4,000 weekly on 10 deals increases his average monthly premium by $10, $20, $30?

That’s an extra $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 in the agent’s pocket. How is that a bad thing to push for? In my experience, with dozens of agents to sample from, there are many numbers that indicate a profitable agent. Closing percentage, average monthly premium, persistency etc etc.

Average monthly premium per sale in my experience is one of the most important stats I can look at to tell if an agent is profitable. If an agent is buying leads, why would we not coach them on a system that asks for more premium and talks a client down if they really can’t afford it?

It benefits the agent and protects the clients more effectively. Why paint a picture of a greedy upline who is only concerned about more override? That’s a weak argument in my opinion.

Many clients will buy the cheapest thing you show them, why not make that number $60 instead of $30? Affordability is relative, we never know what that number is until we ask for the sale.

You can still have persistency over 90 percent AND write bigger deals.

I’m not going to scold an agent for collecting a $25 premium, but you can bet your you know what that I’ll be coaching them up to sell to the $60, $80 $100+ system. Sometimes the situation calls for lower premiums, but if this happens often, it’s a sign of a weak closer. How is this even a debate?

This is simply a tool to help agents become more successful.

 

[titeye]

From a different thread

@rousemark rousemark said: ↑
I would say that is about right for the average sale. Telesales or F2F.. Some agents may do higher but I am talking about barrage across the board.

@WinoBlues
I wonder if some of that isn't because the agents have a $10,000 face amount / $50mp mentality. Not all agents of course. I seem to remember Travis, I think, would start at something like $200mp. Fear of lapses maybe? Newer broker agents afraid to punch above their weight? Do trainers teach those numbers?

It seems like anytime agents talks about quoting FE they talk about $10,000. and funeral cost. That and they seem to assume their prospects are all broke. I get that many are.

Just thoughts. Probably showing my Not an FE agent undies.

I probably need to read through the rest of the posts before commenting, but I don't feeling like reading through 6-pages right now. With that said, I believe the $10,000 is referring to ALP per month. My only reason for this theory is the FE agencies are always telling new recruits how easy it is to make $100,000 per year selling final expense. At $10,000 per month in ALP on an 85% contract is $102,000 in commissions.

 

[rousemark]

I probably need to read through the rest of the posts before commenting, but I don't feeling like reading through 6-pages right now. With that said, I believe the $10,000 is referring to ALP per month. My only reason for this theory is the FE agencies are always telling new recruits how easy it is to make $100,000 per year selling final expense. At $10,000 per month in ALP on an 85% contract is $102,000 in commissions.

No, we are saying the "average" FE sale is for $10,000 face amount and $50.00 per month premium. To hit $10K AP, you would have to do 16+ sales per month.. Certainly doable for a full time agent.

 

[titeye]

No, we are saying the "average" FE sale is for $10,000 face amount and $50.00 per month premium. To hit $10K AP, you would have to do 16+ sales per month.. Certainly doable for a full time agent.

Ahh!!!

 

[FETalk]

From a different thread

@rousemark rousemark said: ↑
I would say that is about right for the average sale. Telesales or F2F.. Some agents may do higher but I am talking about barrage across the board.

@WinoBlues
I wonder if some of that isn't because the agents have a $10,000 face amount / $50mp mentality. Not all agents of course. I seem to remember Travis, I think, would start at something like $200mp. Fear of lapses maybe? Newer broker agents afraid to punch above their weight? Do trainers teach those numbers?

It seems like anytime agents talks about quoting FE they talk about $10,000. and funeral cost. That and they seem to assume their prospects are all broke. I get that many are.

Just thoughts. Probably showing my Not an FE agent undies.

I think it really just depends on the area and demographics that you are selling to. I usually will provide prospects with 3 choices based on my "feel for the situation", and then I let them decide which plan they feel best fits within their budget.

Also, even if the initial sale is only a $10,000 face amount/$50 mp, oftentimes an agent will have the opportunity to comeback later and sell additional coverage.