Why should I let you help me?

[InsuranceGuy29]

idk if you're active on reddit but the medicare subreddit is full of people pushing ship.. it's hilarious.

Agents are crooks and SHIP is the only "non-biased" source because we get paid and they dont

I was on Reddit about 4 years ago, for a month, and left. I found it to be a hive of absolute 70 IQ commie idiocy. Some subs were okay, but it was generally a sh*tshow. Sad to see that still hasn't changed. Maybe I need to pop back on there and set the morons straight.

The trend I noticed is these commie-minded people simply hate anything private, or semi-private. God forbid the government doesn't totally control ABSOLUTELY everything.

"You want choices and options?? You Fascist! How dare a licensed professional make money!"

Then there's the "Medicare Rights Center," a supposedly "nonprofit" charity." They are constantly writing CMS and Congress about how agents need to make less money.

This, again, is from a "charity" that rakes in, on average, 5 million dollars a year and pays many of their people upwards of $230,000 per year. I mean, if any of them ever read this....all of you are hypocrites.

 

[myinsurebiz]

I got questioned while I was at a persons house. I was helping the husband, and the wife who was not medicare agem grilled me. She asked why they should work with me instead of the people at SHIP (volunteers of the state who are apparently medicare advisors). I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that as it caught me off guard.

What would you say to this If it were you?

Tell them to phuck off and move on . . .

 

[bill3173]

Man that's a tough one, if that happens in a phone meeting, I usually explain, as others have indicated, that I have the specific knowledge and experience to assist them, while praising the assistors for their work. They may have talked to someone they really liked, so any negative feedback and they may put a strike through your name.

I have found that the people that ask about things like that, are really "in to" using government services, so you may want to emphasize that you are part of that very same program.

In person, if someone was so rude as to ask me that while I am sitting across the table from them, I would stand up and start to gather my stuff, and thank them for having me over, and let them know to call me if they have a continued interest in reviewing plans, etc.

I've only had that happen once, that I remember at an "in person" appointment. It was a large life case for a local attorney. I couldn't believe the gall of that asshole, and I was so pissed I could hardly keep it together, I was getting ready to say fork you forking sack of monkey shit, but fortunately his wife was there and took over quickly. It was a $26K annual premium that I was going to toss. Don't be like me.

 

[somarco]

In person, if someone was so rude as to ask me that while I am sitting across the table from them, I would stand up and start to gather my stuff, and thank them for having me over, and let them know to call me if they have a continued interest in reviewing plans, etc.

Dick Bullock . . .

An agent from the way back . . . Dick brought me along to discuss retirement plans with one of his life insurance clients.

Dick was extremely self confident with a mercurial personality and would turn on you in a heartbeat. He was there for the annual review and nonchalantly recommended an additional $500k for estate liquidity. The client looked over the proposal, paused, and said "Dick, I feel like I have enough insurance already".

Dick immediately closed his notebook, stood up and said "G-D you deserve to die without it." He then turned to me and said "Come on, Bob. We are leaving".

He was my ride so I had no choice. In the car he continued cursing the man while I said nothing. That was the first time I had seen an agent act like that in front of the client.

When we got back to the agent Dick was handed a note to call the client. Dick invited me into his office, dialed the client and put him on speakerphone. The client apologized for questioning the recommendation and said he was ready to buy.

"Well damnit Jim, you wasted my time and Bob's. You come to my office and bring your checkbook".

About an hour later the guy showed up, checkbook in hand, and bought the $500k


I had never seen the take away close work like that before . . .

 

[sman]

Because I f**cking drove to your house!

Kidding, sort of. Yes, this is likely a trust issue. That said, I am a YOOGE advocate of the takeaway. My response would be something like, Would you prefer to work with a SHIP volunteer? And then shut up and see what comes out of her mouth. Don't go all on-and-on about your training and certifications and licenses and whatever. She doesn't care. Act as if you couldn't care less which way they decide and mean it.

I know that can seem impossible to do when a person is just getting started but it is a mindset that will serve you well.

The most freeing and enlightening moment of my career was when I told a potential client no. It happened not long after I went independent back in the late 90's. I met with a guy to discuss life insurance. He decided to proceed so I took the application. I explained what was next (a call from a nurse to schedule the exam and I explained what all would happen during the exam). A few days later I got a call from him. It was late afternoon and he sounded drunk. He was pissed about having to have an exam and said I never told him that. I calmly explained that we had in fact discussed the exam. He kept ranting. I finally said,

"I tell you what, I'm going to call the company and withdraw your application and you can find somebody else to work with."

He then told me "you will not".

I responded with, "I most certainly will. Best of luck to you."

I called the insurance company and withdrew the application. I also called EMSI and told them not to bother reaching back out to him.

I could have really used the money back then, but I figured if he was this much of a problem before we even got the policy issued, he was going to be a problem down the road.

Moral of the story, be willing to walk away from business. It's much easier to do when you are making money. Not so much when you need the income. But for your own sanity, always be willing to walk away from business.

 

[somarco]

be willing to walk away from business. It's much easier to do when you are making money. Not so much when you need the income. But for your own sanity, always be willing to walk away from business.

That is a tough lesson to learn, especially when you NEED the money.

If you can walk away then it is much easier the next time and the next time and . . .

 

[Marty Silbernik]

I'd make it very simple. When you deal with SHIP, they will have no standing with your insurance company if you need someone to run interference for you on an issue that may run into.

With me, as your Agent of Record, You and I will have a personal relationship and a level of trust that you won't be able to get with the SHIP folks. I'll have standing with the insurance company to work on your behalf, in essence being your advocate if the need should arise.

 

[sman]

I got questioned while I was at a persons house. I was helping the husband, and the wife who was not medicare agem grilled me. She asked why they should work with me instead of the people at SHIP (volunteers of the state who are apparently medicare advisors). I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that as it caught me off guard.

What would you say to this If it were you?

The other issue that I don't believe has been addressed in this thread (forgive me if I overlooked it) is a prospect may be thinking "why should I pay you when I can get help for free".

This is where we reassure them that our service doesn't cost them anything. We also should remind them that we work for them and our goal is to find the plan that best fits their needs. Since we are independent, it makes no difference to us which plan/company is a fit for them as that is the one we will recommend. And we will do this year in and year out.

Others have mentioned the other value added services we provide so I won't go into that.

Personally, I would avoid disparaging the SHIP people as they are volunteering their time and it would just come across as petty. But I would certainly point out that I will be their advocate and I likely have more information than the SHIP volunteer. I have company contacts that they likely don't have. I have answers to specific carrier related questions that the SHIP volunteer won't have. The list goes on and on.

 

[bill3173]

It seems that if someone is questioning you on the phone, it is quite different than f2f. The telesales customer has a good reason to be careful, especially if it's not a referral. That situation can be turned around fairly easy with verbal skittles, and you can have a new client in minutes.

The f2f appointment requires more time, planning, etc, not to mention that you've spoken to them before, to set the appointment, and give them a meeting syllabus. Then they want to ask you for your resume'? It's time to leave.

It's fine for them to meet you and not want you for an agent, they can do that the old fashioned way, by saying that they need to think about it, my daughter's sick, hair appointment, I've got to take my dog to the vet, etc.

Obviously, if you're interviewing with a Large Corp to handle their retirement plans, or group health, and there are massive quantities of $$ involved, then yeah, okay, explain yourself. But for these dinky amounts of money on an individual basis to have someone get smart like that..that's bs.

 

[gregj]

OP's client's wife asked a good, and fair question - kind of the equivalent of "why would you be the best choice for president?"

It's a sensible question for anyone considering working with any service provider. They're not (necessarily) challenging you; most times, they'd simply like to know.

My feeling is, if you can't answer why they should want to work with you, they probably shouldn't.