FE Gold!! (mined Gems from the FE Forum)

[Justin Bilyj]

I started these threads so that newbs and journeymen of the craft can pick up the best gems without combing 20 some pages. They are arranged in no particular way, although towards the end I started to differentiate them into three classes, General FE knowledge (which is this thread), FE leads and prospecting, and Objections, which I did not adhere to. I might come back and clean up the thread and organize it, but for now it will be a treasure of gems ready for the willing to go through.
Special thanks (in no particular order) to:

Frank Stasny, Jdeasy, Newby, Greg, Dhk, Todd, xrac, reardon, ob1kanobee, mustfastpitch, jmatos, rousemark, Mark, Bob Levine etc. Sorry If I didn't include you, if you find you contributed to these gems, let me know and I will include the name.

Final Expense



Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Did you ask her (after your warm-up) "does anyone else need to be present in order for her to make a decision today"? If she is not married, this would include a friend or relative.
I always emphasize "today" 2 to 3 times. If they say they aren't buying anything today that is a fairly easy one to get around but I want them to know if they see value I'm asking for a commitment today, not tomorrow or 6 months from now. I stopped doing that crap recently and I'm doing more of a hard close now. I'm done with being a conversationalist with some of these people. I tell them straight up from the beginning "this is not a I want to think about it decision". I can tell you that when people know you aren't going to hear them when they say "I want to think about it", you will not get that objection much anymore.



Family Objection??
Family Objection??
May or may not have made a difference in this situation, but I try to always make it a practice to ask up front...

Mrs. Jones, If we can find a plan that you qualify for, meets your needs and meets your budget - can I obtain a policy for you today?


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
I would have gone back for my paper work after the warm up, and before I started the presentation.


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Mrs. Jones this is not a I want to think about it decision. If we can find a plan that you qualify for, meets your needs and your your budget and YOU SEE THE VALUE, I'm going to do my part and obtain a policy for you today. DOES THAT SOUND FAIR ENOUGH"?

(it's important you tell them AND YOU SEE THE VALUE and ask this exact question......IS THAT FAIR ENOUGH?)

By doing this you have planted seeds. Most importantly the need to act in either a yes or no answer instead of this "I need to think about it" response. You have to remove that with every customer or else you are going to get that a lot and I don't know about you but I can't stand it.


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Remind her the budget is good, she qualifies and she sees the value. "Ms. Jones, a little while ago we established that this was a decision you make today remember? I'm here today and today is as close as you have ever come or will ever come to obtaining this protection for you and your family."

If that doesn't work, then go back through it again. "Ms. Jones, I've been doing this for a long time. In my experience it's always a few things that have someone sitting on the fence. The money, they don't understand it completely or they feel they don't need it or don't see the value. Well I know and you know you need it and you want it. I feel the premium is within your budget. What is it you feel I might not have explained well enough"? (smoke it out)


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
As for statements about what and how to say things, I NEVER say does thais "sound " good, great wonderful or anything.

It all "sounds" good. If I explain something I ask, "does that mke sense?". When presenting prices I ask, "does this fit your budget?".


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
A lot of folks don't beleive in "power phrases but they do work and one that I found to be effective for me over the years is, "you be the SOLE judge".. In other s words it is your opinion, nor mine that counts. One other suggestion that I would make is use as few 'insurance" words as possible, ie "policy" I would substitute 'protection" or a similar word. The prospect does not care about a policy but they do want "protection". Borrowing from you, I would alter it to say, " If we can find a plan that you qualify for, meets your needs and your your budget and YOU SEE THE VALUE, YOU BE THE SOLE JUDGE, I'm going to do my part and obtain PROTECTION for you today. DOES THAT SOUND FAIR ENOUGH"?


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Not sole judge, but I do say, "you have to do what's best for you, not what's best for me, what's best for the insurance company or anyone else, do what's best for you".


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
1. Price During the interview, establish a price commitment. "Mrs. Jones, if I could show you plan that would do what you want it to do, what could you set aside each month? " Normally, you are going to get a, 'I don't know" and you would respond with an outrageous high number, "$500 per month?".."no way".."How about $5" .. "Maybe" Well, somewhere between those two numbers is a reasonable number" Let's figure out what it might be." If the number is $40 you develop a plan in that range, if they object to the price at closing, you gently remind them that that was the number they chose.

2. Have to speak with my family.. befroe getting into the fact finding and proposal process ask, "Mrs. Jones, is there anybody else that need to be present while we speak or do you make decisions on your own?"

3. Not Interested .. If this is true, most of the time you are going to find that out before you ever get to closing. If it is just a stall, that is what the sales process is all about.. sparking interest and encouraging action.

4. I don't care what they do with me. If this is really true and a person is that selfish, there is not a lot you can do. if it is a stall, then, "Mrs. Jones, I agree with you. I don't care what they do with me either. If they throw me in a ditch and cover me up, that is fine. But while I don't care, my loved ones do and I don't want to leave an additional burden on them. Lord knows that in these hard times, they are struggling enough just to get by without having to pay for my burial and final expenses." (note: most older folks always think times are hard no matter what)

5. I have to think about it.. See 0b1kanobee's post on this one. Establish a commitment at the beginning of the fact finding.


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
I use a line that my mentor tells me to use every time people get objections from family members or friends.

Either ask if they are a doctor or a professional position, then when they say no ask if they will let them do brain surgery on them. If they say no, ask them why. They will say because they are not specialized or a professional. Then you go exactly, unless your (family member with objection) is a insurance professional, why would you listen to them, did they study it or have training? Why would you take advice from a non professional.


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Just remeber that the "or do you make decisions on your own" is the key phrase. If you just ask if anyone else needs to be present, they may give it some thought and come up with someone. But the last part is a challenge. Most of us old folks don't want to think that we have surrendered our independence and are at the mercy of letting someone else make decision for us. If you wait until the end of the presentation and they say they need to talk it over with someone, you can't ask them, "can't you make your own decisions?" without being offensive .. But by doing it up front, it comes across that you are concerned about what they think.


Family Objection??
Family Objection??
Whenever I hear an objection I agree with the objection and then I pretend I never heard that objection and carry on with my presentation.

If I hear one, and only one, objection over and over then I know that objection is real and not some sort of put-off. Otherwise I'll probably hear 3-5 different objections..which means they are just put-offs.

If I was working this lead with the situation you described I would plan on staying another 30 min. for sure, unless I had another appointment coming up very shortly.

I'd 1st need to find out who Ms. Jones was talking to on the phone when I went out to my car. I might casually say "what that my supervisor checking up on me?" in a joking tone. Now Ms. Jones will say something like "that was my sister calling asking who you were", etc.

Now Ms. Jones and I are going to get back into an easy going conversation about anything except talking about her buying a policy. Kinda warming her up again. Gradually I'd start talking about the issues we agreed upon earlier before her phone call......about leaving a check to her family to pay her burial/final expenses.

I'd also say again "Ms. Jones, down the road when the good lord calls you home, whose responsibility is it to have that $$/policy on hand to pay for your funeral, yours or your childrens? Ms. Jones is going to say it's her responsibility. And I'll say "I understand but why do you feel it's your responsibility...why wouldn't you want to leave that burden for your children to worry about?" Ms. Jones usually says it's her responsibilty, her children have their own lives to live, etc., etc.

Now Ms. Jones is telling me why she needs the policy, rather than me telling her why she needs the policy. Just what I want.

Now I'll start putting ink on the app. I'll say "Ms. Jones did you want that check to go to your children equally or did you have one in particular in mind to handle your final arrangements"? Which ever she says I immediately start filling in the bene. on her app. Next "does your mail come here or to a PO Box?" and I'll write that on her app. "And your 1st name is spelled Bessie right? Etc., etc. filling in the app.

If Ms. Jones stops me and says to call her back in June I'll say "I'd love to but I'm afraid I can't. You see I'll be in a different part of the state helping other families out. The enrollment period is when I'm in your home or neighborhood, which is right now". "Now did you want us to bill your bank on the 5th or the 10th"? And keep right on writing up the app. THIS IS CLOSING!

When you've finished and collected her check....offer her check back. Say "Ms. Jones, if you're not satisfied I want you to take your check back". She'll never take the check back and she'll say something like "go ahead and send it on off". When I did it about 6-7 yrs. in the field no one ever took their check back.


Common Objections
Common Objections
Assuming you have had a few objections and now they say "I need to think about it".

My response:

Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I have been doing this for a long time, meeting with folks just like yourself and I can tell you that right now is the closest you will ever come to making this decision. The worst thing that can happen is a decline of coverage. NOW is the best time to give it a try. (then shut up..........maybe slide a pen and app their way)


Not a Bad FE Day.
Not a Bad FE Day.
There are many approaches on the form you can choose form if you do a search. I simply appraoched them with, Hi I'm with RIS. I assume you have heard about the high cost of living these days but have you ever given any thought to the high cost of dying? Doesn't matter if they answer yes or no, if they answer at all, you have an opening for a conversation. ....... Do you know of anyone who had make arrangements for a loved one's funeral? Was it expensive?. Are you aware that the funeral home bill is only a fraction of the true cost.? Can we step in and let me share with you what has proven to be of benefit to other people that might be of benefit to you and your family? (if no.. then)If this is not a good time, let's set an appoitnment for another day.. Tuesday mornings or Thursday afternoons better for you? In 40 years have only had 3 doors slammed in my face and that didn't hurt much at all!


Addressing hidden objections
Addressing hidden objections
Thought this would be a good topic. After I get a rapport with my prospects I always ask what their largest concerns are. We take a lot for granted as agents and falsely assume our clients understand the process. Here are main concerns bought up by my prospects that they would have never voiced had I not asked:

1) "I really don't want to take a physical." You'd be surprised by the number of your prospects who assume they need to take a physical. If this isn't addressed you could be losing a deal over nothing.

2) "I know underwriting takes months." Another misconception by some people is underwriting takes forever.

3) "I really don't want to apply and get declined." Even perfectly healthy people are very apprehensive about applying for coverage.

4) "I don't want to switch doctors." One of the 1st things I do with any prospect is run a network search. "Let's make sure your doctors take the plan" alleviates a lot of concern.

5) "You're gonna sign me up, then drop off the face of the planet like my last agent." It's important to go over your services. I send E-newsletters to all my my clients and go over my newsletter with my prospects. When they know I'll be in monthly contact with them fears about getting "slammed" are gone.

6) "I know there's a hidden fee in here somewhere." MANY clients are greatly confused about how we're compensated. If they think there's a fee coming that could be a major reason for no returned calls. I always go over the fact that I'm compensated by the carriers, never by my clients directly.

The bottom line is if you're not addressing these items with your clients you're likely losing a lot of deals.


Consider this market during our current recessionary times. When given the options of either paying for their funeral by pulling money from their widow's or widower's savings, charging the cost of a funeral to a credit card, or by paying monthly life insurance premiums now on a discounted, income tax-free, lay-away plan, you can see that a final expense insurance policy becomes an optimal choice.


I go over Globe/AARP Term products, ROP Mutual of Omaha and Colonial Penn products when framing the reasons for the superiority of my WL products.

For the Term Products...
-"Do you plan on kicking the bucket BEFORE 80 or AFTER 80?"
-"What good's insurance... if it's not there when you need it?"

For the ROP WL Products...
-"MoO and CP = Sick people's insurance -- God bless them, because they're terminally ill, they CAN get insurance. And because they can, everyone including you is put on a 2-year waiting period."


Re: Globe and AARP - my response is usually something like "Would you rather pay less for something that MIGHT be there when you pass, or pay more for something that WILL be there?".

 

[Justin Bilyj]

"Mr. Jones, I know you have provided good life insurance coverage for your family and you are to be commended for that. But, when death occurs, the first thing the funeral home is going to ask for is either cash or an insurance policy to pay the bill.

You don't want Mrs. Jones to have to take a $500,000 policy and assign the benefits to the funeral home. This burial insurance plan is enough to pay for the average funeral.. She can take this policy to the funeral home and they will not know how much coverage you had elsewhere. it is none of their business anyway and they won't be tempted to oversell your family simply because they know how much money is available. Plus ALL the money from your other policy is still available to do what you wanted it to do for your family"

The next time someone tells you they have plenty of "life" insurance, try telling them, "That's great! And, I want to congratulate you for making sure your family is taken care of.. But a lot of people choose to supplement their "LIFE" insurance with "BURIAL" insurance.. let me show you why this makes sense to them."


Yes, most life insurance policies are not actually assigned to funeral homes. They are assigned to funeral advancing companies (ForeThought owns one and there are several others).

These companies charge around 4% to advance the funeral home the life insurance proceeds today. Some funeral homes charge the family the extra fee, others build it into their price but will usually give an extra 5% discount if the family will just pay cash or check.

Final expense policies do NOT pay the death benefit any quicker than regular life insurance policies as a rule. ForeThought, Lincoln Heritage are the exceptions and both of them own funeral advancing companies.

Problems arise when a policy is contestible OR if there is ANY beneficiaries that won't (or aren't available to) sign the advancing paperwork.

Most quality funeral homes will NOT do services without payment in advance these days. There is usually a bottom-feeder funeral home that will take those in most areas. They get as much money up front because they often won't get paid on the rest.


WebCE
WebCE.com | Insurance Continuing Education (CE)
No one likes talking about death, let alone planning for it, because it means confronting one’s greatest fears: being separated from loved ones, enduring the suffering and pain that may accompany a final illness, being overwhelmed by grief when a loved one dies, and facing the unknown and mysterious nature of death. Many people avoid facing these unspoken fears by simply ignoring the subject of death and funeral planning. Quite often, fear also causes people to procrastinate.


No one likes talking about death, let alone planning for it, because it means confronting one’s greatest fears: being separated from loved ones, enduring the suffering and pain that may accompany a final illness, being overwhelmed by grief when a loved one dies, and facing the unknown and mysterious nature of death. Many people avoid facing these unspoken fears by simply ignoring the subject of death and funeral planning. Quite often, fear also causes people to procrastinate.


In addition, a number of important decisions must be made fairly quickly. Specifically, family members or friends must

• decide whether burial, cremation, or donation of the body to science is desired;
• choose a funeral provider and cemetery;
• select a casket and burial vault, if needed;
• decide on an open or closed casket;
• make arrangements for a memorial service;
• choose pallbearers and a religious leader to oversee the funeral;
• select clothing and jewelry;
• make arrangements for music and flowers;
• write an obituary and notify newspapers; and
• decide how much money to spend on the service.

In addition to making decisions about the funeral, many people and organizations must be contacted, often as quickly as possible, after a family member or friend’s death. These include:

• relatives and friends
• a minister, priest, rabbi, or other spiritual leader
• the deceased’s employer
• local newspapers
• insurance agents
• Social Security Administration
• Veterans Administration
• religious, fraternal, and civic organizations and unions
• attorney, accountant, and financial planner
• credit card companies

As you can see, surviving family members are confronted with a myriad of decisions and tasks during the period immediately following a loved one’s death. Survivors may feel a great sense of comfort and peace in knowing that they have faithfully carried out a person’s last wishes, when those wishes have been made known in advance.
Reduce Financial Burden on Survivors

Many people pre-pay because funerals are expensive, costing around $6,500 on average.2 However, this figure does not include cemetery costs, flowers, limousines, acknowledgment cards, catering services, and more, which can easily push the cost well beyond $10,000. Many people consequently set aside funds in advance to avoid placing this financial burden on loved ones.



WebCE
WebCE.com | Insurance Continuing Education (CE)
Seventy percent of a prospect’s lifetime medical expenses are often incurred in battling a final illness.


Dying is a costly business, and the funds needed to pay for it can be substantial. In addition to the costs of burial and funeral—$5,000 to $12,000 for an average funeral, and much more for a lavish one—are the final medical and hospital expenses.
Often as much as 70 percent of an individual’s lifetime medical expenses are incurred in a final illness. While it is impossible to determine exactly how much will not be reimbursed by insurance, it is important for the prospect to consider this cost in his or her insurance planning.



we find there are 3 reason that people return these to us. Number 1 is that they do not have anyting in place to take care of their funeral, burial or other final expenses. Number 2 is becuae they do have a little bit in place and need to supplement what they have or possibly to even save money on what they have. Number 3 is because they have all that taken care of and just wanted to leave some money to the family, the church or to a charity."


"Mr. Jones, this is JD with my company. The reason I'm calling is because we are thepeople that you sent in a request for information to about our final expense life insurance and I'm the guy that takes care of that in your area. I'm going to be in your area tomorrow and I need 10 minutes of your time to go over that, is 10:00am OK for you?".


1. Just mail me something: "We already mailed it to you and you filled it in and mailed it back to us. That's why I'm calling you back. Were you checking into benefits for yourself or someone else"? (You need to stay in control). Keep asking questions without too much pausing. Most of the time they will start to engage you in conversation, which is what you want, to bond with you, to do the warm up dance with you.

If they don't start melting down in the next 5 min. I'm asking for referrals before I get off the phone and starting on the next lead. However, a small % will start melting and warming up to you in 5 min. and some of these will result into a sale, making that extra 5 min. worthwhile. If you've been in FE very long, and you can close, you'll see that some of the prospects who give you the strongest objections UP FRONT turn into soft butter 20-30 min. later and turn into an easy lay down.

2. Just drop it off: OK, should I drop it off today or tomorrow? Ok, what time is best for you and I'll see if I have an opening in my schedule for you. Now, before I drop the info off I'll need to find out which info to get together for you. Was the info for you or someone else? Etc., etc.

When you get to the house with the info at the agreed upon time, just proceed as if this was a normal appointment you scheduled. Don't say "I'm here to drop this info off". Proceed as if they had agreed to an appointment when you were on the phone earlier.

3. Quote over the phone: Well..Ms. Jones..we don't even know if you qualify. Then deflect the question and change the subject. Ms. Jones will usually just follow your lead in the conversation. Now you can start the warm-up as if she never even said "give me a quote over the phone".

Whenever you hear an objection you just agree with the prospect then march forward in your presentation as if you never heard the objection. Doesn't make much sense but try it and see the resullts for yourself.


Mr. Jones when gas is $3.75 a gallon, it has never stopped me from loving and caring about my family. If gas costs $5.00 per gallon, the way I care about my family doesn't change. If anything I would feel more comfortable and my family would as well, knowing I have decisions for our final expenses. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Jones, whether the price of a gallon of gas costs a buck and a half or $3.50 it has no effect on how much more or less we love our wife and kids?

If you want to get a little crazy you can add: "Mr. Jones, don't be that man who looks back (or down from heaven....wherever) and regrets his decision on the things that matter to us most, our loved ones, all because of the price of a gallon of gas."


Client: I can't start any new payments right now because gas is too high.

Me: I hear you there! Gas IS high. (give it a little breathing space...)

Let me ask you this Mr. Jones...if gas wasn't high...is there anything else that would keep you from deciding that this plan is the best option for you?

You are likely to hear the true objection now:
We want to look around (shop)
I'm covered at work
I don't know anything about you or your company
My friend said AARP is cheaper
We are truly broke

It could be anything. But the true objection is what you have to deal with.


I was taught FORM

Family
Occupation
Recreation
Mission (what you are there for)

Mission = "now that I've learned a little about you, I'm going to tell you a little about me"


The transition from warm up to presentation centered around "why am I here?". I review their reasons for setting the appointment and ask if anything has changed. I also used that time to remind them of the areas where they have a concern and that I promised not to waste their time. "If I have a solution that fit's your needs and budget we will begin the application process to see if you can qualify".


Call me 252-292-3350...Greg.


Final Expense Script

Hello Mr./Mrs._____________ this is ________ from the
CSI out reach center. The reason for my call today is to
alert you to two very important Social Security statistics.
The first one is that the government only provides a $255
death benefit and unfortunately that is only if you qualify.
The second thing is that Social Security statistics tell us that
there is typically a 50% reduction in house hold income
when a spouse passes away. However there is not typically
a 50% reduction is the cost of living.
Now Mr./Mrs.___________ I am calling today with some
great news, there is currently a couple new programs
available in your area. One will allow you to increase your
final expense coverage so the burden of your funeral will
not fall on your family, and the other is an Income

Adjustment concept that allows you to receive additional
income during this income adjustment period when your
spouse passes away. Many seniors in your area have
already requested this FREE
information. Let me verify
your address to be sure a representative gets YOU
this
information also.
If Agent calling:
Many seniors have already requested this FREE
information. I am going to be in your area delivering this
information to some of your neighbors. What would be
better for you next ________at ______ o’clock or would
________at _______o’clock be better?
*****Prospect Not Interested*****

Which part are you not interested in adding on extra
coverage so you loved ones will be prepared or the income
adjustment program? Many people I talk too believe they
can not afford or qualify for any additional coverage,
however in many cases I can get people qualified for very
affordable plans. I sure you would agree that it would not
hurt to get a quote. I’ll be in your neighborhood anyways
would_____at _______or ______at_________ be better.




i would not have called them in the first place, just show up at the door, tell them you were helping someone else in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you could answer their questions now or if coming back at another time would be better

where an id badge around your neck with a picture id and state insurance license, this helps with credibility

meeting you in person at their door, as long as your are well dressed and well mannered, should get you the appointment you missed when you called them

now that they told you not to come, sell it on the tele


6. Bank Account:

This is a touchy subject. I will often get through an entire sales pitch but not know if they will give me that information.

One trick I use during our chit chat session in the beginning:

I will ask if they are on a fixed income. If they say yes, I will ask if it's automatically deposited or do they get the check in the mail?

If they say it's deposited, I know they have a bank.

If they say it's sent in the mail, I will ask if they deposit it or if they cash it at the grocery.

In short, if they don't have the bank, I will usually wrap it up and recommend a local debit company.

I have found that few will ever send in their payment and when they don't, it hurts your persisantcy.

Once you know they have an account, it gives you the confidence you need to ask for the information when you get to the end of the application.

"So Mrs. Jones, what was the name of your bank? What day do you want to make the payment? And so you know, most insurance companies don't accept monthly payments through the mail anymore so they are going to be debiting the money out of your account each month. Do you have some proof that it's your account? Like a void check or deposit slip?

This works about 90% of the time.


0 is to low. Do not waste time. Look at ROI and pay per hour. If a lead is going to give you 0 because they have 0 then the lead is no good. People hang out with people that make the same as them for the most part.

25K is a good place to start. I like to market to Sr's for med sups too so I do 25k to 45 k, ages 67 to 75.


The Final argument:
Guaranteed issue= no health questions, waiting period for DB, save a few bucks.
Simplified issue = a few health questions (can you fog a mirror), no waiting period for DB, still affordable.

Worried you may not live out the waiting period for GI? ... then pick an SI.

Both are WL, neither require medical exam, not subject to income taxes on DB, and not subject to probate and you won't outlive either. Just make sure you pay the premiums.

Why bother with term? If you outlive it, you lose it.

Hardly ANY of my clients (('m just doing FE right now) have either a Will or Power of Attorney. So when I fact-find I always ask them if they do and if they are aware of how much probate can cost in SC........when this is injected into the discussion, you are then seen as an advocate, just not some hump sellin' LI they'll never hear from again once the check clears.....then I'm able to transition easily into a total FE plan.........the funding (they love that word), the pre-planning (don't start, LH haters), the caring (power of attorney) and the settling.......call the components what you want but it all fits in together, a total FE package, and 3 of the 4 components are free.

Google free will kits and POAs, or try Markingriffin, or go to LegalZoom.com and buy one for California, then offer them as free value-addeds in your presentations.....then watch their defenses lower and expressions change.


After my presentations last line- I let it sink in for a second, then tell them- "it's a pretty nice product and something everybody needs wouldnt you agree?"

I'll reach down and begin to grab an app and ask that I'll need to verify their drivers license... If they balk at purchasing right then, I'll ask a very simple question... "Are you looking to have something enforce withing the next 30 days?"

The only answer "I" will accept is "yes".. They start saying they want to think about it, talk to their children or whatever- I bag up, see my own self to the door and tell them here's my card If I can be of any help, call me and I'll come out to enroll them..

 

[Justin Bilyj]

The 3 reason I know about & use are-

1) You dont have anything to protect your fam if something should happen to u & u didnt want to be that burden or....

2) You have a lil insurance, but not enough or not sure if it's enough so u wanted to check into some more or.....

3) You're final expenses are taken care of, BUT u wanted to leave some seed money for spouse/kids/grandkids and/or to pay off some debt u may owe....

Which of these was your reason of sending in the card Mr Prospect?


Actually it's when I get to the home and then go over the lead card with them and then I say,
we find there are 3 reason that people return these to us. Number 1 is that they do not have anyting in place to take care of their funeral, burial or other final expenses. Number 2 is becuae they do have a little bit in place and need to supplement what they have or possibly to even save money on what they have. Number 3 is because they have all that taken care of and just wanted to leave some money to the family, the church or to a charity."

If I have to ask which one of those was their reason I know I'm in a bad spot. It's rare that I go through all 3 and have to ask, but it does happen.

60% stop me at number 1 and say that's why they sent it in. I don't bother to go into 2 and 3 once they have told me the reason. 35% stop me at number 2. I don't bother to go to number 3 once they have told me why they sent it in. 5% say number 3. I love to get that one because I have a sold a policy in every instance where they told me that was the reason. It just doesn't seem to be the reason very often.

Those numbers come to 100%. That's not to say that everyone says it was one of those reasons. That's just the brakdown for the ones that do agree it was one of those.

If they say it was none of those I just simply ask, why did you send it then? If they can't give me a reason I give them my card and leave. I do not go into a presentation when they will not give me a reason for my being there.

That is reason number 2. I said about 35% of the people say it was that reason. I don't know what % of those are wanting to supplement or just to save money, I would say it's most of them want to know if they are paying too mauch for what they do have. Most of them are paying too much. I've replaced Bankers Life and LH policies that are 6 and 7 years old and can still save them money. Or, many times on those older polices I can put them paying about the same, but they can get their cash value. That's a really big deal in this demographic.​

I go over Globe/AARP Term products, ROP Mutual of Omaha and Colonial Penn products when framing the reasons for the superiority of my WL products.

For the Term Products...
-"Do you plan on kicking the bucket BEFORE 80 or AFTER 80?"
-"What good's insurance... if it's not there when you need it?"

For the ROP WL Products...
-"MoO and CP = Sick people's insurance -- God bless them, because they're terminally ill, they CAN get insurance. And because they can, everyone including you is put on a 2-year waiting period."


I Always send a postcard reminding them of the appt. I use postcard stock I buy at Sams and have generic cards I print using Publisher that we fill in the time and date of the appt and a short thing about how I looking forward to visiting them on such and such a date and time.

I have very few no shows, but all of my appts are at their home. Mondays are bad days for appts. People tend to forget after a weekend. On Monday appts the wife generally calls and reminds them when I am on the way, but as a general rule you do not call folks once you have an appt as it gives them the opportunity to cancel.


I don't have many no shows, but, I do have one occasionally. I only set appointments for the next day with FE. Another trick I learned from a seasoned agent, I ask for directions. Even if I know exactly where they are and even though I have a GPS in my car, I ask for directions. That makes it harder for them to forget and ends any confusion about where we are going to meet.

Gor the ones that no show me anyway. I will call them and make contact at least one more time. Sometimes there is a very good reason for the no show. Things do happen. If they can make me feel that the reason was valid, I will reschedule. If not, I won't.


I tell the clients that I'm writing this appointment down, are you writing this down also?

I want them to write down the appointment.


If you are meeting with a couple, set the appointment with both of them, not just one.

When you are qualifying the lead, get an emotional commitment from the husband (assuming you are dealing with a couple). Something like this. "Most of the husband's tell me they don't want to burden their wife by leaving her with bills after they are gone. I assume you feel the same, is that right" (Get commitment). After setting the appointment, get the wife on the phone as well, tell her why & when you are coming. Tell her "John said he is doing this so you won't be burdened with unpaid bills after he is gone. This is just one way of saying he loves you very much. Is tomorrow at 3 good for you as well?"

When I did go on appointments, I ALWAYS call first to confirm directions. I would also butcher the directions on purpose. "It's the 4th house on the right, correct?" No, it's the 6th house on the left (is their response). "Glad I called or else you would be wondering where I was."

Show up 10 minutes early. Sometimes, even if you double confirm, people will sneak out on you. A few times I caught folks leaving as I pulled up. Blocking them in the driveway has an impact. You may not get the sale, but you get the satisfaction of making them squirm during the interview.

A variation on this is to show up a day early, especially if you have other appointments in the same area. Sometimes by catching them off guard you can make an easy sale.

I realize some sales still have to be made belly to belly, but even with the cost of gas down (for a while at least) you don't need to be wasting time and money on unproductive appointments.

The key to avoiding no shows and one legs is setting the bar high and qualifying your prospects on the phone before you ever turn the ignition key. No shows and one legs are usually a sign you are weak in qualifying and getting a commitment on the front end. When you do your job on the front end you will find the sale is almost a foregone conclusion.


Colonial Penn Will issue a policy without asking any health questions. Do you find it fair to pay the same rates as someone who was diagnosed with cancer today or would you rather save a boatload of money by answering a few health questions?

Globe Life and AARP policies have really low rates, but they only stay that way for 1-5 years and then you're gonna see a rate increase. Then every 5 years you will see a rate increase. In the unlikely event that you stick with AARP though 30 years of rate increases when you turn 80 your policy term ends and you don't have anything to show for all of those premiums that you have paid, except an option to finally purchase a permanent policy.


Yes, most life insurance policies are not actually assigned to funeral homes. They are assigned to funeral advancing companies (ForeThought owns one and there are several others).

These companies charge around 4% to advance the funeral home the life insurance proceeds today. Some funeral homes charge the family the extra fee, others build it into their price but will usually give an extra 5% discount if the family will just pay cash or check.

Final expense policies do NOT pay the death benefit any quicker than regular life insurance policies as a rule. ForeThought, Lincoln Heritage are the exceptions and both of them own funeral advancing companies.

Problems arise when a policy is contestible OR if there is ANY beneficiaries that won't (or aren't available to) sign the advancing paperwork.

Most quality funeral homes will NOT do services without payment in advance these days. There is usually a bottom-feeder funeral home that will take those in most areas. They get as much money up front because they often won't get paid on the rest.



The AARP branded life insurance is either term or UL. They have nothing else.

The term is worthless as it increases in premium at least every 5 years, {they even say at their website that it can be increased at other times}, and it ends at age 80, the worst part of it in my opinion.

Their "permanent life" is a UL. It also says clearly at the website and in the policy that the premiums are "not guaranteed". No, it doesn't end at age 80, but, will they be able to afford it?

Of course the premium will most likely not increase, but showing a senior the language where it can from the company is priceless.


Yes, you are rolling a much smaller rock uphill by cross-selling the FE through an initial Med Supp sale.

Before dealing with the original poster's question which hasn't been answered, let's consider the statement "...direct mail is the absolute worst when working the senior market.".

Mail 1,000 FE leads at $400/K; get a 1% return for 10 leads; and write half. Average AP is $600 per app, so you just made $3,000 at a 100% contract. Your net is $2,600 after subtracting the $400 lead cost (15.4% of net AP). That's a decent ROI.

Phone-only prospecting limits your universe because of Do-Not-Call to 10% - 20% of senior households max. Direct mail reaches them all, unless they are on the DMA nixie file.

To me it makes sense to do both -- phone where you can, and mail part of the rest through intelligent targeting.

You will, however, get 2 to 3 times the return on a Medicare mailing as an FE mailing. I don't know the specific ratio on phoning, but logic says it's probably similar.

The FE cross-sell off Medicare concept makes good sense either way -- phone or mail. Both have a valid place in your marketing mix. I would only dismiss the benefits of direct mail as "worthless" if I was a big fan of generalizations.

To answer your original post:

Age -- solid returns start at age 48. 48 to 60 does about 25% better than 60 - 80, which most agents target. Responses spike again from 80 - 85, but of course you now have many more health issues, plus a huge premium to overcome.

Gender -- target the "woman of the house" where there's a choice. Otherwise, include both female and male heads-of-household. Females as a group are more responsive and more security-conscious.

Income -- most agents cap at $50K. You should seriously consider not including the $0 - $15K group (or even $0 - $20K), because many are on Medicaid and without checking or savings accounts. Monthly direct bill will kill your persistency, and most of these folks can't afford quarterly.

Income is always "estimated" based on sophisticated computer models, but the models frequently go in the tank with senior households. To be sure you are getting lower-income households, you might consider using a "net worth" file as supression to the base file. That will knock-out the affluent households that have "leaked-into" the base estimated household income file.

Geo -- Rural normally does better than urban, unless you really know the area well. In Fulton Co. where you live, there are only a half-dozen 5-digit zips that really pull well.

The typical FE buyer in the Southeast is age 65-75, female, and minority. That's not a value judgement -- just the way it is.


You need to engage them sooner and have a two way conversation.

Hi, I'm Billy Baddas and I represent Gold Farm Insurance Company. I'm looking for seniors over age 50 who would love to have some additional life insurance coverage if they could qualify at a very attractive rate.

Would that describe you or anyone in your household?

Then let them talk. They will tell you if they are a prospect and what you need to do to sell them if you just listen.


The reason I like mine over yours is that it's MUCH easier to find people who really have been thinking about buying more life insurance than it is to convince someone that you just cold knocked that they have a bad deal on their life insurance and you really just dropped by to help them.

People are in denial. If you start trying to convince them they made bad purchase decisions without knowing ANYTHING about what they have, you are just a huckster pitchman (in their mind) and they will give you nothing but resistance.

It's easier to ask if they want to buy more. Once they tell you they don't need it because they just bought a new policy from LH....THEN you can mention how you just compared another LH policy and that one was higher priced. Because now you have something to work with rather than just fishing.


1)You need to buy you a filtered list of people..

2) Ask for them by name when they answer the door

3) Find you a BRM, make one if you have to and print it on a bright yellow or pink card.. You can find examples of them all over the internet

4) Theres been debates about how to approach them- Remember you're a salesman with an insurance license. Find what works best for you.

5) Get you a photo ID badge

6) I can tell you where your main problem is:

""Hi. My name is Robert Schember and I represent First Financial Insurance Group. We've found that most people are overpaying for their life insurance benefits. Do you have just a few moments so I can show you how I may be able to help you fix your current coverage?"

The whole thing above- that's whats causing you to fail

For 1, drop the First Finacial stuff.. use FFIG instead if you have too.. cut out the overpaying line..Don't give them an option to close the door on you that soon.. "Do you have a few..." Don't give them that line until you have peeked their interest in some way...

I always call people by their first name- its more personal, some have said it's disrespectful.. I disagree- You want that person at the door to think that you know them on a personal level.

Here's a much better approach:

Example name.. Madeline Harris:

Never ask them if they are Madeline.. assume they are.. they will tell you if they are or not...

"Hi Madeline, My name is Rob Schember, Did you receive a card like this that explains your SS benefits (show BRM) "

They're gonna say no and ask what its about...

It's at this time that will determine how good you are...


try this:

Go door knocking in your own neighborhood. This is great Saturday activity. Start around 11:00am and do it straight through until 5:00pm. Go right up to the door and knock on it. When someone answers this is what you do/say:

Hi, my name is Tom and I own ___________ Insurance Agency here in town. Do you currently have a life insurance agent? (wait for them to answer and it doesn't matter if they say yes or no) I would like to apply for the job. (let them say their response) I am taking time to today to meet all of my neighbors, but I want to make an appointment to sit down with you and (if they give you the "I already have life insurance" spiel) give you a free review of your current coverage (if they have no life insurance agent) or show you how you can protect the people you care about with the right type of insurance. This next part is important...get out your notepad and look at it. Then tell them days and times you have available. I am available Tuesday at 6:00pm, Wednesday at 7:00pm or Friday at 5:30pm. Which appointment would you like? Don't let them hem and haw about it and decide for themselves. Then get out your card and write their appointment date and time on it and give it to them. Shake their hand, tell them you will see them soon and LEAVE.

I am telling you. There is no replacement for beating the pavement and getting in front of people. Using this method you will be meeting literally hundreds of new people every week. If you meet 200 people per week and only 1% of them buy something you are writing two apps per week. If you are averaging $500 per app you are now in the $52K per year club. This is if you SUCK and can only get a 1% response. Imagine what 2% could bring? That would make you MDRT in your very first year.

and in reference to your own followups on your mail response leads, try this:

I give them 3 reasons why they filled it out.

Hello Mr. Jones, my name is _______and I’m the local agent with __________ (important----no gaps) and the reason I am here is that you responded to our direct mail campaign and filled out this card and mailed it back to us last week…?.


Mr/Ms. Jones, the company sent me here today because people that go to the trouble of filling out a reply card and mailing it back to us do so for a specific reason…………….maybe they are looking for a way to save money on their funeral costs, or they want to make sure their survivors won’t have to struggle financially when they meet their maker…?, and some send it back to us because they don’t have a final expense plan in place at all……?.just curious….what was on your mind when you sent it back in? (then you know why they are looking to buy, and use that when you close, earlier you said you didn't want to be a burden to your kids, wanted to leave money to your grandchildren, etc)


(they'll usually give you one of the first 3, since you told them why they filled it out. if they don't know, they are definitely tougher to sell, but still if you can save them money, they should be open minded)

the only response i ever get at the door is either come in, or occasionally want some information (which is rare, since they told you one of the 3-4 reasons that you set in their mind).

If they ask for info, I usually quickly fire back with, "I've got info for 50 companies in the car trunk, but most customers would rather have me help them find the best deal. If they still ask for info, I'll ask do you want info from any one company in particular, or would you rather I get a box and leave you all 50 for you to sort through. " and say it with a smile

no ones ever asked for information after that.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

also try this:

That is more like an appointment fact finder than a door to door survey. The purpose of a door to door survey is just to engage them quickly and qualify if they are a prospect or not.

I used to door knock for FE sales very successfully.

I would knock on the door. Explain who I am, who I'm with and that I'm out knocking on doors in their neighborhood today to raise community awareness about what we do. Then I would hand them a NICE quality pen with our info on it.

Then you ask "Do you have time to answer a short 3 question survey?" they ALWAYS said yes unless they were a true ass.

1. How long have you lived in the Evansville area?* * They would ramble on about where all they have lived. Didn't really matter.

2. Do you own cemetery property?* *Most do. They will tell you all about buying when a parent, child, spouse or sibling died. They bought it years ago when it was real cheap compared to today and that gives you an opportunity to compliment them for planning ahead.

3. How confident are you that you have everything in order that if you died today, your children or spouse would know exactly what to do and have final expense funds available within two or three days of your death?

The third question can be modified for what you are looking for; save taxes, avoid probate, etc.

The whole key to my approach is that YOU are talking to someone in a non-threatening way and basically screening their personality and level of interest in talking to you. What the exact questions are don't really matter as long as it doesn't take but a minute and allows you to size them up, and they to size you up and you either set an appointment or you don't.

I made a fair number of sales doing this. I was very green when I did it. I would sell more today. I invented this who approach and script and my upline at the time didn't believe in it. Talked me out of doing it even though it worked. I told you I was green.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
That is more like an appointment fact finder than a door to door survey. The purpose of a door to door survey is just to engage them quickly and qualify if they are a prospect or not.

I used to door knock for FE sales very successfully.

I would knock on the door. Explain who I am, who I'm with and that I'm out knocking on doors in their neighborhood today to raise community awareness about what we do. Then I would hand them a NICE quality pen with our info on it.

Then you ask "Do you have time to answer a short 3 question survey?" they ALWAYS said yes unless they were a true ass.

1. How long have you lived in the Evansville area?* * They would ramble on about where all they have lived. Didn't really matter.

2. Do you own cemetery property?* *Most do. They will tell you all about buying when a parent, child, spouse or sibling died. They bought it years ago when it was real cheap compared to today and that gives you an opportunity to compliment them for planning ahead.

3. How confident are you that you have everything in order that if you died today, your children or spouse would know exactly what to do and have final expense funds available within two or three days of your death?

The third question can be modified for what you are looking for; save taxes, avoid probate, etc.

The whole key to my approach is that YOU are talking to someone in a non-threatening way and basically screening their personality and level of interest in talking to you. What the exact questions are don't really matter as long as it doesn't take but a minute and allows you to size them up, and they to size you up and you either set an appointment or you don't.

I made a fair number of sales doing this. I was very green when I did it. I would sell more today. I invented this who approach and script and my upline at the time didn't believe in it. Talked me out of doing it even though it worked. I told you I was green.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'll continue on a bit about what I see as the flaws with your survey. First it's too long.

But right off the bat you are going to bring their guard up and make them defend their position.

Do you own life insurance? Yeah, Bub. I got plenty. What's it to ya?* It's too obvious from the very first question that you are going to try to sell them life insurance. You're not uncovering a need, you are pitching a sale (in their mind.)

Compare that to my first question. How long have you lived in this area? What is that selling? Where is this going? People like to talk about where they lived and why they are here and who else lives here near them. I've had people talk 15 minutes on that question and not come up for air.

2nd question. Do you own cemetery property?* *Who asks that? Why is that important?* It's a non threatening question for most people. It tells you whether they are a planner or not. It tells you whether they plan to live here the rest of their life. It tells you whether they need to be shipped somewhere when they die which is MORE of a reason to plan the details as well as the expense. And it gets them mentally thinking that they will die someday which we are all in denial of most days.

3rd question is the one to figure out if they recognize a problem. You are a problem solver standing on their porch, not a life insurance pitchman.
If he is shopping and you know/suspect this and you show him you are the best store in town, that you can get him the best premium for his dollar, then him just needing to continue to shop or think about it IMO is not the real objection. The objection is he hasn't been sold. He either doesn't see value somewhere and definitely no sense of urgency. You have to build that. That's your/our job.

The best closers in any business can't come to your table and close a guy who hasn't been through a proper presentation which includes building all the parts.

It was at that point you could have emphasized him "seeing the value today" and letting him know once you shop this with him or in the end (however you want to word it) you are going to ask him to "give it a try" or however you chose to word that.

Also make sure you stop through various parts of the sales process and if you write on paper perhaps, draw a big line under what you just covered with him/her/prospect and ask "do you understand everything up to this point"? If they say no, then you need to go back or explain what you just told them depending on what they don't understand.


The beauty of final expense is that it's NOT specifically for a funeral, cremation or cemetery items. It's cash money in the hands of their beneficiary.
If your sales approach is too focused on funeral expenses you will get shut down by people who have already prepaid all their funeral and cemetery costs. In some areas as many as 50% of deaths over age 65 have everything prepaid prior to needing it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I sell both prepaid funerals AND final expense. Many people who have all burial costs prepaid will still buy more life insurance but not if you try to market it to them like it's specifically for a funeral.
In addition, many people nowadays will have direct cremation or body donation. They still buy life insurance but not if you are trying to pitch funeral funding.
The whole key is to fact find. Find out what needs THEY think they have and don't assume.


If they have burial insurance say great, you took care of yourself, you will be buried when you die, now lets take care of the family you leave behind. Lets get you some life insurance to take care of the medical bills you leave and replace the income that's gone with your death.


Take advances but have a separate business checking or savings account for your reserve account.
Everytime you recieve commissions put 15% in your reserve account.
Pay any chargebacks out of reserves OR pay yourself out of reserves if the chargeback was withheld from current commissions.
If your reserve would ever go negative put 50% in there until you are back to $1,500 positive.
The advantage of this system is you can live on your advances without getting into financial trouble


All seminar selling is similar. Mail invitations. Have a reply card or phone number to RSVP. Free dinner. Seminar held in a restaurant (in a private room.) Short sweet and entertaining presentation (preferably with Powerpoint.) Door prize drawing ($50 gas card to 1-attendee.) No selling at the seminar BUT much appointment setting. Short questionaire (Did you enjoy the seminar? What would you like further information about? etc.) Free gift that I will deliver personally to each and every one of you (I used a family tree/family history book) Run the leads. Make sales. Get names of their friends to invite to your next free dinner seminar.

I think one important thing I do is; I do not sell pay-for-life policies to people who can afford better. Many seniors want to single-pay their final expense insurance. People who have money don't like the concept of endless payments. They don't like debt. Make sure you offer a limited payment option and a single-pay option as well as the pay for life option.

My expenses for mailing are much less because I mail to a house list not a cold list. If I mail 500 invitations $500 X .37 = $185 for postage. I also spend about that much for the actual invitation (mine looks similar to a wedding invitation) but you couldn't afford to add that expense if you are mailing thousands to a bought list. Most high volume seminar invitations are postcards which have lower cost and lower postage per piece.

My most successful seminar I only mailed 300 invites and had 26 people attend. It was in July which is a great month for seminars. I mailed the same invitation in September to 500 people and only had two-replies. I had to cancel that one.

Meals will cost from $10 to $20 per plate and most restaurants won't charge for the room if you committ to at least 20 plates. Add a $50 door prize. I added $10 per appointment for an additional gift that I delivered when following up.

Don't prequalify plate-lickers. Many of my sales came from couples who thought they were just there to plate-lick. They learned new information at the seminar which is the whole idea. If people try to come to a 2nd seminar that didn't buy at the first is where you want to draw the line. I haven't had that problem but have heard it is common from other people.

You will get a better return on your dollar if you do multiple seminars for each mailing. Choices of Tuesday evening, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday evening. (Never do Wednesday evening because you are competing with church.) Evening seminars usually do best but offer a daytime also for maximum results.

I promise you, I am a shy person. I do not like to speak in front of groups. But I make myself do it because it is effective. It is not hard if you know your material inside and out.
​

You can also say "Ms. Jone we have 3 ways you can pay for this..once a year, once every 6 months, or once every 3 months...which do you prefer"?


I meet will potential clients face to face. Before I get into my presentation I do a "why" analysis. Why did you send this card in? Why am I here? There are times when I don't even go into a presentation at all if the person can't tell me what they want or why they scheduled with me. Those are tire kickers and I don't spend my time with them.

It's unusual to get to an appointment and find out that they are tire kickers. Most of those are weeded out during the attempt to set an appointment. But, I do occasionally get the one that mailed in a lead card and them agreed to an appointment that didn't want anything. You would think that their own time would be more valuable to them than to waste their's and mine.

I was in a house less than 5 minutes one day this week. When I asked the lady what her reason for sending in the card was, she couldn't tell me. I tried to help her and tell her why most people tell me they send it in and none rang a bell. I asked what she wanted and she said "nothing". I asked her why she scheduled the appointment and she said "I don't know". I thanked her for her time and moved on. I suppose I could forced the issue and maybe even gotten an app. It would surely lapse if I had.



Neighbors are , shall I say nosy? If you just inquire about best time to catch your lead at home they wil likely inquire what your business is with them. But if not just guide them into a regular door approach.

Oh, by the way, you've probably guessed that I am in business. At least I hope you did'nt think I was a bogeyman. hahaha I help people make informed decisions about .......

I should stop by when it is convenient and help you with a review. No obligation of course. I've helped a number of poeople this year.......

As long as you're friendly and keep the conversation open and friendly....You've developed another lead. After all, if they trust their neighbor they are assuming that you are the neighbors ins man.


I want them to know why the company I'm reccomending is the best deal for them. I explain to them the difference between term, UL and whole life. I want them to know why I won't use a company that's not A rated.

My experience has been that, if all they want is price, they will replace that policy on price. They won't care or if it's term or UL
and that's why it costs less. I educate my clients on what's out there and why I offer what I offer. They then lead themselves to a decision. I am a stickler for details. I have had people try and stop the process to go ahead and buy. I won't let them.

If they don't want to know what and why they are buying something I really don't want them as clients.



Reaching only 4 leads at home in 4 days of "no announcement drop by's" is most UNusual. In 4 days of "drop by's" you should have contacted at least 15 if you are working a FULL day. If Ms. Jones is not home when you "drop by" knock on the neighbor's door and see if the neighbor knows when Ms. Jones MIGHT be home. The neighbor may tell you....she's in the hospital right now....she's out of town for 2 weeks....she doesn't usually get home till after 6pm....etc.

While you are at this neighbor's house ask "by the way, did you mail your card in yet?" (while showing them Ms. Jones's card). The neighbor most likely will say "I don't think I received one of those cards". Then you say "well while I'm here I might as well share this information with you too".



Remember, your time is money and your time is very valuable! You need to qualify them a bit better.
Whether you're setting an appointment or selling over the phone, inflection and tone is very important. With that said....
Hi Ethel, this is Hope with __________ insurance. I received your card in the mail where you were inquiring about life insurance and I'm calling to follow up with you on that. By the way, how are you doing today? ...Great.(or, oh, so sorry to hear that). I just need to ask a couple of questions to see how I may best help you.
If you don't mind my asking, who do you have your life insurance with now? (get answer). How much coverage is that for? (get answer). Are you still paying on that or is it paid up? (get answer).
Do you have in your mind how much coverage (of more coverage) you're looking for? Great.
Ok, just one more question for you Ethel. How's your health? Any major health problems? (that way you know whether to head for the graded or not).
Now, at this point you can go ahead and set your appointment or you can quote it right over the phone if you want. I personally like going ahead and giving a quote of some kind because once again, I don't like wasting my time or theirs. That way, if they balk at the price, you know there's a good chance you might be wasting your time.
Setting the appointment: Is there any particular day that's better for you than another and if so would mornings or afternoons work better? EX: Ok, so mornings are best for you...I've got Tuesday at 10 or Thursday at 9, which would work better for you?

However you make the phone call....just talk to them, that's all they want, just somebody to help them and talk with them. They don't like being sold any more than you or I do.


On 100% of my preplan appointments and around 50% of my FE appointments I do future projections.

If they are figuring around $8,000 today I show the amounts for 10, 20 and 30-years in the future they will need to equal the same as $8,000 at today's price. I use 4.5% inflation rate.

Generally it doubles every 15-years so $8,000 would be $16,000 in 15-years and $32,000 in 30-years to have the same buying power as $8,000 today.

Showing it in reverse, an $8,000 policy would have the same buying power in 30-years as $2,000 today.

There are all kinds of inflation calculators for iphones and palm pilots etc.

It's just like selling LTC insurance. If you don't have inflation protection figured in you really aren't getting the job done anyway.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

The other replacement situation you find a lot of is universal life.
A lot of seniors have UL policies and have had rate increases that they don't understand and didn't expect. The policies are on target to lapse. I just call their company with them and ask how much premium
the person needs to start paying to keep the coverage in force to age 100. It's always WAY high.
Then they are real interested in what you can offer them.

The ULs that I run into all the time are the old o policies that were sold back in the 70's and 80's and are all lapsing or requiring big premium dump in to keep the policy in force.
Every case I see the client THOUGHT they were buying straight whole life and feels very screwed when they get lapse letters from their company.
The GUL can be much better in theory as long as the client is sharp enough to truely understand the difference in the GUL and whole life and term life.
The GUL is not going to stay in force by policy design but it will by the contract of the guarantee IF the client doesn't pay late or skip payments or take money from the policy.
GUL is a good product for the right situation but would be a train wreck for a final expense agent to sell.
If your question is would I replace a GUL that still has the guarantee in place...the answer is no unless I could replace it with a whole life with the same or a lower premium and if the client was healthy.​

Most true FE policies will pay most of the death benefit up front if you are placed in a nursing home or have a terminal illness. This feature is very important and DOES get used.

I'm generalizing but the average FE client is not financially sophisticated enough to truely understand the difference in whole-life and GUL. They very commonly change checking accounts, pay late, take policy loans and lapse and reinstate their policies all of which will void the guarantee of a GUL.

They are also prone to go in a nursing home and qualify for Medicaid which will often deplete the funds they would pay a premium with or often causes the payment to get behind while the one responsible child faces the reality that they have 3-deadbeat siblings that are not going to help her.
​

It's not so much a sales script as asking questions and getting them to think.

1. Have you ever been responsible for making funeral/cemetery/cremation arrangements when someone died? How did it go for you? Did it create any financial problems?

2. Who will be responsible for your arrangements upon your death? Is that person financially prepared for such an emergency?

3. Do you have any children/grandchildren/favorite charity that you would like to leave money to upon your death?

4. Upon your death, does your spouse have enough savings to protect against the immediate loss of your income?

5. How much do you expect your funeral expenses to cost if you died today? How much do you think the same arrangements would cost if you lived to age 80 or 90? (use an inflation calculator to figure. If someone is 65 today and would have an $8,500 funeral at today's price, that projects to $18,624 if they live to age 85 and $27,568 if they live to age 95 figuring 4% annual inflation.)

6. Do you realize your bank accounts and assets are not available to your children immediately upon your death? (unless you have joint accounts which opens up a whole other set of problems.)

7. Are you aware there are final expense insurance policies that can be paid with one single premium? ...an annual payment? ...an affordable monthly premium?

8. Do you have any health conditions that have caused you to be turned down for insurance coverage?

9. Who would be the beneficiary of your insurance policy?

10. If you don't take out a final expense policy...what alternative plan will you use for your family?

Selling final expense is just more conversational than a formal presentation. They will usually tell you why they want it. You just have to get the conversation started and guide them to the correct policy that suits their needs and is competitively priced for their age and health.


1. Explain why you are there.
2. Build up the cost of Final Expenses. Go over the price of funerals and cemeteries. Then remind them of the other cost ... credit debt, medical bills, transportation of the body etc.
3. Ask the reason they sent the card in.
4. Ask if they have ever paid for a funeral .... what did it feel like?
5. Ask who the beneficiary will be?
6. Ask about their health, from head to toe ... how is your head, your heart, your lungs, your liver, your kidneys ... cancer etc? What medicines do you take ... do you smoke??
7. Based on their answers, write down three face amounts with prices (use common sense) ... $8000, $10000, $12,000 ... mrs. jones, which best fits into your budget.
8. Then read her the health questions and when she says no to all the questions, tell her you have been approved for coverage ...
9. then ask if she knows her social by heart ... can I see your state ID ...

Boom ... Sold!


As for the phone script to be able to get to the point of doing a presentation: May I speak with Ms. Jones? Yes mam, this is Greg and I was getting back in touch with you. We received the card that you mailed back to us requesting information about the Soc. Sec. death benefit, the high cost of funerals, and plans that are available to help pay for this.

Was this information for yourself or somebody else? Etc., etc., etc.


When you have joint accounts either person can wipe out the entire account. The kid MAY spend the money.

If there is a divorce or lawsuit, the money is counted as their asset.

If one of them pays child support or has kids qualifying for college or any other asset based things it can cause problems.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mrs Smith, what if there was a PERFECT bank account that had YOU as the sole account owner your entire life and passed that control to you daughter Debbie on the day of your death right when she needs it? What if this bank account payed a much better rate of interest than your current one...almost doubling the amount of your deposit as a death benefit for Debbie?
What if this perfect account even offered additional protections from nursing homes and Medicaid?
Would that interest you?

There is no bank account like that but there is something much better. It's called Settlers Life Single Premium Gold Plan with the Estate Planning Trust.

When people bring up bank accounts for final expenses, this is your tool that will sell them.

I have had this said to me before about both the bank account and "joint" account. What would be the "whole other set of problems" with having joint accounts? Please elaborate on what you would say here to the client/prospect. Which problems could arise because of this "joint account/s"?
​

. I call up the lead and ask the person on card, say it's Bob Jones. I say, "I'm calling for Bob Jones". Once I get Bob Jones on the phone I say, "Mr Jones, this is JD with {my company} and I'm calling about the request for information you folks sent in about our final expense life insurance plans. I'm the guy that takes care of that in your area and the reason I'm calling is because I'm going to be in your area tomorrow and I need 10 minutes of your time to go over that. Are you available at 10:00 am?"

That's it. The next person I call I will ask for 11:30. I set my appontments an jour and a half apart. Once I have 6 scheduled for the day I stop calling.

Once he says yes he is available at that time I say, "OK, is your address 111 Anywhere St there in Anytown?" Once he confirms his address I will make some small talk about how to get there. Even if I know exactly where it is and even though I use a GPS. If i know of some landmarks in that area I will mention that. Something like, "oh, you're right down the road from that good Mexican resaurant, {or whatever}." That's just to cement the call in their mind. Nothing more than that.

The only way my calls go any differently than that is if they ask me something. I really get very objections. I have more trouble making contact than I do with objections. I do get the occasional person that just won't meet and I drop that lead in the trash and move on.


If you're having a tough time getting by on your salary now, how well do you think your family will get by without it?

Wives may not believe in life insurance, but widows always do.

You haven't needed it (life insurance) yet? Do you carry a spare tire in your car? Do you own an umbrella? Do you check for the parachute in the airplane?

Your wife should be left something that will take care of her - not something she will have to take care of, shouldn't she?


I think the ads that focus too much on the funeral are ignored by many people we are trying to reach.

A whole lot of people don't think they need insurance for funeral expenses because:
1. They are going to be cremated and don't think it costs much
2. They think they have that covered by being a veteran (wrong but they think that)
3. They have their funeral prepaid at the funeral home (33% of your target prospects)

As a funeral preplanner/funeral director/final expense agent I can't count the number of times I have approached someone about insuring funeral expenses only to fall on deaf ears but then when I bring up leaving money to a grandchild, church etc. they really like the thought of that.



Knock knock....I just came from Floral Gardens Cemetery(whatever the local name) and visitng with folks to see if they have made their final plans yet. Got a few minutes to
chat?


This is an approach that works for what I call "clover leafing".

(With car keys in hand & rate sheet in your pocket or portfolio) Hey Sir/Mam! (with a BIG SMILE) My name is _____, How are you today? (how they answer doesn't matter - a lot of seniors will welcome a visit from someone friendly)

I was just down the street meeting with some folks and thought I should pop by for a second and say Hi. (hand them your card) I work with______ and do my best to help people save money and in this economy, I thought I should see if I could help you too! (no pause) Do you have just a minute? (I usually get) Well, what is this about? (take that as "I'm interested" & look down, wipe your feet and at the same time say Well Mam/Sir, I only have a minute.

(Once I get in the door I briefly change the subject) How long have you lived here? Are these your kids/grands? Nice dog/cat! Is that the welcoming committee? (breaks the ice and gets them talking) Well Mam/Sir, like I said, I only have a minute; real quick, do you have your final expenses planned for. If they say yes, I ask if it is paid up plan. If its not, I ask them how long they have had it and if their health has changed since they got the coverage. At that point you are fact finding. Find out the face amount and monthly premium to see if you are even in the ball park. If so, tell them you usually save folks on their premiums and sometimes you can even get them a check from their current insurance company but to find that out you need to look at their policy . Say: Real quick - do you have your policy handy? If not then set up another time to review it.

If you can't help them ask for referrals. If they like you, they will want to help you. Remember, you are friendly and out working hard. Expect success and you will find it. The rule to door knocking & phone calling is: Some will, some wont, so what, NEXT. If you are only knocking doors, at least get 25-30 cold door knocks a day if you want to succeed. It isn't the easiest way to prospect (especially in the summer) but if done the right way in the right area - you will find FE clients.


The way I always sold it was to bring up other issues not just a burial/funeral.
I always say maybe you have a son or daughter who isnt as well off as your other kids, maybe there is a charity or church that is near and dear to your heart, maybe you would like to leave a little something extra to grandkids and from there I tell them that this insurance could do any of those things it doesnt just have to cover your funeral it can increase your legacy also.

That is what has worked for me to sell larger polices because your making them think they are all in one or more of those situations they just might not be thinking about it.


1st you have to care about your clients.

The trick is to make a name for yourself, by helping people.

Also, you have to never give up when doing F.E. There will be times you just want to quit, but you just go at it again.

You are not selling insurance, but you are selling yourself...That is the trick.

Most of them have a problem and you need to figure out the best way to solve it.

Most prospects can tell if you care about them and what you are doing or if you just trying to make a quick buck...

It takes practice to be good at F.E. A lot of trial and error...

I use to be a term junkie that chase new homeowners...That was the gold mine back in the day...But with no one buying new homes these days and seniors still doing about the same they did 10 years ago, the market has really taken off. They all know they need at least about $10,000.

You have to find a way to stand out from every other F.E. agent approaching them. I have about 10 things that I do that makes me stand out....You must find you some ways to stand out...Its about services and helping them...


The Legacy thing is a lot more important to seinors than a lot of agents realize. Also they want their children and grandchildren to have an easier start than they did.


I save money for everyone I sell a Med Supp to. I simply make the suggestion that they may want to reinvest a portion of the savings in a FE plan. It is very smooth because I am not using any "new money".

An agent can easily double their Med Supp commission on an appointment by adding a small FE plan. More and more companies are making that a part of their Med Supp app. At one time I was adding a small FE plan to about 70% of the Med Supps I wrote.

They also all have checking accounts.


You just don't know how to work a lead. It doesn't matter if they say no, if they are one foot in the grave, drunks, have half a heart, have one lung, aren't interested, ect. ect.

There is a recording around hear that the marketers will tell you is one of the best leads they ever heard. You should hear it. Then go out and sell and stop whining.

Maybe somebody would be nice enough to post that recording for you of the great lead.

Oh wait, here it is:

FileSwap.com : YAL.mp3 download free


FE companies offering over the phone sales.

Baltimore Life
Lincoln Heritage
Senior Life
Standard Life
Madison National
Am Memorial
Equitable
Baltimore Life


FE companies offering e-apps
Assurity Life
Fidelity


(these are not necessarily over the phone)

FE companies - guaranteed issue
Presidential Life
UHL

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Delivering the policies will prove an invaluable method of both maintaining persistencies and generating referrals....if you do it right, you won't even have to ask for referrals...so very few agents deliver policies customers really, really appreciate it when you do.

Involve a value-added in your presentation...I offer free Will Kits and Power of Attorneys with mine........very few of the folks you will see will have either or even have thought about it.

Have a short memory...whether yesterday you wrote 15 deals or talked to no one at all.....tomorrow act like whatever happened today didnt

In the end, you'll find out real quick what they're really buying is you......the product behind it is important, true, but the real issue is you.


Final Expense Quote Engine


Between applications Form Tools ($4.99), Dropbox (free), Splashtop ($2.99; it works just like Go To My PC except it's only a one-time cost of $2.99 with no monthly subscription fee) and a couple of paper brochures and conditional receipts for the old folks with no email, you really have everything you need for any FE appointment.

And Dropbox will let you access your forms offline too, so if you don't have a 3G iPad or you don't have the ability to tether your smartphone to you iPad, you really don't need Splashtop.

I also use a free app called Micromedex Drug Information that can be accessed offline to look up prescription information. Alternatively, if you have wifi or 3G, you can go to drugs.com, or use the drugs.com paid app.

And I efax the pdf app with Ring Central directly from my email. No need for mobile printers, laptops, wires, or really any paper at all.

Go on the App store for iPads and search for scanner. There are several programs. They are around $5.

When you snap your picture through this program it will process the photo as a scan. It will be just as high quality as if you put it on your desktop scanner and scanned it into your computer.

It's a very usefull tool to have. How many times have you been at someone's home and wished you could scan some documents they wanted you to review. In the old days you had to take them to your office, scan them and return them. Now you just snap a photo, scan process it on your iPhone or iPad. DONE​

$60.00 average monthly premium/$9,000 ave. death benefit

I have a weekly ap goal and I do whatever it takes to reach that goal. My upline manager uses appointments as a goal. He constantly urges agents to have 10 to 12 face to appointments every week and the production will follow.

I have been running ads in the obits for about 5 years now.

If your paper lists the relatives of the decedent, you can further you marketing by cross-referencing whitepages to get the address's of the relatives and sending them out a simple life insurance letter.

I have found that this marketing letter has a better response rate than the actual ad. Let me know what you think.

When I was sales manager for a local Honda dealership I was responsible for the advertising. When I placed an ad, I paid a 20% premium to have my ad on the page beside the obituaries instead of the classified. Our owner thought I was a whack job but our sales calls pronbably doubled.

Of course I wasn't tageting the families of the dead but I know that the majority of people 40 or over look at the obits in the morning. You will get some calls but the newspaper is dead. Every paper has a website and tons of people checkout the headlines online while in their underwear drinking a cup of coffee.

You look in the classifieds ONLY if you are in the market for a job or a vehicle, but the secret is to get those that don't even know they are in the market to call you​

Marginally insurable individuals, who have never thought about life insurance, and still don't, but want enough money to put them in the ground, without having to "pass the plate" at church to pay for the funeral.

The fact is if you're a senior, in relatively poor health and have no money set aside for your burial, you have three choices...buy a small whole life policy, ask your kids to pay for the policy if you can't or pass the burden to them if you do neither.

You're dealing with folks that haven't planned up to this point and the purchase will be made based upon a gutteral emotional response.

It is an emotional sale; not because you make it that way, but because funerals and dying tend to be that way for most folks.

​

If you are going to focus on final expense, you will find that it is very simple stuff (simple presentation, sale, underwriting, application, issue, etc.). Simple, but not necessarily easy, don't confuse the two. Keeping the aforementioned areas simple, allows you put your focus into making a connection with your client and forming the trust that will get them to allow you, to help them. After you've made that connection closing becomes a painless process.
All that being said, make sure your ready to accept failure. There will be MANY (most) clients that just won't let you help them, you have to be able to let that slide off you back, put your happy face on, and get down the road to your next client. The quicker that you can develop that resiliency, the better off you'll be.

If you feel comfortable with older people and convey to them your desire to solve their problem in this area you will do fine and make a good living. Hard work will go a long way in this arena.

Personally, this age clientele is my favorite. They may be slower to trust you (many have been burned before) but when they do, it is very gratifying to work with them and give them some peace of mind about the future.


the numbers you want to track:

Appts
Shows
Sales

If you can't get appts you know your phone skills are weak. If you are having problems with your show rate then you probably need to work on solidifying your appts, if your sales rate is low then you probably need to work on your presentation, get the idea?


I simply appraoched them with, Hi I'm with RIS. I assume you have heard about the high cost of living these days but have you ever given any thought to the high cost of dying? Doesn't matter if they answer yes or no, if they answer at all, you have an opening for a conversation. ....... Do you know of anyone who had make arrangements for a loved one's funeral? Was it expensive?. Are you aware that the funeral home bill is only a fraction of the true cost.? Can we step in and let me share with you what has proven to be of benefit to other people that might be of benefit to you and your family? (if no.. then)If this is not a good time, let's set an appoitnment for another day.. Tuesday mornings or Thursday afternoons better for you?


I sell prepaid funerals and I sell some of the same people final expense. Sometimes you can bring up one daughter that takes care of them but they are leaving everything equal in their will to all kids so they don't cause hurt feelings. An FE policy is a great way to reward the daughter that goes out of her way without any of the other kids needing to know about it.


Finale expense is a concept. They have that concept covered? Great! How about the mortgage? Mortgage protection Or how about survivor benefits? Which pension survivor benefit did they or are they going to take? Pension Max. Are they getting two checks a month now? If one of them dies how is the other going to survive on just one? Do they have other policies in the home? Term that is going to term out? An old UL that is going to implode?


When you ask a prospect if they would like to purchase the product you are pitching, you are by definition making it questionable. I work mainly in FE and my clients are looking for someone to tell them what is best.

Once you have made your pitch and you know you have a better product you need to close instead of discussing it. When I get to that point I generally say, "What we need to do now is see if you qualify". "We'll send up your app and get an answer shortly". Then simply ask them who they would like as their beneficiary and start filling out the application.

 

[Pangaea]

sub'ing to hear more gold...

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Another Reason to Buy FE
Another Reason to Buy FE
Sold quite a few to clients that normally would not be considered FE prospects because they made a good income and had plenty of "life" insurance. The presntation and reasoning still works today for FE sales.

"Mr. Jones, I know you have provided good life insurance coverage for your family and you are to be commended for that. But, when death occurs, the first thing the funeral home is going to ask for is either cash or an insurance policy to pay the bill.

You don't want Mrs. Jones to have to take a $500,000 policy and assign the benefits to the funeral home. This burial insurance plan is enough to pay for the average funeral.. She can take this policy to the funeral home and they will not know how much coverage you had elsewhere. it is none of their business anyway and they won't be tempted to oversell your family simply because they know how much money is available. Plus ALL the money from your other policy is still available to do what you wanted it to do for your family"

The next time someone tells you they have plenty of "life" insurance, try telling them, "That's great! And, I want to congratulate you for making sure your family is taken care of.. But a lot of people choose to supplement their "LIFE" insurance with "BURIAL" insurance.. let me show you why this makes sense to them."


1000 mailers will net you 8-12 on average

You should avg like a good baseball hitter. .30 is and should be your min closing %. Anything below that and one should find another career or you'll be dick broke in 3 months

The key is to have 2-3 or more "other" sources of leads

It's better to spend a little more a week to get out the most of your investments.

10 leads a week is a waste of money . You'll need 15-20 on a weekly basis to clip 75K+ a year

You'll need to invest just like you would any other business. Start up cost to get up and running is about $4,000-$5,000. That'll get you 2 months of steady flow. After week 4 is when you'll need to reinvest your commissions on a weekly basis.

It's not cheap. but the long term reward far outweighs your initial cost


Mrs Jones the reason I'm calling is you recently mailed back a card requesting more information on our low cost Final Expense Insurance. Now, Ms. Jones - were you looking for coverage on yourself or another loved one?

She'll respond one of 3 ways:

1) I need some insurance on myself.

2) I need some insurance on my husband, daughter, sister, etc . . .

3) What the hell you calling me for - I didn't send back no damn card!

If it's one or two - say:

Ok great Ms. Jones - let's see which of OUR plans we can get you qualified for today:

~ When was the last time you were in the hospital?

~ Any problems with your heart, lungs, kidneys, diabetes - anything major?

~ What types of medications do you take and for what?

~ Now - Ms. Jones - you ladies always hate when I ask the next question - but, what is your height and weight?

~ How young are you Ms. Jones?

~ You don't smoke do you?

(keeping in mind Presidential's GI issue plan) Ok Great Ms. Jones - you qualify today to receive life insurance coverage!

Grab a pen real quick so you can write down some information for me. While you get that - there's one more discount I can get you today Ms. Jones if you have a membership with a local bank or one of them 'thare credit unions - which type do you use ? ? ?

Based on the above info - figure 2 quotes - one around $40 a month and one around $60 a month - unless they are older or health problems - then I use $5k and $10k pricing.

Now Ms. Jones - got that pen?

Great - write these down for me. On the left side of the paper write $40 and on the right side - write $60.

Now the $40 plan is for $10,000 natural death benefit and comes with an additional $10,000 in Accidental Death Benefit included, as a bonus for you. What that means is if you die from yellow fever or the hong kong flu - your family will receive $10,000 to use towards your burial expenses. Now - if you get hit by a bus or an airplane falls on your head - well, that's an accident and your family will get $20,000 instead of $10,000.

Now over on the right side - the $60 plan had $17,500 in natural death benefit and $35,000 with the accidential.

While you look those over - let me ask you - once you have your coverage Ms. Jones - who will be your beneficuary to receive the money? Your son Johnny - ok - great!

Ms. Jones - let me tell you about your new plan:

~ Your benefits will never decrease

~ Your premiums will never increase

~ The only way to lose this coverage is to not make the payment - but, you always pay your bills right Ms. Jones?

~ We have a system that helps you not lose your insurance. Instead of you having to worry about making the payment each month - we set it up where your bank / credit union will AUTOMATICALLY hande it for you - that's a blessing isn't it Ms. Jones? Never miss a payment!

Now - Ms. Jones - of those two plans you wrote down - which one do you want to leave Johnny when you pass?

The $60 one - excellent choice!

Let me get a little more information and we'll be all done in about 15 minutes.

What's your address Ms. Jones?

Go to the Application.​

There is one rule that always sticks, Find a niche (FE) create your plan (Mailers, Cold Calling, List Calling, door knocking, whatever it is) and stick to it, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

It sounds wierd but in our company the second top app writer, 579 new app submissions last year carries around chicklets hand them out to people on the street and starts asking them insurance questions, this lady can barely speak english (shes korean) its crazy. Let me refraise that it should be crazy, but it works because she is consistant. I have never met someone who said that person will do well because they are erratic, disorginized and cant stay on task for longer then 3 minutes, at least not succesfull in sales.

Remember

1. Niche (FE) check
2. Create plan (just make sure they are over 50 and make around 50k and under, resist the urge to leave your niche)
3. Follow your Plan over and over

p.s. There are no perfect scripts and if someone can make 140,000K with a marketing plan consisting of chicklets then you can do the same selling a product to people in need of the product

p.s.s Dont ever include anything about you being with any Gov agency, or even say anything that could Imply that, They will lock you up and life insurance agents that sell to seniors dont have the pitibility factor in court that rabid gorrila would get


Also, don't ask questions that they can say "no" to. Like, do you remember the card? Instead, if they don't seem to remember, ask only questions that lead to yes answers. Do you live at 123 anywhere st? Are you 64 years old? Is your wife's name Alice? Is she 63 years old? At the end of everyone of those a yes answers you say, "that's what it says here. That's cements to tham that you are reading from something they sent in and it will jog the memory without you ever getting a no answer from them.

One thing I was taught long ago is that, "the more you tell, the less you sell".

 

[Justin Bilyj]

here are some pointers that have helped a bunch of folks:
-Be direct
-Avoid a length introduction (or one at all if you can help it) because folks will ask you who are if they are interested. One of the most common mistakes I think folks make is "Hi, my name is Bob and I'm calling you from Senior Insurance Specialists. I'm your local insurance agent and I was wondering if..." is entirely too long. "Hi, how are you doing today? (I'm glad to hear that/sorry to hear that), I'm calling you because..." tends to be much more effective and I've seen that consistently be the case across many different campaigns including FE.
-You should get between one lead every two hours and two leads every hour, probably averaging out closer to around one lead per hour (ballpark).
-I'm biased on thinking I offer great lists, but there are certainly other companies too. If you're looking for aged internet leads you're probably going to have a hard time getting enough in your area (if you want to do f2f), but I would strongly recommend Michael Norris at stellarprospects.com if you are considering aged internet leads.
-Usually folks are looking at a 60-80 or 60-75 age group when compiling an FE list. As far as income goes, ideally you're looking at $50k/year or less, but the reality is most FE agents have sold folks who are extremely low income as well as upper income which is great, because the income filter is a bit dodgy. With the income filter, if "the system", which is a group of different databases that all pour into one database, if there isn't a value for folks it will default to zero which means you can get stuff all over the place. I bought a list to sell dual-eligible folks (Medicare and Medicaid) using just the $15k/year or less income select and ended up getting results all over the place. Usually if you're going to filter by income you're better off using zip codes, but some folks just avoid doing anything with it altogether and go by age.
-You probably want to just have your telemarketer focus on filtering to make sure they are interested in buying life insurance. If they are, it doesn't hurt to ask them a few other questions like if they know how much coverage they would be looking for, who they would want the beneficiary to be, etc, but a lot of agents get in trouble because they try to make the telemarketer do too much of the their job. A good telemarketer is going to find folks that have expressed interest in a product, not necessarily qualified them too much. I know other agents will disagree with me on that, but I would be willing to bet that very few of them have actually hired, trained, and used a telemarketer for any length of time, if at all. You can try it both ways and see how it goes for you, but usually if you have a telemarketer screening folks too much you end up losing decent leads because they don't feel like getting into personal info (health/verify banking account) and at that point they spit the hook, even if they were interested, because they think it might be an identity stealing scam.


The question is are you setting appointments or finding people that are interested and calling them back with quotes?

You can set appointments all day of people agreeing to meet with you and you will eventually write some business but at what opportunity cost?

Do you want to get their info, shop with their companies and call them back with the price and set up a time to fill out the paperwork or try to set an appoitment to meet with them and give them the price and write the app on that appointment.

Your approach is going to be very different depending on what you are trying to accomplish.


I simply call them and ask for the person on the reply card. I say, "this is JD with {my company}, and the reason I'm calling is because we are the people that you sent in a request for information on our final espense life insurance to and I am the guy that takes care of that in your area. That's why I'm calling, I'm going to be in your area tomorrow and I need 10 minutes of your time to go over that, will you be available at 10:00 am tomorrow?".

That's everything I say. It will only vary from that depending on what they say in response. If they say yes to 10:00 am I will ask the next one for 11:30 and so on. I set my appointments an hour and a half apart.


The accuracy of the lists being used is critical.

Keep in mind that lists are bought from two types of vendors; compilers - (the company gathering the records and verifying the demographics such as age, income and many others) and re-sellers who simply offer counts and then re-sell the data they acquired from the compilers.

Accuracy of data is tracked by the compilers and one of the key elements that are tracked is the percentage of "marketable records."

A marketable record is defined as a record sent to the right person at the right address and that there were no duplicates of that record.

There are 5 major compilers which account for the vast majority of all records insurance agents either buy for themselves or buy via a mail house when they order a mailing.

An independent third party conducts studies regularly on the percentage of marketable records for each of those 5 compilers and the results are telling.

The best performance was 95.4% accurate; with the other 4 compilers coming in at 93.0%; 91.4%; 85.9% and 84.5%.

The difference is significant. Here's what it means to an agent...

The best of the 5 is 95.4% accurate which means that if you sent out 1,000 pieces of mail to records from that compiler - 954 of them would actuall get delivered to the person on the list.

The worst of the 5 is 84.5% accurate so that means that of 1,000 pieces mailed to a list purchased from that compiler only 845 pieces would actually be delivered.

Let's say the mailing house charged, or your in-house cost to mail was, $385 per thousand. If your list came from the best of the 5, your effective cost per 1,000 pieces of accurate records would be $405 ($385 divided by 95.4%); compared to an effective cost per 1,000 pieces with data from the worst of the 5 being $455.

Which would you rather pay? $405 per thousand or $455 per thousand.

The accuracy of the list is critical, because accuracy has a great affect on the effective or true cost per 1,000 piecss of mail you send out.

There are more than 5 data compilers. But the majority of all records used by insurance agents come from the 5 that I referenced. Especially since most of the major mail houses use one of them.

I don't have an answer yet from compliance about publicly posting the study overview. If you are interested in seeing that, please complete the "Contact Us" page on our website and let us know what you want. Reference "Data Accuracy" in your comments.

I can tell you the names of the compilers though and how they scored...
Acxiom Infobase.....: 95.4%
KBM.....................: 93.0%
Equifax.................: 91.4%
InfoUSA................: 85.9%
Experian...............: 84.5%

Here is the summary of the study findings...

Results overview:
• Acxiom produced the highest percentage
of marketable records at 95.40%, versus,
KBM’s 93%, Equifax’s 91.4%, infoUSA’s
85.9%, Experian’s 84.5%.

• Acxiom’s duplicate elimination processes
again far exceeded the other files with just
0.3% file duplicates compared to KBM’s
1.2%, Equifax’s 2.9%, infoUSA’s 4.8%,
and Experian’s 5.3%.

• The Acxiom file also contained the fewest
number of deceased records at 0.60%
compared to Equifax’s 1.7%, Experian’s
1.9%, KBM’s 2.1%, and infoUSA’s 2.80%.​

my approach has been pretty simple. i explain the basics, premiums won't increase, benefits won't decrease, can't be cancelled due to age or health... then i ask the health questions, fill out the app for them over the phone, quote the price and ask them if they would like me to send an app.

i explain that i will call them when they get the app, so we can talk to the underwriter and get them approved. if they hem and haw, i don't send an app (or i send it regular mail with instructions to contact me if interested.) i only chase down those who show a high level of interest. my approach is pretty low pressure.

those that i do reach after they've received an application may see a bit more pressure, but not much. if they say they haven't looked at the app yet, which most of them do, i usually say, "that's okay, why don't you grab it right now and we'll finish filling it out, call the underwriter, and get you a policy number." that almost always works.

these folks need insurance. they are often in their late 40's to mid 70's and have no coverage. they seem to realize that they are in a "time-bomb" scenario.my approach has been pretty simple. i explain the basics, premiums won't increase, benefits won't decrease, can't be cancelled due to age or health... then i ask the health questions, fill out the app for them over the phone, quote the price and ask them if they would like me to send an app.

i explain that i will call them when they get the app, so we can talk to the underwriter and get them approved. if they hem and haw, i don't send an app (or i send it regular mail with instructions to contact me if interested.) i only chase down those who show a high level of interest. my approach is pretty low pressure.

those that i do reach after they've received an application may see a bit more pressure, but not much. if they say they haven't looked at the app yet, which most of them do, i usually say, "that's okay, why don't you grab it right now and we'll finish filling it out, call the underwriter, and get you a policy number." that almost always works.

these folks need insurance. they are often in their late 40's to mid 70's and have no coverage. they seem to realize that they are in a "time-bomb" scenario.

i have been sending these docs with the apps. one is a letter addressed to the applicant; the other is a basic set of instructions. i am open to critique.

Thank you for allowing me to assist you with your insurance policy.

I wish to congratulate you on taking immediate action in purchasing final expense insurance. This step provides you peace of mind and will reduce the burden on your loved ones at the time of your passing.[/font]

As I stated before, you have the security of knowing that the “amount of insurance” you choose will never decrease and your premium will never go up. Also, you can never be cancelled due to age or health conditions.

As an additional benefit, your policy will build guaranteed cash value. As this cash value builds, you can use the funds to pay your premiums or to cover emergency expenses, should you fall short on cash.

Those are just a few of the great features of your new life insurance policy.

For your benefit, I have paid for priority shipping and included a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please return the courtesy by completing the paperwork and placing it in the mail within 24 hours.

Please refer to the instructions on the following page so we may issue your policy number. If you ever have any questions, I can be reached by calling my office at xxx.xxx.xxxx or toll free at xxx.xxx.xxxx.[/font]

Respectfully Yours,

Please complete the following within 24 hours:

1. Review the enclosed documents.

2. Fill in date highlighted areas of application.

3. Sign page two of the application in two places where indicated.

4. Sign page 1 and initial page 2 of both copies of the “Replacement Notice.” You will keep 1 copy of the “Replacement notice and return 1 copy with your application.

5. Include a voided check from the account your premium will be drafted.

6. Place the signed application, 1 copy of the signed and initialed replacement notice, and voided check in the return mailer.

7. Call me at xxx.xxx.xxxx with any questions.

8. I will call you the day you receive this packet to connect you with the underwriter and get your policy activated.



The people sending in the reply cards are world class procrastinators. They did not get to be 65 to 85 years ols and not have their funerals taken care of because they have been good planners and/or good with their money.

Now, will occasionally the exception fill out a reply card? Yes, but it's still occasional.

The very first thing I do when I walk into any home is find out why they mailed the card in. I tell that we find there is one of 3 reasons and I go over those. If they cannot tell me why the card was sent in I do not give a presentation in that home. I thank them for theor time, give them my card and leave.


Number 1 reason we get these back is because you don't have anything in place to take care of your funeral, burial and or other expenses. 60% nod their head there and I stop and move on with a warmup and presentation.

Number 2 reason we get these cards back is because you have a little bit in place now and don't it's enough, need to supplement it and didn't know how to do that. Or, even to possibly save money on what you have? 30% nod their head at that one and I stop and move on with a warmup and presentation.

Number 3 is that you have all that taken care of, but you want to leave some money to family, church or charity. About 5% nod their head on that one. I stop and ask which of those was the interest and then move to a warmup and presentation.

If I have to ask what the reason was after going over all that I sometimes get the other 5% to say something. If it's crickets and they say it was none of them and they really can't comeup with a reason for me to stay, I give them my card and leave.

I do not do a warmup nor a presentation to uninterested people.

I do the 4 questions presentation after a decent warmup. I get very few objections at the end of my presentation. That's not because my warmup and presentation is so great, {even though it is}, it's really because I only present to interested people.


Mrs. Jones, my name is Bob Levine, with Legacy Financial Partners. We offer FREE information regarding burial insurance, whether it be for yourself or a loved one. The reason for my call today was to see if it was okay to send something to you. That way, if you knew it was coming, it's less likely you would throw it away.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Mrs. Jones, My name is___, and I was calling in regards to your upcoming and imminent passing. You know? We're still at a 100% mortality rate here in the US; everybody dies someday.

An average funeral nowadays is about $7500.

Do you have burial insurance or are your kids going to cough up the money?


People only answer the phone because it is ringing. They are preoccupied with other things when they say "hello". They are not sitting with a blank mind waiting for an agent to call.

When an agent starts the call speaking 100 miles an hour trying to be "efficient" and get as many calls in as possible the prospect is not going to hear one word the agent says -- they are not prepared to begin "listening".

Start the call speaking very slow and distinctly. Hello Mrs Smith --my name is -- Frank - Stastny. NOT HelloMrsSmithMyNameIsFrankStastny.

Don't think you are talking too fast? Tape yourself and listen to exactly what the prospect is hearing.

Would you react positively to what and how you are saying it or does it sound like a telemarketer trying to sell them something they neither want or need?.

When an agent starts the call speaking 100 miles an hour trying to be "efficient" and get as many calls in as possible the prospect is not going to hear one word the agent says -- they are not prepared to begin "listening".

Start the call speaking very slow and distinctly. Hello Mrs Smith --my name is -- Frank - Stastny. NOT HelloMrsSmithMyNameIsFrankStastny.

Don't think you are talking too fast? Tape yourself and listen to exactly what the prospect is hearing.

Would you react positively to what and how you are saying it or does it sound like a telemarketer trying to sell them something they neither want or need?

Tele-sales same as in the field except...you spend a little more time with them on the phone and have a longer warm up. You don't want to sound like a tele-marketer, you don't even want to sound like an insurance agent...you want to sound like their next door neighbor having a cup of coffee with them talking about the high costs of final expenses and the burden that will be left behind on the children and family and what can be done to handle this.


Actually, I changed it to "need" 10 minutes of your time from saying "do you have" 10 mins a little over 2 years ago. I learned that from an expert appointment setter.

My appointments went up immediately after making that change. There are small things in this business that make a world of difference. That is one of them.

Now, once I'm there I will take whatever time is needed. I've never once had a person say after an hour, "hey, wait a minute, you said this would only take 10 minutes". The reason for that is because if I'm still ther after 10 minutes it's because they are interested and they don't care how long it takes. The one that are not interested I am out of there in 10 minutes or less. I do not make a presentation to uninterested people.


When you get 15 leads per week all year you will build up an inventory of the ones you did not reach or were unavailable the last time you worked that area.

I have a folder for every county I work. Like for this week I got 15 leads in a local county on Sat. In the folder for that county I have 10-12 leads from past mailings. Sometimes it's 6 months or more before I am finally able to reach and meet with someone.

If I got 15 leads in an area I've never worked it would be hard to get 10 to 12 appointments that first time.

As for the calling. That means I have about 25 leads for where I will be working this week. I will call all the way through those if I don't get my 6 appointments the first time. I will then call through them all again. If I have called through all of them twice and don't have my appointments scheduled I will take an hour or so break and then start over again. If it does get to 7:00 or 8:00 pm and I don't have my day full on the next day, I will stop calling. I know I'm gonna have to do some some doorknocking the next day during those times I couldn't set appoinments.

I am usually only in the firled two days per week. I can't remember not having a full day scheduled for the first of those days. That second day will sometimes only have 3 or 4 scheduled appointments.

How I work that scond day really depends on whether or not I've hit my production goal. If I've hit my weekly goal I will do no doorknocking on that second day. I will just run the scheduled appointments. Now, if I have run over my goal on the first day I might not even go out a second day. Unless it's early in the month and then I probably will just to get to my monthly goal.


they usually put down both names. So once I schedule the appointment I say, "will you both be there?". If the answer is no I don't go. When I show up to one that I thought was just one person and they tell me it's for both and the other is not there, I reschedule.

There is no reason to pre qualify on the phone. We can cover anyone. The more you talk on the phone the more objections they can come up with on the phone to not meet.


Note: This method is only for whenever I have a lead card. This is not a stand-alone method. You need to network and get referrals and think outside the box. However, it is a solid routine that I follow, and I have success with it.

On the day that I get the lead, I make a photocopy (or, if it comes as a pdf., I print two copies on my laser printer). I place that person's information into my database (I have created my own CRM using Excel. You can manage hundred and hundreds of people, place any reminder in the system that you want, never miss a phone call, all with the proper knowledge of Excel).

Now that they are in my contact manager, I have them marked as a Door Knock.

When I was managing 500 homes, I had to make a new, efficient route every day. I also had to make sure that I never missed a house! I had deadlines. Using excel for that helped, because you can import everything from Excel into Microsoft Streets and Trips. Plan your route, optimize your stops, and save time and gas. I do the same with my leads where my next step is to go to their door.

Now that I have an optimized route...

1st door knock: If they are home, I'll do what I need to do to either make it in the door that day or get an appointment for the next day.

If they are not home, I will leave a letter and a photocopy of their lead card in their door. The letter states, "Thank you for requesting information...see photocopy below...blah blah blah. Strong call to action for them to call me). I leave this where they will see it. I make a note in my contact manager.

2nd door knock: Repeat 1st

If they are not home, I will put them into my contact manager as a "Saturday or Evening" doorknock. This means that I will only try them one more time.

This is what I learned from the loan company. We had to try three times. The first 2 times were tried during the day. The third try had to be either in an evening (after 6pm) or on a Saturday.
If I did that for the loan company, I can do that for potential customers.

If I can never reach them on 3 attempts, I will simply try calling them (if I have a number). But, I will always attempt face-to-face first. I have much better closing ratios that way.

So, in short, I think a good "method" is to (1) Have an organized route, every day and (2) Have an organized system to try to hit the house at least 3 times before you stop door knocking in exchange for another method.



Between appointments, I knock on the door and when they answer it I say, "Hello, my name is_____, I've got several appointments with people in your neighborhood this week concerning the supplement to their social security benefit of $255 and I wanted to see if I could set up a time to visit with you about it tomorrow," (now I open my appointment book and before they can say anything, I say), "I've got a 10:30 in the morning and a 4:00 in the afternoon available, which would be more convenient for you?"

I am looking at my appointment book with my pen on the 10:30 time and waiting to write the one that they pick.

I find this to be very effective and set a ton of appointments this way. And I do only work by appointment. I even go so far as to refuse to go into their home if they say "well I've got time right now, come on in." I say, I'm sorry, but I've got an appointment with Mr. and Mrs.______ in 15 minutes, but I can pencil you in for 10:30 or 4:00 tomorrow, which would you prefer?

I think this makes you look more professional and a lot less desperate. It also makes them realize that you value their time (and yours) and your not just peddling something door to door.


Door knocking is prospecting...not selling. You will get MANY no interest people before you get an interested one. Once you have an interested prospect you can sell now or set an appointment.

You just want to be direct and quick. Don't waste your time or theirs. If using a survey I would have no more than 3 questions (see the 1st page of the survey thread for my version.)

If you want to be even MORE direct do this:
55+ answers door
Hello sir! My name is John Smith and I represent Settlers Life Insurance Company. We are conducting a community outreach today to allow seniors to add additional permanent life insurance at a low cost. Would you like to take 5 minutes to see what you qualify for?

30 year old answers
Same basic script but you might say, we can qualify most people for up to a million dollars of life insurance at very low rates.

With ANY door to door you want it short, quick, and lots of doors. Most will be no. You want to qualify them and you want them to qualify you. When you click, you slow it down and make the sale.


Now using Forethoughts free grandchildren rider as a pitch-

"Good afternnoon Mrs Jones. my names Bob Smith and I'm from Florida Senior Services, (hand card)..Mrs Jones a couple months back Forethought sent you out a card like this one (show BRM) explaining the state approved free grandchildren life insurance avaliable to seniors in your area and they asked me to come by and see if you had any questions about the free grandchildren insurance"

They're gonna tell you they don't remember receiving anything

At this time I dont even look at the prospect, I'm looking down at my clipboard and saying as I write. "Client says she never recieved package, (still looking down) I ask, Mrs Jones how many grandchildren do you have?, (dont make eye contact) I write the number of grandchildren.

"Mrs Jones I have an extra package we sent to you in my car- let me go get it and I'll quickly show you how you can get free grandchildren insurance, it'll just take me a second and Ill be in and out of here in 2 shakes of a lambs tail.. (I dont even give them an option to answer), I turn and walk to my car and get my leather folder and walk back and do the old 70's trick of wiping my feet...

Once inside- scan pictures of grandchildren.. "Are those your grandchildren?.. They are adorable.. C'mon Mrs Jones, lets get them some free insurance" then motion over to the kitchen table..

"Mrs Jones do you recall recieving a card like this explaining the new state approved free grandchildren insurance?"
​

I have always used Medicare as my in at the door. If I determine through the conversation that they are insurable, I NEVER leave the house without asking what I have found to be a KILLER final expense question to start them talking: "Are they still making you pay for your life insurance or is that all paid up?" It eliminates the "yes - no" answer and "I am not interested".