Considering a Career with MassMutual Have Some Questions for anyone that Has or Currently Works for

[Vbarone23]

Hello,
I know that there are many older posts on this and similar topics regarding mass, but I am graduating college in a few weeks and have an important decision to make.

I am currently interviewing with MassMutual. They have told me a lot about the career and the teaming aspect of new agents with successful agents, as well as their training on cold calling handling objections etc. I currently work for AFLAC part-time as I am still in school. They are looking to keep me, as well as received a job offer from liberty mutual with a base of 57K dropping to 25K after a few months, with it bottoming out at 16K with 1% renewals.

The questions I have since I am used to cold calling and prospecting to businesses, is if Mass trains specifically on how to effectively prospect and how to go about getting clients, without first hitting up friends and family to sell to/ get referrals. I would rather wait until I have some experience before doing that.

Also for the people still in the business how did you get started with finding clients and "building the foundation" for success to get clients, and stay and make it a good career where you can make a lot of money, like I plan to do.

Any other tips, and advice is also greatly appreciated.

Thank You

 

[DHK]

I got started at MassMutual. I got ZERO training on how to effectively cold-call on businesses. I bet that you've gotten more canvassing training at AFLAC than you'll ever get at MassMutual.

However, my experience, while it seems to be the norm, doesn't mean that it won't be true for the agency you are interviewing with as each office will be different.

MassMutual does not do voluntary payroll deduction plans - although they do multi-life DI plans.

http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...nsurance/guidance-new-life-agents-t29999.html

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Training depends on the local agency, no coldcalling training. You get an elevator speech packet to help you define your value proposition. They also give you access to their online Sandler Sales training...

 

[DHK]

This recent thread may be helpful as well.

http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...ass-mutual-new-2-15-florida-agent-t87156.html

 

[Vbarone23]

Okay thank you for the replies another question that I have is regarding the specific life market and how difficult it is to get quality prospects that want to buy.

Also I have been told that they also eventually want you to focus on a specific market, is there one that is easier to focus on than another? I just want to know I can go into this business, do what I have to, and be successful out of college, that does not mean making tons of money in my first year, just what the probability is of me making money in the first 1-12 months.

Thank You

 

[Vbarone23]

Okay justin billy J what is sandler sales training? they did not mention that. Thank You

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And okay thank you guys, another question is that they want you to focus on a market eventually which ones are easiest to get clients to help and service, as well as what is really the market for life/DI since that is what I would start selling in my first few months, until I take my series 6 and 7.

I just want to have some degree of certainty that if I do what I am told, prospect, cold call etc, that I will be successful. That doesn't mean making 200K my first year, but in my first 1-12 months having the realistic probability that I can start making money, since I will be fresh out of college.

Thank You

 

[mplsmm]

I have a good friend that just went to work for one about 6 months ago. She was more of a personal assistant while she got her licenses and worked with the agency owner. He pays her pretty well and then gives her bonuses on top if she closes something. He gave her a bunch of orphan term accounts to cold call and practice on. Now I think the next part of the plan is that she is no longer his assistant and but she is still under him and she moves to her own office in his building and he hires a new assistant/trainee. She is happy, she can get her own clients and he throws her plenty of small fish because he takes the big ones and she has tons of leads to work. It's a win win.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

The Sandler Sales training can be found through the online broker portal - it's a gigantic resource.

Most people will interchangeably use cold calling to also mean going b2b or cold walking business owners. If that's the case, get a data list of small businesses in the area you don't mind walking that have under 9 employees (1-4 will have less gatekeepers).

You can also cold call these people to pitch a lead in product or go in for an introduction that you can ask (survey) a few questions to the owner about possible problems that they might have that you can solve.

Mass also has a project 200, so be prepared to approach your family and friends. Don't hard close or anything, just send them a letter letting them know what you do and who you are trying to do business with (couples with a home, business owners etc.).

Lastly with your data lists and your project 200 you will start to build a database of individuals that you will turn into warm prospects and obtain referrals from. Staying in contact throughout the year so your name is at the top of their mind when they have a question is what this business is all about.

-Product orientation
-Pitch creation
-Project 200
-Targeted Data List
-Start prospecting by sending out letters or cards, walking into businesses, cold calling business owners, go to networking functions like (commerce, bni, network after work, meetups, local linkedin group gatherings).
-in the background constantly attend to building your linkedin connections (two ways to do that, search 2nd connections with city as a search term and connect down the list 150-200 a day OR just go to my network and connect down the line (less locally targeted method but easier to do), and use the sales training - oh yeah, get a website too...

 

[Vbarone23]

Thank You Justin. What is the project 200 and what do you do with it? just build a list of family and other people you know who you can talk about what you do as well as try to get them to give you referrals of who they know?

I would attend a lot of different networking events, and try to figure out who the right people to network would seem difficult at first, I also will use the newsletter idea even though it is seen as a me too approach. I will use facebook to message people and tell them what I do and see if I can be of service to them without spamming tons of people. Honestly I do not use linkedin as much as I should, when looking for people to connect with my state city etc. who should I be looking for?

As far as the business side goes I have done plenty of door knocking with AFLAC and I have found a lot of gatekeepers as well as a lot of uniterested business owners, I of course have no problem talking to them but initially only being able to offer life and DI and not BOE and other important things to business owners, what would be the best approach to use what you said above with the survey/ fact find to a business owner who is more than likely busy at the time I drop in or call as they usually were.

Thank You again for all the feedback. and if all else fails I do have Liberty Mutual but the 57K and dropping salary and $25K on plan as an agent officially selling and 1% renewals does not sound exciting at all even though I will be able to pay of loans etc. just does not seem as though I can offer a great service to people while making good money which is my goal hence why I believe mass has a lot of great services and offer good products to clients in need. Also told me I could continue to sell Aflac as an outside carrier

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apologize for all of the non use of punctuation

 

[Justin Bilyj]

The project 200 is just a blank list. It can be a tough start to actively prospect them, which is why the letter/newsletter approach works well.

Doing social media should be a night time or weekend activity at this stage in your career imo. Likewise with networking it should be considered supplementary prospecting to cold calling or cold walking business owners.

If you're going to supplement your cold prospecting and passive database passive marketing with networking here's a way to go about it, attend the networking events, and ask people who they're hoping to network with or what kind of clients they look for. Then tell them who you're looking for. If they fit one of the niches ask them for a card and then ask them if they're on Linkedin, if so do a soft approach, "we should connnect," which they promptly agree to.

Get their card, connect with them on linkedin, message them to tell them that I appreciated meeting them and to confirm their address to send something to them. I then offer to meet with them to talk about ways to solve some problems and do a discovery and have a conversation. Not everyone will say yes but at least try to get them to allow you to drip on them with a newsletter.

I do this with COI's i.e. other financial planners or P&C agents that don't do Medicare or Long Term Care, but it will also work with business owners.

If you decide to network you will want to focus on 2 niches of people:
1. Anyone who can breathe that will allow you to do a financial fact finder if you go down the comprehensive planning route
2. Business Owners comprised of two types: those who have licenses (attorneys, accountants, doctors, dentist, architects, engineers, optometrist, radiologists etc.) or those that have a brick and mortar business (printers, distributors, shop owners etc.)

If you go down the cold door knocking route you will need to door knock 40 businesses per day, 200 per week to make it in the business imo.

If you get the OCS (mass has a discount and recommends agents to use this) planner system that helps you track your prospecting your numbers according to that system will look like this:

200 businesses per week = 1000 businesses per year
Of those 200, you will find (over the course of 3 years) for every 10 business owner contacts you have 7 that will be not interested. 3-4 of that 7 will allow you to send them a newsletter or drip on them via email.

That leaves 3 that are interested in your service of which 1 will become your client.
That means of the 1,000 BO's:
1. 300-400 will let you send them info and stay in touch the other 300-400 of the 700 not interested will either not like you for whatever reason, doesn't believe in the product/service, or has someone else take care of it for them.
2. 200 will be considered warm leads to also stay in contact with should they change their mind
3. 100 will become clients

Take your avg commission and multiple it by 100 to get your approximate 1st year income if adhering to adding 200 contacts a week to your system.

Remember social media, networking, asking for referrals should be supplementary to cold prospecting..