There's no mystery that the failure rate is very high. Common sense dictates that if it were as simple as purchasing leads and the naturally interested prospects signed up we'd have a 5% failure rates instead of 95%.
Myth: The law of averages states that if you simply contact enough leads the ones with high interest will buy from you.
Fact: No they won't.
Here's a tutorial on how to successfully work internet leads:
1) Study your plans. You should have read through your brochures and broker guide several times. Can you sign up someone who's 64? Can you sign someone who's been in the country 8 months? That's all in your broker's guide. Study HSAs - they will be more than 50% of your business.
2) Be familiar with the underwriting decisions for the most common conditions; hypertension, high cholesterol, allergies, asthma, depression and anxiety. Create a spreadsheet and list the carriers with their most likely UW decisions for each condition.
3) Run trial quotes and get familiar with online apps - run through all of your carrier's online apps over and over until your feel comfortable.
4) Determine your marketing budget. Anything less than $200 per week is a waste of time. You'll also need at least $200 per week for six weeks before commissions start coming through - so that's $1,200 you need.....minimum. If you do not have $1,200 for leads I'd recommend pursuing other ways of generating business.
On average it costs $100 to gain a client. There's a lot of "I want to make six figures" newbies out there. Fine - $1 returns $600 - net of $500. Want to net $2,000 a week? That's 4 deals or $400 per week.
5) Build your pipeline. Very few deals close on the 1st call - some, but not many. In general, for shared leads, you need a 100 lead pipeline before you start writing consistent business. You have nothing with 8, 10, or 15 leads. You cannot even ascertain a lead vendor's true quality with less than 50 leads.
6) Learn to qualify. Before you go running around throwing out quotes you need to:
A: Ascertain level of interest - why are they looking for health insurance today?
Cobra? Don't like current plan? Clicked a banner ad promising $1 a day health insurance? No interest = no client. Move on.
B: Are they insurable? Ask questions regarding insurability; pregnant, taking meds, conditions,
Click here for a qualification guide:
Qualification Sheet.doc - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage
C: Time-frame; when do they need a plan to start?
D: Money; what's their budget for health insurance? Are they realistic - 56 year old with hypertension looking for $100 a month?
7) Separate yourself from the herd. What does the herd do? They go over some copay plan basics and email quotes. How do you separate yourself? Do what most agents don't do:
A: Quote accurate rates - not preferred. Educate your client on their condition and how that impacts their rates. Give choices; company A might rider, company B might rate up.
B: Run a doc search - make sure everyone's in network. Families have two to three docs; primary, OB/GYN, pediatrician
C: Explain the importance of completing an accurate application - go over claims review
D: Recommend the correct network. Are they moving soon? Do they travel? Do they spend part of the year in another state?
E: Pitch HSAs - trust me, your competitors aren't.
F: Discuss the OOP - other agents would rather walk over broken glass than discuss true liability.
8) Don't be an information kiosk. If this was just about giving correct information most agents wouldn't have a problem gaining clients. The truth is even highly knowledgeable agents can have a tough time closing.
Assume the sale. This is not slamming - this is the natural progression of qualification to presentation to application. If done correctly there's nothing to "think about" for three days.
That said, most prospects will not close on the first call so follow up will be key.
9) Develope great follow-up skills. Email auto-responders are a great idea for leads you can't contact but you should send personalized emails to everyone you've spoken with. You will get deals 2 weeks and 2 months after you've received the lead.
10) Get organized. You'll need a CRM or any kind of database to manage your leads and prospects.
And lastly, you need a career mentality. If you're in this to see if you can make a little money and if not, oh well then save yourself a lot of time and headache.
This is a tough business and starting out is a roller coaster ride. It's a hell of a lot of fun when you make it over the hill but you need to make it up the hill first.
How to Work Internet Leads
Linear Mode
