Insurance Agent Forum

[Johnnyboy29073]

I want to sell Life & Health PT a supplement to current income.

Any ideas on what companies might be receptive to that or how to go a about it?

Feedback appreciated.

[al3]

I think you will have some success with close friends and family, but eventually you will run out of them... perhaps in two weeks.

So, tell me why a complete stranger to you would want to buy something as complex and hard to understand as some life plans and most health plans from someone who does not devote all their time and energy to keeping abreast of the industry and business?

You say they won't know or be able to tell the difference between a full-timer and a part-timer coming in with zero experience? I beg to differ. Unless you are selling to hicks in the rural South, you will find people a lot more sophisticated than you think they are.

And even the hicks are on the net and as Lyndon Johnson once said "Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken s--t from chicken salad."

Would YOU go to a part-time lawyer? Doctor? CPA?

If you are not going to make this your endeavor, then might I suggest you sell something like Amway or Pre-Paid Legal, or any of the 1001 easy-to-understand, easy-to-start business products and services.

Al

[COLOR="Red"]"There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?" -Woody Allen[/COLOR]

[somarco]

Part time agents are like part time brain surgeons.

[Johnnyboy29073]

Originally Posted by al3

I think you will have some success with close friends and family, but eventually you will run out of them... perhaps in two weeks.

So, tell me why a complete stranger to you would want to buy something as complex and hard to understand as some life plans and most health plans from someone who does not devote all their time and energy to keeping abreast of the industry and business?

You say they won't know or be able to tell the difference between a full-timer and a part-timer coming in with zero experience? I beg to differ. Unless you are selling to hicks in the rural South, you will find people a lot more sophisticated than you think they are.

And even the hicks are on the net and as Lyndon Johnson once said "Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken s--t from chicken salad."

Would YOU go to a part-time lawyer? Doctor? CPA?

If you are not going to make this your endeavor, then might I suggest you sell something like Amway or Pre-Paid Legal, or any of the 1001 easy-to-understand, easy-to-start business products and services.

Al

[COLOR=red]"There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?" -Woody Allen[/COLOR]

Your feedback noted, but it does not address the question.

Perhaps you could refrain from straining at the neck to post the obvious and the negative.

I have a book of clients in a companion industry that I would suspect most here would fistfight in the streets over, and I am a paid consultant and published author in my own industry.

Unfortunately, what with depressed RE values and the hightest UE rates in the South, I do feel the need to venture into other areas than just RE.


My question has been answered by a couple of kind souls already off-line. YOUR sophomoric input I will chuckle at and ignore.

[Markingriffin]

What does part time mean? Would you be happy with 1 or 2 apps a year or 1 a month or what? How many hours a week?

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Originally Posted by al3

So, tell me why a complete stranger to you would want to buy something as complex and hard to understand as some life plans and most health plans from someone who does not devote all their time and energy to keeping abreast of the industry and business?

That says it it right there.

Reminds me of the A.L. Williams craze years ago. Most of the agents were check-er-out-ers at the grocery store.

Originally Posted by somarco

Part time agents are like part time brain surgeons.

No confidence on a brain stem surgery somarco?

Originally Posted by Markingriffin

What does part time mean? Would you be happy with 1 or 2 apps a year or 1 a month or what? How many hours a week?

Does it really matter?

This business demands (or should) full time devotion and expertise. Anything less cheapens our profession further. If he's looking to make a couple of extra shekels, he should get a part-time gig at Bed, Bath & Beyond or something...

[al3]

Originally Posted by Johnnyboy29073

Unfortunately, what with depressed RE values and the hightest UE rates in the South, I do feel the need to venture into other areas than just RE.


My question has been answered by a couple of kind souls already off-line. YOUR sophomoric input I will chuckle at and ignore.

Ignore it at my pleasure. But the fact is that ex-RE agents have a much higher failure rate than any other entry-level people I know. Why? Because they don't know how to prospect. They are used to the business walking into the open-house each Sunday afternoon. Ex-RE agents don't have the first clue on how to cold-call, market, or close a sale.

If part-timers could "make it" in this biz, how come you don't see more of them. Indeed, why does someone like you even have to come on a board like this and ASK? The answer is that you don't KNOW any successful part-time agents, but you are hoping against hope that somewhere there are some. Well, I'm sure there are ... maybe three or four... out of the tens of thousands who have tried.

I wish you well, I honesty do, but guys like you come and go, are a dime a dozen, and basically are well advised not to waste your time and money. I'm glad you got some private encouragement, but the guys with far more experience than I have are the ones you want to listen to because they too have seen you before... more often than I have. What are they telling you here?

Maybe you can ride out the RE downturn by selling life/health while you continue to purse RE deals, but the odds are way against you. Many others have tried and have failed. Maybe you will be the exception, but from reading your posts, my bet is that you won't be.

Pre-Paid Legal. Sell that part-time. Seriously. With that you CAN be successful. But I believe in my heart of hearts that you can't do life and health (not with sophisticated clients) on a PT basis. Of course, one could ask, just how sophisticated can anyone in South Carolina be? Just ask Mark Sanford!

Al

[arnguy]

Hey, isn't Primerica still looking for agents that want to work only part-time? It may be his best bet! BTW, they sell insurance, Johnnyboy.