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Finally hit 20 posts, looking forward to a lot of threads here.
I am going to try and create a quality 1st thread. I have left some bread crumbs on here already about what I do and how I feel I can help a bunch of you. I understand and respect folks who tell new agents in here the horrors of cold calling and how it impedes their business. I want to stress that I don’t know of any way you will make it in any of the insurance roads if you don’t start making cold calls to some target market when you enter the Insurance World.
That said I can understand why folks encourage everyone to get out there and meet people face to face. I think noobs should plan on a lot of cold calling and canvassing face to face when they 1st get started. The idea you get a license and then leads are placed in your hands…I would say you want to work at one of the places that is frowned upon by most Independent Agents if you need that type of spoon feeding and in no way am I putting you down. It stinks drumming up your own leads at times…especially in the beginning.
Prospecting which is what we are really talking about is not always fun but IMO it’s just about the best part of the cycle other than writing policies and collecting checks(figurative). You never know who you will meet and most of my experiences are good. I don’t allow someone telling me no or even trying to explain how awful I am for even approaching them…you can’t let that get in your way. I smile and thank those people knowing I am that much closer to finding the next gem.
That was my little chapter before the real meat of this gets going.
Step 1: Plan Plan Plan…cannot stress it enough. Don’t spend all day doing this but you must have an action plan. How much time are you willing to invest daily into cold calling? I would designate about 2-3 hours or however long it takes to make about 100 calls…or however long it takes to drum up 3-5 good leads. If you are the agent you stand a much better chance of forwarding the call past the initial cold calling phase.
Step 2: Only spend time with people that have an actual need and have the means to pay for it. I see agents waste a lot of time trying to get someone to buy that can’t really afford to pay for it. Your job is not to manage their fixed incomes but again IMO you are spinning your wheels a lot. I don’t want to show my distaste for certain products but there are definitely things I could not pitch or get excited about from a CC POV.
I want to also say that I am blessed to live in a fertile rich state for folks who need insurance plus a lot of people own property here but live elsewhere many more months out of the year…trying to find them when they are here is challenging. I imagine if I lived in more rural parts of the country I would likely focus on different insurance. There are parts of my state though where rural is a great description.
Why is that important? I am going to explain…if you don’t talk or tell stories well or connect well with the market you are pitching, it’s gonna be hard to really make a splash with those folks. I come across educated on the phone and therefore I tend to rub people who struggle paycheck to paycheck, I’m not a great pitch man for those folks only because I feel guilty when I entice them to buy something they really cannot afford. I have learned the hard way a lot of those sales come back as chargebacks.
I used to own a moving company and I was very good on the phones, far better than our “sales people” and I could convince people to pay a little more thru us because we never lied about the cost of what it would be to get from Point A to Point B unlike a lot of other moving companies and folks. Maybe my quote was $2,500 and they get some foolish bid of $999 by an unseasoned telemarketer that doesn’t know that Meyer Israel is picking up their stuff and he has no plans on agreeing to the $999 term they were promised by the TM…doubt me just google “Moving Scams” and your eyes will burn out. I had to leave the industry it was so corrupt and dirty, just not for me. One day I will share more moving horror stories…I had to fire a driver in mid transit once; that was a mess. Point is I learned to focus on bigger moves, 3 and 4 bedroom homes, people who had moved once already in the last 3-5 years and might have had a horror experience the last time they moved and UNDERSTAND what an honest quote means vs the 1 bedroom apartment owner that didn’t have 2 nickels to rub together.
-You can find a slice of bread in a dumpster but that doesn’t make it a good place to look for a meal.
Step 3-You must get out of your comfort zone and start thinking like people who have money. Where do they go, what do they do, what do they buy, who is most likely to afford your service or product, you must be able to answer those questions if you are going to make it. I understand it feels scary but if it were easy then everyone would make 6 figures and we know that isn’t happening but maybe the top 5-10% in this business. The good news from my experience so far is about 80% of the licensed agents out there WILL NOT do any of the things we push in here. You have to start thinking like the people you plan on catering to. You must appear to them like you live in their world. I am fortunate to have an SO that works in fundraising and non profit. They do not try and go after poor people for donations, no money in it.
I have folks on the phone who politely decline my service but literally tell me I sound good and if I could call them closer to their renewal date in 6 months, 9 months…those are terrific leads to load the pipeline with if you are thinking long term. I tell people I specialize in what they have/own…high value properties and vehicles, sometimes will even say “Luxury Homes” and I say it in a way that says I specialize with folks who have money without actually saying that…use your brain people. And not to be rude but if you have never made 6 figures ever or had a 10k/20k month in commissions, what good are you to the folks you are calling? If you can’t identify with their needs in some form or fashion then you are useless to them. I am not saying you should quit but you need to expand your cultural base, read some publications about subjects you know nothing about to become better versed in these folks's minds and mindsets.
I think that’s good for now. I have a lot to add as I take breaks between my CC here at the office. Keep dialing but dial with a purpose.
Cheers for now!
I am going to try and create a quality 1st thread. I have left some bread crumbs on here already about what I do and how I feel I can help a bunch of you. I understand and respect folks who tell new agents in here the horrors of cold calling and how it impedes their business. I want to stress that I don’t know of any way you will make it in any of the insurance roads if you don’t start making cold calls to some target market when you enter the Insurance World.
That said I can understand why folks encourage everyone to get out there and meet people face to face. I think noobs should plan on a lot of cold calling and canvassing face to face when they 1st get started. The idea you get a license and then leads are placed in your hands…I would say you want to work at one of the places that is frowned upon by most Independent Agents if you need that type of spoon feeding and in no way am I putting you down. It stinks drumming up your own leads at times…especially in the beginning.
Prospecting which is what we are really talking about is not always fun but IMO it’s just about the best part of the cycle other than writing policies and collecting checks(figurative). You never know who you will meet and most of my experiences are good. I don’t allow someone telling me no or even trying to explain how awful I am for even approaching them…you can’t let that get in your way. I smile and thank those people knowing I am that much closer to finding the next gem.
That was my little chapter before the real meat of this gets going.
Step 1: Plan Plan Plan…cannot stress it enough. Don’t spend all day doing this but you must have an action plan. How much time are you willing to invest daily into cold calling? I would designate about 2-3 hours or however long it takes to make about 100 calls…or however long it takes to drum up 3-5 good leads. If you are the agent you stand a much better chance of forwarding the call past the initial cold calling phase.
Step 2: Only spend time with people that have an actual need and have the means to pay for it. I see agents waste a lot of time trying to get someone to buy that can’t really afford to pay for it. Your job is not to manage their fixed incomes but again IMO you are spinning your wheels a lot. I don’t want to show my distaste for certain products but there are definitely things I could not pitch or get excited about from a CC POV.
I want to also say that I am blessed to live in a fertile rich state for folks who need insurance plus a lot of people own property here but live elsewhere many more months out of the year…trying to find them when they are here is challenging. I imagine if I lived in more rural parts of the country I would likely focus on different insurance. There are parts of my state though where rural is a great description.
Why is that important? I am going to explain…if you don’t talk or tell stories well or connect well with the market you are pitching, it’s gonna be hard to really make a splash with those folks. I come across educated on the phone and therefore I tend to rub people who struggle paycheck to paycheck, I’m not a great pitch man for those folks only because I feel guilty when I entice them to buy something they really cannot afford. I have learned the hard way a lot of those sales come back as chargebacks.
I used to own a moving company and I was very good on the phones, far better than our “sales people” and I could convince people to pay a little more thru us because we never lied about the cost of what it would be to get from Point A to Point B unlike a lot of other moving companies and folks. Maybe my quote was $2,500 and they get some foolish bid of $999 by an unseasoned telemarketer that doesn’t know that Meyer Israel is picking up their stuff and he has no plans on agreeing to the $999 term they were promised by the TM…doubt me just google “Moving Scams” and your eyes will burn out. I had to leave the industry it was so corrupt and dirty, just not for me. One day I will share more moving horror stories…I had to fire a driver in mid transit once; that was a mess. Point is I learned to focus on bigger moves, 3 and 4 bedroom homes, people who had moved once already in the last 3-5 years and might have had a horror experience the last time they moved and UNDERSTAND what an honest quote means vs the 1 bedroom apartment owner that didn’t have 2 nickels to rub together.
-You can find a slice of bread in a dumpster but that doesn’t make it a good place to look for a meal.
Step 3-You must get out of your comfort zone and start thinking like people who have money. Where do they go, what do they do, what do they buy, who is most likely to afford your service or product, you must be able to answer those questions if you are going to make it. I understand it feels scary but if it were easy then everyone would make 6 figures and we know that isn’t happening but maybe the top 5-10% in this business. The good news from my experience so far is about 80% of the licensed agents out there WILL NOT do any of the things we push in here. You have to start thinking like the people you plan on catering to. You must appear to them like you live in their world. I am fortunate to have an SO that works in fundraising and non profit. They do not try and go after poor people for donations, no money in it.
I have folks on the phone who politely decline my service but literally tell me I sound good and if I could call them closer to their renewal date in 6 months, 9 months…those are terrific leads to load the pipeline with if you are thinking long term. I tell people I specialize in what they have/own…high value properties and vehicles, sometimes will even say “Luxury Homes” and I say it in a way that says I specialize with folks who have money without actually saying that…use your brain people. And not to be rude but if you have never made 6 figures ever or had a 10k/20k month in commissions, what good are you to the folks you are calling? If you can’t identify with their needs in some form or fashion then you are useless to them. I am not saying you should quit but you need to expand your cultural base, read some publications about subjects you know nothing about to become better versed in these folks's minds and mindsets.
I think that’s good for now. I have a lot to add as I take breaks between my CC here at the office. Keep dialing but dial with a purpose.
Cheers for now!
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