There are quite a few posts offering high commission contract. Many agents are interested in that. That is normal. people move higher and water flows lower. But I feel we need to look for the results as a whole. High contract and leads are essential elements to produce the results. But one element without the other cannot achieve the good results. Without leads, high contract means nothing, you are still not make money. With leads, you may benefit from the high contract. I used to use high contract to lure agents to join me. But after they joined, they were not producing. Now I am not using high contract as a way to get agents to contract with my agency. Instead, I try to develop lead systems which can benefit agents. When agents join us, they can have things to do and can earn money. When agents make money, they stay. The lead system and the training system are the key for an agent's success. We should develop duplicate-able system for agent to use and to succeed.
Lead and High Contract Relationship
- Thread starter pomfin
- Start date
- 147
This is really true. Having good leads can be an advantage to be able to earn bigger income. It should be a package deal so as to reach maximum sales and thus encouraged others to join and succeed.
- 18,984
Wow! This is earth shattering news. Certainly hasn't been discussed here before.
- 15,319
I'm looking for not only top commissions, but leads as well. In fact, it would be best if the GA I use would generate the lead, have a flunkie go out and write the business, and simply put my agent number on application so I earn the high commission.
Direct deposit would be appreciated.
Rick
Direct deposit would be appreciated.
Rick
Can you believe in the old days, agents didn't use leads. Most of them had this thing called a "Prospecting Book" and the agent got out and found his own clients. He didn't pay someone else to find clients for him.
Believe it or not, a lot of the agents that I know, don't need leads. Some of them even ask for referrals and actually look for clients on their own.
An agent can not survive on leads alone. Prospectings is a big part of being successful.
I grow up in this business and a lead was a referral.
I don't see many post on this forum bragging about the leads they are buying or someone is giving to them.
If you can find some good leads, take them. But, you must also learn to prospect or you will not make it in this business long term. Don't be dependent on leads along.
ON that note, the trick is to do a lot of things at once. Put you eggs in more then one basket. DOn't be afraid to try new things in this business and don't be afraid to spend some money.
I suggest that if you are just getting in this business that you find a mentor or agent trainer and learn as much as you can. Don't reinvent the wheel. Just make it go faster.
If you are just doing leads, when the leads dry up or end, you will also.
Believe it or not, a lot of the agents that I know, don't need leads. Some of them even ask for referrals and actually look for clients on their own.
An agent can not survive on leads alone. Prospectings is a big part of being successful.
I grow up in this business and a lead was a referral.
I don't see many post on this forum bragging about the leads they are buying or someone is giving to them.
If you can find some good leads, take them. But, you must also learn to prospect or you will not make it in this business long term. Don't be dependent on leads along.
ON that note, the trick is to do a lot of things at once. Put you eggs in more then one basket. DOn't be afraid to try new things in this business and don't be afraid to spend some money.
I suggest that if you are just getting in this business that you find a mentor or agent trainer and learn as much as you can. Don't reinvent the wheel. Just make it go faster.
If you are just doing leads, when the leads dry up or end, you will also.
- 7,066
I also would like to have "top commissions" but I don't want any leads.
If a company thinks they have half way decent leads they are going to reduce the commission I could otherwise get. If the leads are "free" they they are going to be worth exactly what I paid for them, nothing.
I learned to prospect a long time ago and have been selling insurance for a very long time without the need to spend money on what are referred to as "leads". I generate my own.
If a company thinks they have half way decent leads they are going to reduce the commission I could otherwise get. If the leads are "free" they they are going to be worth exactly what I paid for them, nothing.
I learned to prospect a long time ago and have been selling insurance for a very long time without the need to spend money on what are referred to as "leads". I generate my own.
- Thread starter
- #7
I agree with your point.
A lead program can get you started with steady business. From that lead, you should learn how to get referrals. When you have enough customer base, you would be able rely on referrals for a decent income. But I still think that you have to do some marketing to get more business. Any business needs marketing. Generating leads through mail drop, dialer etc are marketing means. Those leads together with referrals are valuable to the business. A new agent without customer base needs a lot of help. A lead program, what ever way obtained from, is very useful to the new agents. I have seen so many new agents quit not because they are not willing to try, but lack of ways to get new clients. MLM people use body count recruited to get new leads, independent guys use marketing means and referrals to get new leads. New agents hate the cold calls but they have to do it if there is no leads from their agency. Referrals are a slow process and it depends on the agent personality. trustworthy. To survive this industry, all means should be utilized.
I have two agents who have no business at all before the lead program. When they join the lead program, they write business every week! It costs them for the program, but they made it back and more. They are happy.
I use lead program. But I also ask for referrals from the lead. I believe that is the way to get more business.
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I don't think there is any better lead program than mail drop in the senior market. The referral can never reach that many seniors. TV and Radio are good but very expensive. I checked out with TV advertizing. It cuts into small area like cities. You have to pay a lot of money to cover enough space. Radios are better but still you pay what you get.
Anyone has better lead generation methods?
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- 7,066
I respectfully disagree. In my opinion direct mail, I assume that is what you mean by "mail drop", is the absolute worst.
If an agent spends $350 to have 1,000 sent out he will be lucky to get 15 returned. Each of those 15 will have cost $23.33. Of those 15 most, if not all of them, will deny having filled out the card when you mention it. If they don't remember or deny having filled out the card then how is that any different than calling from a list? Either way it is still a cold call.
I generate my own leads by calling from a list. If I don't make a sale on the initial call I at least get the name of the company they currently have their insurance with. If that is all I get from that call, the call has been very successful and that person will more often than not become a client.
I have not purchased any kind of a lead for at least 6 to 8 years. My clients come out of my prospects database.
Mark, you brought back memories I thought were totally suppressed.
I started in this business with MONY while still in college. My prospecting book was the white pages. Training consisted of driving to Nashville (180 miles) at my own expense, paying for a nights lodging and meals, and sitting in class all day dialing a pretend phone. We had a script which had to be memorized before showing up for class. Our trainer would walk around the room, listening to what we were saying to our pretend prospects on the other end of the phone.
I can still hear the trainer chanting SOD, SOD, SOD for "spin of dial". This was before push button phones so we had real, and pretend, rotary dial phones.
After graduating from the class I returned to Knoxville where we were required to spend Monday night from 6 - 9 calling from a bull pen. We could not stop until we booked 10 appointments for the rest of the week. If we didn't have 10 appointments we had to come back the next night.
Kitchen table sales of life insurance for newlyweds, new parents and college students.
MONY owned a finance company and financed life insurance was "big" at that time. The idea was to pitch preserving your insurability to college students by talking them into buying a life insurance policy with no money down.
Face amounts sold were usually $10,000 but sometimes you would get lucky and get someone to buy a $25,000 plan complete with WP and PO rider.
You would think it was an easy sale since they paid nothing for 2 years, didn't need a co-signer, didn't need parent's signature and no credit check.
It wasn't easy and I hated it.
When I graduated I put the life business behind me and moved directly into employer health insurance.
Those were the days.
I started in this business with MONY while still in college. My prospecting book was the white pages. Training consisted of driving to Nashville (180 miles) at my own expense, paying for a nights lodging and meals, and sitting in class all day dialing a pretend phone. We had a script which had to be memorized before showing up for class. Our trainer would walk around the room, listening to what we were saying to our pretend prospects on the other end of the phone.
I can still hear the trainer chanting SOD, SOD, SOD for "spin of dial". This was before push button phones so we had real, and pretend, rotary dial phones.
After graduating from the class I returned to Knoxville where we were required to spend Monday night from 6 - 9 calling from a bull pen. We could not stop until we booked 10 appointments for the rest of the week. If we didn't have 10 appointments we had to come back the next night.
Kitchen table sales of life insurance for newlyweds, new parents and college students.
MONY owned a finance company and financed life insurance was "big" at that time. The idea was to pitch preserving your insurability to college students by talking them into buying a life insurance policy with no money down.
Face amounts sold were usually $10,000 but sometimes you would get lucky and get someone to buy a $25,000 plan complete with WP and PO rider.
You would think it was an easy sale since they paid nothing for 2 years, didn't need a co-signer, didn't need parent's signature and no credit check.
It wasn't easy and I hated it.
When I graduated I put the life business behind me and moved directly into employer health insurance.
Those were the days.
- Thread starter
- #10
You are absolutely right for what you do. But most new agents hate cold calling or lost interest in cold calling. You have to purchase a list with age filtering for seniors. You have to dial a lot to generate leads. I placed live transfer dialing thousands phone numbers and only get a few live transfer. How much time you have to spend to get those phone dialed and missed yourself? I am thinking of predictive dialer with some telemarketers. I think either the agents or telemarketers should stick to the phone to generate the leads. But the cost of doing that may not be cheaper than direct mail, especially after 9/9/09 when autodialer would not be allowed for consumers in most cases.
The mail drop is expensive, no doubt about it. But it generates activities and by doing a lot of them, you get enough business. It is profitable even if the return rate at 1.1% and closing rate is at 15%. The lead may cost over 30 some dollars per lead and it may only closing at 15%. But you make money, very happy about the profit from it. I calculated some numbers, the cost maybe over 45% of your revenue, total return on investment at over 120% (for example invest 3600 for the lead and generate 4320 net profit). Anybody would love those worst scienario numbers.
