I am struggling to get any policies (health & life) written.
I use a couple lead sources, and have spoken with some quality people, but I am unable to get anything done.
I have given quotes, followed up via phone & e-mail, but nothing.
I am new to the industry, but I don't let on about that. I have good product knowledge, so I don't think that's the problem. I speak confidently, and friendly, but without arrogance, and sounding desperate.
Are there any key words or phrases I could use to make people want to do business with me, or I am just dealing with tire kickers so far?
I am at a total loss here on what to do.
I am struggling to get any policies (health & life) written. I use a couple lead sources, and have spoken with some quality people, but I am unable to get anything done. I have given quotes, followed up via phone & e-mail, but nothing.
I am new to the industry, but I don't let on about that. I have good product knowledge, so I don't think that's the problem. I speak confidently, and friendly, but without arrogance, and sounding desperate.
Are there any key words or phrases I could use to make people want to do business with me, or I am just dealing with tire kickers so far?
I am at a total loss here on what to do.
Any advice?
Are you "giving them a quote" before you qualify/determine whether you have a mutual basis for doing business?
Don't be so quick to "give them a quote"...
Are you asking them to buy?
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[COLOR=blue]Don't steal - the government hates competition.[/COLOR]
Good advice, I am jumping the gun, and spewing out numbers too quick.
I'll stop that, and heed the sound advice given.
As I have stated before, I am ALWAYS open for suggestions.
My point is, you cannot create interest when none exists:
Me: "What is your biggest concern..."
Tim: "Actually this is not a good time now but I have your number on my caller ID so just email me something and I'll call you back."
All I'm saying is I do not work with those people. I do not try and get clever with them - I don't break out Ziglar lines - I can't get off the phone fast enough to get to an interested prospect.
My point is, you cannot create interest when none exists:
Me: "What is your biggest concern..."
Tim: "Actually this is not a good time now but I have your number on my caller ID so just email me something and I'll call you back."
All I'm saying is I do not work with those people. I do not try and get clever with them - I don't break out Ziglar lines - I can't get off the phone fast enough to get to an interested prospect.
Hmmm . . . I think if they went online, that some interest exists or existed at some point, we need to find out what that interest is or was.
Many of you mention that you weed through time wasters.
Maybe you create the scenario in your actions by assuming they're time wasters and ultimately you're wasting their time.
In general I agree with many of the points you make, but I absolutely have to disagree with all the things not to say. In fact, I say most of them and I'm more effective because of it. Remember, hearing "no" is a good thing. If you are afraid of hearing it in the beginning, you will waist a lot of time spinning your wheels only to hear it later or the prospect will simply disappear. It comes down to this, are they in pain? If yes, they will take the time to talk with you. In no, it doesn't matter what you say.
Blane,
My guess is that you are experiencing one of two problems. Either you aren't processing enough people through the door or you aren't doing a good enough job fact finding. You have to find pain and then once you find it, dig into the wound. You do this BEFORE you ever send out a quote. Remember, don't do anything unless you know exactly why you are doing it. I don't send out a quote unless I have committment to go over it. In fact, I usually don't send one at all. I just tell them there are hundreds of plan options available and I don't want to spend hours putting it all together just to confuse you, the best way to go about it is to spend a few minutes narrowing down your options. If they balk, you don't have a prospect. Go find another one.
My guess is that the real problem, given you said you aren't closing any business is that you aren't processing enough people through your pipeline each week. If you were, the old saying holds true, "Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while." The best part, that component is completely in your control to change.
When I first got in to the business many suns and moons ago, we were taught to "politely" ask if we had "gotten them at a good time", etc. It always seemed like you were apologizing for something, minimizing the importance of your work ("I just need a minute of your time...").
Over the years, my philosophy has changed. I have stricken the word "just" from my vocabulary.
I don't ask. If it's not a good time for some reason, I let them tell me.
Hmmm . . . I think if they went online, that some interest exists or existed at some point, we need to find out what that interest is or was.
Many of you mention that you weed through time wasters.
Maybe you create the scenario in your actions by assuming they're time wasters and ultimately you're wasting their time.
Not necessarily true. My wife and I just pulled up several airlines quotes for a vacation destination - doesn't mean we have any intention on going there.
Can I imagine 5 airlines calling me with "well you MUST want to fly somewhere since you were online looking at prices."
Please remember Rob that likely 80% of everyone clicking to submit from quotes does NOT know and has not agreed to speak to an agent (unless they pull up the TOS of lead company."
Last edited by healthagent : 06-29-2008 at 04:13 PM.
Not necessarily true. My wife and I just pulled up several airlines quotes for a vacation destination - doesn't mean we have any intention on going there.
Excellent point.
It takes a LOT more than "interested" to make a good prospect!
Uninsurable folks are "interested". Broke people are "interested".
Neither however are good prospects.
The first challenge is separating the wheat from the chaff...
Not necessarily true. My wife and I just pulled up several airlines quotes for a vacation destination - doesn't mean we have any intention on going there.
Can I imagine 5 airlines calling me with "well you MUST want to fly somewhere since you were online looking at prices."
Please remember Rob that likely 80% of everyone clicking to submit from quotes does NOT know and has not agree to speak to an agent (unless they pull up the TOS of lead company."
I agree. I'm talking about people that entertain you on the phone without hanging up or blowing you off.
They must have had some level of interest to speak to you, especially since they probably saw quotes on E-health because they're first at the top of every freakin' search page and they may have received email quotes via an auto responder.
Over the years, my philosophy has changed. I have stricken the word "just" from my vocabulary.
I don't ask. If it's not a good time for some reason, I let them tell me.
I agree with your point, I avoid the word "just" also. It comes down to tonality and wording. I still think asking "did I catch you at a good time?" can be asked politely without sounding apologetic. Maybe its just my midwest up bringing.
There's two reasons, at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
At one end, they're not sure. They know what they don't know, and they appreciate the value of a professional opinion.
At the other end, there are the "users". They believe your function is to "educate" them, so they can go do it at ehealth, or with another agent, or whatever.
That's why it is so critical to find out if you have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business. If NOT, you run the risk of spending a lot of time spinning your wheels...
It takes a LOT more than "interested" to make a good prospect!
Uninsurable folks are "interested". Broke people are "interested".
Neither however are good prospects.
The first challenge is separating the wheat from the chaff...
Let me try to explain myself better. You have to get to a certain point in order to discern if they are a candidate for insurance. You can't find that out if your mindset is, let's get to the legit sales prospect.
If you're ready to cut people off to get the next one, then I'd think that when faced with even minor resistance, instead of trying to turn it around, you may bail, and remember this post was for someone who was struggling, not us.
There was a car sales manager who blew through once - his attitude was "no one visits the lot unless they want to buy a car."
This theory carried out to state that your inability to close everyone who comes on the lot means you did something wrong. Every time a prospect left the lot without a sale we got chastised. Thankfully he got canned before he blew out the entire sales floor.
I did not subscribe to the mentality that "everyone's a buyer." I'm allowed to walk around Sears with my wife and not buy squat and not even be remotely interested in a single thing. So why are we in Sears? Who knows. Poking around.
What really drove me crazy about my wife when we first got married is she had a bad habit of dragging me into jewelry stores and having the sales reps pull all kinds of **** out of the case - never with even an iota of intention to buy. I broke her of that habit.
Do realize that most people simply do not have a care in the world. I took people on 2, 4, 6 test drives with zero interest before I figured out how to qualify people.
To get back on point - when I call a prospect I immediately ascertain their level of interest. If there is no level of interest I'm gone.
There's two reasons, at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
At one end, they're not sure. They know what they don't know, and they appreciate the value of a professional opinion.
At the other end, there are the "users". They believe your function is to "educate" them, so they can go do it at ehealth, or with another agent, or whatever.
That's why it is so critical to find out if you have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business. If NOT, you run the risk of spending a lot of time spinning your wheels...
Maybe it's me maybe I'm reading into things, but it seems that people aren't writing very many people they actually speak to.
Let me try to explain myself better. You have to get to a certain point in order to discern if they are a candidate for insurance. You can't find that out if your mindset is, let's get to the legit sales prospect.
If you're ready to cut people off to get the next one, then I'd think that when faced with even minor resistance, instead of trying to turn it around, you may bail, and remember this post was for someone who was struggling, not us.
No, no. My bad. I did a poor job of communicating my point.
Totally agreed.
My sole point is you should find out "why" very early in the going.
When you listen to your prospect (instead of speaking) they will tell you how to submit the application.
The problem with most agents is when the prospect is speaking it comes out like Charlie Brown's teacher. They are simply waiting for their prospect's lips to stop moving so they can listen to themselves talk again.
Need help "closing deals"
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