I am about to start with Mass Mutual in August or September, so I have some time to put together a prospecting plan. I was thinking since I do not have a large natural market, I was going to start with buying leads at around $15 per lead and supplementing that with calling some business owners that I used to do business with when I was in the auto industry. I was hoping that from my natural market, the small amount of business owners I know, and the leads, that can keep me pretty busy depending on how many favorable introductions these can give me. Any advice on this topic? Don't really want to get into cold calling because I feel that is a waste of time. Want to dabble more in high probability selling if that makes sense. Any other suggestions? I want to get off to a fast start. I have a reasonable goal to do just $14,000 of premium per month, which is only $300 monthly premium per week. Need help from the experts!
1) why are you joining Mass Mutual. What is the benefit (besides lower commission)? Are they paying you a draw, expenses, training...?
2) Cold calling is a bitch....but i can tell you now that very few if any agents cold call. No matter how you do it this industry turns out to be a numbers game. Don't rule out cold calling just because you don't like it. It can actually work! And its cheap.
3) your natural market is a GREAT place to start. But don't just think linearly. Always ask your prospects/clients if there inheritance is secure, has there parents or grandparents trust been review this year....etc.
4) Team up with an estate planning attorney or CPA and give seminars or run study groups.
5) explore business insurance markets. Very few agents understand COLI/BOLI, deferred comp, buy/sells, key man, split dollar, etc. It is a huge market. Start with small businesses and grow your practice.
1) why are you joining Mass Mutual. What is the benefit (besides lower commission)? Are they paying you a draw, expenses, training...?
2) Cold calling is a bitch....but i can tell you now that very few if any agents cold call. No matter how you do it this industry turns out to be a numbers game. Don't rule out cold calling just because you don't like it. It can actually work! And its cheap.
3) your natural market is a GREAT place to start. But don't just think linearly. Always ask your prospects/clients if there inheritance is secure, has there parents or grandparents trust been review this year....etc.
4) Team up with an estate planning attorney or CPA and give seminars or run study groups.
5) explore business insurance markets. Very few agents understand COLI/BOLI, deferred comp, buy/sells, key man, split dollar, etc. It is a huge market. Start with small businesses and grow your practice.
Just some ideas and comments.
Thanks for the feedback. I am going to MAss for the training. Also because they allow me to take my book of business once i decide to go independent when I am experienced enough.
I am talking to Mass Mutual, NewYork Life, Northwestern Mutual, and Universal American. Do not know which one is better for me. I am a newbie and a mature (mid 60) business/corporate executive. Need to learn some new tricks. do not know whether I will be succcesfful at it. Any advise?
Instead of buying expensive leads, get referrals from your stable of business owners. Business owners always have friends and colleagues out there in different or competing businesses. I used to just ask (I researched it first) if they know so-and-so in a competing business. Normally they do and I would use that to open the door.
Hook up with a good center of influence or two. They key to a good COI is that you don't sell that person but get referrals, information and help from them. One of my best COIs when I was with NML was a real estate developer in Monterey.
Cold walk instead of cold call if you don't have enough referrals. Drop off a card, let them know you do estate and business succession planning if they ever want to talk.
Get a copy of NMLs red letter language and use it.
I worked with a guy who would cold call businesses and get appointments with CEO/CFO/COO types all day long. All he told them was something like:
"I help business owners and executives develop and implement exit strategies". It always worked.
In the business/estate markets, the key to remember is one thing:
People don't want the product, they want what the product does.
I am about to start with Mass Mutual in August or September, so I have some time to put together a prospecting plan. I was thinking since I do not have a large natural market, I was going to start with buying leads at around $15 per lead and supplementing that with calling some business owners that I used to do business with when I was in the auto industry. I was hoping that from my natural market, the small amount of business owners I know, and the leads, that can keep me pretty busy depending on how many favorable introductions these can give me. Any advice on this topic? Don't really want to get into cold calling because I feel that is a waste of time. Want to dabble more in high probability selling if that makes sense. Any other suggestions? I want to get off to a fast start. I have a reasonable goal to do just $14,000 of premium per month, which is only $300 monthly premium per week. Need help from the experts!
With all due respect, how do you know cold calling's a waste of time if you're brand new to the business?
I'm not claiming to be some kind of expert or anything but I think you'll find that your "self-generated" leads (IE cold calls) are far more effective than any kind of lead that you have to pay for.
With all due respect, how do you know cold calling's a waste of time if you're brand new to the business?
I'm not claiming to be some kind of expert or anything but I think you'll find that your "self-generated" leads (IE cold calls) are far more effective than any kind of lead that you have to pay for.
I just feel the time spent on cold calling could be spent on more productive activity with better ratio results. I am trying to be as efficient as possible in 8 hours a day.
It sounds like you already have your mind made up about the telephone. I still say you'll get to tell your story more times on the telephone than you would going B2B or relying on $15 leads. Find out if the lead company is selling the lead to other agents or if they are exclusive. Some companies sell these leads to 8 or more agents and there are some seasoned agents out there... I work the senior market and would have starved as a new agent without the telephone. Good luck.
If you are really thinking about $15 leads I would suggest stopping and re-examining the Mass culture. Unless the agency you are going to join is abnormal, Mass is not looking for the kind of client that a purchased lead is going to generate. NYL, Mass, NML, etc. are not looking for cheap term shoppers. They want a life-long client that is upper middle class or higher. Someone you can go back to time and time again for referrals and additional sales. Unless I seriously have misread all the complaining on this forum, purchased leads will not generate that type of client.
Do you really want the guy who will drop your policy in a hot second to save $5 a month?
I agree 100% with Vol on this. If you are going to play in the top 3 national mutual carriers, you need to go armed for bear, not pigeon.
Lead generation systems used by the carriers can produce some results, although minimal. Those are programs designed to attract professionals to DI, Life, and so on. Most times they just want the Atlas or whatever free gift they get for filling out the card. Also, you are going to get a lot of people looking for DI who are already DI maxed out at 65% or 70% by class and cannot get more to cover more income. Spinning the wheels. (note: since you are going to be in the professional market, get familiar with this company since you might be able to fit a Lloyd's product on top of what they already have www.piu.org)
I also agree, with MassMutual, NYL or NML, cold calling is dicey at best. Gatekeepers exist to keep you away from the person you want to talk to. MM, NML and NYL are not the places to be calling mom and pop at 7 PM. You want the CEO/CFO/COO/President/Dr/Attorney and so on. They don't take cold calls.
Again, go to your warm business market and get some referrals. You don't need a "hard" referral with a major mutual. You just need a warm name to drop.
If you want to PM me I can give you some good language to use to get appointments. All you have to do is find out from person X (the one you previously worked with) if they know persons Y & Z (you need to do a bit of research and find out who they compete with, play golf with, etc.). I also have a technique for this using voicemail since that is where the gatekeeper is gonna send you anyway).
Some days I miss doing those things, but I like where I am now so it's all good.
I agree 100% with Vol on this. If you are going to play in the top 3 national mutual carriers, you need to go armed for bear, not pigeon.
Lead generation systems used by the carriers can produce some results, although minimal. Those are programs designed to attract professionals to DI, Life, and so on. Most times they just want the Atlas or whatever free gift they get for filling out the card. Also, you are going to get a lot of people looking for DI who are already DI maxed out at 65% or 70% by class and cannot get more to cover more income. Spinning the wheels. (note: since you are going to be in the professional market, get familiar with this company since you might be able to fit a Lloyd's product on top of what they already have www.piu.org)
I also agree, with MassMutual, NYL or NML, cold calling is dicey at best. Gatekeepers exist to keep you away from the person you want to talk to. MM, NML and NYL are not the places to be calling mom and pop at 7 PM. You want the CEO/CFO/COO/President/Dr/Attorney and so on. They don't take cold calls.
Again, go to your warm business market and get some referrals. You don't need a "hard" referral with a major mutual. You just need a warm name to drop.
If you want to PM me I can give you some good language to use to get appointments. All you have to do is find out from person X (the one you previously worked with) if they know persons Y & Z (you need to do a bit of research and find out who they compete with, play golf with, etc.). I also have a technique for this using voicemail since that is where the gatekeeper is gonna send you anyway).
Some days I miss doing those things, but I like where I am now so it's all good.
Sounds Great! THanks for the advice! I will definitely PM you because I feel becoming familiar with effective language will be key for my success. Once I get enough posts, I will PM you. THanks for all the feedback!
Sounds Great! THanks for the advice! I will definitely PM you because I feel becoming familiar with effective language will be key for my success. Once I get enough posts, I will PM you. THanks for all the feedback!
You can call me if you like. I will be in anytime after 9:30 AM CA time in the morning. My number is on my web site.
Need HELP on FAST START !
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