Newspaper prospecting idea and sales system

Markingriffin · 11-10-2008, 09:24 PM

How to use your local newspaper as a prospecting tool.

Your local newspaper is full of prospects that you need to contact.

The best time to talk to someone is during a life changing event. Like getting married, having a baby, or someone that has just lost a family member. The newspaper has all of these things.

I guess this would be part of the buying on emotions that I have talked about before.

I will first talk about the baby announcements. Having a newborn baby is like no other feeling in the world. It is a happy and scary time all at the same time for most parents. Agents have been contacting new born parents for ages about life insurance. Some even go to the hospital and bring the new parents a gift and talk to them about life insurance. I can tell you that this does work also. But I’m going to stick with direct mail pieces at this time. I want you to think just like a new born father thinks. You want the best for you child. You just want to protect that new child from the world and make sure that nothing bad ever happens to the child. You are even thinking about if your child will go to college or not. One thing that you are not thinking about is what will happen to this child future if and when you die. You have a new responsibility to protect this child from this event. If something happens to the new father or mother, the child should still be able to go to college and maintain their current lifestyle. I think it is important for the new parents to buy life insurance on themselves and the new born child. It is something that no parent ever wants to think about, but it does happen. As insurance agents we see this all the time.

Another life changing even would be just getting married. This is in the newspapers wedding announcements section. It is important to protect the person that you just married with life insurance. It is something that we must make the clients think about. A lot of people that just get married also buy a new home. Buying Life Insurance is an important step to any marriage. At least the wife’s think so. Trust me; the wife’s are already thinking about it. I don’t blame them.

Okay, I’m going to talk about the obituaries for a second. I want to stop and say, that this must be done in a tasteful manner. There is no bigger life changing even then losing someone that you love. There is no bigger time that people think about death then at a funeral. The last thing anyone should have to worry about at a funeral is bills. I wish that everyone had life insurance but they don’t. We have all been to funerals where they had to pass the hat to collect enough money just to pay for the funeral. It is sad and no family deserves this. I’m also going to stop and say that you want to just write down these names, and have a waiting period before mailing these clients. You do not want to tell them, that you got their names from the newspaper. There are several different methods that agents use. One is to act like you are just mailing them randomly and do not know they just lost someone. Another way is to approach them about losing their loved ones. Again in a tasteful manner. I purchased my own personal life insurance on myself, before I was married or a life agent, when I lost my brother at 26 years old. I thought a lot about dying and death at the time. Every funeral I go to, I think about death. I’ve even been to funerals where I thought to myself, I’m glad this is not my family that doesn’t have enough money to pay for the funeral or take care of the family. I’ve even heard others say, that the deceased should have bought life insurance so his family would have not had to go through this. If you could be a mind reader at a funeral, there is no telling what thought you would hear. I’m not trying to make a joke on this either. I don’t think I need to stop and tell you about emotions at a funeral or losing your loved one to death.

I know someone will ask me, so the answer is yes. I have done all three of these methods in the past. The answer is yes, they all three worked for me personally. This was something that I was trained to do, and at the time the insurance companies would even give us what to mail to them.

A lot of the clients that I helped were grateful that I was there to protect their families and they wanted to make sure, that if something happens to them that their loved ones would not have to worry about money.

I wanted to share this with you all. This may work for someone of you.
Direct mail is the best way to contact these people, but is not the only way.

You can brainstorm with this idea and I hope others on the forum can add some positive ideas to make this idea even better. I’m trying to bring some old school sales ideas, to some of the new agents. I did not invent this idea, but was taught it in my early life insurance days.

No one likes to think about death, but it is our job to make them. It is also our job to protect them and make sure they have a plan of protection.

Mark Rosenthal
[COLOR=#0000ff]markcrosenthal@aol.com[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]www.realfastservice.com[/COLOR]

Markingriffin · 12-12-2008, 10:45 PM

This is very old school and food for thought.

CHUMPS FROM OXFORD · 12-12-2008, 10:59 PM

Is your last post what they call a "bump?"

Markingriffin · 12-12-2008, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by CHUMPS FROM OXFORD

Is your last post what they call a "bump?"

Yes, because the idea didn't get any comments, so I'm bringing it back from the dead. I was also updating it to let me know it is an old school idea, that someone could still find some kind of use from today.

brinks · 12-12-2008, 11:42 PM

Mark, most newspapers only cover obituaries. Is there a source for baby announcements and marriages besides the newspaper? Like the idea, but newspaper doesn't work unless you are ina rinky-dinky town.

xrac · 12-12-2008, 11:51 PM

I do not argue with your point Mark because I know one can find prospects in this fashion. However, I think that newspapers are quickly becoming obsolete as more and more people, especially those under the age of 40 depend upon the internet and TV for their information. Witness the Chicago Tribune bankruptcy. Our local paper, part of the Scripts Howard group, just cut 35 jobs.

Case in point, perhaps the lack of response to this post is the majority of agents on this site don't depend upon local papers for information???

Markingriffin · 12-12-2008, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by brinks

Mark, most newspapers only cover obituaries. Is there a source for baby announcements and marriages besides the newspaper? Like the idea, but newspaper doesn't work unless you are ina rinky-dinky town.

The court house has all marriage certificates. It is open records and usually in the probate office.

ON the baby announcements. A couple of ideas. My church does it for it's members. Maybe some other churches do the same thing in your area.

I live in a rinky-dinky town I guess. We have all of these things in our papers.

I also have the feeling that you can buy list of new parents.

Bottom line is to try and target clients that are going through big life changing events. Example: Buying a new home, getting married, having a baby, losing a love one to death.

Markingriffin · 12-12-2008, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by xrac

I do not argue with your point Mark because I know one can find prospects in this fashion. However, I think that newspapers are quickly becoming obsolete as more and more people, especially those under the age of 40 depend upon the internet and TV for their information. Witness the Chicago Tribune bankruptcy. Our local paper, part of the Scripts Howard group, just cut 35 jobs.

I agree about the newspapers not being in all areas, but the idea is still the same on prospecting to these type of clients. What has changed is where to find them or contact them.

I can still remember my father asking new born fathers, if they plan on their new born child to go to college one day. He had some plans back in those days to help pay for some of college.

I've had clients that I've tried to sell insurance to, all of the sudden call me back and want to buy life insurance, and I can usually say to them, " Who do you know that just died"
Everytime I go to the funeral, I think about death and my family. Most of the time I can go without thinking about such bad things, but at funerals, it really hits you.

czar · 12-15-2008, 12:36 AM

Hi, Mark. Do you have a specific outline for the letters? I'd like to try this method, but NOT being a father, myself I think I'd have to be even more careful with wording.

Markingriffin · 12-15-2008, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by czar

Hi, Mark. Do you have a specific outline for the letters? I'd like to try this method, but NOT being a father, myself I think I'd have to be even more careful with wording.

You can call me at 877-968-5757 and I will go over this with you and some other prospecting ideas.

eric rose · 12-15-2008, 06:22 PM

I love this idea! Thanks again Mark for sharing. I feel a little uneasy about trying to profit off of someones passing, but if you believe you are helping people and your product is important, then I guess the good outweighs the "bad".

Two ideas to build off of Mark:

Anytime a younger person ends up in the obituary I would send a letter to the whole block or even neighborhood. In most cases an early death is a topic of conversation. It will seem like any ordinary direct mail drop, but you are targeting people that have recently thought about their own mortality.

If the individual that passed had adequate life insurance there may be a need/use for an annuity.

The tact required with this type of approach is off the charts. Any ideas or suggestions on what to say or a sample letter?

I can get marriage license info from the courthouse. The obits will work for what has already been discussed. I can't figure out where to get a list of families with newborns though. Does anybody know of a list service that can provide that info. What other possible leads can be found in public records?

Markingriffin · 12-15-2008, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by eric rose

I love this idea! Thanks again Mark for sharing. I feel a little uneasy about trying to profit off of someones passing, but if you believe you are helping people and your product is important, then I guess the good outweighs the "bad".

We are life insurance agents. It's my job to make you think about things that you don't want to think about. No one wants to think about death and dying. Please don't make me think about what will happen to my family, if I don't come home tonight. But, it's your job to remind me that this could happen.

When talking about profiting from someone passing. What do you say to the preacher or funeral home that charges money? They are just doing their job and they have to make a living also.

Read my 1st post. You must do this in a tasteful manner. There is a right way and wrong way of doing this. Just use common sense.

I know of people that I've tried to sell insurance to and they said no and all of the sudden they call me out of the blue wanting to buy life insurance. 1st words out of my mouth, could be, Who do you know that just died?

When talking about list of newborns. Think about mags like "Parents". Put an ad in that mag or a mag like that.

At my local hospital in Griffin, when you have a child, they give you a book, that tells a story about your child and they fill in his name and info on it. It's like a template. It's really nice. But the back of the book, has all the business that paid to give you this free cool book. I still have 2 of the books they gave me today to show it to my kids one day.

czar · 12-16-2008, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by Markingriffin

You can call me at 877-968-5757 and I will go over this with you and some other prospecting ideas.

Would this be some of the information you offer on your CD? In the spirit of commerce, I'd be happy to order as a X-Mas present to myself.

Markingriffin · 12-17-2008, 08:59 AM

A lot of the stuff on the cd, I can email you for free. One file is just too big to email. I do think you would enjoy the cd's.

It does cover some of the newspaper idea. But what you are reading here, will show you most of this idea. If you will call me, I will personally go over it with you and come up with a game plan for you and I can go over some other prospecting ideas with you.

czar · 12-22-2008, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by Markingriffin

A lot of the stuff on the cd, I can email you for free. One file is just too big to email. I do think you would enjoy the cd's.

It does cover some of the newspaper idea. But what you are reading here, will show you most of this idea. If you will call me, I will personally go over it with you and come up with a game plan for you and I can go over some other prospecting ideas with you.

What hours are you available at the number above?

ABC · 12-22-2008, 02:37 PM

Great Old School approach that I am sure still works.

KConway · 12-22-2008, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by Markingriffin

A lot of the stuff on the cd, I can email you for free. One file is just too big to email. I do think you would enjoy the cd's.

It does cover some of the newspaper idea. But what you are reading here, will show you most of this idea. If you will call me, I will personally go over it with you and come up with a game plan for you and I can go over some other prospecting ideas with you.

Mark, would it be alright if I also called you about this info?

Markingriffin · 12-22-2008, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by KConway

Mark, would it be alright if I also called you about this info?

Sure. But call me next week. I'm off for the holidays until then.

But I will be glad to help you with some prospecting systems and ideas or whatever you need help with.

You can also email me and I will send you some of my free MP3 audio tapes to listen to that goes over a couple of my prospecting ideas.

snowman · 12-29-2008, 09:27 PM

Mark,

Reading this thread reminded me of my 95 year old mother passing this year. I'm old school taught as well, but I still try and sniff the young dogs trails. Getting back to my mom and the thread though I live in AK and she passed away in NC. Many, many funeral homes are now online and publish on their websites on a daily basis obits of their clients. With all these smart guys here I'll bet one of them could come up with a web crawler that could grab the info and pull a lot of obits together into a database.

Anyway, just my twopence.

BTW, if you happen to know where it is I was raised in Fitzgerald, GA.

David C · 12-29-2008, 10:58 PM

Snowman,

I drive through Fitzgerald twice a year on my way to the big auto show/sale in Moultrie. It's a nice town, and a great civil war history. Do they still have a lot of the free range chickens?