Insurance Agent Forum

[Insuranceman]

Does anyone have a proven phone script for calling seniors to see if they want to save money on their Med Sup plans?

I've heard that there are telemarketing companies using Medicare approved scripts for part c plans. Does any know the name & phone # of
Those companies or have access to a Medicare approved script?

[maryjd123]

HI Insuranceman

I dont really have a script persay -- and it has been discussed on these boards before

Basically who is it that you are calling -- the turning 65? or older?
If you need some help email me and i can give you a scenerio and some pointers -- it seems to work for me.. I go with whatever works..

[johnrocks]

Hello Mrs. smith How are you today The reason for my call is I am a senior advisor in(name your town) and I am going to be in your area tomorrow discussing with some seniors the new changes in medicare as well as your choices and I was wondering if I could drop that info off to you I have times available am or pm which do you perfer are you enrolled in part A and B who is your present med supp carrier And that is it I talk in a conversation type way I am a good ol' boy so my laid back mannerisms I think helps I also call in the rural areas less competion and I have found that they are usually nicer and more receptive than the "city slickers" are :P

[senior-advisor-indiana]

I was wondering if I could drop that info off to you

why would you say drop info off? dont you want to sit at thier table?

[salpro22]

Because that is a way to get your foot in the door. It is rare that somebody is IN the area.

[senior-advisor-indiana]

It is rare that somebody is IN the area.

YOU LOST ME

[salpro22]

Originally Posted by senior-advisor-indiana

YOU LOST ME

Some agents have appts. in an area and do their best to schedule more informal meetings (a.k.a I will be in your area on such a date/time). Other agents use the phrase to set-up appts. I have done both and prefer to sell over the phone, unless their are circumstances that prohibit that from occuring.

[johnrocks]

I simply use that as a soft sell approach to get my foot in the door when I get there then I try to get my whole body though the door to the kitchen table. It really depends a lot on their demeanor when I get there on how I proceed.(th meaner they are th less likely I am on getting my foot in th door lol)

[Gaddock]

Hello Mr / Mrs _____________________

My name is ________ with __________ over here on 5th & main.

The reason for my call is to assist you in accessing the numerous offers you have recently received in the mail about your Medicare supplement plan.

My company specializes in comparing these offers and the service is free of charge.

I’ll be in you area tomorrow, is 1 or 2 better for you?

CLOSE FOR THE APPOINTMENT not the product. Don’t get sucked into anything else during this call. You can dazzle them with your brilliance in person. There are to many objections they will use to blow you off when going into details over the phone.

My $0.02 Good luck.

[johnrocks]

As they say on that beer commercial BRILLIANT!!!:biglaugh:

[senior-advisor-indiana]

What do you drop off if they dont let you in?

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Did you get my nuumber john?

[johnrocks]

Yes i will call tonight just coming in and out of house right now doing some yard worh this weekend as far as what i drop off forefield advisors make some great newsletters with some real informative info that i drop off

[Frank Stastny]

I really don't consider, "I'm going to be in your area, can I drop off some information" an appointment. That, in my mind is "cold calling".

I think of it as more of a warning. :biglaugh:

[johnrocks]

Frank I guess we all have our own way of selling but my "warning" makes me a very good living but if you have any advice I (unlike some) have an open mind I will give your script a couple of weeks and see if it works better for me I just like the non threatening type of approach. but hey i could be wrong

[johnrocks]

Oh by the way that script i use was given to me when i was captive with sterling

[Frank Stastny]

Not at all John. That was just a feeble attempt at humor. I use to sell that way and also was very successful.

I just got tired of "dropping off information". On some days just only doing that. I started calling and asking who they had their insurance with, how much they were paying and many times finding out if they would qualify.

I would ask if they had group insurance, were on medicaid, paid annually two months ago or if they had a relative who sold insurance. I would even tell them how much my premium would be. I know, a HUGE no no in this business. I was always told it is best to "sneak up on them" with that.

Not only did it work, it still does work for me. It worked so well that my production increased dramatically. I was no longer "wasting time" seeing unqualified buyers. When I made the appointment I pretty well knew I had a sale. Other agents were still struggling and working hard all day, every day to sell three or four apps a week. (I was captive at the time.) That was a very slow week for me and usually meant that I goofed off a lot that week.

My best month was just short of $80,000.00 in annualized premium using that method. An HMO was cancelling policies in a six county area around St. Louis. I printed a list from my prospects database showing everyone I had talked to during the past two or three years who had told me they had Advantra and called each one of them. I sold it over the phone and went out to write the app. It was like Advantra had given me a list of their policy holders and their phone numbers.

Most of my calls were made between 6 pm and 8:30 pm and I would set appointments for the next day. Two days out was the max that I could count on them being there.

If one could average only two sales a day without having to spend the entire day "dropping off information" to a lot of unqualified buyers wouldn't that make life a lot easier? Two sales a day, ten a week over 52 weeks would equal over $600,000.00 in annualized premium. (I am assuming the average annual premium would be $1,200.00.)

There are very few med supp agents who ever even approach those numbers on a regular basis. I didn't either but I was usually in the $350,000.00 to $400,000.00 range every year and most of my business stayed on the books. I still have clients who I sold in 1994.

I couldn't have done that well if I had not had all of my prospects well organized and available at the touch of a button. It made selling so much easier.

[salpro22]

Originally Posted by Frank Stastny

Not at all John. That was just a feeble attempt at humor. I use to sell that way and also was very successful.

I just got tired of "dropping off information". On some days just only doing that. I started calling and asking who they had their insurance with, how much they were paying and many times finding out if they would qualify.

I would ask if they had group insurance, were on medicaid, paid annually two months ago or if they had a relative who sold insurance. I would even tell them how much my premium would be. I know, a HUGE no no in this business. I was always told it is best to "sneak up on them" with that.

Not only did it work, it still does work for me. It worked so well that my production increased dramatically. I was no longer "wasting time" seeing unqualified buyers. When I made the appointment I pretty well knew I had a sale. Other agents were still struggling and working hard all day, every day to sell three or four apps a week. (I was captive at the time.) That was a very slow week for me and usually meant that I goofed off a lot that week.

My best month was just short of $80,000.00 in annualized premium using that method. An HMO was cancelling policies in a six county area around St. Louis. I printed a list from my prospects database showing everyone I had talked to during the past two or three years who had told me they had Advantra and called each one of them. I sold it over the phone and went out to write the app. It was like Advantra had given me a list of their policy holders and their phone numbers.

Most of my calls were made between 6 pm and 8:30 pm and I would set appointments for the next day. Two days out was the max that I could count on them being there.

If one could average only two sales a day without having to spend the entire day "dropping off information" to a lot of unqualified buyers wouldn't that make life a lot easier? Two sales a day, ten a week over 52 weeks would equal over $600,000.00 in annualized premium. (I am assuming the average annual premium would be $1,200.00.)

There are very few med supp agents who ever even approach those numbers on a regular basis. I didn't either but I was usually in the $350,000.00 to $400,000.00 range every year and most of my business stayed on the books. I still have clients who I sold in 1994.

I couldn't have done that well if I had not had all of my prospects well organized and available at the touch of a button. It made selling so much easier.

Do you keep the contact information of the cold-calls you have and/or just the people who you presented information? The reason I ask is because it could be a full-time job logging in every prospect an agent calls and who says "We are on Carefirst." A great idea, just very time consuming.

[johnrocks]

Frank I can appreciate the way you work but my philosaphy I guess is there ARE no unqualified prospects. If I qualify them over the phone too much I may find out they are insulin dependent diabetic or they are on meds out the wazoo but then maybe they need some burial insurance or maybe when I get there a neighbor or a relative is there that needs insurance. This has happened a few times(not enough to base my entire career on it but it has happened)When I go on my appointments I want to have 5-8 . By the time I drive an hour one way to my first appointment out in BFE I want to guarantee myself some activity. Think about it, if you call every day and each dial you make lasts 1 minute a hundred dials will last 100 minutes(hour and 40 mins) calling is time consuming and I want to see as many people I can in a given day. If this is a numbers game and your numbers are 1 in 3 will buy then having only 1 appointment is as close to 100 percent no sale as one can get but if you have 5-8 appointments then your as close to 100 percent as you can get in selling something. Because of this philosaphy and seeing married couples and asking all the questions in person I usually write 6-8 med supps a week a few pffs and a fair ammount of final. It works for me,but to each his own. That is working 5 days a week some agents work 3-4 in field.

[Frank Stastny]

Originally Posted by salpro22

Do you keep the contact information of the cold-calls you have and/or just the people who you presented information? The reason I ask is because it could be a full-time job logging in every prospect an agent calls and who says "We are on Carefirst." A great idea, just very time consuming.

It's not time consuming at all. I type in the information in the comment box as I am talking to them or enter the information in the appropriate field. I have a permanent record of our conversation and I can bring them up at the click of a button. That is the only way I could have created a list of all the Advantra people I talked to over a three year period.

There is a field in the prospects database for me to enter the name of the insurance company they have their insurance with when I make the initial contact. I can also print a report using any of the information in the drop down list in that field. In other words, for any company.

Every time a company has an increase I print a report showing all the people in my prospects database who have told me they have insurance with that company. When I call them I know they are going to be interested in hearing what I have to say. I don't consider that "cold calling" either. I know before I make the phone call that I have at least a 50, 50 chance of making a sale.

I have said many times that if an agent isn't recycling their leads they are losing out on a lot of business. Which would you rather call, someone who you know nothing about or someone where you know you stand a good chance of making a sale?

That is the only way I was able to sell that much insurance. When I was only calling direct mail leads I too worked my butt off to sell 4 or 5 or 6 policies a week.

Once I developed a computer program I sold a lot more and worked a whole lot less.

Agents who are not using their computers are working way too hard and spending way too much unproductive time.