Selling Life Over the Phone : Education

dadkins131 · 10-06-2009, 07:53 PM

I am just getting started selling Life insurance. My Niche is Mortgage Protection. I started with a sample mailer from Mresources/lifeleads.net, which so far hasn't given me a good enough lead to work with, though I do have another appt coming up.

I just ordered a 1500 piece print job at my local printer, and getting ready to send out my own mailer.

In addition, I just signed up with Netquote, for my old hometown zip in NJ, with a 6mi radius which projects about 35 new "premium" life leads a month.

In order to expand my reach and diversify, I decided to give the internet lead line a chance.
I know of all the drawbacks of lead companies, it was the same in the mortgage market, yet I still had great success. (Though my commissions were 4 times higher)

What I need to help me along, is some info and education/strategy for selling life, mainly term, over the phone. I know it is a different animal, and I was hoping someone here could provide, or point me in the right direction to a great, no cheese, selling system or resource to help prime me for (hopeful) success.

Thanks in advance!

souldeux · 10-06-2009, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by dadkins131

I am just getting started selling Life insurance. My Niche is Mortgage Protection. I started with a sample mailer from Mresources/lifeleads.net, which so far hasn't given me a good enough lead to work with, though I do have another appt coming up.

I just ordered a 1500 piece print job at my local printer, and getting ready to send out my own mailer.

In addition, I just signed up with Netquote, for my old hometown zip in NJ, with a 6mi radius which projects about 35 new "premium" life leads a month.

In order to expand my reach and diversify, I decided to give the internet lead line a chance.
I know of all the drawbacks of lead companies, it was the same in the mortgage market, yet I still had great success. (Though my commissions were 4 times higher)

What I need to help me along, is some info and education/strategy for selling life, mainly term, over the phone. I know it is a different animal, and I was hoping someone here could provide, or point me in the right direction to a great, no cheese, selling system or resource to help prime me for (hopeful) success.

Thanks in advance!

When I first got started in this business, I gave internet leads a shot. Before I did, though, I spent all kinds of time reading about leads: how to work them, where to get them, what closing techniques work, etc.

Then I tried a few, and I got demolished. You get on the phone with someone, and no matter what you've read it all goes out the window and you tend to revert to your "natural self" - and it's rare that your "natural self" is a salesman.

What really, really helps is sitting down and roleplaying with someone. I'm a very strong believer in that, because it's what got me off the ground. Get comfortable doing it, and it becomes natural to you - and that makes sales. And it's free to practice with an agent, not $8 - $35 a pop!

Find an agent who has sold term over the phone and who has had success working internet leads, call them up and see if they'd be willing to do this with you. If you're anything like me, you'll get more out of that than you would out of pages of forum posts.

On an unrelated note, my phone number is in my signature and I'm free after five this Wednesday, after three Thursday, and after noon on Friday

geminiman_61 · 10-06-2009, 11:26 PM

Are you saying your niche is mortgage protection because you come from the mortgage industry? Nothing wrong with that but you might want to hook up with an FMO or IMO here and learn various products. There are plenty of good mentors here.

dadkins131 · 10-07-2009, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by geminiman_61

Are you saying your niche is mortgage protection because you come from the mortgage industry? Nothing wrong with that but you might want to hook up with an FMO or IMO here and learn various products. There are plenty of good mentors here.

No, my niche is Mortgage protection because that is what I market with direct mail. I actually signed on with brokers alliance because of this site, the guy who brought me in to this business is a flake, so I needed to get my own contract and this forum helped me do that. I can't say enough good things about BA. On the flip side, I did secure a 110% contract with TransAmerica with the flake, so that helps.

Thanks to everyone above for your insight.

AtlantaLife&Health · 10-07-2009, 06:49 PM

You're going to get burned with mortgage protection if you don't do it correctly. There are a whole bunch of companies and far less new mortgages and refinances each week than there were in the past. So you have all these companies fighting over a small pool of people to mail to. These folks are getting bombarded with mailers. Why should they mail your card back? Who ever gets to the prospect first wins. How are you going to achieve that? How are your mailers being sent out? Are you doing it personally or having a mail house do it? How often do you send the mailers out? What kind of stamp do you use? I might be able to school you on a thing or two and teach you how to be the first one in that seat.

dadkins131 · 10-08-2009, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by AtlantaLife&Health

You're going to get burned with mortgage protection if you don't do it correctly. There are a whole bunch of companies and far less new mortgages and refinances each week than there were in the past. So you have all these companies fighting over a small pool of people to mail to. These folks are getting bombarded with mailers. Why should they mail your card back? Who ever gets to the prospect first wins. How are you going to achieve that? How are your mailers being sent out? Are you doing it personally or having a mail house do it? How often do you send the mailers out? What kind of stamp do you use? I might be able to school you on a thing or two and teach you how to be the first one in that seat.

Well, my first mistake may have been that the list I just bought containing new homeowners looks back 6 months. I, mean, i'd say a over a third of it is september data, but in the future i'd like to send these out at the perfect time, on a weekly basis. PLEASE give me some advice on when to mail, and where to get the buy best data.
In this mailing(my first self made project) I am using pre-cancelled stamps, and literally hand addressing every one of the 1500 envelopes. I am trying to stand out from the pack. We will see if it was worth the effort.