It sounds like you are talking about the ICA agent program. Regardless of what the the Agent Manager tells you about how many leads he/she can give you...do not believe it. Expect zero and anything more than that is a plus. The manager does not control how many leads he/she gets. Forget what you learned about AARP Med Sup telesales...because you will not be able to do that as an agent. It's all F2F or mail and UHC does not allow you to generate leads over the phone. No cold calling. It's a whole new ball game from what you've been doing. Certainly not impossible, just different. Consider yourself being on your own when it comes to lead generation. Those Kiosks are a big time wasters. Been there done that.
Am I Stuck In Telesales?
- Thread starter chainedtotelesales
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It sounds like you are talking about the ICA agent program. Regardless of what the the Agent Manager tells you about how many leads he/she can give you...do not believe it. Expect zero and anything more than that is a plus. The manager does not control how many leads he/she gets. Forget what you learned about AARP Med Sup telesales...because you will not be able to do that as an agent. It's all F2F or mail and UHC does not allow you to generate leads over the phone. No cold calling. It's a whole new ball game from what you've been doing. Certainly not impossible, just different. Consider yourself being on your own when it comes to lead generation. Those Kiosks are a big time wasters. Been there done that.
It may be better to ask someone who is newer in the business. I work off referrals only so I don't do any marketing. But back when I was marketing I purchased internet leads and did some direct mail. Fortunately I had already been in the insurance business for quite some time and had steady renewals and trails coming in so I wasn't dependent on the Medicare business to pay my bills.
One thing is for certain, anyone starting out will either have to spend money on leads or do A LOT of cold calling to generate leads. The amount of income you say you need is doable in the first year. However, you'll need to spend some of it on acquiring leads. Those who track their acquisition costs can tell you what to expect. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the $100-$150 range. Maybe others can provide their numbers. Keep in mind, it would be THEIR numbers and that doesn't mean you would have the same results. The good news is you are familiar with the product and understand the sales process. In that regard you are ahead of a new agent starting out.
Just go in with your eyes open as to what it will take to reach your desired income level.
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- #13
chainedtotelesales
New Member
- 16
Thank you everyone for your comments! I really appreciate the guidance. I met with NYL and what they have to say is intriguing but it is also not my specialty and it would require me to learn a new 'field'. I'm not against that at all but with medicare I already KNOW this. I'm GOOD at this. I just can't see starting a new field of sales and have to start out running from day one on a commission basis. Sure they give you a training allowance subsidy (80% of your FYC salCs each month-which is on top of your earned commissions of 55% of FYI) but I just don't think it would be a smart move for me.
The person I interviewed with was checking to see if I could sell the UHC medicare plans AND their plans. He said if it could be done he thinks the commission on things I wrote with NYL would only be 30%
From the research I've been doing, am I correct is saying that if I were to go indy the next best step for me would be to find a good IMO? I don't need the training...well not for medicare but I would like to learn/sell life and FE eventually.
The person I interviewed with was checking to see if I could sell the UHC medicare plans AND their plans. He said if it could be done he thinks the commission on things I wrote with NYL would only be 30%
From the research I've been doing, am I correct is saying that if I were to go indy the next best step for me would be to find a good IMO? I don't need the training...well not for medicare but I would like to learn/sell life and FE eventually.
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The best advise I can give to you, if you go out on your own, stick with UHC/AARP ALONE for at least the first year, you know them inside and out, and there brand recognition will only help you make more sales. It is very easy to want to have a tool box full of companies, but you will do better staying in your lane to start with, not to mention the millions of dollars they spend on marketing, that again makes your job so much easier. This is how I started 14 years ago, and if I had to do all over, I would hitch my wagon to a big brand all over again to start with. And do not make a move based on a good FMO that has a "lead program", you will most likely get burned, I would strongly advise you to figure out your lead system before you do anything, that's what this business and most businesses are about first, LEADS! Their are a hundred medicare companies to sell for, but without leads your dead in the water.
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Appreciate any further advice/elaboration on Leads.
DeadSlash
Expert
- 42
Haven't read all the responses, sorry if it has been mentioned: the issue here is that they have you selling them for an hourly rate, why would they allow you to get a commission that is worth a days pay for a single sale? Also, the suspicion/fear would be that you would steer phone leads to your personal sales. Right or wrong that is the logic.
Not sure if I'm supposed to say the companies name (This may be super common for all I know but it was the only one of 3 major carries I did some consulting work for that had this) but I did training with a major carrier that had transitioned into paying hourly/salary to in house agents, but still had a small department of about 8 or so left over that worked in a call center, AND got commission. It was mind blowing how much money they were making. They mostly drove cars I would put on the level of a small house value wise.
For anyone selling outside, imagine getting your commission with a national ad campaign feeding you people calling in to buy a plan? Not sure if it's TRUE, but I was told in confidence that that small number of people made 1/3 of what they paid our center. We employed 190 hourly FT agents!
I'm captive telesales with Humana - we get an hourly wage/base and commissions. They also prioritize who gets inbound calls based on production so if you're good you get more calls and thusly get paid more. Fairly healthy income last year, and this year should be better.
Tempted to go career field for the residuals since that is what us in the call center are lacking, but we're not super competative in WI though so I'd have to travel a bit and/or do telesales which wouldn't be a whole lot different than what I'm doing now. I dunno, decisions decisions lol
Tempted to go career field for the residuals since that is what us in the call center are lacking, but we're not super competative in WI though so I'd have to travel a bit and/or do telesales which wouldn't be a whole lot different than what I'm doing now. I dunno, decisions decisions lol
Devin01
Guru
- 430
Why make some one else money, anybody here on the forum can contract you and help you with lead gen on the phone and get you out of your shackles.
To be honest that's my delemia. I'm damn good at what I do and should be making more.
Single dad though so not a lot of room for error, paycut or benefits reduction. Trying to work within my constraints and advance myself is difficult.
Like I said though, current compensation is above average so it is hard to complain lol
Single dad though so not a lot of room for error, paycut or benefits reduction. Trying to work within my constraints and advance myself is difficult.
Like I said though, current compensation is above average so it is hard to complain lol
Many captive agents say this. You're damn good at captive sales which is awesome. Throw in marketing, lead gen, everything to do with self-employment, getting leads...getting more leads....
One quickly realizes that "selling" is the easy part in this business.
Should you be making more? If you put up all the risk, then yes you should.
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