Selling Med Supps D2D in LA & San Diego?

[Bod]

I have a nightly job that's part-time and pays very well. I'm interested in working extra hours and plan to sell Med Supps. I'm in the opportune position to build a base of clients over time as I don't need to rely on insurance income whatsoever.

My plan is to spend some sizable portion of my day, several days a week, cold door knocking on T65s (or older folks). My theory is that I'll be able to stand out from the mail/calls these people are receiving *in a few instances* by having a few daily productive conversations with the right people.

One of the "benefits" of CA is the huge amount of people, so there is no shortage of people I could see every month. Since SoCal is full of older Spanish speakers who don't speak English, I will suppress standard Spanish last names from the list I knock as I don't speak Spanish.

I don't have to rely on this income, so if I can generate a 1-3 clients per week with this method, I will be happy. Is this realistic or stupid based on what I've told you so far?

I know LA has a high MA penetration rate and that you can't door knock for MA. In fact, I'm staying away from MA altogether (until I learn more) because I have no idea how you're even supposed to generate MA clients to begin with...sounds like everything is off-limits. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by selling the wrong thing in the wrong market, but maybe the sizable population will mitigate this problem? Maybe not?

 

[GreenSky]

San Diego is high MA as well. You'll get burned out really fast going D2D. Plus, most people 64 years old are working so you either need to disturb them at dinnertime or bother them on the weekends.

Rick

 

[Bod]

San Diego is high MA as well. You'll get burned out really fast going D2D. Plus, most people 64 years old are working so you either need to disturb them at dinnertime or bother them on the weekends.

Rick

I know you lived (or sold) in CA at one point. Do you think selling med supps locally in SoCal is doable despite the high MA penetration? I know the penetration is high, but is it so bad that it's not even worth targeting this specific market? The advantage from my naive perspective is the sheer amount of people here...of course many won't be interested.

When I feel burned out, I will take a break and focus on getting business some other way, so I'm not too worried about that since I won't desperately rely on the knocking to sustain myself. I'm more or less worried about the viability of going door-to-door to begin with (in this area).

As for knocking T65 people, I'm not opposed to knocking people older than that. As you know, there are a lot of rich people and a lot of poor people here. I definitely expect most to not be home and some to be home.

 

[Labesky]

I cant imagine that working

But Edward D Jones, with more brokers than any other investment house, starts EVERYONE out doing that same thing. So it must work!

I would NEVER EVER EVER talk to someone about INVESTING that came to my door. Shoveling the walk yes---mutual funds no

But---they have the Edwards Jones dome!

 

[Chazm]

Add to the fact that the average agent probably doesn't even sell 3 apps per week. Plenty do and some sell more, but they work full time.

Door knocking sucks, I did it for one week about 8 years ago and sold 1 app and hated life.

And you're not going to stand out...well maybe you will stand out but most clients I sit down with complain about agents who would knock at their door. It happens often.
The trick agents do is, they leave their car running with the door open. Walk up and knock and tell the prospect that they were just in the area and noticed that they are starting Medicare soon. I'm too busy right this moment but I'm free tomorrow, are you? Great.

It'll work and you'll get some sales but it's a big PITA

 

[FLM2]

I know you lived (or sold) in CA at one point. Do you think selling med supps locally in SoCal is doable despite the high MA penetration? I know the penetration is high, but is it so bad that it's not even worth targeting this specific market? The advantage from my naive perspective is the sheer amount of people here...of course many won't be interested.

When I feel burned out, I will take a break and focus on getting business some other way, so I'm not too worried about that since I won't desperately rely on the knocking to sustain myself. I'm more or less worried about the viability of going door-to-door to begin with (in this area).

As for knocking T65 people, I'm not opposed to knocking people older than that. As you know, there are a lot of rich people and a lot of poor people here. I definitely expect most to not be home and some to be home.

I think you have a better chance of winding up in an ER with gunshot or knife wounds than selling a single Med Supp this way.

 

[yogooglethis]

Add to the fact that the average agent probably doesn't even sell 3 apps per week. Plenty do and some sell more, but they work full time.

Door knocking sucks, I did it for one week about 8 years ago and sold 1 app and hated life.

And you're not going to stand out...well maybe you will stand out but most clients I sit down with complain about agents who would knock at their door. It happens often.
The trick agents do is, they leave their car running with the door open. Walk up and knock and tell the prospect that they were just in the area and noticed that they are starting Medicare soon. I'm too busy right this moment but I'm free tomorrow, are you? Great.

It'll work and you'll get some sales but it's a big PITA

Ha Ha the ole drive -by. Thats what Bankers agents do and also they been known to hide in the bushes and wait for prospect to come home and pop out when prospect rolls in the drive way.Another technique they employ is if they get in the house they dont leave unless the prospect buys or gets pissed off.

 

[GoPokes]

I have a nightly job that's part-time and pays very well. I'm interested in working extra hours and plan to sell Med Supps. I'm in the opportune position to build a base of clients over time as I don't need to rely on insurance income whatsoever.

My plan is to spend some sizable portion of my day, several days a week, cold door knocking on T65s (or older folks). My theory is that I'll be able to stand out from the mail/calls these people are receiving *in a few instances* by having a few daily productive conversations with the right people.

One of the "benefits" of CA is the huge amount of people, so there is no shortage of people I could see every month. Since SoCal is full of older Spanish speakers who don't speak English, I will suppress standard Spanish last names from the list I knock as I don't speak Spanish.

I don't have to rely on this income, so if I can generate a 1-3 clients per week with this method, I will be happy. Is this realistic or stupid based on what I've told you so far?

I know LA has a high MA penetration rate and that you can't door knock for MA. In fact, I'm staying away from MA altogether (until I learn more) because I have no idea how you're even supposed to generate MA clients to begin with...sounds like everything is off-limits. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by selling the wrong thing in the wrong market, but maybe the sizable population will mitigate this problem? Maybe not?

I think you should go for it. Crazy marketing ideas sometimes tend to do very well. I mean, door knocking is a proven system, it has worked for many people. It is a PITA, but it's still a numbers game. Talk to enough people and you will make a sale. Learn the art of conversation and sales psychology and you'll prob make a few more. Get a an app that allows you to put your data list on a map (infofree offers one). You might even try to find a spanish speaking agent to refer business to when you end up on a spanish doorstep. And since you're not doing MA, when you find yourself on a doorstep and they cant afford MS, just talk about FE.

 

[BibH]

Do a 1000 piece mailout for T-65 and door knock all the leads. Supposedly some pieces get 3-4% response rates

 

[Bod]

Do a 1000 piece mailout for T-65 and door knock all the leads. Supposedly some pieces get 3-4% response rates

I hear CA DM response rates are pretty bad for other types of leads, not sure if Medicare supplements suffer the same fate. Do most MS sales pros door knock and sell F2F to their DM leads or do they try to sell them over the phone?

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I think you should go for it. Crazy marketing ideas sometimes tend to do very well. I mean, door knocking is a proven system, it has worked for many people. It is a PITA, but it's still a numbers game. Talk to enough people and you will make a sale. Learn the art of conversation and sales psychology and you'll prob make a few more. Get a an app that allows you to put your data list on a map (infofree offers one). You might even try to find a spanish speaking agent to refer business to when you end up on a spanish doorstep. And since you're not doing MA, when you find yourself on a doorstep and they cant afford MS, just talk about FE.

I like the idea of at least testing this because it would be a very simple way to get in front of people without having a better system in place at the start. Similar to cold calling, but a bit more confrontational/personal. Once the numbers are in after a few weeks, it should be easy to see how much of a waste of time it is or isn't. I've done D2D sales before (never for insurance) and it's definitely not easy, and I can see how it would be interpreted as not a fun activity, but I actually liked the challenging nature of it and the rejection doesn't get to me at all.

Good idea about FE and referring out to a Spanish speaking agent.