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Forgive me for my naivety....but i hear news that some people sell 20-30 individual health policies a mth...!
Now...i am a beginner...but i was thinking...How ...
My Wife started to sell individual health a while back. She thought the same thing. That old "pipeline" or funnel is the key.
It's slow in the beginning but if you are steady in your marketing it pays off.
I think thats why when we see new people come here and say " I'am financialy straped but will be going into insurance" we wince abit. Having a financial burden and starting in this biz can be very tuff. For some it is a driving force for others a sure path to despair.
Any how take some time and read the many threads here on marketing there are some great posts full of quality info.
Forgive me for my naivety....but i hear news that some people sell 20-30 individual health policies a mth...!
or in a day :-)
You get out what you put in. Think assembly line. I had the good or bad experience of working assembly lines in my blue collar days. A lot of agents think they can put in $200 or $500 and get 100 apps/mo - I can assure you this is not any more possible than the assembly line requiring raw materials for finished products.
The key is growing as your wallet allows you to do so.
If your carriers are requiring physicals or APS more than 1% of the time you are pushing the wrong carrier or do not understand your underwriting guidelines. This is VERY VERY rare in my business to get blood or physical requirements. APS sometimes.
Here is the solution WHEN / IF this happens - sell them a 30,60, 90 day TEMP policy and push the effective date of the long term back - protects them ASAP gives them IMMEDIATE catastrophic coverage while in underwriting.
You get two sales and client gets instant protection.
Wait until you have someone end up in the hospital while in underwriting on a long term and you didn't offer them the short term immediate protection that was available. If I see ANY reason for a potential hold up, I can almost assure you we will pair a short term and long term - unless of course they have group / COBRA, or other coverage in place.
Wait until you have someone end up in the hospital while in underwriting on a long term and you didn't offer them the short term immediate protection that was available
Not sure I would do that . . .
The STM has a definitive term. Once that expires there is no renewal. If they had something bad enough to put them in the hospital while the traditional medical was underwritten it will probably result in a rejection, or, at best, a rider/rate up for that condition.
Most of my applicants are approved in a week or less. The few I have that take longer already have existing coverage and we are just trying to improve their situation.
APS is Attending Physician Statement. Or...Atlanta Phlebitis Syndrome. A rare disease that few people know about. I think Somarco might know more about it!
The STM has a definitive term. Once that expires there is no renewal. If they had something bad enough to put them in the hospital while the traditional medical was underwritten it will probably result in a rejection, or, at best, a rider/rate up for that condition.
It depends on the scenario, some carriers we have do not "lock" in effective dates which makes STM a viable option. However you touch on an important fact that most agents sell STM for all the wrong reasons, that I agree 100%.
Gee, Chumps, I wish you had not brought that up. I still get nightmares over my last bout with APS. It drug on for weeks and I thought it would never be over.
It is not covered by insurance. My last episode cost me close to $3000.
There is no telling when it might come back. Not sure my bank account can take any more.
Now STM (sexually transmitted measles) is another story entirely . . .
Face to face there are some limits what can be done per person - of course multiple persons can do more, etc., etc.
Face to face has 20X the retention of Internet & Phone and a lot better premium so you need to weight that out as well.
The Internet / Phone customer tends to be younger, more transitional, broke, wants cheap plans, and ultimately gets a job at some point.
Plus and minus of both systems I don't preach one or the other, it's all money - whatever works for you best.
Hmm, I'm doing something wrong..... my face to face only has 18x the retention rate.... how do I get it up to 20x???
Your points mirror my experience as well. I don't think I do the volume or have the systems you have, but face to face vs phone has pros and cons, you just have to know what they are, know who your selling to, and do what your comfortable with.
TonyC,
Not everyone on this board does things the same way. Between internet leads ($1500 per month), some coupon books ($500 quarterly) and P&C agency referrals, I do 20-40 individual cases per month and a few small groups on top of that.
It won't be easy to do that in the beginning. You need major product knowledge and need to sound like you know what you're talking about (i.e. product knowledge). TXIns is correct. How much you can invest will directly impact your amount of new cases. Then add in to the mix your talent in terms of underwriting pre-screen, customer service, knowledge of the various carriers etc.
It can be bumpy in the beginning. I woud say that nobody on this board that does at least 15 apps per month has less than 3 years experience in the indiviudal health field.
TX,
Sounds like you have an efficient operation there. How many issued individual cases do you do monthly on average with all carriers combined (not including STM or group)?
The best place to go for education when just starting out is all the carriers you want to write with. Read over their agent guides closely as well as their underwriting manuals. If you know all there is to know about the companies you present, you will make up for your lack of experience to a degree.
Also, try to find an agent that specializes in health in the states you want to write in and offer them a consultant fee for them to tell you some of the pros and cons of the different carriers in that state. I paid one agent on this board $200 for 4 hours of consultation about a state I wanted to start writing in. Well worth it.
...What am i Missing?
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