Very busy today to wrap up the week - which is the way I like it. I had agents sign up for the association so I spent time with them and did two CRM demos.
I ran my appointment and I'm glad I confirmed the address tonight - the address I had was his business address however I was going to his house which was 40 minutes north! So it was an hour and fifteen minutes each way - quite the haul.
However, it's a family of six on a Mega plan paying $800+ per month....worth the drive. The wife would not do it online, she wanted to meet with me. She was pretty bitter - had the "fool me once..." attitude.
Her Mega agent was very slick according to her, made it sound like the best plan in the world. Sos he grilled me. I knew I was in for it when I sat down and she had a table full of Mega paperwork and a calculator. No one would have closed this online - not a shot in hell.
She was all business - barely looked at me. The husband was the opposite - we hit it off and we're going on and on about all kinds of stuff. I actually though the wife was so turned off in general that I wasn't gonna get the deal.
She probably asked a solid 20 minutes of questions. Fine - I nailed it. The entire family is healthy but she's on two meds for HBP - so there's no way they were going to GR. She was already bitching that Mega didn't cover anything.
But I gave it a try - showed her GR and said right upfront that her HBP and any outpatient treatment would not be covered. She simply pushed the brochure away.
Off to Assurant - Max Plan at $585 per month - it'll be approved in a day and I already built in the increase. Nice to close the week out with a $1,700 commish.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
IHIAA
I had my link up to the association I'm starting a few weeks ago and took the link down after enough agents signed up that I could handle initially.
Now that I'm over the hump with most of the major training it's open again for some more members.
So what's this about? There's just too much BS in this industry- basically no place for either new agents or agents moving into selling health to go.
There's no community environment for independent agents and if you have a question, problem, concern or are simply excited about a sale - there's just nothing.
I want to pull independent agents together to create a network. The dues are $19.95 per month and to be honest, for a new agent or anyone who wants a supportive community environment that's chump change.
If you're interested just click the link to the top right and read about it. You can download the forms but don't pay - call me instead. I want to make sure it's a proper fit before any money is remitted.
If anyone has any questions about it just call me - 410-874-7241
Now that I'm over the hump with most of the major training it's open again for some more members.
So what's this about? There's just too much BS in this industry- basically no place for either new agents or agents moving into selling health to go.
There's no community environment for independent agents and if you have a question, problem, concern or are simply excited about a sale - there's just nothing.
I want to pull independent agents together to create a network. The dues are $19.95 per month and to be honest, for a new agent or anyone who wants a supportive community environment that's chump change.
If you're interested just click the link to the top right and read about it. You can download the forms but don't pay - call me instead. I want to make sure it's a proper fit before any money is remitted.
If anyone has any questions about it just call me - 410-874-7241
This is a marketing, not a sales job
Unless you have some massive book of business where you're getting 3 to 5 referrals a week this is a marketing job. It's 80/20 - 80% marketing - 20% selling.
How long does it take to close the average deal (presentation + app) - no longer than an hour. The math is simple - even 5 deals a week is only 5 hours of selling out of 40.
If you're meeting with clients, even doorstep to doorstep is 2 hours per day and only 10 hours out of 40. And if you're qualifying correctly you're not doing a bunch of presentations that don't end in sales.
And now we get back to that over 80% of your week is marketing. That's 6 hours a day that needs to be spent either generating leads or calling leads back.
The reason for the high failure rate isn't because agents can't close deals. It's because they spend so little time marketing they never reach interested and qualified prospects.
If you think this is a sales job then:
You can try to fish with a spear if you want. You'd better be patient and damned good. I'm neither. I'd rather cast a net over the side of the boat, scoop up a ton of fish and throw the ones I don't want back.
At the end of the day I have fish in the fridge - the guy with the spear is still staring at the water.
You need A LOT of prospects - even if your goal is 2 or 3 apps per week. Not many agents are closing better than 1 out of 20 regardless of the lead source. You want three apps? You won't pull it off with less then 60 leads a week.
If you're manually dialing and getting 4 lead an hour that's 15 hours a week on the phone for 3 deals. Here's the problem - when I can you'll get 3 deals out of 20 leads that doesn't mean immediately. 1 may close in a day or two - another might close in a week and the last might close in 3 weeks.
Because of that it gives the new agent the illusion that "this isn't working" and the throw in the towel quickly. Maybe 2...3...possibly 4 days of telemarketing they say "hmmmm, 4 days of this and only 1 deal - it doesn't work."
You need the pipeline - and I can't state with enough aver (hey, that makes me look intelligent!) that you NEED a pipeline of leads before you start putting in consistent deals.
How much in the pipeline? 100. You need to amass 100+ leads before anything will start happening consistently. Most agents pack it up way before 100 leads are generated.
How long does it take to close the average deal (presentation + app) - no longer than an hour. The math is simple - even 5 deals a week is only 5 hours of selling out of 40.
If you're meeting with clients, even doorstep to doorstep is 2 hours per day and only 10 hours out of 40. And if you're qualifying correctly you're not doing a bunch of presentations that don't end in sales.
And now we get back to that over 80% of your week is marketing. That's 6 hours a day that needs to be spent either generating leads or calling leads back.
The reason for the high failure rate isn't because agents can't close deals. It's because they spend so little time marketing they never reach interested and qualified prospects.
If you think this is a sales job then:
- Try to sell someone a plan who has little to no interest. Sales books will teach you how to turn disinterested people into sales - give it a shot
- Try to get someone to commit before they're ready to do that app. Sales books will teach you how to close people quickly. Be my guest.
You can try to fish with a spear if you want. You'd better be patient and damned good. I'm neither. I'd rather cast a net over the side of the boat, scoop up a ton of fish and throw the ones I don't want back.
At the end of the day I have fish in the fridge - the guy with the spear is still staring at the water.
You need A LOT of prospects - even if your goal is 2 or 3 apps per week. Not many agents are closing better than 1 out of 20 regardless of the lead source. You want three apps? You won't pull it off with less then 60 leads a week.
If you're manually dialing and getting 4 lead an hour that's 15 hours a week on the phone for 3 deals. Here's the problem - when I can you'll get 3 deals out of 20 leads that doesn't mean immediately. 1 may close in a day or two - another might close in a week and the last might close in 3 weeks.
Because of that it gives the new agent the illusion that "this isn't working" and the throw in the towel quickly. Maybe 2...3...possibly 4 days of telemarketing they say "hmmmm, 4 days of this and only 1 deal - it doesn't work."
You need the pipeline - and I can't state with enough aver (hey, that makes me look intelligent!) that you NEED a pipeline of leads before you start putting in consistent deals.
How much in the pipeline? 100. You need to amass 100+ leads before anything will start happening consistently. Most agents pack it up way before 100 leads are generated.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Another HSA
Put in another HSA today - with my goal being to make almost all of my business HSAs. The longer I'm in this business they're just the only things I really can stand behind.
Two deals in this week so far with 2 more online appointments and an in-person on Friday - I should hit 5 apps this week.
I got a great quote request though my site today from one of my faxes - husband is diabetic, wife and two kids - on Cobra for $1,100.
His benefit admin told him because of his diabetes he'd have to ride out Cobra for 18 months. Wrong. He's off to MHIP and I'm writing the wife and kids - they're thrilled.
I didn't put in any time on the dialer today - my son's school was canceled so I make call-backs, did the HSA deal and played with my boy - probably only put in a solid 3 hour day today however one of the pleasures of being self-employed is being able to handle curve balls.
Two deals in this week so far with 2 more online appointments and an in-person on Friday - I should hit 5 apps this week.
I got a great quote request though my site today from one of my faxes - husband is diabetic, wife and two kids - on Cobra for $1,100.
His benefit admin told him because of his diabetes he'd have to ride out Cobra for 18 months. Wrong. He's off to MHIP and I'm writing the wife and kids - they're thrilled.
I didn't put in any time on the dialer today - my son's school was canceled so I make call-backs, did the HSA deal and played with my boy - probably only put in a solid 3 hour day today however one of the pleasures of being self-employed is being able to handle curve balls.
Back up your data
Our power went out, apparently around 1am and obviously no computer. Area wide - 17,000 knocked out including my son's school so he's off today. Power company's message was all power restored by late tonight.
As luck would have it we just got power back now - and I was on my way out the door. I have everything stored online - all of my prospect spreadsheets, appointments, documents and obviously I can run quotes online.
If you use a desktop CRM to store all of your client and prospect data you're ass out if the power fails and really ass out if you crash unless you backed up your data.
Now, without anything being online - what if I had an appointment this morning with all my client's info - name, number, address, etc...stored on my desktop? I'm screwed. However, I can pick up my cell and call anyone to access my appointment calendar to get the info I need - then drive over one of my friend's or family's home and get to work - really not skip a beat.
Flash drives are fine but useless if the power's out - you'd have to drive somewhere. They're also useless if they melt in a fire. Pure preservation of client and prospect data is online storage. Everything I update gets stored online before I wrap it up for the day.
I personally use upload all my Excel and Word docs to Google but there's a ton of online storage places - including Zoho. I use the Google calendar for all of my appointments.
As luck would have it we just got power back now - and I was on my way out the door. I have everything stored online - all of my prospect spreadsheets, appointments, documents and obviously I can run quotes online.
If you use a desktop CRM to store all of your client and prospect data you're ass out if the power fails and really ass out if you crash unless you backed up your data.
Now, without anything being online - what if I had an appointment this morning with all my client's info - name, number, address, etc...stored on my desktop? I'm screwed. However, I can pick up my cell and call anyone to access my appointment calendar to get the info I need - then drive over one of my friend's or family's home and get to work - really not skip a beat.
Flash drives are fine but useless if the power's out - you'd have to drive somewhere. They're also useless if they melt in a fire. Pure preservation of client and prospect data is online storage. Everything I update gets stored online before I wrap it up for the day.
I personally use upload all my Excel and Word docs to Google but there's a ton of online storage places - including Zoho. I use the Google calendar for all of my appointments.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Working 9 to 5
Well, one of my 1st legitimate days where I worked the full day. Very satisfying. I hopped on the dialer at 9:15 today since I knew I need time to do my call-backs and get in 3 hours on the dialer.
I got in just over three....had to go that extra 10 minutes to get my 30th lead. I just couldn't leave it at 28 (the report shows 28 but I got 30.)
I did call-backs from yesterday's leads and I'll go over some things:
Another item to note - enthusiasm. You need it. I was doing well on the dialer for just coming up on 2 hours, then my tone started to drop. I was getting a bit burnt and wanted to ride it out until I hit the 2 hour mark.
Interesting to note that when your tone drops so do the leads. Later today I grabbed another cup of coffee (nice psychological boost) and hopped back on to try a little experiment. I called for about 20 minutes with a pretty flat "lifeless" voice and just read the script. Nothing - nodda. No leads. I could physically feel how uncomfortable people were.
Then I got back into a strong, firm but happy voice and started pounding them out again. Lesson? This is nothing were you can just put in your time. You need to be into it and believe in your script. You need to be upbeat and change the tone of your voice to keep interest.
But again, a solid full day today and I'm already seeing that it's gonna take full days to punch out a deal a day. That's fine and I need to create a habit or working all day.
This is not easy - it's hard. If it was easy the average commish wouldn't be $700 - three a week is six figs and we all know how many agents are making six figs.
Here are some unfortunate facts:
I have no problem just busting my ass all day if it results in 5 deals a week. That's a crap load of money. I'm actually very excited.
I got in just over three....had to go that extra 10 minutes to get my 30th lead. I just couldn't leave it at 28 (the report shows 28 but I got 30.)
I did call-backs from yesterday's leads and I'll go over some things:
- 2/3rds of people saying "send it" are secretaries. I generated 30 leads today and 12 from owners. Most owners who answer have group and I simply don't deal with group.
- When I called everyone back from yesterday I came to find it's a waste of time to call the secretaries back. All of them from yesterday just blew me off with "yep, got the fax.....see ya." The same gatekeeper who wouldn't let me pass yesterday obviously are not gonna let me pass today - and a few were a bit miffed I called back today. I won't be calling gatekeepers back anymore.
- I set three firm appointments today from yesterday's leads....but from the owners I knew I already had interest. As I'm making the calls I run into those owners with natural interest. Those are the rare "I'd love to see what you have - please send it. My rate's blah blah..."
Another item to note - enthusiasm. You need it. I was doing well on the dialer for just coming up on 2 hours, then my tone started to drop. I was getting a bit burnt and wanted to ride it out until I hit the 2 hour mark.
Interesting to note that when your tone drops so do the leads. Later today I grabbed another cup of coffee (nice psychological boost) and hopped back on to try a little experiment. I called for about 20 minutes with a pretty flat "lifeless" voice and just read the script. Nothing - nodda. No leads. I could physically feel how uncomfortable people were.
Then I got back into a strong, firm but happy voice and started pounding them out again. Lesson? This is nothing were you can just put in your time. You need to be into it and believe in your script. You need to be upbeat and change the tone of your voice to keep interest.
But again, a solid full day today and I'm already seeing that it's gonna take full days to punch out a deal a day. That's fine and I need to create a habit or working all day.
This is not easy - it's hard. If it was easy the average commish wouldn't be $700 - three a week is six figs and we all know how many agents are making six figs.
Here are some unfortunate facts:
- Most people are not gonna switch no matter what the rate is. They are "security" people and would rather keep their high rate on the plan they trust.
- Most people don't qualify for indie plans. They have either too many health conditions or are undergoing some type of treatment.
- You can't better most people's situations. Although the media falsely reports that there's a health insurance crisis nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is almost everyone is perfectly happy with what they have.
- Someone with current coverage
- Someone who's unhappy enough with their current plan to switch immediately
- Someone who qualifies
I have no problem just busting my ass all day if it results in 5 deals a week. That's a crap load of money. I'm actually very excited.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Amazing day and some thoughts
Well, I'm proud of myself. Just over 4 hours on the dialer with 32 leads generated.
498 dials
249 minutes
31 leads
29 said piss off
118 messages
2 of the 31 leads were call-backs from messages left - which are obviously fantastic leads. One's a slam dunk - husband 57, wife 57 paying $800 on Mega. He literally said "...I got your message. You got anything that can get me off this shit?" My kinda guy.
If I don't have more than one deal out of today's work I'll be stunned. I'm also tracking my time - which was be an eye-opening endeavor. Although we all like to think we work hard, charting your time will prove otherwise.
Even with 4 hours on the dialer plus time faxing and emailing I only came up with 6 hours of work today - 2 hours shy of a full day. Part of my problem was the 9:50 start time - which I'll solve tomorrow.
So now the gloves are off. I have Gary's incredible dialer, I have a very comfortable pitch and now it's about logging in the time. Can I simply log in the time and put a million on the books? It's not "can I" but "will I."
498 dials
249 minutes
31 leads
29 said piss off
118 messages
2 of the 31 leads were call-backs from messages left - which are obviously fantastic leads. One's a slam dunk - husband 57, wife 57 paying $800 on Mega. He literally said "...I got your message. You got anything that can get me off this shit?" My kinda guy.
If I don't have more than one deal out of today's work I'll be stunned. I'm also tracking my time - which was be an eye-opening endeavor. Although we all like to think we work hard, charting your time will prove otherwise.
Even with 4 hours on the dialer plus time faxing and emailing I only came up with 6 hours of work today - 2 hours shy of a full day. Part of my problem was the 9:50 start time - which I'll solve tomorrow.
So now the gloves are off. I have Gary's incredible dialer, I have a very comfortable pitch and now it's about logging in the time. Can I simply log in the time and put a million on the books? It's not "can I" but "will I."
The elusive deal a day and Zoho
Ahhhh, the deal a day. Yes, I've dreamed the dream. A deal a day comes out to 1 mill a year in volume and I personally do not know any agent doing it with personal production. Why? A few reasons:
It's gonna be a lot of time generating leads and a lot of time following up. With my pitch, these are totally unqualified leads and calling back is a lot of "yeah, we got the fax....bye." I really can't worry about any type of closing ratio and simply focus on "X" amount of time spent on the phone = "X" amount of business hitting underwriting.
1st report out tonight.
You should also check out http://zoho.com - they have a lot of free business applications such as a webinar with live desktop sharing, web conferencing and a host of other business tools. As you see, you can embed a presentation or publish it online or share it: http://show.zoho.com/public/healthagent/Telemarketing
- Money: Closing 1 out of 20 leads (pretty much par for the course) at $7 a pop = $700 a week in lead costs. It's a thin list of agents with $700 per week in marketing money. It's also an organizational nightmare to try and deal with 100 shared leads a week.
- Can't generate volume on your own. Without buying leads you'd still need to generate very high volume. Aside from hammering the phones almost all day I can't think if a way to generate a high volume of leads.
- Belief in what you do. Even with the marketing money or the means to generate a ton of leads, without the firm belief that you're really helping your clients you'll never have the drive.
It's gonna be a lot of time generating leads and a lot of time following up. With my pitch, these are totally unqualified leads and calling back is a lot of "yeah, we got the fax....bye." I really can't worry about any type of closing ratio and simply focus on "X" amount of time spent on the phone = "X" amount of business hitting underwriting.
1st report out tonight.
You should also check out http://zoho.com - they have a lot of free business applications such as a webinar with live desktop sharing, web conferencing and a host of other business tools. As you see, you can embed a presentation or publish it online or share it: http://show.zoho.com/public/healthagent/Telemarketing
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