Thursday, September 20, 2007
Well, I guessed right
Woke up this morning, punched into my Adwords and they disabled all of my keywords saying I either have to improve the "quality" - meaning I had to add "health insurance" to my keywords or bump my bid to $5 per click. No dice. I don't want to generate internet leads.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The question...
So where do you put a 55 year old husband, HBP on Norvacs, 55 year old wife 5.6 180 pounds HBP on Lotrel and Benicar - hospitalized for a week with a urinary tract infection in 2003, currently has Mega, doesn't want anything excluded, owns a construction biz and horse farm and has money all over the place and wants everyone covered while being under $400 a month?
You guessed it.
Interesting deal. She was happy to be under $1,000 yesterday until I sent her the Assurant alt. quote chart that listed all the rates. Then she wanted the $10,000 deductible. I thought that was kinda high and she comes back with "listen, we could pay a $20,000 or even $50,000 bill without a problem. We just want cataclysmic coverage but we also want all of our current conditions covered." Done. Very savvy lady - knows the deductible really doesn't matter, only what the plan actually covers.
Interesting to note that I brought up how she had a GR plan in the past; 180 pounds, 2 HBP meds, UTI hospitalization? She told me her "agent" (have to use the term loosely) told her he'd "help her out" and listed her weight at 150, and only noted 1 HBP med. What a guy!
Google busted me
Ok, I got caught. A few posts down you'll see I ran local town searches on Google and noticed hardly anyone advertised so I figured I'd get some free or cheap exposure - bid 10 cents a click just to get my ad placed. Well, give it to Google to be just a tad smarter than me:-)
Two days ago they made my keywords inactive and made me bump most to 50 cent minimum bids. Then tragedy - I started getting some clicks and leads. I actually got 5 leads yesterday and Google only charged me 36 cents per click. Well...they certainly weren't gonna let me get away with that.
Obviously their mega super-brain computer realized I'm advertising for health insurance. For that one keyword I got just a few clicks, (I have 30 different keyword searches) made it inactive and now want $5.00 per click! Basically, they charged me 36 cents per click for people clicking to get health quotes when their system knows they're getting $5.00+ per click from people advertising health insurance.
I emailed them yesterday and actually get a pretty prompt response; they want what I'm selling to be part of my keywords - ie; I need to put "health insurance" in my keywords. Oddly they've only targeted just that one city search and the rest of my campaign is fine.....for now. I'm guessing that within a few days Google will be demanding $5.00 per click for all of them, which is the going rate for "health insurance" keyword search. Oh well, I tried to be sneaky.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
What a nightmare
I just got a fantastic referal - lady owns a horse farm about 2 hours from me - wouldn't matter since the 1st words out of her mouth, even though I was referred, was "I don't want anyone coming over."
Ok, she's 55, husband 55 and son 23 but a college student. Wife w/HBP, husband w/HBP, daughter with allergies. Not really a biggie and they want to be under $1,000 a month. Wow, nice dealing with people who have money.
What do they have now? You guessed it - Mega Life. Obviously we don't need to talk about what happened there. Then she says "And absolutely no Golden Rule!" What happened there? An agent sold her a plan, everything was ridered and she claims she knew nothing about it. Meds for her, her husband and daughter, doctor visits, testing - denied. She fliped out saying agent never said anything about riders. GR told her to look in her policy - there they were.
Before that? Aetna nightmare. She had them for a few months - same story - no coverage for anything pre-ex and Aetna said she didn't have prior coverage that qualied since they had a break in previous coverage. This lady can't win - and can't find an agent to simply tell her the truth; GR rates are great - no pre-ex will be covered, Mega sucks, Aetna is horribly expensive and no pre-ex covered for 12 months.
And you guessed it - off to an Assurant HSA. Well under their price range and all meds, doctor visits and treatment of any pre-ex condition will count towards the deductible and more importantly, be re-priced. Nice deal.
For what it's worth we covered the rate difference between GR and Assurant's HSAs. What you'll find it people who aren't dead broke don't care - they want coverage for pre-ex conditons. GR was coming in over $200 a month cheaper. Her words, verbatim "I couldn't care less. I want everything covered."
Ok, she's 55, husband 55 and son 23 but a college student. Wife w/HBP, husband w/HBP, daughter with allergies. Not really a biggie and they want to be under $1,000 a month. Wow, nice dealing with people who have money.
What do they have now? You guessed it - Mega Life. Obviously we don't need to talk about what happened there. Then she says "And absolutely no Golden Rule!" What happened there? An agent sold her a plan, everything was ridered and she claims she knew nothing about it. Meds for her, her husband and daughter, doctor visits, testing - denied. She fliped out saying agent never said anything about riders. GR told her to look in her policy - there they were.
Before that? Aetna nightmare. She had them for a few months - same story - no coverage for anything pre-ex and Aetna said she didn't have prior coverage that qualied since they had a break in previous coverage. This lady can't win - and can't find an agent to simply tell her the truth; GR rates are great - no pre-ex will be covered, Mega sucks, Aetna is horribly expensive and no pre-ex covered for 12 months.
And you guessed it - off to an Assurant HSA. Well under their price range and all meds, doctor visits and treatment of any pre-ex condition will count towards the deductible and more importantly, be re-priced. Nice deal.
For what it's worth we covered the rate difference between GR and Assurant's HSAs. What you'll find it people who aren't dead broke don't care - they want coverage for pre-ex conditons. GR was coming in over $200 a month cheaper. Her words, verbatim "I couldn't care less. I want everything covered."
Know all the options in your state
This is not all about commissions. Yes, I obviously want to make money like everyone else but what keeps me in this line of business is being able to help other people. If you're a new agent you should be doing meticulous research on everything that's available to your prospects. Here are MD examples:
MCHIP: http://www.dhr.state.md.us/how/medical/mchip.htm
Free health care for children under 19 and all pregnant women who fall into certain income guidelines. I get those leads - female 32 with two kids but instead of recommending a family of three plan, I see if she qualifies for MCHIP. If so, her kids get free healthcare and maybe she only needs a plan for herself.
Pharmacy Assistance: http://www.dhr.state.md.us/how/medical/mpap.htm
Provides free or discounted medication to people who make too much money to qualify for state assistance.
County health department: http://www.aahealth.org/index.asp
Free health screenings, free shots/immunizations for children and "one stop shopping" to see if you qualify to any type of assistance program.
Local hospital: http://www.aahs.org/
Offers a myriad of free screenings; blood pressure, prostate, breast exams, etc... on top of a ton of free programs and educational classes. It's also the place to contact if you don't have any insurance, don't qualify to any type of assistance but need some type of testing or even surgery. Most people don't know that in many cases you can negotiate the cost of some services and the hospital will absolutely let you know about any program available to help offset the medical costs.
State health department: http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/
The "one stop shopping" website for every program known to man for health in Maryland.
This is the kind of information I like to provide my clients who are lower income. One of the questions most agents don't ask their prospects is "what's your family income?" I do indeed prep that question by letting them know they are under no obligation to tell me how much they make, but most times I can guess and say "by the way, since you're 28 years old with two kids if you make under "X" amount per year you could qualify for A, B, and C programs.
MCHIP: http://www.dhr.state.md.us/how/medical/mchip.htm
Free health care for children under 19 and all pregnant women who fall into certain income guidelines. I get those leads - female 32 with two kids but instead of recommending a family of three plan, I see if she qualifies for MCHIP. If so, her kids get free healthcare and maybe she only needs a plan for herself.
Pharmacy Assistance: http://www.dhr.state.md.us/how/medical/mpap.htm
Provides free or discounted medication to people who make too much money to qualify for state assistance.
County health department: http://www.aahealth.org/index.asp
Free health screenings, free shots/immunizations for children and "one stop shopping" to see if you qualify to any type of assistance program.
Local hospital: http://www.aahs.org/
Offers a myriad of free screenings; blood pressure, prostate, breast exams, etc... on top of a ton of free programs and educational classes. It's also the place to contact if you don't have any insurance, don't qualify to any type of assistance but need some type of testing or even surgery. Most people don't know that in many cases you can negotiate the cost of some services and the hospital will absolutely let you know about any program available to help offset the medical costs.
State health department: http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/
The "one stop shopping" website for every program known to man for health in Maryland.
This is the kind of information I like to provide my clients who are lower income. One of the questions most agents don't ask their prospects is "what's your family income?" I do indeed prep that question by letting them know they are under no obligation to tell me how much they make, but most times I can guess and say "by the way, since you're 28 years old with two kids if you make under "X" amount per year you could qualify for A, B, and C programs.
Monday, September 17, 2007
You emailed - I respond
I get a fair amount of emails from this blog which I appreciate and most have a common question. Here are my answers:
You could just continue telemarketing without all this added effort
Not really. I'm meeting with my clients and I'm not gonna drive hours. With the available number of prospects within a reasonable driving distance I have 3 or 4 months of calls before the list is burnt. I'm also moving away from marketing tactics that most people simply hate. Internet lead leads hate getting called by 4 agents and most small biz owners hate getting telemarketed. To be an asset to the community people need to seek out my services.
You're going through all this effort then you'll go under when universal healthcare happens
I don't run my business on what might or might not happen years from now. Worst case scenario? Elections in '08, new prez in '09, at least a full year to draft legislation and two more years to implement. Nothing's happening for at least five years. Doubtful it'll be single-payor system anyway. More likely it'll use private insurance companies and mirror what Mass. has implemented.
All you sell is Assurant
I wrote two Assurant, one Coventry, one Aetna and one Blue Cross last week. All I talk about is Assurant since they're exciting to me. Nothing exciting about writing Blue Cross and getting $17.50 five months from now. Doesn't mean I don't sell 'em. I have a deal going today and it's Aetna. Nothing too exciting about 15% and I see my 1st commish in 3 months. I've also written 4 state plans in the past 3 weeks for $100 flat per app. Most agents don't spend 5 seconds on state plan clients.
I like your idea, but it won't work
You mean you've tried a complete local focus with sponsorships, ads through several media outlets, member of the chamber of commerce, booking table/booth space at all local events and basically getting your business name everywhere and it didn't work? Or you have never tried something like that and are guessing.
More than likely you, like me, ran one or two ads - they didn't pull well and you said "this doesn't work." Or you joined one network group like BNI and got the occasional deal and said "well this doesn't work either." For my plan to work it needs a combination of everything. A very good friend of mine got sponsored to join the rotary club. That's it - just joined that club at $110 a month. He has yet to gain a single client.
My local State Farm agent is in all local publications. He's also a chamber member, a member of my local community group and he has billboard on the major drag. I'm sure he does much more marketing. I would guess that's co-op money he splits with State Farm but again, I've run the numbers and they work out.
You could just continue telemarketing without all this added effort
Not really. I'm meeting with my clients and I'm not gonna drive hours. With the available number of prospects within a reasonable driving distance I have 3 or 4 months of calls before the list is burnt. I'm also moving away from marketing tactics that most people simply hate. Internet lead leads hate getting called by 4 agents and most small biz owners hate getting telemarketed. To be an asset to the community people need to seek out my services.
You're going through all this effort then you'll go under when universal healthcare happens
I don't run my business on what might or might not happen years from now. Worst case scenario? Elections in '08, new prez in '09, at least a full year to draft legislation and two more years to implement. Nothing's happening for at least five years. Doubtful it'll be single-payor system anyway. More likely it'll use private insurance companies and mirror what Mass. has implemented.
All you sell is Assurant
I wrote two Assurant, one Coventry, one Aetna and one Blue Cross last week. All I talk about is Assurant since they're exciting to me. Nothing exciting about writing Blue Cross and getting $17.50 five months from now. Doesn't mean I don't sell 'em. I have a deal going today and it's Aetna. Nothing too exciting about 15% and I see my 1st commish in 3 months. I've also written 4 state plans in the past 3 weeks for $100 flat per app. Most agents don't spend 5 seconds on state plan clients.
I like your idea, but it won't work
You mean you've tried a complete local focus with sponsorships, ads through several media outlets, member of the chamber of commerce, booking table/booth space at all local events and basically getting your business name everywhere and it didn't work? Or you have never tried something like that and are guessing.
More than likely you, like me, ran one or two ads - they didn't pull well and you said "this doesn't work." Or you joined one network group like BNI and got the occasional deal and said "well this doesn't work either." For my plan to work it needs a combination of everything. A very good friend of mine got sponsored to join the rotary club. That's it - just joined that club at $110 a month. He has yet to gain a single client.
My local State Farm agent is in all local publications. He's also a chamber member, a member of my local community group and he has billboard on the major drag. I'm sure he does much more marketing. I would guess that's co-op money he splits with State Farm but again, I've run the numbers and they work out.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
I'm seeing the light
I'm very impressed with the direction this is going. I put in 5 deals last week with no cold-calling at all. Not only that but I have 6 appointments already set up for this week, four of which are from my community business group.
In the past I've avoided business groups and community activity because I didn't want to be "that guy." We all know "that guy" - he's the one you can't hold a conversation with without being pitched. He's a follower of the "three foot rule" which means anyone within three feet of you gets pitched. If you're in the grocery line "that guy" is gonna strike up some lame conversation then whip out his business card. I hate that guy.
But I don't have to turn into that wad. Business networking groups are just that and it's expected. I can be at community events and still not have to turn to the lady behind me in the grocery store and say "some weather, huh!" Case in point was my son's B-day party yesterday. Several parents came with their kids and decided to say. For over 2 hours we all talked and you couldn't have paid me to mention I sell health insurance. Basically, learn to turn it off. Now, there are people who would say I missed potential opportunity by not handing out my cards to the parents at my son's party. They are dildos and people will hate to be around you if you turn into one of those losers.
Instead - how 'bout this; how 'bout being so well known in the area that the lady in line behind you says "aren't you the guy who does health insurance? Can I have a card?" Now - that's what I'm talking about.
My goal (as pictured) next year is a store-front retail location. I've run the numbers and it works out. I mean, common...I did 5 deals last week, will absolutely do 5 this week, have spent a grand total of $70 so far ($25 on banner ads, $5 for Adwords and $35 to join my local chamber) and it's a deal a day. I haven't even attended my 1st chamber event - that's next week. I also haven't done a single community event yet.
The truth is simple; health insurance is an extremely high-demand insurance product but most people simply stick with what they have because they don't know who to contact. Most business owners wouldn't be caught dead typing in their personal info into a website, which is why I'm not concentrating on generating internet leads. My banner ad and Adwords campaign are merely out there for exposure. I really could care less if some 22 year old clicks my banner - I just want people to get used to seeing my name.
I think the market potential is huge. And I'm not talking about 10 or 15 deals a week "huge." I'm talking about over 100 deals a week and needing to hire agents on salary+ to handle the business.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Using AdWords for exposure
First of all, did a nice Coventry app. I actually did it a few days ago but I just got it faxed back today. This was a referral, lady who wanted all copays - couldn't grasp deductibles (I tried my best) and with Coventry in MD almost everything is a copay and she can get an affordable rate with a low deductible. Coventry doesn't have online apps in MD yet.
Now....AdWords - tried it about two years ago - lacking results as a lead generation tool. Very expensive now to get 1st page ranking - over $4 a click and too much junk. That being said I did indeed make a profit off the campaign. You'll think you're getting exclusive leads but what you'll see is many people hit multiple sites. Also, unlike internet leads which can be returned for credit, you not only pay every time someone clicks your site, but all the quotes with no phone, no email or uninsurable.
This is something different. When I type in the names of local towns there's almost no ads. That's because people who advertise use the product's keyword - like "smithville maryland furniture." It's pretty expensive per click to run those targeted ads. You can try to plug in 10 cents but your account won't go active.
However, not hardly anyone's advertising just using "smithville maryland" keywords since it doesn't generate targeted traffic for their product. But I'm after the exposure. So now for 10 cents a click I'm on my town and all surrounding town's searches. This is exposure, not lead generation! If you want a little exposure in your locality just Google your city/town and see how many ads are on the page. In my town and surrounding towns it's zero to 2 ads. Because of that Google basically is taking what they can get, meaning it's very cheap.
All this will be is people searching their home towns and simply seeing my business name. I could care less if they click. If they don't I have free exposure - $5 to activate an AdWords account. If they click they click - at 10 cents per click I'm golden.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Banner's up and missed opportunity
My banner's up! I did a search for my local towns and turns out one company owns "localtown"maryland.com." I actually went to this site when I first moved here and Google searched it. Now you can't be better bang for the buck than this - $25 flat per month and I'm listed in every single city and town in PG county: http://www.glenndalemaryland.com/local-businesses/metro-lookup.html?Statevar=MD&MetroCountyvar=Prince+Georges&mcpick=County&includesubs=on I'm in the "local" section.
This kills PPC (pay-per-click) since you have to worry about competitor abuse - despite Google saying they have click fraud under control. Yeah....right. This can be clicked 1,000 times or none - $25 per month, over 50 different local cities and towns. It's just great exposure and one leg of advertising. Also goes to show just how cheap this can be. Again, this is more about building name recogintion then thinking my phone's gonna ring from these banners.
Also a missed opportunity. We have the Coffee News: http://coffeenewsbowie.com/ - which is just one large double-sided page with local events and happenings and it's put out free in a ton of businesses. I've seen it a hundred times and thought "I should stick an ad in there." Well, I called today and as you can see, my competitor certainly didn't wait. I called and they have a "no competitor" rule so I have to wait until they choose to stop advertising. (the circled ad says "Afforable Health Insurance" and they're independent. )
Business breakfast
I had my community business network breakfast this morning - this wasn't the chamber of commerce - that breakfast is the 27th. I live in a very large community and they have their own group.
I was very pleasantly surprised. It was nothing I feared it would be. Everyone was just fantastic. We had nine people show and all of them ran home-based businesses; lady who made wedding and b-day cakes, photographer/videographer, dog walking/sitting service, personal training coach, etc...The highlight was the lady who ran a pole dancing business. That's right, she books a party at your house - girls only - brings a pole and they have a "girl's night out" pole party. Now....that alone was worth it to show up:-)
Basically, everyone shot the shit. We all have kids and we mainly talked about schools, sports and our kids. Very low-key, very relaxed, very fun. Everyone got 5 minutes to talk about their business. I was second to last and after I talked about what I did it was a 30 minute conversation. I now have 4 appointments from the nine who showed up. Not bad. I also booked the photographer since the last family portrait we had done was when my son was 4 - he's 6 now. Oh, and a real estate agent was there an announced that she desperately needed some part-time home-based admin help. So now her and my wife are talking - looks like a done deal. All nine of them told me I should run a seminar at the community center. I'll call today to see how I'd set that up.
Gets better. The chairman of the Piney Orchard (my community) HOA was there and talked about the monthly newsletter for all 2,500 residents and the lack of ads. What ads? We didn't know we could put ads in the newsletter! Yep....a whopping $20 gets an ad in monthly community newsletter. That's a done deal. See...this is the kind of stuff I just would never know about unless I got active. Plus, what else am I doing at 7:30am anyway? I'm up at 6am every day so it's no skin off my nose.
In other news, I got a lovely email today from the HOA of Piney Orchard Millersville - about 15 minutes from me. I put up doorhangers about a month ago and now that's all banned. It most certainly wasn't banned when I put them out and I just got off the phone with them. Everyone's fine and despite what the letter said, no specific complaints were directed at me and I do NOT put flyers on mailboxes! They knew that. However, from now on, as the letter states, no more anything on doors or a nice little fine will occur. Not a problem at all. It's not just me - no pizza menus, Chinese food menus, or anything on the door at all.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Why don't we advertise?
I don't know of a single independent agent who advertises. I know a few (very few) financially successful agents who either buy shared leads or telemarketed leads. That being said, I'm sure there are many independent agents out there who are advertising. Why don't we hear from them? Probably because they're actually busy.
I've done some ads and local stuff in the past; ran a small ad for $250 in a regional paper - got about 6 calls and closed a deal. I didn't run the ad again. Why? I made around $500 off that deal and netted $250. I not only should have renewed, I should have placed it in three more papers. Over time that ad would have pulled more and more. Our problem? We are looking for immediate return.
I did a health fair in 2004 - ran about 4 hours and got around 5 deals from it. The table cost $150 and I made around $4,000 off it - but I got those deals over the course of the next six weeks so psychologically it didn't appear as if it was successful. I'd say $150 returning $4,000 is successful. But at the time my focus was on tomorrow; get me leads today that will result in deals tomorrow. Basically, a short-sighted marketing plan. Here are things I've been heavily researching:
Advertising
*Local ads are cheap. Stay local. Regional and states ads are very expensive and your ad gets lost with the other 100 ads and has no impact.
*Advertise on all your local websites. Search "your town" on Google and chances are your town or city has pages you can put links or ads. In my area they are very cheap. On top of getting some leads you're building name recognition.
*Look for advertising opportunities in local businesses. Local restaurants might have ad space, in my area you can advertise on shopping carts, etc...
What you're looking for is the "compounding" factor. It's not that one ad in the local paper, it's not the ad on the shopping cart or the ad on your community website - it's finally people putting it together: "Oh...so this is where I go for health insurance." Or you're talking with a prospect and they say "Oh! I just saw your ad!"
The irony is you can do all this for less than a lot of agents spend on leads. I know agents spending $500 a week on leads. That same money could go extremely far in your locality.
I think what it all comes down to is fear. Fear that you'll have ads everywhere and no calls, no business. What you're failing to realize is health insurance is a huge concern. And article I read last year said health insurance is one of the top three concerns among small business owners.
Issues with turning prospects into clients are mainly trust and legitimacy. Once those two issues are solved I personally believe business will explode. You solve both by having a strong community presence backed up by a good ad campaign. Word spreads by servicing your clients well. You think you're getting referrals from someone you pressured? You think they want their friends and family to go through that?
The only people who will refer you are people who "buy" from you, not people you "sold." This is why I think referrals in this biz are very lacking. They are nowhere near the levels they should be. Agents in this biz after 5 years should be able to live just off referrals. They obviously don't because they must "sell" their clients. Prospects didn't seek them out - they were hunted down. The problem? Most agents must sell their prospects to make a living because they are not in contact with enough people who simply want to buy.
I've done some ads and local stuff in the past; ran a small ad for $250 in a regional paper - got about 6 calls and closed a deal. I didn't run the ad again. Why? I made around $500 off that deal and netted $250. I not only should have renewed, I should have placed it in three more papers. Over time that ad would have pulled more and more. Our problem? We are looking for immediate return.
I did a health fair in 2004 - ran about 4 hours and got around 5 deals from it. The table cost $150 and I made around $4,000 off it - but I got those deals over the course of the next six weeks so psychologically it didn't appear as if it was successful. I'd say $150 returning $4,000 is successful. But at the time my focus was on tomorrow; get me leads today that will result in deals tomorrow. Basically, a short-sighted marketing plan. Here are things I've been heavily researching:
Advertising
*Local ads are cheap. Stay local. Regional and states ads are very expensive and your ad gets lost with the other 100 ads and has no impact.
*Advertise on all your local websites. Search "your town" on Google and chances are your town or city has pages you can put links or ads. In my area they are very cheap. On top of getting some leads you're building name recognition.
*Look for advertising opportunities in local businesses. Local restaurants might have ad space, in my area you can advertise on shopping carts, etc...
What you're looking for is the "compounding" factor. It's not that one ad in the local paper, it's not the ad on the shopping cart or the ad on your community website - it's finally people putting it together: "Oh...so this is where I go for health insurance." Or you're talking with a prospect and they say "Oh! I just saw your ad!"
The irony is you can do all this for less than a lot of agents spend on leads. I know agents spending $500 a week on leads. That same money could go extremely far in your locality.
I think what it all comes down to is fear. Fear that you'll have ads everywhere and no calls, no business. What you're failing to realize is health insurance is a huge concern. And article I read last year said health insurance is one of the top three concerns among small business owners.
Issues with turning prospects into clients are mainly trust and legitimacy. Once those two issues are solved I personally believe business will explode. You solve both by having a strong community presence backed up by a good ad campaign. Word spreads by servicing your clients well. You think you're getting referrals from someone you pressured? You think they want their friends and family to go through that?
The only people who will refer you are people who "buy" from you, not people you "sold." This is why I think referrals in this biz are very lacking. They are nowhere near the levels they should be. Agents in this biz after 5 years should be able to live just off referrals. They obviously don't because they must "sell" their clients. Prospects didn't seek them out - they were hunted down. The problem? Most agents must sell their prospects to make a living because they are not in contact with enough people who simply want to buy.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Assurant is insane
Got back from my appointment a little bit ago - very smooth. She owns a home-based child care business and we had a great meeting. She signed up and it already instantly approved. I'm also stunned that the deal I put in this morning is already approved! That was technically a standard issue since the surgery that corrected the endometriosis was just over three years ago (which is standard according to the guidelines) and hypothyroidism which is standard.
So we have a nice busy day, ran two closed two, both business owners and $6,540 in AV for $1,635 in commish today.
Could I have just done this all in my office? Maybe....maybe not. The point is this: Would you work a nice solid day, meet with your clients with none of them being over a 20 minute drive for $1,635? I would. I'm done today - been done for over an hour, wife is downstairs making dinner and tonight's spent with my family. No phone calls, no following up, no emails, no nothing. Call people, set an appointments, go meet 'em.
Anyone reading along, this is just my system. You can do what you like and if it ain't broke don't fix it. For newer agents or for agents who who are trying to make this work for them:
*Only work exclusive leads. Generate them B to B, flyers, telemarketing, community involvement, trade shows, fairs.
*See all of your clients
If you do those two things you'll have a very nice life. If you try to to figure out a lazier way to make it work then:
*You'll spend your days chasing down people who don't want to talk to you.
*You'll constantly be defending yourself and have to warn clients about competitors
*Years from now you'll be at your computer waiting for your next batch of leads to come in.....that is, if they're still affordable or if that one "good" source you're using doesn't go under
*You won't be signing up business owners
Busy, and love'n it
Almost 4 years into this biz and I was definitely in a rut. I simply work best when I'm extremely busy - kinda the "objects in motion..." thing. I also do poorly when I find myself bored. And let's face it - are any of us gonna do marketing tasks we simply don't enjoy? I'll telemarket if I have do, but it's nothing I looking forward to. Is it effective? Sure. Same with internet leads - they're also effective. I always wrote business off leads but again, not a task I really enjoyed.
I'm not a fan of hunting people down who don't want to hear from me. I'm less of a fan of talking to prospects who aren't business owners. That doesn't mean all of my clients will be owners. But if you're not, then you can pick up the phone and call me. I'm not hunting you down. On a scale of 1 to 10 my patience is -2 for people who really don't want to use my services.
But now that I've shifted gears I find myself getting very busy and my attitude has picked up significantly. I met with and signed up the owners of the auto repair place this morning. I had that meeting last week but they rescheduled. Because I went there I was introduced to two of their employees who also want coverage. Also, not a shot in the world I'd have signed them up online. Husband 50, wife 47, both smoke, wife on a med, recent surgery and recovered endometriosis. We went over plans for 30 minutes. Now I'm outta here around 3:30 today to sign up the owner of a day care.
I know the local focus will work however that assumes you have a very large community. I'm not sure what I'm doing could be pulled off in "small town" America - maybe. I'm between Baltimore and Wash DC and the business community is simply huge.
The title of is is branding an agency starting with $200. I have yet to spend that. I had some marketers and only one logged in any real amount of hours - not $200 worth. Aside from that I've been telemarketing and quite honestly, working on old leads. These were people I tried to sign up online who I'm now scheduling meetings with. That will pull me through nicely on top of referrals and chamber of commerce events until I get into advertising and renting space at local events.
I'm not a fan of hunting people down who don't want to hear from me. I'm less of a fan of talking to prospects who aren't business owners. That doesn't mean all of my clients will be owners. But if you're not, then you can pick up the phone and call me. I'm not hunting you down. On a scale of 1 to 10 my patience is -2 for people who really don't want to use my services.
But now that I've shifted gears I find myself getting very busy and my attitude has picked up significantly. I met with and signed up the owners of the auto repair place this morning. I had that meeting last week but they rescheduled. Because I went there I was introduced to two of their employees who also want coverage. Also, not a shot in the world I'd have signed them up online. Husband 50, wife 47, both smoke, wife on a med, recent surgery and recovered endometriosis. We went over plans for 30 minutes. Now I'm outta here around 3:30 today to sign up the owner of a day care.
I know the local focus will work however that assumes you have a very large community. I'm not sure what I'm doing could be pulled off in "small town" America - maybe. I'm between Baltimore and Wash DC and the business community is simply huge.
The title of is is branding an agency starting with $200. I have yet to spend that. I had some marketers and only one logged in any real amount of hours - not $200 worth. Aside from that I've been telemarketing and quite honestly, working on old leads. These were people I tried to sign up online who I'm now scheduling meetings with. That will pull me through nicely on top of referrals and chamber of commerce events until I get into advertising and renting space at local events.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Absolutely positively on the right track
I had an offer I couldn't refuse to try out an internet leads source - basically free leads. Still, I said no twice but they called me and I gave in. What the heck...some free leads. Well....here we go, typical junk. Basically, all young girls, almost calls straight to voicemail and it wouldn't matter anyway to end up closing that very sough-after $88 a month premium. I actually have two of these working, then will promptly cancel the leads. What an insane waste of time to call people all day and hit voicemail.
These are:
*Not business owners
*Not looking for health insurance (looking for quotes which is much different) *Under 30 years old
Now for the polar opposite, I got listed today in my chamber's directory and got a call. Very nice lady ownes a travel agency (above pic) and her rate is through the roof - she's 63 and paying over $1,200 a month for coverage with decent health. So we compare a bevy of leads coming in which are junk and I have to hunt them down or my phone ringing from a business owner who wants health insurance. Hmmmmmmm. Toughie.
I also signed on as a volunteer today to help man the art & crafts booth my chamber is holding on the Sat. the 29th. After I signed up I was told that I can bring a flyer or any give-away to put in a bag that everyone gets when they enter the fair. Very cool! I also signed up for a business newtorking breakfast at 7:30 on the 27th.
And for all of you who are following along who are still hooked on the idea of 100% of your business coming from shared leads, my question is - what will you be doing in 5 years? Most likely, the same thing I'm doing; kicking myself in the ass that I didn't create a strong local presence years ago.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Hit the trifecta
Great day! Did an Aetna, Assurant and Blue Cross app. Two were leads I telemarketed, one was a referral. It's very refreshing to devote my entire day to insurance activities and furthering my business and as of now I think I'm really on the right track to be a recognized local agency. Of course the big step doesn't come until early next year when I rent store-front space.
Actually, the next big step is a half or full-page ad in local publications which is over a month away. The great thing about local ad rates is they're cheap. I can get a half-page ad in one of my city's local papers for $150 a week. This beats trying to put a 1/16th of a page ad in some huge 100 page newspaper that frankly no one would see - has no impact at all.
I'm looking great next week - five appointments set already and all before Wednesday. Also starting next week I'll be involved in local business meetings. I have business breakfast for my community and I have another breakfast for the chamber of commerce. That one I'm especially looking forward to since new members get to introduce themselves and tell everyone what we do.
Oh, and I got my DOI trade name for Maryland Health Plans today so I can officially go by that name! I think this is important since my agency name basically states what I do - "Health Solutions" did not.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Paying off
I'll tell ya, it's nice to have a plan, and in my case, theory, and see it start to work out. I joined my community business association which got me a listing on the website and already, here's what I hoped would happen; people seeking out health insurance coming to me.
My theory is simple; Out of 10 people at least 6 would happily change something about their coverage. Most of these people simply do nothing thinking "it is what it is." Others do nothing because they simply don't know where to start. If an agency had a high profile in the area and became well known I think the amount of possible business would be amazing.
We are busy chasing down leads submitting by people who don't live close to us and in the meantime countless people in our community have no faint clue as to who to contact for health insurance.
Chamber of Commerce already pays off!
I guess two things to note: 1) Join your local Chamber. 2) If your client is close, go see them. I had an appointment with a Century 21 real estate agent literally 5 minutes from me - debated about doing it online. That would have been a mistake.
I went to the office and she bought a plan. She grabbed her friend, got her in the office and she bought a plan! Then said I should talk to the owner since they don't offer health. While waiting for the owner (odd title since it's a pseudo-franchise type of arrangement) I noticed the Chamber plaque on the wall. We shook hands and I said I just joined and got approved. Complete attitude shift from what I've ever seen before; "So you're a chamber member?" We talked about some upcoming events we're both attending and it was an "owner to owner" conversation instead of "owner to pesky insurance agent." You know the normal drill - it would be "well that sounds great....have a card?"
Now he wants me to come in next week and do a presentation in front of the rest of the agents. He also said he can't wait to introduce me to several friends of his since health insurance comes up during conversations. There are five other insurance agencies in that local chamber - none of which offer heatlh. It's outfits like Allstate, Nationwide and other places that focues on P&C, life, disability and employee benefits.
Also, the chamber has a monthly newletter and for $20 to $40 per month you can buy rather large ad space. I'm in - got a 40 buck-er and it'll run next month - so that's every business owner seeing my ad for 40 whopping bucks.
It's worth noting the two agency owners I highly respected told me to go this route in 2004. But I was too smart for that - I'm gonna sign up 28 year-olds online and get rich.
Hey, anyone reading this don't get me wrong. Go buy leads all you want - but use it to supplement your business - don't make it your entire business. It should be one of many sources of business. If it's your exclusive source of business you'll find yourself chasing down leads 5 years from now. And if you stopped the leads on Tuesday, you're out of business on Wednesday.
I went to the office and she bought a plan. She grabbed her friend, got her in the office and she bought a plan! Then said I should talk to the owner since they don't offer health. While waiting for the owner (odd title since it's a pseudo-franchise type of arrangement) I noticed the Chamber plaque on the wall. We shook hands and I said I just joined and got approved. Complete attitude shift from what I've ever seen before; "So you're a chamber member?" We talked about some upcoming events we're both attending and it was an "owner to owner" conversation instead of "owner to pesky insurance agent." You know the normal drill - it would be "well that sounds great....have a card?"
Now he wants me to come in next week and do a presentation in front of the rest of the agents. He also said he can't wait to introduce me to several friends of his since health insurance comes up during conversations. There are five other insurance agencies in that local chamber - none of which offer heatlh. It's outfits like Allstate, Nationwide and other places that focues on P&C, life, disability and employee benefits.
Also, the chamber has a monthly newletter and for $20 to $40 per month you can buy rather large ad space. I'm in - got a 40 buck-er and it'll run next month - so that's every business owner seeing my ad for 40 whopping bucks.
It's worth noting the two agency owners I highly respected told me to go this route in 2004. But I was too smart for that - I'm gonna sign up 28 year-olds online and get rich.
Hey, anyone reading this don't get me wrong. Go buy leads all you want - but use it to supplement your business - don't make it your entire business. It should be one of many sources of business. If it's your exclusive source of business you'll find yourself chasing down leads 5 years from now. And if you stopped the leads on Tuesday, you're out of business on Wednesday.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Getting more local
I again re-visit the theme of this to remind those reading along that the goal is to establish a local agency where my business is based on local advertising and becoming part of the community. I also think there's a big difference between promoting "free quotes" and promoting your business. Any can drive quote traffic to their site and it's still people who don't want to be contacted. That's not what I'm after.
Picking up the phone and chasing down 20 quote requesters - 75% of whom are trying to avoid you is a lacking marketing plan. I will still offer quote requests but my quote page will be re-configured to let people know before filling out the form that they will be contacted by me and I'll want them to choose the best time. It won't be a perfect system but it will at least let people know they won't see instant quotes, and a video on that page will explain why. I see little value on showing people rates they can't get.
I've filled out applications for two local chambers of commerce and advertised on a few local websites. I'm meeting with a Yellow Pages ad rep next week so talk about local print and internet ads.
I put an ad out today to hire people to put up the residential postcard/flyers which I've done before with lacking results. The main problem was finding people to actually work and managing those who did work. However, now that my son's in school my wife is freed up to help me and that's all the difference.
The residential flyers pull .005 (half of 1%) and I've been slapping them up for about three years as a supplement to other marketing. It's not something that can be done in all areas since you need townhomes to make the math work.
Math:
Flyers are 3 cents a piece
1,000 placed is 5 leads
$12/hr for labor and 200 per hour placed
Closing is 1 out of 5 - they are very high-quality leads
So a 10 hour week is $120 in pay, gets 2,000 flyers put up which cost $60 for a total expense of $180. It's 10 leads and two deals. Even if it was one deal it's still extremely worth it. Can I lose money? Not really. The entire box of 5,000 is $150 in cost and putting them up would require 25 man hours X $12/hr = $300 + the $150 = $450 total. I make twice that off one deal.
That breaks down to $18 per lead and internet leads are far cheaper....right? No. I get in contact with all 10 of those leads hence the 1/5 closing ratio. When you get 20 leads you only get in contact with around 30% of them. So at $8 per shared lead X 20 leads = $160 however if you only spoke with 6 those leads now it's 6 into $160 or $26 per lead! So it's $26 to speak with someone and then 3 or 4 others agents also get a crack. Ummmmm, no.
Picking up the phone and chasing down 20 quote requesters - 75% of whom are trying to avoid you is a lacking marketing plan. I will still offer quote requests but my quote page will be re-configured to let people know before filling out the form that they will be contacted by me and I'll want them to choose the best time. It won't be a perfect system but it will at least let people know they won't see instant quotes, and a video on that page will explain why. I see little value on showing people rates they can't get.
I've filled out applications for two local chambers of commerce and advertised on a few local websites. I'm meeting with a Yellow Pages ad rep next week so talk about local print and internet ads.
I put an ad out today to hire people to put up the residential postcard/flyers which I've done before with lacking results. The main problem was finding people to actually work and managing those who did work. However, now that my son's in school my wife is freed up to help me and that's all the difference.
The residential flyers pull .005 (half of 1%) and I've been slapping them up for about three years as a supplement to other marketing. It's not something that can be done in all areas since you need townhomes to make the math work.
Math:
Flyers are 3 cents a piece
1,000 placed is 5 leads
$12/hr for labor and 200 per hour placed
Closing is 1 out of 5 - they are very high-quality leads
So a 10 hour week is $120 in pay, gets 2,000 flyers put up which cost $60 for a total expense of $180. It's 10 leads and two deals. Even if it was one deal it's still extremely worth it. Can I lose money? Not really. The entire box of 5,000 is $150 in cost and putting them up would require 25 man hours X $12/hr = $300 + the $150 = $450 total. I make twice that off one deal.
That breaks down to $18 per lead and internet leads are far cheaper....right? No. I get in contact with all 10 of those leads hence the 1/5 closing ratio. When you get 20 leads you only get in contact with around 30% of them. So at $8 per shared lead X 20 leads = $160 however if you only spoke with 6 those leads now it's 6 into $160 or $26 per lead! So it's $26 to speak with someone and then 3 or 4 others agents also get a crack. Ummmmm, no.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Always confirm appointments
8am: I set an appointment at the end of last week for 8:30am - owners of a auto repair shop about 20 minutes from me. They were closed yesterday so I couldn't confirm. There are those out there who teach to never confirm - just run the appointment. The theory is if you call that gives 'em a chance to back out. First of all, if the deal is so weak that just calling them to confirm leads to them back out then good; just saved me a lot of time. However, in this case they're still interested but when I called only the husband was in. The wife had an issue at home and isn't gonna be in until 10am. So I'd have done the whole suit and tie thing, driven out there and likely been trapped into doing a one-legger.
12:30: Set two more appointments this week, re-set this morning's for Thursday and scrubbed a 4pm I had today. I called to confirm and I could just tell by the conversation it would be a wasted trip. His words: "Well you can still come but right now we're still deciding what to do and we'll be looking more into it next month." Errrr! People can get excited sometimes when you set up a time to meet, but then husband and wife sit down and simply decide they're not at the right time to make a move. I respect that. However, running those appointments is uncomfortable at best. I do not like "closing" anyone and hate that kind of tension. People purchase plans from me - I do not "sell" them and there's a difference. In any case, I let him off the hook and I could how upbeat he got. Why "force" people to meet with you. It's just a waste of everyone's time.
12:30: Set two more appointments this week, re-set this morning's for Thursday and scrubbed a 4pm I had today. I called to confirm and I could just tell by the conversation it would be a wasted trip. His words: "Well you can still come but right now we're still deciding what to do and we'll be looking more into it next month." Errrr! People can get excited sometimes when you set up a time to meet, but then husband and wife sit down and simply decide they're not at the right time to make a move. I respect that. However, running those appointments is uncomfortable at best. I do not like "closing" anyone and hate that kind of tension. People purchase plans from me - I do not "sell" them and there's a difference. In any case, I let him off the hook and I could how upbeat he got. Why "force" people to meet with you. It's just a waste of everyone's time.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Community involvement
Well I got a list of the businesses that will be at my community network breakfast next week and was interested to see Nationwide and Allstate. This is what these guys do - they are simply involved in the community, not cold-calling all day.
Although I'm excited to get involved in local events and the chamber of commerce it's not all about just getting business. It's really about being a part of my community and not just leeching off it it. You can cold-call or buy leads but you are only gaining business for yourself and not giving anything back. I've been at this for four years and have never really felt like a legitimate business owner. I don't think you can unless it's a give and take between getting business from community, but also giving back.
I see a lot of agents kid themselves - thinking they are "helping people" by selling insurance. Yes, in one way we do indeed help people. But when I think if helping people I think more about Habitat for Humanity then insurance agents. When I was a Mega agent (God forgive me!) they has a cheesy saying; HOPE - helping other people every day. Lol. I think if you want to "help people" you need to hit the grocery store and buy some food then take it down to you local soup kitchen. If you really want to help then you volunteer at the kitchen.
I've very interested in simply bettering my life all around and getting involved in a local charity. I can't think if anything more distasteful then getting involved in a charity with the motive of gaining business, so at any charitable event I simply won't discuss at all what I do. What I'm even more interested in is starting an extremely small charity myself. I'd like to do something to help children in the hospital along the lines of bringing in cool toys - maybe hand-held video games so they can have something do to besides watch tv. I was in the hospital as a kid for 5 days and basically it's only TV between family visits.
Although I'm excited to get involved in local events and the chamber of commerce it's not all about just getting business. It's really about being a part of my community and not just leeching off it it. You can cold-call or buy leads but you are only gaining business for yourself and not giving anything back. I've been at this for four years and have never really felt like a legitimate business owner. I don't think you can unless it's a give and take between getting business from community, but also giving back.
I see a lot of agents kid themselves - thinking they are "helping people" by selling insurance. Yes, in one way we do indeed help people. But when I think if helping people I think more about Habitat for Humanity then insurance agents. When I was a Mega agent (God forgive me!) they has a cheesy saying; HOPE - helping other people every day. Lol. I think if you want to "help people" you need to hit the grocery store and buy some food then take it down to you local soup kitchen. If you really want to help then you volunteer at the kitchen.
I've very interested in simply bettering my life all around and getting involved in a local charity. I can't think if anything more distasteful then getting involved in a charity with the motive of gaining business, so at any charitable event I simply won't discuss at all what I do. What I'm even more interested in is starting an extremely small charity myself. I'd like to do something to help children in the hospital along the lines of bringing in cool toys - maybe hand-held video games so they can have something do to besides watch tv. I was in the hospital as a kid for 5 days and basically it's only TV between family visits.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
