- 15,319
Frank,
You had me pay you $1,500 in advance for your "system". Will you be sending me a refund now that it's free?
Rick
Med supp leads
- Thread starter Winter_123
- Start date
You had me pay you $1,500 in advance for your "system". Will you be sending me a refund now that it's free?
Rick
- 7,066
Any agent who is dumb enough to believe that there is a "good lead source" for senior Med Supp sales deserves to pay three times that much and more.
The short answer would be, not NO, but triple HELL NO.
Besides, your check bounced.
- 1,704
BRAVO! (applause) to Frank, who posted a lengthy and well-reasoned discourse on the senior market. I concur.
Those are expensive leads at $28/pop. I had a friend who bought in to something similar this past Feb'07. She traveled overnight and had those costs, lead costs, time of course, and within a month or so some of them dis-enrolled from the MA network she was selling, even tho commission was above avg...eventually she lost money.
The senior mkt is over-canvassed, in my opinion, with the advent of the MA plans. I just talked with a lady yesterday, special needs, whom I had tele-phoned last month. While waiting for my supplies to come in, and then delaying another couple weeks, she had been called by someone else and signed up with them for the same plan. HAHA....however, I said try that one out for a few months, and if you don't like it, i have another and she was INTERESTED! See, there is no loyalty. Very few will stick with you ..perhaps because this is a big metro area, or the bombardment of ads.
Those are expensive leads at $28/pop. I had a friend who bought in to something similar this past Feb'07. She traveled overnight and had those costs, lead costs, time of course, and within a month or so some of them dis-enrolled from the MA network she was selling, even tho commission was above avg...eventually she lost money.
The senior mkt is over-canvassed, in my opinion, with the advent of the MA plans. I just talked with a lady yesterday, special needs, whom I had tele-phoned last month. While waiting for my supplies to come in, and then delaying another couple weeks, she had been called by someone else and signed up with them for the same plan. HAHA....however, I said try that one out for a few months, and if you don't like it, i have another and she was INTERESTED! See, there is no loyalty. Very few will stick with you ..perhaps because this is a big metro area, or the bombardment of ads.
- 1,704
Re: those mail-back leads. I too got tired of people(not all) saying at the door they didn't send out for information. So my rebuttal was: with great astonishment, shock on my face, I would gasp and say, "you mean, this is not your signature"? NO< IT"S NOT> me...ok, glad you told me. I will take this to the Postmaster at the local Post Office.....and let him investigate this.
It is a Federal law not to tamper with the US mail for fraudulent purposes!
all of a sudden, in a weak voice, you hear "well maybe my ______filled it out, or even me and can't remember" No, please, it's ok.
If you want leads, your best ones are the ones you generate yourself. The others have a sale in there too, and maybe you have to try it all to convince yourself You need to see the bottom line, economically. I too, am getting interested in selling lead systems to agents. Matter of fact, this educational/lead generation is the big bucks and runs across many self-employed careers...Real Estate, mtgs, credit repair...etc.
It is a Federal law not to tamper with the US mail for fraudulent purposes!
all of a sudden, in a weak voice, you hear "well maybe my ______filled it out, or even me and can't remember" No, please, it's ok.
If you want leads, your best ones are the ones you generate yourself. The others have a sale in there too, and maybe you have to try it all to convince yourself You need to see the bottom line, economically. I too, am getting interested in selling lead systems to agents. Matter of fact, this educational/lead generation is the big bucks and runs across many self-employed careers...Real Estate, mtgs, credit repair...etc.
- 7,066
Thanks for the kind words, Doc. Now that makes two of us. LOL
The one thing I left out of my two "short" posts, is how to keep seniors once you "get them".
That too is very simple and logical. Stay in contact with them. My seniors receive at least three written communications per year by, another dirty word, "snail-mail". It is fast and easy if an agent is using their computer as a tool, not as a "toy".
I still have senoirs "on the books" I sold in 1993 when I first started. I can easily live off of my renewal checks, that is the only reason I can afford to "piss away" so much time "playing" here.
- 7,066
That is priceless! I don't care what they say about you, you really are smarter than a circus horse.
I'm almost temped to go door to door again just so I can use that.
We need to team up and do seminars. If we promote them correctly senior agents will be standing in line waiting to give us thousands of dollars. That would beat the hell out of hearing, "I didn't send it in" or "I'm on a fixed income you know".
- 1,704
I agree that seniors like to be contacted frequently. And as they're aging they forget too, and we must keep that in mind. I have high retention also, I have clients i sold during the '80's...of course, now they are in their high 80's, and dying off. I lost a lot of business last 2 yrs/
However, I have lost some because of this MA business. And one couple in particular, I talked with that wife frequently, so when a Humana agent snuck in and sold them, I was really p o''d......that's when i took this MA business seriously. and I don't think it's a fluke....i think this will hang around for several years and the appeal to people is the low premium. Never mind that they now have all the liability.. it's like they don't care because they figure they will always stay healthy.....so don't fight the wave, learn to surf.
However, I have lost some because of this MA business. And one couple in particular, I talked with that wife frequently, so when a Humana agent snuck in and sold them, I was really p o''d......that's when i took this MA business seriously. and I don't think it's a fluke....i think this will hang around for several years and the appeal to people is the low premium. Never mind that they now have all the liability.. it's like they don't care because they figure they will always stay healthy.....so don't fight the wave, learn to surf.
- 16,987
I have received several PM's and e-mails from senior agents wanting to know the "secret" to working the senior market. I am seriously thinking of marketing it. Any agent who uses this "system" will see a dramatic increase in their income. And, guess what? I'm going to give it to all senior agents on this board for FREE!
The "system" consists of six (6) very important steps that each agent must follow if they want to excel in senior Med Supp sales. WARNING: Those agents who are afraid of "work" or who are just plain lazy should not read any further. All it will do is just piss you off.
1. Keep every "lead", name, referral you get. Never, I repeat, NEVER throw away the name, address and phone number of a senior. They are all potentially qualified buyers. Who would have thought that senior agents would have a product they can sell to Medicaid people?
2. Don't buy "leads" buy lists. Senior market "leads" are just a name, address and phone number. (See post above.) Seniors are
obsessive card/form filler-outers.
3. Do your own telemarketing. Who knows the senior market better than you do? Seniors like to talk to the person they will be doing business with on the first phone call. The decision to switch their Med Supp policy is an emotional decision for most seniors. I guarantee, in the vast majority of cases, it is not an intelligent, well informed decision. If it was most of them would not buy a Plan F.
If done properly, most seniors can be "sold" on the first call. If not then they can be "sold" a year or two later when they get the notice that their premium is going up.
4. On the first call try to engage them in conversation. Yea, I know, it's a lot of work and it takes time. Agents who are making calls, saying "I'm going to be in your area on Wed, can I stop by and drop off information" are wasting way too much time and money. That is NOT AN APPOINTMENT. Agents should only make an appointment with a senior who qualifies and is really interested in changing companies. Forget those turning 65, for the most part they are a waste of time and money. Contact those who are between 67 and 77.
When working the senior market it is not about how many calls the agent makes per hour, it is about how many people can you get to talk to you and give you information.
The most important information is the name of the company they currently have their insurance with. If you can get that before the call ends you have just made a "sale". Maybe not this month but probably in the next 12 months.
It doesn't matter what plan they have, most will have Plan F and that is a good thing. I make my money from agents who sell Plan F. You don't need to know how much they are paying, if you are really a senior market agent you will know what other companies are charging. If you don't know then you should not be in senior market sales.
5. Take copious notes during the phone call. Record anything that they have told you, like the name of their dog or a hobby they have so you can mention it during your next call. Seniors love to be "remembered". Example: The second call made a year later. "Hi Mrs. Smith, this is Frank Stastny, we talked several months ago about your Med Supp policy. By the way, how is your dog Spot doing?" You now have their undivided attention at this point.
6. For those who have gotten this far, both of you, break down and purchase a computer program that will enable you to have all this information at your finger tips. Every time a company has a rate increase print a list of everyone you have talked to over the past several years who told you they had their insurance with that company. Those are almost guaranteed sales. Record every piece of information that senior tells you. Know when they are due to make their next annual payment. Record if they may be interested in final expense insurance or LTCi in the future. Record every thing and any thing you can glean from that initial conversation.
No, I'm not "spamming" for YIO. Personally I don't care which system you use, what is more important is that you use your computer as a tool to make money, not just to post here, surf the web and send e-mail to your mother and friends.
How much sense does it make to spend as much as $42,000 per year on leads and then not have those people available at the click of a button 12, 18 or 24 months from now when they are "ready to buy"?
Any agent who is not investing in a good computer program to track prospects and recycling their senior market "leads" is working really dumb. I don't care how good you think your "system" is, it is about 20 years behind the times. Index cards and elaborate filing systems went out of vogue a long time ago. All they do is make you think you are well organized.
If you are using Excel and or Outlook to "track your leads" you are only kidding yourself and wasting a lot of time you could be spending increasing your income.
Hey, you guys asked. It boils down to doing your own telemarketing, using the tools available today and doing that dirty, dreaded four letter word called "WORK".
If you didn't want to know the answer then you should not have asked.
Frank,
I can personally vouch that your exact same steps work for life insurance/funeral preplanning. With a small difference in step #2 I have done the exact same thing for 11-years and been very successful with it. The difference in step #2 is: I mail surveys. I get a large response from them and follow-up and add them to my database. They are not all "hot leads." It will be 2 or 3 years before I sell many of the survey respondants but it is a great source of people to add to your active database. I pay about $2,900 to mail 6500 surveys twice per year. I'll get about a 2% return (sometimes less)
The whole key is to be low-key, low-pressure, talk to a lot of people and take detailed notes, never forget a good prospect, and never call a disqualified prospect a 2nd time.
People will buy from you within their own time frame if they:
1. Have met you
2. they like you
3. they remember you when they are ready to buy.
- 1,432
Don't you think that the agent who spends $42,640 per year is making a deep six figure income?
Isn't his or her income more relevant than what an average agent makes?
There are a lot of agents who take pride in the great skills they have acquired over the years and the fact that they can do a superior job with a minimum of tools and advertising expense.
I have a lot of respect for agents who can do this job with nothing but their brains, their personality, a strong work ethic, a good suit, a few applications, a pen and a yellow pad.
However, there is more than one way to be successful in this business.
There are a lot of ways to fail as well. I'm sure that buying Internet leads is one way to fail for a lot of agents. In fact, the only reason I built my websites was that I couldn't find a decent lead generation company back in 2003. I wound up learning how to generate my own leads. Without any classes or mentoring, I taught myself three programming languages, web design, and search engine marketing. This was not the lazy person's way out. This was work.
I'm not currently in the senior market as an agent because the apps need to be witnessed and I'd have to leave my office to write the application. This is not proof of laziness. If I go on an appointment, I won't be available to answer my office phone and properly serve my clients. Nor will I be able to call my Internet visitors before they click on another website.
Direct mail is also a prospecting approach that I've seen work. When I worked for Mutual of Omaha, our GM brought our agency from being one of the five worst in the country to being one of the three best in the country. During that time all the heavy hitters in the office spent hundreds of dollars each month on direct mail.
You can use any method poorly and blame failure on the method. If you telephone prospect without a smile in your voice, or walk and talk with B.O., you just might fail. I think that many agents send out letters without cracking the first book on direct mail or advertise in newspapers without a clue about print advertising. Sometimes it is the method. But it is not always the method; sometimes it is the failure to research how to use that method well.
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- 1,704
Al, I agree with your post that the young seniors (beatniks generation now and the boomers in a few years) are a high percentage of well educated sophists.
Obviously, they relate well with an agent who is of their ilk. Like meets like, and they like.
Ok...then we have the rural folk, and blue collar, who like a simple approach. And the older senior (over 72) gravitates more to a folksy approach. But people are a mixed bag, and salespeople must be flexible. And now we have cultural differences with all the bi-lingual races.
So all approaches are correct, if in their spectrum, don't you agree?
But nothing beats a smile, and a friendly demeanor, unless you're buying hammers.
Obviously, they relate well with an agent who is of their ilk. Like meets like, and they like.
Ok...then we have the rural folk, and blue collar, who like a simple approach. And the older senior (over 72) gravitates more to a folksy approach. But people are a mixed bag, and salespeople must be flexible. And now we have cultural differences with all the bi-lingual races.
So all approaches are correct, if in their spectrum, don't you agree?
But nothing beats a smile, and a friendly demeanor, unless you're buying hammers.
