Need Final Expense Focused organization

[Newby]

How many of that 11 are still in the business?

Actually there were 5-of us that you would consider large producers. The other 6-8 were always a revolving door of agents.

We were clicking along perfectly happy on the worst commission deal I've ever seen but back then we didn't know any better. We were all making good money, plus had NO expenses, free leads, free health insurance and matching 401k,, always a nice trip every year from ForeThought and felt good about what we were doing.

Then they sold the place to SCI. they more than doubled our commissions but somehow they just made every day a grind.

Each of the 5- of us scattered within the next year or two and we took up shop in other locally owned funeral homes. Of those 5, two are still selling Preneed full time. Two are retired comfortably. And I'm running my agency with less focus on Preneed but still doing a fair amount of it. I'm heading to Cancun next week based on last year's Preneed sales.

I've always been surprised that more agents who are struggling with FE due to the high cost of buying leads every week don't go to work in funeral homes selling Preneed. They are always looking for agents.

 

[Bozack23]

Actually there were 5-of us that you would consider large producers. The other 6-8 were always a revolving door of agents.

We were clicking along perfectly happy on the worst commission deal I've ever seen but back then we didn't know any better. We were all making good money, plus had NO expenses, free leads, free health insurance and matching 401k,, always a nice trip every year from ForeThought and felt good about what we were doing.

Then they sold the place to SCI. they more than doubled our commissions but somehow they just made every day a grind.

Each of the 5- of us scattered within the next year or two and we took up shop in other locally owned funeral homes. Of those 5, two are still selling Preneed full time. Two are retired comfortably. And I'm running my agency with less focus on Preneed but still doing a fair amount of it. I'm heading to Cancun next week based on last year's Preneed sales.

I've always been surprised that more agents who are struggling with FE due to the high cost of buying leads every week don't go to work in funeral homes selling Preneed. They are always looking for agents.

What type of commissions do funeral homes pay for preneed sales?

 

[Newby]

What type of commissions do funeral homes pay for preneed sales?

It's all over the board. Most agents who are employees of the FH range from $40,000 to $70,000 but often have health insurance, a nice office and other perks. They have no business cost what so ever.

Once you are established for a few years in Funeral Preneed you can find positions as an independent agent selling for a funeral home. With this set up you usually pay all marketing expenses but you get the entire commission and make more overall.

Not all funeral homes are equal. The good spots are usually taken and the agent stays for years and years. But they are out there if you look.

 

[pcbinsurance]

"How do you contract with funeral homes?"
********************************************
Paige:

Just curious.....I thought you were happy with and committed to LH?

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Actually there were 5-of us that you would consider large producers. The other 6-8 were always a revolving door of agents.

We were clicking along perfectly happy on the worst commission deal I've ever seen but back then we didn't know any better. We were all making good money, plus had NO expenses, free leads, free health insurance and matching 401k,, always a nice trip every year from ForeThought and felt good about what we were doing.

Then they sold the place to SCI. they more than doubled our commissions but somehow they just made every day a grind.

Each of the 5- of us scattered within the next year or two and we took up shop in other locally owned funeral homes. Of those 5, two are still selling Preneed full time. Two are retired comfortably. And I'm running my agency with less focus on Preneed but still doing a fair amount of it. I'm heading to Cancun next week based on last year's Preneed sales.

I've always been surprised that more agents who are struggling with FE due to the high cost of buying leads every week don't go to work in funeral homes selling Preneed. They are always looking for agents.

Ramiz I assume is still in the marketing game. We are connected on LinkedIn.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

You guys can PM me or send me an email at ttubbs@indy.rr.com The readers digest version on what I do is..... I mail anywhere from 2-3 thousand lead cards a week. I call and set appointments and I door knock. I do try and sale other products while I am in the house. Med Sup, Indemnity Plans, ect. Without leads you can have the biggest contracts out there and you will go broke. So I would advise that you figure out a way to get yourself in a position to have a steady flow of new leads. If you are not in a position to afford 2-3K leads a week. Order 500 or a 1000 of the most "vanilla" highest response lead piece out there, and work your way up. YOU HAVE TO HAVE LEADS OR SOME PLACE TO GO TO GIVE A PRESENTATION IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ANY $$$ Diversify Yourself You need to know how to sale Med Sup, Med Ad, Hospital Indemnity Policies, Cancer. You don't need 5 carriers of each; just one will be better then nothing. Always ask everyone you get in front of "By the way who do you …" And hit on other products. You don't need to add them all at once start with the Med Sup, study and learn how to present and sell it, and add an Indemnity Carrier, learn that and add something else. Make sure you have FE products for everyone. Level, Graded, and Guarantee Issue. Learn your applications. Tell a story why you are recommending RNA or Forethought Life. Be sincere, create some excitement. I talk to a lot of guys that are not contracted with Presidential? There are to many seniors on Oxygen not to have this product in your bag. Every house I go into my goal is to leave with something. Work on your presentation, if you are getting a lot of the same objections you need to tweak your presentations to overcome that objection. I recommend recording your presentation and learning what you did wrong and what you did right. You will be surprised at what you said, that you did not realize you said... Take Control, and make the sale the 1st time in the house. Do not allow them to lull you into a false sense of security that they are going to buy it, but they just want to think about it or any other excuse. If you leave the house without a signed application you can rip that lead card up and toss it on the floor board of your car. Many new agents waste time, gas, and effort with follow-up calls, and trips back. There is a sale made at every house you go in. Either you sale the client or the client sales you. There are at least 5 big objections that seniors use to try and keep from doing business today. And you had better figure out how you are going to overcome those objections ahead of time. Referrals They are FREE, and usually a great lead. If your not asking everyone you talk to you are costing yourself $$$ There is a ton of more stuff, and greater details about the above topics that I do not have the time to get into now. I am sure there are guys out their that do things different then me. And I belive that is why we all frequent this board so we can learn from one another. I check the board a couple times a day, and enjoy much of the discussion. I have learned things and met some neat people. This is a tuff business. And this is a nice place to network and hopefully learn things that will result in making more money and make our profession more enjoyable.

I'm bringing back a Zombie thread... I was going through looking at old threads in preparation for our meeting... It was very enjoyable... Same thing worked in 2008 as it does now in 2015. The forum seemed like it was visited by "nicer" agents back then.

All this stuff that is talked about on here everyday is not brand new... It's a rerun.

In this same thread I was offering 15% above street level contracts for RNA... I remember I got a "call" about that and I had stop due to other marketing organizations complaints... Same thing happened to me last year when offering 120 contracts...

In 2008 I had to concede and give in, however, in 2014 I was able to say "Kiss my A$$, I have a Pirate Ship!"

Travis