Suggestions on Reading Materials And/or Getting Started

[Todd King]

I'm learning this. If I can get in front of them getting them to see that all plans are he same is the easy part. My biggest hurdle is Getting in front of them.

Without giving up various lead generation avenues do you guys do dm, cold calling, telemarketer leads ect, hire your own telemarketers?

I've done face to face. I like it because it allows me to review, cross sell life insurance and review old policies. How do I get in front of more people overpaying for their supplement?

You're going to get a yes answer on all of those. It depends on who you talk with. Many have done it all. Direct mailers are still tried and true. Cold calling yourself can become daunting, but it doable. Telemarketing leads are great, but you can't do them long term or else the TM company runs out of people to call. Hiring a TM can be difficult in terms of finding the right one and then keeping them.

 

[jemelton]

You're going to get a yes answer on all of those. It depends on who you talk with. Many have done it all. Direct mailers are still tried and true. Cold calling yourself can become daunting, but it doable. Telemarketing leads are great, but you can't do them long term or else the TM company runs out of people to call. Hiring a TM can be difficult in terms of finding the right one and then keeping them.

Any recommendation for dm? I know it's expensive but was going to try. Also I prefer face to face to cross sell, but also consider over the phone or mail app

 

[Todd King]

Any recommendation for dm? I know it's expensive but was going to try. Also I prefer face to face to cross sell, but also consider over the phone or mail app

Lead Connections is a good DM company to go with. I've always understood that Kramer Direct is pretty good too but I never see anyone on here recommend them.

 

[rousemark]

Hey all, I lurk around here reading threads, tips, information all that stuff. I currently work directly for one of the 'bigs' in the medicare advantage market doing telesales. Not going to brag or anything cause I'm newer to this career, but I do rank well within the company with solid numbers

I've been doing some light research into going independent, and was wondering what if any resources you'd all suggest for me to look into if I decided to venture out on my own.

Obviously picking territories or areas, familiarizing myself with the companies, competition and compensation is on the agenda, but as far as properly marketing early, what kind of seed money, what are some halfway consistent lead companies, any and all pitfalls or suggestions you'd have for someone considering making the leap.

Plan is early next year to slowly start moving myself from full time here to part time and some independent work to maintain a stable income and test the water to see if I have what it takes to run solo haha. Main goal is to probably continue primarily doing telesales with some light appiintment/field work

So I know it's a fairly vague post, but any words of wisdom would be appreciated thanks!

As far as reading material, this one focuses on life sales but I benefited from it over the years:

https://www.mdrtstore.org/p/1277/the-greatest-insurance-stories-ever-told

 

[kgmom219]

More than one person on this forum lived on beans and rice and maxed out their credit cards to start their business. Not saying you have to do the same, but it will take longer than you think to get money coming in, will cost more than you expect to get warm bodies to talk to, and no matter how much you think you know now you will soon find out you don't know enough.

Yet.

The Medicare business is get rich slowly for most. Even if you know everything there is to know about lead gen (which is the secret to success) unless you have a pot of money to draw on you could very well find yourself wondering when the magic will kick in.
http://www.insurance-forums.net/for...ading-materials-getting-started-t88424-2.html
The payoff is down the road, about 2 - 3 years as others have said, so if you are patient and can fund your living expenses until you get there you can make it work.

Oh, and your phone will not ring at first unless you have learned something it took the rest of us a while to make happen.

What he said.

1. Figure out the leanest budget possible. You get to eat Ramen in year 1, McDonalds in year 2 and by the end of your 3rd AEP, if you can't get steak, go back to the grind.
2. If you have a partner, get them on board with the 3 year budget and starvation plan
3. Where are you? That's going to determine a lot of what you are going to do, whether its MAPD or Med Supp
4. Where are all the seniors in your town? You should hang out there.
5. Do an announcement, via a business FB page, that you started your own agency
6. Figure out the follow up system (that may be in Glen's book, I haven't read it) that you are going to use. I use a hybrid of the One Card System. It works for me
7. This is a numbers game. There are 10,000 people a day turning 65. How many of them can you get in front of?

Go for it. Its going to be the best decision ever. 3 years from now.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[jemelton]

If you pop in a nice fe or life policy now and then it can pay for your marketing/leads and thensome. I bought $1200 of leads heroes leads. I'm struggling to be honest with only 3 supps written so far but reviewed a $225k life policy of a 77 year old that could lead to a 10k comm. also am writing a 3k annual premium life case on another one.

I need to be in front of more people that are overpaying for their supp. I have the credit/budget to do it and am going to go for it. Where I need improvement is referrals. I don't ask. Duh

 

[somarco]

When I started in the business, back during the dark ages when agents carried rate books and paper apps to an appointment rather than laptops, referrals were required by our managers.

Imagine sitting around the kitchen table for an hour or longer, trying to make the sale. Once you have completely worn them down and they buy just to get you to leave, you pull a Columbo, and "Oh, just one more thing . . ."

Ask for names, addresses and phone numbers of at least 10 people they know. Gather as much information as you can about each, such as age, married/single, children, etc.

If you made 5 sales a week you should have at least 50 "leads" for next week.

Almost never worked that way.

There is nothing wrong with asking for referrals as long as you EARNED the right to ask. You might want to consider a few books that take you through the referral marketing process.

Stop Asking for Referrals

Gratitude Marketing

There are other books on the topics.

Also consider almost anything from Jeffrey Gitomer. One word of warning, Gitomer's stuff is very good but also repetitive. Pick just one and then decide if you want more. The one take away I got from his books is this. People hate to be sold but they love to buy.

You can apply that to referrals as well. Put your clients in a position where they love to offer referrals without your asking.

I have 4 or 5 of his books and picked up something from each of them. Probably 80% of the material is rehashed from one book to another.

 

[Todd King]

When I started in the business, back during the dark ages when agents carried rate books and paper apps to an appointment rather than laptops, referrals were required by our managers.

Imagine sitting around the kitchen table for an hour or longer, trying to make the sale. Once you have completely worn them down and they buy just to get you to leave, you pull a Columbo, and "Oh, just one more thing . . ."

Ask for names, addresses and phone numbers of at least 10 people they know. Gather as much information as you can about each, such as age, married/single, children, etc.

If you made 5 sales a week you should have at least 50 "leads" for next week.

Almost never worked that way.

There is nothing wrong with asking for referrals as long as you EARNED the right to ask. You might want to consider a few books that take you through the referral marketing process.

Stop Asking for Referrals

Gratitude Marketing

There are other books on the topics.

Also consider almost anything from Jeffrey Gitomer. One word of warning, Gitomer's stuff is very good but also repetitive. Pick just one and then decide if you want more. The one take away I got from his books is this. People hate to be sold but they love to buy.

You can apply that to referrals as well. Put your clients in a position where they love to offer referrals without your asking.

I have 4 or 5 of his books and picked up something from each of them. Probably 80% of the material is rehashed from one book to another.

One thing I would like to add here when asking for referrals. If you simply ask for referrals, you'll likely get the, "I don't know anyone" line. That's because you just gave them the whole world to think about and therefore they won't be able to think of anyone. If you help them narrow it down by asking more pointedly you'll get better results. For instance, if you found out that they are an avid church goer, then ask them about someone in their Sunday school class or the church. Do they golf? Ask about the golfing buddies. Help them help you.