Trial results for Gary's CRM

Lisa tried the telemarketing CRM today. To be honest, it was the worst day for her to try this out - she's right in the middle of packing to move, is a single mom with twin 1 year olds and a 4 year old.

The good news is the results were fantastic. She was only on the system for 26 minutes and got 4 leads and this was while learning the system! I'd say when the learning curve is over she'll be at 10 to 12 leads per hour.

Regarding the costs involved - this is more about RIO and marketer retention for me. Not only that, but now I get reports so I can see what's going on. Priceless. I also wanted to mention that more than one person can use this system for the same price - just not at the same time. So one marketer could work mornings, the other afternoons.

So let's try to break the math down:

4 hrs per day X $12 per hour X 5 days X 4 weeks = $960

Monthly base price = $450

Data (about 5 cents a record) - about 5,000 records or $250

Total = $1,660

10 leads per hour X 4 hr X 5 days X 4 weeks = 800 leads per month

Cost per lead = $2.06 per lead. Half that amount of leads would be $4 a lead.

So I don't see how this doesn't work. If you've shied away from hiring home-based marketers because you had no way of tracking their true work times or results, well...here ya go.

And by the way, if I get 800 leads per month and closed 1 out of 50 that's 16 deals a month - $3,500 AV per deal is $56,000 in volume. Just wanted to point out the absurd. Closing 1 out of 50 is like calling people and saying "Hey, you don't want health insurance do you?" 1 out of 50 would say "Actually, I do."

I'd hate to even think of the reality which is 1 out of 15 closed. That's $185,000 in monthly volume. Lol. Although I laugh at that there are absoutely agents writing 2 mill a year in health premiums. It's "do-able" with telemarked leads since you can get back to people when you have a chance without a pack of wolves jumping on them.

Just called the last batch

Ok, just finished calling the 8 telemarketed leads I got yesterday. Mind you I called the 17 shared leads yesterday with zero deals working. I "should" be on the phone calling them all again today, but screw that. Who wants to do that all day.

Out of the 8 telemarketed leads 6 picked up the phone. Of those 6 four were the owners. One had Tricare and was just looking for supplemental coverage. That's dead. Then I have two on Kaiser - hate the plan and another family paying over $500 for BCBS - no copays and limited drug coverage. So out of 1 round of calls I have three deals working and two leads to yet get a hold of.

All of these leads are local, exclusive and half the price of shared leads.

Go GR

11:02pm and GR finally figured out that an app completed at noon had been submitted. Alright! Now maybe we can have an underwriter take a look at this one by mid November. Yep - this is a company on the leading edge of technology.

Great day!

I ran my two appt's and got both deals. Did a GR at $360/mo and Assurant at $410. So today's total volume was $9,240. GR was a clean app - of course it's not even showing on my status report yet. Maybe that'll be approved in a week or so. Assurant's was applied for and approved today.

I got nailed with shard leads between last night and today - 17 of 'em. Of course I was busy today and started calling them around 3pm. I posted the results. After one round of calls - zero working. It's not to say there's not a deal in there somewhere, but it's like pulling teeth and they ain't biz owners.

Thankfully Lisa got me 8 more telemarketed leads today. Doesn't really matter when I call them back. They aren't going anywhere. The 2 deals I closed today were both from her leads. I can't remember when I closed my last shared lead. Oh well, the Assurant leads are free until my account runs out - then I won't renew.

So basically it was just over $2,300 for me today by just getting telemarketed leads and sitting down with my clients. Amazing that with all this new technology what works the best is the old school method. It's not rocket science.

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Slammed

Yes, I'm officially slammed. I ran an app't yesterday, got the deal then got home and made my app't setting calls. I have two appt's today - yanking a husband/wife off Right Start and writing an Assurant HSA. Both of them are off Lisa's telemarketed leads.

I'm also very anxious to get this new telemarketing software/CRM installed. I'm waiting on Lisa - she's busy packing to move this week and we should be up and running by mid next week. I think this is going to change a lot - just being able to run detailed reports changes a lot. As I stated below, one of the major problems when hiring home-based marketers is you never really know how many calls they make or how many hours they work. This obviously solves that.

It also makes a difference that I'm back to sitting with just about everyone. Yes, you can sell on the phone. I can to. But it's not a matter of which deals you close, it's a matter of which deals you don't close. The mentality seems to be "if they're not interested enough to sign up on the phone it's a deal deal or it would have lapsed." To me that's lazy agents looking for justification. That was me most of last year - call someone back who I thought was very interested, right to voice mail and I'd say "Oh, well - they weren't that interested."

It's just an extremely easy process to qualify and set the appointment. Less is more. You don't have to run around all over your state all week when 4 to 6 deals is a lot of money. Don't run 10 to close 4. Run 4 to close 4. When I'm on the phone with a lead:

1) Qualify for health - very detailed health history. I don't like surprises at the appointment.

2) Qualify for interest - Ok, I'm saving them $120 a month. Do they care? Is that enough to make them move? I ask. If not, you'll run the app't only to hear "sounds great - got a card?"

3) Qualify for time - Do they want coverage to begin within 2 weeks? Sometimes you hear "Send me what you have but I'm paid through December." Could they cancel and get a refund? Yes. Will they? Unlikely.

And finally, everyone knows I'm coming to do an app. I actually go over the application and underwriting process while I'm setting the appointment - letting them know approval times, making sure I can set an effective date to match their termination date, etc...My clients know I'm coming out so they can choose a plan.

A great past week

I had one of the best weeks since I've been in the biz. No - not pay-wise but just attitude. I closed both of my appointments yesterday - both in-person and although I've already known it all along I'm simply more positive and enjoy it much better when I meet with my clients. It's not right, it's not wrong, it's me. It's what I enjoy doing. All of my leads are local, all of my appt's are local, they know I'm coming to write an app, they're already qualified, and I confirm all appointments. I do not run 10 to close 5. I run 5 to close 5.

I would never have closed my 1st app't over the phone; family of five - own a real estate appraisal company - got suckered into Mega. The husband's attitude was "fool me once...." It was an hour and a half appointment and I was grilled. 20 minutes there, 1 1/2 hour app't, 20 minutes back. Waste of time? $1,700 commish - I'm happy. Second app't I could have closed on the phone but 10 minutes away, 25 minutes in her house and I had a better time.

Lisa amazed me last week. First of all she's in the process of moving and technically wasn't supposed to start until Nov. 1st, but told me she'd give me what she could this past week. She worked 6.25 hours and got 31 leads for a cost per lead of $2.41. Lord, I could buy her a car and make the payments and I'd never get to a shared lead price of $8 per lead. I have 3 appointments set from those leads and haven't even called Thursday or Friday's leads yet. Yep - she worked yesterday even though I told her not to worry about it because of her kid's doctor appointment.

Next week she's gonna demo Gary's system and I'm expecting fantastic results. I'll let you know how it all goes. Still swamped in resumes which I'm going to get to next week since I want one more marketer.

What a pleasant change

After getting my ass kicked on the workforce exchange idea it's nice to see the tables turn. I've had home-based marketers working for me for over a year but the headaches involved have always very time-consuming.

This is where things like the chamber of commerce have proven to provide intangible benefits - like getting with other owners who have successful programs in place and don't mind sharing - especially if you're not a competitor. A lot of small biz owners employ telemarketing as a way to gain business.

What I have to learn is to start taking advice from people who are where I'd like to be. I'd like to be making $5,000+ a week (net) with a nice close-knit group of employees.

The W2 idea was something I once considered, but figured it would be a huge PITA, expensive and not provide better results. Wrong.

First of all I followed advice to post a real ad - not craigslist. Done. http://www.workbaltimore.com/seeker/posting/view/117661 Already the type of resumes I'm getting is night and day. I have no idea who to call back - most of them are already working telemarketing jobs at a call center - now they see they can do the same from home and have benefits. The last resume I got; 3 years working 4 hrs a day at a call center for a mortgage company. She's currently making $10/hr with health bene's but has a 30 minute commute to work. I'm getting hammered with resumes - 40+ so far.

Lisa, my current marketer told me yesterday she has to take her daughter to the doctor's today but "don't worry, I'll still be able to work my 2 hours." Wow. I actually told her not to worry about it and take the day off. Just the fact that we had that conversation is night and day from the 1099 mentality.

So what's this all cost? When you 1099 them it's costing a lot - high turn-over, lacking candidates to choose from, cannot control their hours, no benefits tying them to the job. The savvy ones know they're responsible for their own taxes and don't want to mess with it. The other ones have no idea they have to file quarterly then file the 1040, schedule C and SE - but it'll be a nice surprise for them come tax time.

So what's this really cost? They're on a 2 week 1099 trial period to make sure they work out before I make them an employee. Worker's comp is a joke - $180 a year. Workers comp rates are based on their pay and type of job.

Withholdings aren't that much. One marketer working 20 hrs a week @ $12hr = $240 gross, $214 net if they're claiming 1 which is $26 in withholding.

So what about the paycheck/stub nightmare? I have a Bank of America biz account and they do it for me. I enter in the hours, BOA does everything else and cranks out the check/stub for me. The IRS forms I have to file are online - relatively easy. Not bad.

Oh well, off to two appointments today.

Another great day for Lisa

Another great day for my telemarketer - 11 leads, 2 hours. I also ended up setting 3 appointments from the 1st batch of leads she gave me.

I've had emails wondering how she's getting so many leads. Simple, she's dialing 55 numbers per hour on average - only waits 5 rings and moves onto the next call, doesn't get wrapped up in conversations with people and doesn't qualify.

I'd have agents disagree with me about qualification - they only want qualified leads. That's fine - you'll just get less. I want an opportunity to talk to anyone who's interested enough to want to see health insurance plans.

There's a theory that if they're not interested enough to give the maketer all their info; health, ages, current plan, etc...they have no interest. Wrong. Very sharp stand-offish owners are not going to cough up that info to a telemarketer. They'll cough it up to me though.

I guarantee you I can do a better job qualifying and warming people up then my marketers. All I'm looking for is interest and that they know I'm calling.

Wow - fantastic system!

Although I don't post on the insurance forum any more I still read it - some valuable gems of info from time to time. I saw the post on the new telemarketing system and called Gary - glad I did. Let's cover this first - I'm not a shill. I get nothing for posting this. I just find this system simply fantastic.

Ok, let's get the right mind set. Say you're buying $8 shared leads and they're working just fine for you. Your lead company calls you and says they'll sell you 100 more leads a month for $4 per lead.

So, what's your reaction? I'd guess it would be "that's great!" But I'd reply "What??? Have you lost your mind - that's $400 per month you're spending!" My point is, for more leads you're gonna spend more money but if your average lead price goes down that's a great deal.

This is the first system I've seen designed for home-based telemarketing. You can use it to make calls yourself or your marketer can use it. Let's go through my marketer's system:

*Pick up the phone, physically dial numbers - about 40 per hour

*Most go to voicemail, a few dead numbers and you speak to around 30%

*Leaving messages is not cost effective - you really need to keep dialing

This system by Marketing Campaign Solutions solves anything negative associated with telemarketing. Gary did a live demo for me this morning and I was stunned.

So what it is? As you see in the screenshot, it's software. You dial into a main number and the system dials three numbers at a time. If it hits a machine it leaves a message you create! Now - while it's leaving a message it also continues to dial. When someone answers it stops calling and you have all the contact info in front of you. There is no delay. When the person says "hello" you already see their name.

So now there's no more physically dialing numbers and you basically spend the entire time on the phone with prospects. It literally triples the number of people you talk to thereby tripling the amount of leads. If you normally get 2, now it's 6. You normally get 4? Now it's 12.

It shows any caller ID you want. For me that's priceless since I have an out of state telemarketers. Now it can show my caller ID. It runs reports - so now I know how many callers were made and how long my marketer was on the system.

Guys....this is a HUGE deal! One of the worst problems when hiring marketers is not knowing exactly how long they're working or how many numbers they dialed. Someone could say "well, not much today - called for 2 hours and got 1 lead." Not with this. With this you run the report: "Ummmm, you logged in for 20 minutes - that's it."

It also solves a HUGE psychological problem which is always having to dial that next number - instead of, for example, getting a snack and a drink. Then you have to "re-psych" yourself to get going again. However, this system gets you in a groove - you simply talk to people the entire hour.

Because of this there will be far less turn-over with telemarketers. I told my top marketer about this today and she wants to know when it starts.

Cost. It's around $55o per month with data or less if you have your own data. Is that expensive? Not if you look at ROI it's not. It's one deal a month and it's paid for. So the question for me was simple; will this get me one extra deal per month?

Let's do the math and see:

Currently:

$12/hr - marketers currently averaging 3 leads per hour

Cost per lead = $4

Number of leads - around 10 a day

I need two girls each working 2 hours a day because physically dialing after 2 hours is a PITA.

With this sytem:

$12/hr - marketer will average 9 leads per hour

Cost per lead - (factoring in the $550) $2.90

Number of leads per day - 36

(Note - on this system I won't need two marketers each calling 2 hrs - I'll have 1 calling 4)

X factor: This is all the message that are left. Anyone who calls back is icing on the cake

So let's figure in the BS factor and say I'd be getting 15 extra leads per day. I close 1 out of 15 so that's an extra 25 deals per month. If I got just 5 extra leads per day that's 5 extra deals per month.

So even at what I'd consider to be the worst case scenario at $800 per deal that's $4,000 extra per month with this system. The reality for me is my pay will more than double, I'll keep marketers around much longer, and it will be extremely easy to re-hire and get new ones off the ground.

If you're not using marketers and making your own calls it's almost a must-have. This turns three hours of calling into one. That is insane. Not only does it keep your attitude up since you're talking to people non-stop but now you actually have time to generate enough leads to make sales and have time to run appointments.

If you can to contact them go here: http://marketingcampaignsolutions.com/Home_Page.html

Telemarketed vs shared - let's do the analysis

I got licensed in Oct of 2003 - four years in the biz. I started buying shared leads in Feb of '04 and ditched them around June of '06 when the quality went in the crapper. Since then I always had one or two marketers generating leads and also did the doorhanger and B to B thing as a supplement. Bottom line is I have good experience with shared leads and good experience with telemarketed.

Let's solve this first - how telemarketed leads can be absolutely horrible:

1) Having the marketer qualify prospects - will result in a very low amount of leads
2) Marketer is lazy, only dials 20 or so number an hour generating very low volume
3) Marketer is simply putting down info of prospects who never requested quotes
4) Marketer is heavy-handed. Prospect says they're happy where they are, marketer persists
5) Marketer is talking to gatekeepers who say "sure, send the info" yet the owner has no clue
6) Marketer is simply not good; has a bad speaking voice, is not upbeat, does not have a great attitude - is not sold on your business nor does she care

All of that can be solved by simply staying on top of the leads. It's not perfect and you'll have bad marketers. When I find one I catch it in a day and they're history.

I had an appointment today, got the deal, didn't get back to start calling Lisa's leads from yesterday until the afternoon, which is late. Everything in blue was me talking to the owner - spoke with 4 out of 12. Set one appointment - they're on Right Start and hate it. All of the other three want me to run rates and I have times to call back. All were pleasant (funny how that works when they're not called by 4 other agents)

4 more answered the phone but they're gatekeepers who told me the owner wasn't in. Got to talk to all the gatekeepers - also nice and went over what kind of health plans - or lack there of - they have. It's simply pleasant to pick up the phone, dial 12 numbers and have 8 answer. That one appointment for Monday is a lay-down - they had no clue as to how the Right Start worked....they just found out. Not impressed. These calls are especially easy since Bowie is the next town over. Calling local is a huge advantage.

Now....onto my shared lead sheet from this Assurant program. Hmmmm......no blue, no green. That would be because I've called all those number and got 100% voicemail - zero, zilch, nodda. I also called every one of them minutes after I got the leads - today I called all of those back. Zero, zilch, nodda. All voicemail. I do not pay for these - as of now they're free. But what kind of business person pays money for people who do not want to, nor have agreed to be called. I will pay for internet leads again as soon as a prominent disclosure is made to people that agents will indeed be calling.

This is not to say I'll never contact any of them. What it does say is they suck. It's like pulling teeth. When you do reach them it's very much conveyed to you that you're the 2nd, 4th, 5th person who's called. You're a pest to them.

My telemarketed script states that I'll be calling to follow up. Prospects then get a chance to say (and do say it) "I'd really rather not have anyone call me." Fine - it's not a lead. How many shared leads do you think you'd get if people knew before they hit submit that you'd be calling. Dunno - about 80% less. Actually, the same amount - just without phone numbers.

Here's the irony; the agents who don't like telemarketing because they think it's "rude" don't mind being more rude by calling people who don't expect to be called and don't want to be called. So you're just as much of a A-hole when you're calling shared leads as cold-calling small biz owners. Do small biz owners really want marketers calling them? Nope. Do people really want 4 agents calling them?

So what's more of an interruption to your day, getting a call from a telemarketer, saying "no thank you" and that's it - or thinking you're gonna see a page of quotes and your phone lights up with 4 agents calling? How would you like to look at toy prices on Amazon then have K-Bee and ToysRus start hounding you?

Oh...but you say you do indeed get a hold of those shared leads who are truly happy you called. Ok, I get a hold of the telemarketed leads who are really happy I called.

So let's break it down:

Knows I'm calling
Shared - no
Telemarketed - yes

All leads are local
Shared - no
Telemarketed - yes

All leads are small biz owners
Shared - no
Telemarketed - yes

How many agents call
Shared - 3 to 5
Telemarketed - 1

Cost per lead
Shared - $6 to 8
Telemarketed $4 (that's my average)

Hassle
Shared - none. Slap down you credit card and the leads start coming
Telemarketed - a lot. You have to hire, manage and re-hire marketers

So it's up to me. I think the hassle of hiring and managing the marketers greatly outweighs dealing with shared leads. I didn't re-hire any marketers when my last good one left and just focused on generating my own business. I put out some ads, joined the chamber and called back old leads.

That has kept me alive for the last 2 or so months. But my old lists have been called, although the chamber gives me business it's sporatic and I no where near have the money available to do the type of advertising I want to do. So for me it's hands down back to having marketers call for me.

Found a great telemarketer!

Sometimes it's better to have an idea and just implement it without talking about theory and post the results. After talking to a lot of people I respect and some chamber of commerce owners I've become friends with I decided to hire telemarketers as W2 employees with benefits. I have had a great return from telemarketed leads but in all honesty dealing with the insane turn-0ver, hiring people who don't work, etc...is just a huge headache. I will never hire a telemarketing company since I need to be in daily direct control over what's going on.

Too many benefits of hiring them as employees to talk about and took this advice from a financial planner in the chamber who has at-home marketers on salary - one's been with him 4 years. As soon as I told him I hired them as independent contractors he laughed - guessed I had horrible turn-over and lacking performance. Bingo. When people don't have to work, then don't.

So I posted an ad over a week ago and immediately the quality of resumes was much better. Now I'm in the drivers seat during the interview process, can control their hours, and psychologically it's night and day. Most people (probably over 95%) simply do not work well on 1099 "work when you want to work" mentality.

So now this is a job for them not unlike getting up and going to work. The hours are set. You can't work the next day? You need to let me know first. They still need to hit minimum lead targets not unlike a group broker on salary who need to sign up a certain amount of lives per month. Yet on salary that broker goes to work and puts in 8 hours a day - something almost no independent agent does.

I also want to create much more of a family atmosphere. I want everyone to feel like they're a part of something. Each day will start off with a conference call and I have profit sharing plan in place so they have a stake in my success. If not, what would drive them to get more leads after the minimum is hit?

Well, I can already see the quality I'm getting. Lisa put in 2 hours day and got 12 leads. She's on 12 per hour so my leads today are $2 a piece! Because of the profit sharing plan she obviously didn't stop at the minimum. She also knew she had to work today - she's getting paid and it's her job. Just a huge shift in mind set. I also hired her out of 12 fantastic qualified resumes I got and she's who I considered to be the best. Plenty of experience, stay-at-home-mom, single with kids in school during the day - fantastic upbeat voice, amazing attitude. I almost never had people like her apply when it was 1099, no benefits.

Shoot me an email if you know where you can get leads for $2 a pop from small biz owners who know I'm calling to follow-up and no leads allowed from gate keepers. When all the dust settles Lisa will be making a lot of money but I guess the question is what's a great telemarketer worth to me.

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Do the leads stink or do you stink

There's expression is sales; "there's no bad territory, just bad salesman." Well, maybe. If you've received 20 leads and called all 20 seconds after receiving them, shot out an immediate email and did proper follow up yet can't reach any of them then it's the leads that stink.

That being said, know when it's you and not the leads. I've been in sales for a while and we all know that negative rep where nothing's working for them. In home improvement sales they got all the crappy appointments - everyone had bad credit, no one wanted to buy. In car sales they got all the bad ups, all were flipped in trades, couldn't qualify, and were tire kickers.

The amazing that thing about these whiners is while they make nothing everyone around them is doing just fine. Mysteriously everyone else has the great leads and great prospects. Their lament is "I just need prospects who want to buy!" News flash, if everyone just wanted to buy then the insurance industry wouldn't need you. They'll just license people and pay 'em $12/hr to be order takers.

This doesn't mean you're supposed to close people who have no interest but it does mean you're supposed to close people who do. I've heard "I spoke with 16 people today and none of them were interested." That's highly problematic. What exactly are they not interest in - saving money? Getting an affordable plan? Or....are they not interested in you because you didn't give them anything to be interested about.

A fatal mistake is to talk about plans and rates on the 1st call. This is the time where you should be going over what you can do for them and try to relate. I pay for my own family plan and can relate to all of my prospects. What are they all scared of? That's easy - getting scammed. They're scared to trust you and if you don't build trust it's over. If you and your prospect do not get to know each other trying to close deals will be like pulling teeth. You'll make a lot of initial contacts but very few will want to talk to you again.

When you get off the phone do you know the spouse's first name? Kids? Ages of the kids? Do you know what they do for a living? If they run a business, for how long? All of this, by the way, isn't just chatter or "buttering up" - it's useful for recommending the right plan. It makes a difference if their son is 18 or 6 months. It makes a difference if the husband is a roofing contractor or writes computer software. Are they planning on moving? You'd surprised how many times I hear "yes, we're planning on moving next year." I might recommend another company or network.

The week of Blue Cross and "but sir, the computer says..."

Yet another two Blue Cross apps. I'm in Blue Cross hell this week - all older smokers but a client is a client. I have 6 appointments set up by Wednesday so all's well. Ok, long message below but I have to vent.

And as I posted before I had to clear up a MD tax debt from back in the day - over 7 years old because my license renewal is flagged. Ok, no problem - I got the amount, got a cashiers check and headed down to the state building. When I was on the phone with them I was adamant that this was all I needed so I could proceed with my renewal. The guy said yes.

So of course I'm across the desk, she fires up the computer, I hand the check over and she says "what's this?" I knew I was screwed.....now what. She said that amount was for the taxes but didn't include not filing state returns for '93 and '94. Umm....that would be because I wasn't in MD then. I was in Las Vegas. She said the computer had me flagged since I filed in '92 and in '95 but not the years in between and also showed no other state return filed for those years. That would be because there's no state tax in Nevada - I just filed federal.

Now I've got them jammed up and since "the computer says" there's a flag then there's a flag. Now they want my federal returns from those years, W2 AND copy of my NV driver license as proof I was in Vegas. I just wanted that flag lifted. In comes the supervisor who basically took me at my word, lifted the tax flag BUT said I have 30 days to prove I lived in Vegas.

I got a bit indignant. Why should I prove I didn't live in MD? Does everyone who doesn't live in MD therefore doesn't file a MD return get flagged? Everyone who moves gets flagged? The best the supervisor could come up with was the computer program simply found it odd that I filed up to '93, no return in '93-'94, then returns in MD since '94 - but that's not my problem and this is "guilty until proven innocent." Did they have MD W2's showing I lived/worked in MD those years? No. Did I get any type of letter from MD stating I was flagged? No. All I got was a letter from the DOI stating I needed to take care of the taxes.

So basically this is overly-agressive computer system. Sometimes you have to very politely stand your ground. In a normal flag situation they have proof you didn't file properly. In this situation they didn't have squat - nothing showing I should have filed in those years. So....while being polite and not blaming the supervisor my recommendation was she erase the flag or I just plead my case in court - just over the principle of it. I think it helped that the supervisor saw my point of view and admitted that in all flag cases they have proof there is money or a return owed.

Remember - it's not I could just leave. She only lifted the tax flag with my payment, but not the other flag for not filing which would have still held up my renewal. I needed both flags lifted. I have no earthly clue how long it would take me to get copies of my federal return, W2 and copy of my license.

So out of the room she goes. Five minutes later she's back with another supervisor. I politely asked him if they had any type of proof that I lived and worked in MD during those years and should have filed a return. He admitted they had none and deleted the flag. Case closed.

Sales training basically got that flag lifted. Before the sales field I would have been rude, indignant and demanding. These are state workers approaching lunch time and you never want to mess with anyone working for state and lunch hour. Any hint of nastiness on my part would have resulted in "have a nice day - get out" but any hint of weakness would have resulted in the same. Very tough balancing act.

Had my church meeting

Whew. What an ordeal that was. I met with the church committee at 1:30 - just got home a bit ago. They have not cancelled their group yet like I was told. They have Empire Blue Cross, 80/20 PPO with a $200 deductible and the cost per family is $1,596 - single is $532.

First of all, they basically have no broker. Someone simply called Empire years ago, they assigned them to some broker who won't return their calls. I'm stunned - it's a huge group. I thought it was just this parish, but the entire diocese is yanking the group plan effective Jan.

And it's pure insanity. Fist off, it's insane they have a $200 deductible plan. Secondly, it's insane that the diocese is paying 100% of the family rate. You heard me, the employee and entire family are free. What church can afford $1,500 per month per family?

Ok, so I was thrown to the wolves sitting around a table of 12 people who were thinking they were losing health coverage in 2 months. Conditions? You name it - diabetes to autism and everything in between. Going with indie plans for everyone would be a cataclysmic mistake and nightmare.

Obviously my recommendation was to look at other group carriers and plans with much higher deductibles. A few kicked and screamed at that recommendation until I went over what an affordable indie deductible, OOP and drug deductible would be. That shut 'em up pretty fast. On top of that they were also informed that the diocese would not be able to legally reimburse them for indie plans. That was the nail in the coffin - definitely sticking with group.

So now I have a week to gather up a ton of group proposals and meet back with everyone including one of the head's of the diocese who makes the call. This will be a fantastic group case for me!

Getting set up as an agent - checklist

A few people have asked me about how to get set up. Here ya go:

1) If you want to use an agency name you need to file it with your DOI. You'll also need to file a fictitious name with your state. If you're a sole proprietor you do not need an EIN - you can use your social.

2) Use a business email - not something like paulybear33_1983@yahoo.com. Never use a free email account like Yahoo or Hotmail. It's unprofessional.

3) For heaven's sake set up your voicemail. I can't tell you how many agents I call and get "leave a message." That's not a professional recording. I swear I called an agent once and got "you know what to do."

4) Get a fax service - I use Efax but there's many others. It's well worth it not to worry about paper jams, running out of toner, error messages or poor quality.

5) Get a website and DO NOT do it yourself. Nothing looks worse then someone trying to design their own site - unless of course you're a professional web designer.

6) Have some type of system to back up your data; client info, leads, etc...I upload my docs and files into my Comcast account. If I crash I don't lose anything. I'd use some kind of online system - backing everything up with a flash drive or something like that won't be of any use if there's a house fire. It's not only crashing I need to worry about. What if I have 3 appointments tomorrow and the power goes out? I can just call my sister, have her log into my Comcast account and she can get me the app't information.

7) Get some type of database management. I use YIO - http://yourinsuranceoffice.com and recommend it.

8) Get cards. You get get free cards at Vistaprint.com It you want to design your own cool cards or choose from more templates I use printsmadeeasy.com

9) Buy thank you cards. Every client should get a hand written card.

10) Set up a business account at your bank. If you're buying any type of leads, be it shared or telemarketed I highly recommend using a debit, not credit card tied to your business account with a very low balance. Why? Many agents, including me, have been mis-billed for leads. You don't want to be in a situation where you have a legitimate dispute an in the mean time you get hit for $1,000. If I know $300 is coming out of my business account I have that available. If someone tries to hit it for $1,500 the transaction simply won't process.

11) Set yourself up correctly for taxes. You need to file quarterly. If anyone is telling saying that you don't need to file quarterly and you can pay yearly just call the IRS. With almost no exceptions unless you're a W2 employee you owe quarterly: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=110413,00.html

12) Keep an expense log, file all your receipts. The most audited group of people (not businesses) in the country now are at-home self-employed. If you're deducting mileage you need to keep a log. Obviously you need receipts for any expense. When in doubt use a reputable CPA to file your returns. If anyone is giving you any type of tax advice and they are not a licensed tax professional always verify the information. It won't be them getting a letter from the IRS.

And lastly, a tip. Do NOT pre-pay any more than $100 for leads. I've seen some vendors demand $500 down, others demand a full month upfront, etc...No way.

Chamber - the gift that keeps on giving!

My phone rings and it's director of St. Stephen's Church which is about five miles from me. She's a chamber member and called me to come there tomorrow and give a presentation in front of the church committee. They dropped group due to cost and now everyone's on their own. Wow...I'm very excited to run that appointment. Wait! Maybe I should just do that on the phone - they can teleconference me in. Lol. (Ok, I'm a smart ass.)

In other news, the workforce exchange is turning out to be a total bust. I had two lined up to start, both bagged out. I have a lot of "resumes" (if you want to call 'em that) and about 90% don't return emails or return messages. My theory was some of them would really appreciate a home-based job. Guess not. No problem. I posted a regular ad and will simply go the proven route.

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Meet your clients

Good week so far, 5 appointments set and I banged out two Blue Cross deals yesterday.

Lots of emails about selling online vs meeting with clients. If you're new my advice is to meet with everyone. If you've been around for a while and phone sales haven't panned out the way you imagined then meet with everyone. If you're successfully selling online then fine, I wouldn't change a thing. If you're not successful online, then read on.

Who wins:

Agent 1: He's not meeting with anyone. That's bull! He can sell from home, save gas and you don't have to meet people to sell health anway. He had 6 phone appointments scheduled least week, only 2 answered the phone, did a presentation for both and sold one.

Agent 2: Scheduled 6 physical appointments, ran 5 and closed 3.

At an $800 average commission agent 1 made $800, agent 2 made $2,400.

Another point I want to make is this: It doesn't matter what someone else is making. It only matters what you're making. I hear a lot of "but I know this agent Bill - he closes 3 deals a day from home!!!" Great - call Bill and ask if he's willing to pay your mortgage next month.

At this point I meet with about 70% of my clients, but I've been at this for 4 years. Had I tried phone selling when I was new I'd likely be out of this field. Would you really be that pissed if you scheduled 8 appointments a week, ran 6, closed 4 and made over $3,000 a week? At this point I have the skill level to never meet with a client, but I didn't get into sales so I could avoid human contact. In fact, it got very depressing for me to just sit in my house all day.

I think there are two main reasons agents don't enjoy running appointments; 1) No-shows. 2) No sale. Both of these can be avoided. My closing percentage when I meet with clients is over 95% - I rarely leave the appointment without an app. Why?

1) I don't set appointments with people who have little to no interest. Say it's Monday, I'm trying to set the appointment and get this: "Well...heck I know this week it out. I'm swamped. Maybe sometime next week around Thursday or so." Forget it - they don't to meet with you.

2) I do an in-depth health qualification. I'm not gonna sit with a client and be blind-sided with a pre-ex condition I didn't know about.

3) I NEVER say I'm coming over just to show them plans, quotes or to simply give them information. I tell them I'm coming over so they can choose a plan. I go over the application and underwriting process so they're well aware that I'm coming out to write an app.

4) I don't schedule appointments just to close deals. What I mean is, I need to greatly better their current situation. I'm not coming out to see a family of 4 paying $480 and the best I can do is $440 with a solid plan.

5) I always call to confirm. If they don't confirm, I don't show. I call the day before to confirm Mapquest directions - which is actually helpful since a lot of times they know a better way. But if I hit voicemail my message states that they need to call me back. No callback = no appointment.

Trying to tie it all together

Good day today - set two appointments. The rest of this month will be spent generating leads from basically everywhere. I have another chamber breakfast on the 24th, the small amount of ads I have still pull - get a few leads a day through my site, I have the Assurant lead program and hopefully by the end of this week I'll have two telemarketers up and running.

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1 hired

Another decent check coming. Heck, it wasn't all that long ago when I was working security for $12/hr. so I still greatly appreciate making this kind of money. It's a short list of jobs you can work - especially from home - and make six figures. Still, I need a grand a week over this to accomplish my goals. Stay tuned.

I hired one girl yesterday - she sounds fantastic, really needs the money and is partially disabled. I touched on this before a while back but if I'm going to spend my hard-earned money on leads I'd like it to go to people who deserve it and people where the money makes a difference in their lives. I really have no motivation to make the owners of Netquote, InsureMe or HometownQuotes richer then they already are.

Alright, off to my son's soccer game.

Lots of resumes

So far I've received over 20 resumes from the workforce exchange. Not too shabby, but I'm running court records and workers comp searches on all of 'em. I've spoken to around 8 applicants today and it seems like there will be a few gems in there.

Honestly, I'm not overly thrilled to hire telemarketers again. It's a pain in the ass. I've been doing just fine generating my own local business but there's no doubt that I need at least an extra grand a week to launch my plans so I need to suck it up.

If you're hiring telemarketers, you will go through many of them before you find good ones. Some will be lazy - only make 20 or so dials per hour then gripe that they're not getting leads. Others are overly-aggressive and generate junk. They'll take info from secretaries, you'll follow up with the owner who doesn't know what's going on and doesn't want you calling.

That all being said, you can cut down on the BS with a signed agreement and some rules:

1) The person you spoke with must by the person requesting the quotes. Under no circumstances can a secretary request quotes on the owner's behalf.

2) The prospect must agree that an agent will be following up with them. If the prospect does not want an agent to follow up that will not count as a qualified lead.

3) All leads must have an email address for follow-ups. If someone is unwilling to give you their email then it's not a lead.

4) All prospects must understand that the quotes are for individual/family plans - not group plans.

I would not suggest having marketers attempt to qualify. I can put deals together where a marketer wouldn't stand a chance. The only think I want marketers doing is simply getting enough interest generated where they want information and an agent to follow up.

I also pay hourly and the pay goes up with the more leads they generate. If you want to pay more or give bonuses then tie them to the number of leads. This way, they have incentive to dial more numbers per hour. They still have to adhere to the definition of a lead in order to get paid so it's not like they can throw junk at you.

I would stay away from giving bonuses based on closing deals. First of all, that could be construed as commission sharing, which is likely illegal in your state if they're non-licensed. Secondly, you now have to report to them every week as to how many deals you closed. To be frank, it's none of their business how many sales I get.

Getting creative

Ok, I've been assessing the stale mate; making enough money to live, not making the extra amount needed to accomplish my goals. Obviously I need more leads. Without more leads I can dream all I want about a store-front location and a local ad campaign.

I only like working exclusive leads from small biz owners. That's telemarketing. I've done well with telemarked leads for over a year now. I pay $12/hr, they generate 3 leads per hour for $4 per lead. Most are junk so I close about 1 out of 20. Fine - it costs me $80 to get a client.

Now we hit the real problem - volume. If I make $2,000 in a week my time is worth $50 a hour. Paying a marketer is $12/hr so calling 2 or 3 hours per day is not the best plan. I'd also need no less than 60 leads a week to pump up my production. At 3 leads an hour that's 20 hours a week. I do not have 20 hours a week to make calls.

Back to hiring and past problems. Telemarketers don't work. Most don't work at all - you hire and train them and they never call. Others will make 20 or so calls per hour (which is pathetic) then tell you they get zero to one lead. Good ones pound out leads for a while, then evaporate.

I will never hire a telemarketing company. A lead is a name and a number - period. All I'm looking for is owners with enough interest to at least want information. Having marketers attempt to qualify prospects is a mistake and doesn't work. I'm not gonna pay $15 per lead for junk when I can get junk for $4 a lead.

So I had an idea - enroll in the Maryland Workforce Exchange. Employers get to list a postion for no cost and most applicants are welfare, disabled, unemployed (receiving benefits) or are on some state program.

I'd like people who need and appreciate the money. For the right person at-home telemarketing for $12/hr is a dream come true. I'd imagine it would be fantastic for someone who's disabled. If I hire a qualified person I'd also receive a work opportunity tax credit.

A lot of my former good telemarketers simply didn't need the money. They were at-home moms with working husbands. It was spare cash for them and after making calls got a tad boring they quit. I'd rather offer the job to people who really need the money. I don't have a downside here - if someone doesn't work they don't get paid.

Let's see how this plays out. By the way, this will be in addition to continuing with my Assurant LEGS lead program, local chamber events and everything else I'm doing.

Let's talk about my shared lead program

This lead program I'm in is through Assurant called LEGS. I receive shared leads in real time and the leads are managed through my agent site. I can sell any company I want and it's $8 a pop but when I sell Assurant they give me free leads. So as long as I'm always selling a portion of Assurant basically the leads are free.

Since I abhor shared leads so much and my income is from local small biz owners I only called each lead twice - once with a message, one other time and shot out one email. That's it - never contacted them again. If someone really dug in they probably would have squeezed out a few more.

So here are my stats - 102 leads received, 4 closed for Assurant. I also did some state deals - really don't want to count those.

Now - we have two camps. One camp would say that's fine - 1 out of 25 and I'm making a profit. Even if I paid for them at $8 a pop X 102 = $816 and I probably averaged $650 commish X 4 deals = $2,600 - $816 = $1,784.

Then there's my camp and hopefully this post accentuates the problem most agents have with shared leads - volume. I like to close 4 to 6 deals per week - 4 minimum. That means I'd need 100 leads a week.

Raise your hand if you're getting 100 leads a week. Ok - now we know why most agents can't make a great living on these things - you need an insane amount per week. And even if you got 100 a week you're still only netting $1,700 or so after expenses and with $800 a week in expenses most agents don't have the cash to pay for 100 leads a week for 4 to 6 weeks before steady commissions start coming in.

Heaven forbid you're going as-earned. 4 to 5 deals a week off shared leads? Ok, $800 a week in lead costs X 6 months = ....well you only need around 20K. And now we start to see why we have such an incredibally high failure rate on shared leads.

Most agents I know are lucky to get 20 a week. I don't know many getting 30 or 40 but even if you are that's still only 1 to 3 deals per week - after leads expenses = squat. That's also assuming a 100% placement - which most agents don't have.

Summary? They are not bad as a small supplement to other marketing activities. In fact, I have a 54 lead credit so as long as I keep selling and they keep giving me free leads then why sould I cancel the program. Just note that those 4 deals and 100 leads are spread out over a 5 week period of time. So unless I think I can live off 4 deals in 5 weeks I'd better have some other lead sources.

Ok, I screwed off today

I guess it's "do as I say not as I do." What I did today is the kiss of death to most people who try to work from home. My wife wanted me to come with her to get her watch - which was at the jewelry repair place at the mall. Then of course, we had to eat lunch. On the way home we might as well stop off at some food stores, blah blah blah.

Another shining example of how much more effective I'd be in a physical location with other agents around. Oh well, back hard at it tomorrow.

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Pick a system that suits your style

More and more emails and again, most with the same common theme; new agents trying to figure out what to do. What you're going to find is you simply need to choose a method of lead generation that fits your personality and something you'll actually do.

There is no wrong system. The wrong system is the system that doesn't make you money. The wrong system is a system you don't enjoy therefore don't do leaving you sitting in your house all day talking about how everything will change...."tomorrow." There is no tomorrow in this business - only today. This "I'll pick up the phone tomorrow" mentality is just a stall tactic.

Ways to get prospects:
*Buy share leads
*Pick up the phone and telemarket small biz owners
*Hire a telemarketer
*Go business to business
*Get local; network groups, chamber of commerce, ads, seminars, etc...

The bottom line is especially when you're new at least 70% of your day should be lead generation activities and you need at least 10 new contacts to call each day. If you're calling any lead, be it shared or telemarketed closing percentages are around 1 out of 20.

So if you're only working 20 leads a week you'll have between zero to 1 deal. If you're new there should not be a time during your day, unless you're on an appointment, when you're not employing one of those five things listed above to get leads.

When to pull the plug?
*Shared leads - you don't have any money - can't buy leads, or you already bought leads and they don't work for you
*Telemarket - You get nervous just thinking about telemarketing. Every time you tell yourself you'll do it, it never actually happens
*Hire a telemarketer - see above; no money or you simply don't want to deal with hiring and managing a telemarketer
*Going B to B - your area is too small or you would never just walk into a business cold
*Get local - no money for ads, really don't want to join social groups
*No passion - no desire to sell health insurance. If your brother-in-law offered you $800 a week base to sell alarm systems you'd start tomorrow. You'd sell health "part-time."

Ok, so you're basically not going to generate prospects yet somehow you'll get business through osmosis. This is when it's time to keep it real - the Sunday paper comes out in 5 days. Don't torture yourself or your family.

Chamber starts paying off

I got my 1st client today from the chamber of commerce. He owns a flooring and tile store about 15 minutes from me. This was not gonna be attempted on the phone since he has four other people there who were also interested. I had an 8:30am appointment with the owner then the employees at 9:30.

So I signed him up - he's pending since he's on meds. At 9:30 I spoke to his employees - one of which is his girlfriend so I signed her up and that went instant active. She was amazed when we printed off her insurance cards right in the store.

One other employee worked in the warehouse part-time but has a 6 year old - no coverage. He doesn't make enough to get himself covered but his daughter qualifies for free coverage through MCHIP since he makes less than 250% of FPL. I printed out the MCHIP app and obviously he was thrilled to find out his daughter can get free coverage.

Another employee is on her husband's plan, however $160 a week is taken out of his weekly check and it's killing them. That's $640 a month and he said her husband doesn't make much, but she has COPD and smokes. Turns out after she called her husband, he gets free coverage - it's adding the family the triggers the $640 a month rate.

She can get the state plan for $220, the daughter can get her own plan for around $80 and the husband is left primary on his group for no cost. That's a $340 a month savings! She was stunned and literally said "Where in the hell around you supposed to find out about this bullshit!" lol. She's a trip - had everyone laughing. Of course, no one finds out about stuff like this.

One small hurdle is when the husband can drop his wife and daughter from his plan. He's checking with his benefits department today. Referrals? Everyone wanted a ton of cards - the wife on group coverage said her brother's in the same boat - paying $600+ for family coverage so she gave me his number.

Of course, I could have just signed the husband up over the phone. Then erase this entire post after the owner's one app. Not to say I don't sign people up over the phone, but know when it's time to see people.

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Spam Part 2

Ok, I get an email shot to me instantly. Let's review it:

*It has my application ID. Application! What application? I only filled out a request for quotes. Now some people think they actually have an application processing.

*It says "thank you for choosing Netquote." Insteresting - I didn't see the name "Netquote" anywhere on the spam email.

*It has yet another link for me to click and suggests that the more agents I have competing for my business that better. Guess what happens if I click that link and fill out yet another form.

And now you all start to see what happens when people say 4, 5, 6 or even more agents have called. Also, the gig is up after prospects receive this instant email. They now see the list of agents who will be calling them so they know to simply not answer the phone.

Why do internet leads suck so much? Let's find out

Ok, I got spammed with this a few days ago. The 1st thing it touts in the title is "Get Coverage from $40 per Month!" But in the email message it actually touts $30 per month. Now we can stop right there. First of all, we all know no one can get a plan for $30 per month. Secondly, just what kind of prospect is this attracting? The stupid, the young or the broke - oh, and people actually clicking on email spam.

So I hit the site and am promised "instant quotes." Now, to me "instant quotes" means I'm gonna see some figures. Absolutely nothing states that I'm going to receive calls from agents - in which 95% of all prospects would simply leave the site.

So I type in my family info and only after I click to get my quotes does it tell me that several agents will contact me. This is when most people go "CRAP!" and the reason most don't pick up the phone - even though you're calling seconds after you receive the lead.

Now, there are indeed highly interested people - but those people automatically get routed to Ehealth. So let's sum up:

1) You're calling people who think they can get plans for $30 a month
2) You're calling people who have not agreed nor plan on you calling
3) They have already been routed to Ehealth

So now let's up the competition factor in the equation. Obviously I'll be getting calls today so let's say my family wants a plan with maternity and see what happens.

Just walk away

Walking away from a deal is hard and asking questions you don't want to hear the answer to can be harder. With time in this business warning flares will go up after talking to certain clients. This was a case where enough flares were going off to light up a 4th of July celebration.

Got contacted by a lead - 1st flare. She's been on Cobra for months - 2nd flare. She tells me she's perfectly healthy but is really pressing me to get a plan started immediately - 3rd flare. When I was a new agent I'd have simply asked the health questions and did the app.

We went through the entire online app and I went over the MIB and claims review process. After I did the app I walked her through the verification and as she was looking over the app she started asking me more about the claims review. At that point I'd had it and went over how claims works in detail.

Then she coughs it up - car accident a few months ago and her back's been hurting ever since. The Cobra she was on? It lapsed due to non-payment so she doesn't have any coverage. She was simply scared she's get denied if she talked about her back pain - and she's right. Off to the state plan which is where we would have gone in the 1st place if she'd have been upfront with me.

Obviously we all want get paid for our efforts but this is a case where I had to walk away from $600+ and take the $100 from the state.

I really feel sorry for people looking for coverage

Almost at the end of my internet lead freebie program. I'm sorry I ever said yes - 100% total frustration. Any deal I did submit would have been effort better spent on other marketing activities. Just hearing about other agents and how they operate simply puts me in a bad mood. I really like to stay positive and just can't spend defending myself or what I recommend. I really give it to agents who live off of shared leads - more power to ya.

I love the "but internet leads work" agents. No...calling a lot of people works. If you went to a bus stop and pitched 20 people you'd sell a plan - that doesn't mean you should canvass bus stops for business.

This was a classic - got the lead, called and left a very nice message - shot out an email. That was three weeks ago. Well - she called me. It's a mom looking for coverage for her divorced daughter.

So what did she get roped into? A discount plan - Beechstreet PPO. Daughter (now living with her mother) went to get her meds filled - Wellbutrin and Ambien, and you can finish that story.

So another pesky agent bugging her three times a day finally got his claws in her. Of course, that's Golden Rule after the mother expressly told him she wanted all the meds and doctor visits covered REGARDLESS of the cost! The mom makes fantastic money, she's paying and she just wants the damned condition covered.

Obviously you can finish this story although Golden Rule actually declined her. Now she's out the money she spent on the discount plan, she's out one money for the Golden Rule premium until they can refund her and her daughter still doesn't have any coverage. GR would have been the last place I'd have put her.

So we just did an Assurant Max plan - showed copay vs no copay rates and the mom went with no copay. She'll be approved and issued tomorrow.

If anyone's out there on shared leads battling this endless sea of bullshit, go for it. The agent who lies the most wins. If you think you're getting a majority of the business by being ethical and taking your time with people you're in denial.

Kicked out another Aetna

I know I'm busy when I'm didn't even update this blog yesterday - literally all day on the phone, wrote an Aetna app which literally took half of my day. We went back and forth between Aetna and Blue Cross since she wanted maternity. Then my son had soccer practice at 6pm, get home at 7pm, dinner, etc...

Let me spend some time on the difference between people choosing coverage and you having to sell it. If you try to sell health insurance you will find yourself frustrated. Why aren't all those people getting back to you? Why aren't they answering their phone after that great converstion you had? The answer? Who knows.

Not a lot of people are natural buyers; meaning they're simply at the stage where they want to make a change. Most people, even serious ones, are in the research phase and are not in the right frame of mind to pull the trigger. Those are the people you'll call twice a day, day after day and get nowhere.

The bottom line is you need a lot of prospects. How do you know if you have enough? Here's a test: If you're gonna spend today calling all the people who haven't answered their phone before and haven't responded to your emails then you don't have enough prospects.

How many times do I call someone? Twice. The 1st time I leave a nice message, the second time I simply call at a different time of day. Then I'm done. Nothing spells "loser" more then a client seeing your caller ID on their machine 8 times over 3 days. Oh...you're blocking your caller ID? Go form an "L" with your thumb and index finger and put it up to your head. This is not how professionals conduct business.

Without a lot of prospects you're doomed to be a pest. You have to call people incessantly so you can squeeze those 2 or 3 clients out of the 20 prospects you got that week. That's also when you start second-guessing everything. The bottom line is you need to generate enough prospects so you naturally find those 3 to 5 clients per week who simply want what you're selling.

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MHIP - becoming more of a pleasure

I just did yet another MHIP app today and let me tell you, my attitude is really changing on doing these deals.

They are now becoming enjoyable and it's simply great to hear the client's enjoyment in finding affordable guaranteed issue coverage. MD is now the nation's richest state and MHIP shows that affordable comprehensive plans can exist.

As you can see, I can get a 50 year old a $1,000 deductible plan for $305 or the $2,600 for $163. If MD can pull this off, so can the nation. If I got "ANY" commission I'd still be in business as an agent.

MHIP plays me a flat $100. But remember there is nothing to it. Normally I go over the plans and rates with a client in about 10 minutes. They download and fill out the app on their own, I simply sign it and fill in my broker info and it's done.

If all of my carriers had GI plans with these rates and paid me $100 flat I'd be able to kick out 10 apps a week without breaking a sweat. That's $52 a year and I'd cross-sell life. Not a problem. If they paid me 5% commish 10 deals would be 30K in volume = $1,500 a week.

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Agent vs Boiler room

I'm at the end of my "free lead" trial. Haven't talked to much about it - internet leads are simply terrible. I've been writing a lot of state plan though!

Just got a lead - shared of course. Actually got excited to call it - husband 56, wife 60 two kids. Not bad. Ok - let's do "agent versus boiler room!"

stats: Family on Carefirst at $1,800/mo - have had it forever. Husband - recent heart attack, high cholesterol, lots of meds. Wife, healthy and two kids - 18 and 20, healthy. They've in love with Carefirst, don't want to change - want lower rate.

And they're off!

Boiler room: "I'm sorry, you already have a plan and you don't qualify for anything. Thank you."

Agent: "You qualify for MHIP because of your condition - even if you already have a plan. It's $334 for a $1,000 deductible. Because you're primary and canceling your wife and kids can submit a new Carefirst application, go through underwriting again and get $1,000 deductible for $554.

However, if your wife got her own plan it would be $211. You kids should get their own plans because they'll be dropped at age 24 anyway, less employers are offering health, and you should lock them into a plan now. They'd pay $84 a piece so it's actually cheaper to go that way."

So hubby's doing the MHIP app as we speak and taking my suggestion for indie plans for the wife and kids.

Boiler room = Go screw off.
Agent = $1,800 on month on Carefirst - now $713 - still on Carefirst.

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Great past week and taxes

I had a great past week - have a nice Assurant check coming, did a GR deal for $720, two Aetna's and two state plans. Although I didn't do any cold-calling I already addressed that my pay has not gone up significantly - I merely replaced what I used by make cold-calling by going local. This week needs to be a mix of local and cold-calling so I can have extra money to put into local growth.

Taxes. If you're a new agent the best advice I can give you is talk to a tax pro. If anyone's telling you that you don't have to pay quartly estimated taxes they're wrong: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=110413,00.html Do NOT take any tax advice from anyone unless that person is a licensed tax pro!

I misfiled and it took the IRS over 6 years to shoot me a love letter. The penalities and interest were staggering. I made an installment arrangment but strugging to make the payments plus all my bills put my behind on quartly taxes which defaulted my installment agreement. I just had to give them a chunk to get current again.

If it were not for past tax mistakes I'd be in fantastic financial shape. I'd be able to rent a physical location this week. The IRS is 100% of the reason I'm behind the eight ball.

I've also, thankfully, been paying on my past-due state taxes all year (also from years ago.) And thank God! Why? Because they just sent me a letter stating that I cannot renew my insurance license on Oct 23rd unless I'm current. Thankfully I only have $1,100 more to go so that's not an issue.

Everyone talks about difficulties with this line of work. For me finding clients and making money have never been an issue. A huge psychological issue for me is getting a check for $2,000, knowing around $600 of it isn't mine (federal + states) and putting it aside.