Very excited for '08!

I'm very geared up for '08. I think it's going to be my best year in this business. I posted a while back about potential changes to our industry in the upcoming years. The bottom line is no one knows what's going to happen 3, 5 or 10 years from now. I'm sure if you asked Mass. agents 5 years ago whether or not their state would have implemented their system most would have said "Nah - just a bunch of politicians talking."

I like "expect the best, plan for the worst." I really love this industry and what I do but have admittedly not maximized my potential. I really don't want the train to stop some time in the future and spend the rest of my life saying "well, I really could have made "X" amount if I would have given it 100%."

I will never maximize my potential sitting in a chair in front of a computer. I'm a people person - not a glorified telemarketer. I simply perform better and are much happier when I'm out and about.

My flyer campaign is first - I'll be out with those this week. Although I'll continue with telemarketed leads those will be eventually burn out since I'm only generating business is my locality this coming year. I'll have much more of a focus on renting table space at events - to which I have no earthly clue as to what the return will be on that.

But I'm not a "guesser." You can play with stupid math scenarios and lock yourself into "analysis paralysis" and never get anything done. Most new ventures are "do, fail, tweak, re-do." I'm prepared for that.

The bottom line is this; I can go B to B as I have many, many times in the past and write 3 apps a week for 10 hours of B to B. My average commish is $800 so you can do that math. Expenses are zero (minus cost of flyers.) Can another agent make 10 hours of calls and get 3 deals? Not sure - maybe. Are they all biz owners? Probably not.

Every time I've done B to B my laziness kicks in and I start thinking "well there just has to be a way where I can do less effort with the same results."

But B to B is also no long term solution since again, you burn up the territory. You can't walk into the same business again a months later: "Hey, me again."

I'm simply anxious to see how being very active in the community in general will result in business. Only time will tell.

Researching local events

A few months ago we went to a German festival at Fort Meade which is five minutes from our house. It was packed with sponsors who all had tables - well over 50 businesses. The place was mobbed and there were lines of people waiting to visit the tables to pick up information and the giveaways.

Come to find out later it was a whopping $150 to rent a table. You didn't need any huge trade show display. All you needed was $150 and something to give people who stopped by.

The event was Sat. and Sun. Just a wild guess - I would have pulled at least 20 deals out of it. I pulled 7 deals out of a small health fair held at a local fire station (which only ran 10am to 2pm) in '04 and about 200 people where there. There's one thing however I don't have to guess at. I didn't get any business out of it because I didn't have a table.

I've done a lot of research and obviously events are all over the place - far too many to be to personally attend. I'd like to be at the larger events this year - the Maryland State Fair pulls in 600,000 people. How much business would I get out of that?

I think a lot of it is how you have it designed. If you just plant your ass in a chair and people come by to just take your brochures and giveaways - probably not that many. If you create a bit of a buzz and get people to write down their basic info then obviously you'll do a lot better.

In our area Chick-Fil-A always has a booth where you spin a wheel to see which giveaway you'll gonna get. You also fill out a card to win a bigger prize.

I'm not sure I can give away any type of large prize due to rebating laws. But I can absolutely have people fill out short "get a free quote" cards. The bottom line is when people come by you want their contact information.

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Gearing up for '08

My original goal has not been forgotten; to establish a local health insurance agency. True to that goal I'm gearing up for '08 in a few days. Everything done to gain business with be local. That will include:

1) Local telemarketed leads
2) Renting table/booth space at events
3) B to B flyers - probably pay someone to distribute them
4) Ads in local publictions

My theory:
A lot of people would review their coverage and possibly switch but there's no local established agent/agency they know about and trust. We all know that most people actively seeking quotes are young, broke or unhealthy.

Most people with money, between 40 to 62 with coverage just suck it up. They're likely uphappy with their rate but wouldn't be caught dead typing in their personal information on the net.

I am happiest when I'm out of the house. I successfully sold online for almost a year - never met with a single client. And I was never more miserable.

Merry Christmas

MERRY

CHRISTMAS!!!

Hell Yeah!

Mail truck pulls up yesterday and gives me a package. I open it up and it's a frick'n Magellan RoadMate GSP Navigation system from my Assurant RSD. How cool is that!

I've been wanting a navigation system for a while so I'm thrilled. I've been playing with it every since I got it - has the voice feature and everything else I'd want.

In other news, my seminar for new agents is almost done. Actually, there's not too much to put together. We all remember when we first go licensed and said "Ok, now what."

Most newbies get sucked into NAA, Mega and Aflac or captive life companies who may or may not be telling them what it's really gonna take to make that "easy six figure" income everyone's touting.

I'm a firm believer that any agent who has a great work ethic and sales skills would do far better selling health insurance then any other product. But just how would any agent get into the health field? Ummm.....unless it's UGA, Cornerstone or UA they wouldn't. Most new agents don't even know companies like Golden Rule exist none less how to get appointed.

The seminar isn't going to be about one company being better or one way of generating leads being superior. It'll be about letting agents know all the available ways to generate leads with all the pros and cons of any method.

So what I've put together is a "how to become a health insurance agent." No one will contact under me - that's a conflict of interest.

I've received a decent amount of feedback regarding pricing and everyone's all over the map from $50 to over $1,000.

First of all, it's not necessarily about what it's worth but what people are willing and able to pay. It's also about starting low to establish myself then possibly charging more. I think the initial fee will be around $200.

No more secretaries?

I guess this is a bit off topic from health insurance but I've been doing a lot of research lately which entails calling a lot of companies. I'm stunned by the number of voice mails I get either calling the mail toll free number or going straight to the voicemail of people high up in the company.

Where the hell did all the secretaries go? I don't mind hitting voicemail if I'm calling a person or home-based business. But if I'm calling a company with a business location I should never hit voicemail - ever.

These companies don't want to spring for $12/hr to have someone answer the phone? There's also a lot of message services you can hire where someone will answer with your company name and take a message.

Even more insane is unreturned messages. These companies have no idea why I'm calling - if I hit "Bob's" voicemail I simply leave "please call me back at ****" message. I could be a potential client - no returned call.

Still chugging along

Again, sorry for the lack of updates but between Christmas, my wife starting a new job, keeping up on individual business and working on a project my time has been limited, but I'll be back to updating every day.

I'm not doing any type of marketing right now for new health sales - kinda "off" until Jan 2nd. I still get new business from existing leads and referrals. I also have renewals.

Right now I'm putting together a kind of workshop or seminar to educate newly licensed agents or agents looking to make a switch into health insurance sales. It will not replace my individual sales but simply be something I do around twice a month.

No one needs me to explain that new agents basically are screwed when it comes to carrier contracts, lead sources and a myriad of other land mines and pitfalls. As we all know, most new agents get snatched up by unethical captive companies and those who wish to go independent don't have the faintest clue on how to go about it. They end up signing up with agencies who only tout one or possibly two carriers.

I still have not figured out:

1) How long the seminar would need to be - I'm thinking 6 hours.
2) How much I'd charge.

It's actually not a matter of how much I'd charge, but how much someone's willing to pay for a fair value. Comments are welcome. How much would any of your paid to get "all the scoop" on going independent.

Sorry for the lack of updates

I'm sorry for the lack of updates but I'd like what I post to be new and not just rehashing old posts. I'm current doing consulting for four clients so I'm trying to give them my time. Although I'm still writing deals I'm also working heavily on a project - have been for about 2 months now - that's not even close to being finished yet. When it gets closer to being done I'll talk more about it.

Up to 8 agents??? WTF!

I'm trying to help out a new agent and am doing some shared lead research for him. Just got off the phone with InsureMe since a few year ago they were one of my better sources - the volume was simply never there.

I was stunned when I asked how many agents share the lead and heard "up to 8." What! Up to 8? She said the average is between 3 to 5 but yes, in some markets it's shared with 8 agents.

Man, you just really have to feel for these people wondering onto websites thinking they're gonna see quotes and up the 8 agents call them. How in the hell does InsureMe think the client is served by any more than 3 agents calling? It really burns my biscuits.

Holiday blues

Ok, even I like this template better. Done.

I'm getting a bad case of the holiday blues which is way too soon. I still have 2 1/2 weeks of solid selling to do and I'm doing my best to punch it out until the 21st. From the 21st to the 2nd you're pretty much dead in the water. Consider it our industry's one week vacation.

My wife just started her first job in six year yesterday! That's fantastic since any income she brings in is extra money - and we need it. Although I made good money I'm buried in tax debt from before I even became an agent. Then during my 4 years as an agent I made 3 good attempts at recruiting. Unless you have a bank roll and don't mind working 12 hours a day I don't recommend hiring.

I can give you a little "recruting 101"

First of all, how much are you writing? If you're not writing much you shouldn't hire - if you can't do you can't teach. Actually, if you can't do you shouldn't teach. If you can do, and make good money it will take 4 agents writing the same amount as you to replace your income. About 1 out of every 50 agents hired will be a consistent producer - and you have to train and babysit the other 49.

Marketing

First of all, now I'm depressed. I hated the old look of this blog and really like the new antique look. However, my sister thinks it looks girly. Oh well.

I think I've succeeded in confusing a lot of people regarding marketing in general - shared leads, live transfers, hire girls, get Gary's CRM, etc...

Let's break it down:

The single best way to generate leads is picking up the phone and making calls. It's free and effective. I really recommend Gary's CRM (call Gary at 912-944-2540.) You can easily generate 4 to 6 leads per hour - call it 5 for the math and you'll write 2 to 3 deals week.

If you're new in this field you want to be able to take your time with clients until you get a feel all of this.

If you're new in this business:

A) Pick up the phone and start making calls
B) Hit the street with some flyers and go B to B

There is no "C." Spending a lot of money on leads when you're new is pretty much an express ticket out of this business. Under no circumstance would I recommend a new agent buy shared leads. Save yourself the time and just hop on Monster.com

Even now I don't go anywhere without flyers in my car. If we stop off at any shopping plaza I hit every store then catch up to my wife. If I get a deal a month out of it that could be $700 a month extra.

Live transfers and hiring marketers/running a campaign

I would only recommend spending money in leads when you at least have a few deals under your belt. When you do, make sure you're spending money on exclusive leads. There has never been a more failed concept than sharing leads. Most will fail. The few with success experience great frustration and it's not the way to make a living in this business.

Even with all that said I'm out to proove to myself that nothing will trump establishing a stong local presence.