Membership webinar today

Again, it's far better to just hold a webinar to answer questions about the association - so if you've emailed me with questions just go to the site:

www.ihiaa.com

at 5p, click the webinar link and call into the conference number. The webinar will last about 10 minutes.

I've been busy lining up more and more member discounts, and it's gonna get real nice. So far we have three lead sources offering discounts - and lesser known sources that don't use spam tactics.

I've also lined up a fantastic agency offering Humana advances - so if anyone is interested in a Humana contract with an advance just contact me today at admin@ihiaa.com or just call: 410-874-7241

Another webinar

As the days go by I get more and more emails and calls about the association. I try to get back to everyone but I'm falling behind with the emails.

I'll be holding a webinar tonight at 6pm - just hit the site: www.ihiaa.com and click the webinar section. All you need to do is click the meeting link and call in right before 6pm EST. I'll go over everything and answer any question.

If you want to be sent a reminder before the meeting starts just email me at admin@ihiaa.com

Yesterday it was call after call lining up discounts and agencies. I have a line on a fantastic agency that gives Humana advances - got more talking to do today for that.

Lined up a very good lead source; shared but they don't redirect to Eheatlh nor use affiliate spam to generate leads. 100% search driven, and tested. 75 cent per-lead discount to members to boot.

Back on the phone today to scour more lead sources.

And the mailers go out!

1st batch of mailers go out today - this is the real size (click on it) and the only change they made was centering and enlarging the text under "webinar." The postcards can be simple since all I really need agents to do is hit the website. Should be interesting results.



In other news I'm getting the Norvax quote engine installed on my site since they just came out with changes that really made a huge difference to me in the way I like to present quotes to my clients.

I'll update you more on the new Norvax features either later today or tomorrow.

Are you an information kiosk - and IHIAA webinar today

First off - we're holding a webinar today on the benefits of joining the association followed by a Q&A session. Go to www.ihiaa.com and click into the webinar link. Yesterday was our largest enrollment date yet!

There is power in numbers and as membership grows we have more leverage to work on steep discounts on services agents use every day.

Onto closing deals. Are you wasting time with tire kickers? Are you trying to chase people down - calling over and over, leaving message after message?

Don't wast time with tire kickers and don't spend countless hours just giving away free information to prospects who never had any intention of enrolling.

It's hard in this business to create a sense of urgency; we can't offer discounts; "buy by tomorrow and save 10%" like most sales industries.

Still - urgency needs to be created but it's a thin like between coming across as helpful without turning into a used car salesman.

Qualification is the key. Regardless of the lead source, my initial conversation is a series of questions - not statements. A huge mistake agents make is going into sales mode with prospects; going over plan benefits and rates.

Instead of launching into a presentation, ask a battery of questions. They won't answer the questions or seem disinterested? Done - move on:

Me: "So what's your biggest concern now about your coverage - your rate or benefits"

Prospect: "ummm, I dunno."

Me: "Ok, what's your current rate?"

Prospect: "Ummm, I dunno. Around $300 I guess."

DONE!!! Move on! There's no interest there. Interested prospects will engage you, answer questions and convey dissatisfaction about their current situation.

However, if you're not careful you can even lose the interest ones but not setting yourself up as someone who's gonna do business.

When I have a prospect on the phone who's conveying interest I have to get them excited about what I can do for them. Normally I'm saving clients money and I put it like this:

"Well Pam, you're currently paying $640 and based on some quick quotes I'm looking at you can save just over $200 a month. How does that sound?" When she says it sounds great I'll say:

"The good news is this is very simple. I can show some plans side-by-side and once you choose the plan you want I can take care of the application in minutes."

This positions me as someone who's gonna do business - no someone who's gonna just "show them quotes." When you do a presentation it's important for them to be in "buying mode" instead of "researching mode."

Addicted to the live desktop presentation

I've now signed up every client over the past 2 weeks using the Zoho desktop share feature and now I really don't know how else I would ever do it.

I like controlling the presentation. Before, I was just telling my prospects to "click this" and "click that" but you're really not on the same page as them.

I'm doing the side-by-side plan comparisons and it really turns it onto a shopping experience. My next step is hooking up with the Norvax engine. As it stands now, I can take them to my site and do side-by-sides for one company but what I'd love to do is comparisons between other carriers.

Imagine taking a healthy prospect and doing a side by side with Copay Select, Aetna ppo30 and Max Plan with a copay. Lol - "Ok Jim, choose $140, $260 or $310."

On the association front, I went with "website tonight" from Godaddy and greatly improved the look of the main site: http:/www.ihiaa.com and the member's site. In fact, from the modest monthly fee ($12) Godaddy charges for unlimited pages it's a far better overall value than using Google's free site.

Exclusive lead source - largest membership day yet

I took on a vice president for the association - friend of mine in MD who's been licensed for over 20 years and a CE instructor for 15 years. He's obviously bringing a lot to the table.

He's been using an exclusive lead source and just crushing it - turned me onto some of the leads and I closed two today. Just fantastic. If anyone wants the info on the leads you're gonna have to call me or email me - it's not gonna be posted, except association members have the scoop.

Largest day for memberships to date - growing very very quickly. There is a lot of strength in numbers and I'm on the horn hours a day talking to everything that is insurance related working on all sorts of deals.

We are starting a mailing campaign next week - mailers going out to newly licensed agents; just passed the test - ink's not dry on their license.

I think we can go a very long way in keeping agents out of bad situations - and we all know what I'm talking about.

Everyone following along with this blog - you are witnessing the birth of what will eventually be the largest insurance association in the country - over time (and no time soon) we can add life, senior and P&C to the mix and have the 1st "independent agent association."

With tons of members just imagine what can be lined up for benefits - and think of the eventual power we can have even dealing with carriers. What will absolutely happen is we'll put a nice dent in the more unethical outfits. It'll be very very interesting as things progress.

Craziness and live webinar today

Well, my goal a while back when I started this blog was gear myself into being busy all day. Safe to say I've accomplished that.

Still calling 1o clients a day - yesterday I called 20. I'm working on solving a few problems - a few feel they've been billed in error. When I asked why they didn't call me the main response was they didn't think I handled stuff like that.

I'm gonna be moving 2 clients over to GRs HSA 100 - they're currently on Assurant's copay plan and I can really lower their rate.

On the association front I ran three webinars yesterday, dealt with arranging some affiliations and am getting a lot of calls and emails about it. Which brings me to my next topic:

It's easier for me to answer all the questions at once so today anyone can jump on a webinar and I'll go over the benefits of membership and answer any questions.

For the webinar - time and how to get it go to the main site: http://www.ihiaa.com - click on the webinar link.

Working my current book of business - lining up carrier training

Over the past two weeks I've been calling 10 clients a day - I have a pretty large book of business after 4 years in the biz and frankly, aside from the constant contact newsletters I do not stay in touch with them.

I think most of us are guilty of concentrating on the next sale and letting clients who have been on the books a while become forgotten.

Well, I did two deals this past week just from calling my book of business. Everyone liked that I called them and I even solved a few problems and am working on moving 6 currently dissatisfied clients to other carriers.

I think my book is large enough where, if I concentrate on referrals, I can get 2 deals per week every week.

For some reason, I've always had some sort of fear (probably from my Mega days) and if I picked up the phone and starting calling people who have been on the books for a while I'd hear:

"Yeah, thanks for calling - this plan sucks and...."

Now - I don't know where the fear comes from - I only sell sold plans and no one I called was mad at me - a few were disappointed with their plans and just want a change.

On the association front - yesterday was the biggest membership day - I was processing new members almost all day.

Looks like a lot of people, just like me, really want a community environment - and of course we go far past that with a ton of support.

Starting on Monday we'll have a full schedule of live webinar/conferences that members can punch into at will. We're gonna have two general webinars where everyone can get around with everyone else and we can simply shoot the shit and trade ideas.

I'll also be announcing the 1st contest on Monday. Imagine, contests, prizes and recognition for independent agents.

However, much more important to me is training. I called most of the top national carriers last week and had some great conversations on how a lack of training on the corporate level really hurts them.

So what I'm lining up is a rep from the carrier running a webinar for members. So someone from "ABC Carrier" will run a presentation on the plans, underwriting and ethical standards for agents for members. All of them said yes.

Now what we can eliminate is new agents being either not training or mis-trained by GAs, MGAs, FMO's etc...Remember, the association does not offer contracts - our members still have to hook up with the carrier directly (almost zero training) or go through an agency (iffy training.)
Right now the only way carriers know to do business is:

A) Marketing outfits recruit agents for them
B) Agents simply happen to fall into their lap after they get contracted

I will argue with anyone that both of those methods are failed models. Another model is to have agents join the association, get all the basics and tools they need for success, then call up Unicare, for example, and say "Ok, we have 60 new members who need contracts - let's schedule the Unicare training webinars for them."

Over time, this can change a lot of the ways this industry current runs.

Knocked out a GR HSA - half the day on the association

For those of you reading along this blog is obviously about my day to day activities in the insurance field - now that I've started the association it's simply part of my day.

Out of the clear blue the phone rings - referral. Very nice guy, 36 no health conditions and got a glowing review on me from one of my clients. He just dropped his BX coverage this past January due to the rate.

We went right online - didn't even do the desktop share, showed him the GR rates - he asks for my recommendation and I say "there's not even a close second - the HSA." He rarely uses health insurance so a copay plan would be ridiculous.

This has something to do with staying in much better contact with my clients. I'm going through my book of business and calling 10 or so clients a day just staying in touch. All of them really appreciated the call.

Starting now I'm going to send coffee mugs with my agency's name out to everyone with a fridge magnate. After that I'm going to stay in touch with everyone 4 times a year. I think with the block of business I currently have there's no reason why I shouldn't be getting at least 2 referrals per week.

Then reason I'm not is simple; we forget about each other as time goes by. They probably don't have my card - lost it or put it away - I send out the Enewletters which most people just probably scan and delete.

I need the fridge magnate so my name is always available and I think the coffee mugs are a nice touch - no one throws away mugs. I have a nice small collection.

Very busy yesterday with the association - got 8 new members yesterday and got everything sent out to them - also did 3 personal training webinars and I have a group webinar scheduled for today.

I'm also lining up more and more member discounts and current going back and forth with a lot of companies. I'm also busy creating more download-able training webinars so agents can choose their topic and view it when they want.

As time goes by I'll be spending a lot more time on the association as I have very big plans for it. I think, if done properly and I provide a great value, it can really take off.

I personally get a great deal of satisfaction from helping people. I have a lot of passion, especially when it comes to newer agents, since I remember what it was like to be new and try to get decent information.

I think new agents are set up to fail. They really don't have much chance of success at all. Captive outfits teach them the wrong methods and you pretty much can't go independent with zero training and support.

A total lack of community environment means boredom with leads to a lack of motivation, then self-doubt. When that happens and you get into "I don't know what I'm doing wrong" mode it's the beginning of the end.

I've had senior agents join just because they want to get around with others - trade ideas, tools, marketing techniques and basically have a fun environment.

When you do well and your name comes out in the next newsletter (member's choice) it can mean a lot. Contests and prizes start in April - which will be a blast.

The most successful people in the country don't sit alone at home. They surround themselves with other successful people.

Hooked up with Norvax

I've been working with Norvax on a discount for association members and after a few days of reaching the right person it's a go. I've lined up discounts on the Norvax quote engine and their leads.

At first their offer came back with a discount over their published rates, however I knew that 1st price they hit me with could be given to an agent just sticking to their guns and asking for a discount - so I asked them to dig deeper.

It's "everyone wins" since members get rates they can't get on their own and Norvax gets more business. I personally don't get squat except the more benefits I offer with membership the more members I get - and the more members the more "strength in numbers" which leads to better deals.

I also told Norvax when agents are supported it leads to increased sales which basically means everyone's better off. The average new agent now might buy leads and drop off quickly. That same agent with training and support can learn to work those leads better which is more money for the agent and more money for Norvax.

I'm working now on them actually featuring my association however I got kicked up to the next level for that request.

I'm not a huge shared lead fan but many agent's are so I'm now working on the major lead carriers. Say I get a $1 per lead discount for members with Netquote and someone normally buys 20 leads a week. That's a $20 saving per week - dues are $20 a month, which means they're ahead of the game by $60 per month.

This is how it works with Gary's CRM - member's price is $300 in stead of $350 - dues are $20 per month which means members are ahead by $30 per month just for the CRM discount.

I want to be able to get some fun going - prizes, contests, etc...but not the typical agency stuff where the agent with the most production wins. To be honest, most agents hate those contests since you might as well just give the prize to the top guy.

I'd like the association contests to be structured in a way where everyone has an equal chance of winning regardless of their experience.

The association so far is growing with new members every day so right now I'm online shopping for some cool prizes for our 1st contest.

Using desktop sharing for presentations

As you all know, I do a mix of in-person and online. Most of my sales are online - about 80% and I've used a lot of different methods but the desktop sharing is my favorite.

First of all, I don't believe in going over rates with people who are not yet qualified. It's pointless if they are no where close to be in the right place in time to sign up.

Qualify first. Ascertain the level of interest. Make sure you can help their situation and that they want help.

My line is "what are you looking to change, your rate or your benefits?"

It's an ugly question to ask since 90% of the response is "nothing, I'm happy with what I have." Worse yet is not qualifying people with no current coverage. You might be thrilled to show that family of 4 a $280 rate but it's $280 a month more than they paid last month.

For the uninsured the question is "when did you want coverage to begin?" The answer most of the time is "well, right now I'm just looking."

Fine - none of that bothers me. I'd rather be blown off then stroked along. Tell me now that you're not interested, not after our 4th call. Some agents get ticked when they get bottom-lined on the first call. To me those are the people I don't have to waste time with.

So, now I've ascertained interest and found someone who's bitching about their plan or rate. Now it's info collecting time:

• what carrier do they current have
• what's their current rate
• how often do they see their doctor
• what's the medical history
• height and weight
  

I'm always surprised when agents put the cart before the horse; go off quoting rates and showing plans - then come to find out they're overweight with high cholesterol.

No auto agent can quote true rates without knowing about tickets, accidents and DUI's.

Ok, while I'm asking them the qualification questions I have my browser up and am running quotes. I need to know if I can help.

If I can improve their situation I'll give them a range of quotes since I'm going to eventually compare a few plans. So I'll say:

"Ok, you're currently paying $740. From what I'm looking at you can save between $210 and $280 a month depending on which plan you choose."

I like putting it in terms of savings rather than rates. I think "you can save $260 per month" has more impact then "I can get you $560."

Once they express interest that the savings are good enough to move on my line is:

"...it's your choice. I can either sit down with and go over your options, then you can choose a plan and I can take care of the application or we can do it online which takes about 15 minutes."

Most will say "Online." If they say they'd like to do it online I'll ask if they have 15 minutes now. If not, then I set up a time for an online meeting.

For the meeting, I punch into Zoho and set up the conference - I then send the invite with time to log in. When I call my prospect I just tell them to click on the link and log in.

When desktop sharing is activated I take them to my website's quote page. I already know the carrier I'm gonna recommend so I run quotes while they watch.

There's a "coolness" factor to this since most people don't know desktop sharing exists. It's also engaging for them to see the quotes and plans and you control the presentation.

Instead of telling them to "click on this" and "click on that" I can do side-by-side plan comparisons for them.

After they choose a plan I can start the broker assisted app and they can watch me fill out the application. This really alleviates the boredom clients have to go through as the agent asks them 10 minutes+ worth of information - now my clients get to follow along.

I think it also gives a lot of legitimacy to the billing section since you don't have to just ask for billing info - they see the page and the info you need.

If you haven't tried the live desktop feature - punch into Zoho and try it out.

A great response to the association

I am very impressed with the response to the new association. I'll talk more about it since I've received a lot of emails with some general themes.

Some people feel $19.95 per month or $200 one-time is cheap therefore they won't be getting much. Don't worry - that rate is for initial members. I want to build up membership and exceed expectations. I'm also going to be surveying members often and tweak it as I go along to make sure everyone is getting the maximum value.

Once it's fully launched and off the ground dues will be around $49.95 per month - which is where I put the value of membership. Even at that rate a one deal per year pays for it. GoToMeeting charges $50 a month and you get one benefit.

Where I think I pegged it is agents simply want a community environment. It increases motivation, solves boredom and increases production.

Agents want help "on demand" when they need it but also want to be recognized for their efforts and accomplishments. We will be featuring members who have achieved a goal and as we grow we'll actually be giving out small prizes and gifts to members who are doing well.

I cannot stress enough how important a community environment can be - even just with idea sharing.

What I'd like, and am creating is simple; all the fun benefits and fun involved with being the member of an outfit without any of the BS. And we all know the normal "WHAT ARE YOUR NUMBERS!" bs that we all hate.

Number don't matter - what matters is that you're maximizing and reaching your personal goals. Can you really do that alone in your home office? Possibly....but unlikely.

Extremely busy day - closed my in-person

Very busy today to wrap up the week - which is the way I like it. I had agents sign up for the association so I spent time with them and did two CRM demos.

I ran my appointment and I'm glad I confirmed the address tonight - the address I had was his business address however I was going to his house which was 40 minutes north! So it was an hour and fifteen minutes each way - quite the haul.

However, it's a family of six on a Mega plan paying $800+ per month....worth the drive. The wife would not do it online, she wanted to meet with me. She was pretty bitter - had the "fool me once..." attitude.

Her Mega agent was very slick according to her, made it sound like the best plan in the world. Sos he grilled me. I knew I was in for it when I sat down and she had a table full of Mega paperwork and a calculator. No one would have closed this online - not a shot in hell.

She was all business - barely looked at me. The husband was the opposite - we hit it off and we're going on and on about all kinds of stuff. I actually though the wife was so turned off in general that I wasn't gonna get the deal.

She probably asked a solid 20 minutes of questions. Fine - I nailed it. The entire family is healthy but she's on two meds for HBP - so there's no way they were going to GR. She was already bitching that Mega didn't cover anything.

But I gave it a try - showed her GR and said right upfront that her HBP and any outpatient treatment would not be covered. She simply pushed the brochure away.

Off to Assurant - Max Plan at $585 per month - it'll be approved in a day and I already built in the increase. Nice to close the week out with a $1,700 commish.

IHIAA

I had my link up to the association I'm starting a few weeks ago and took the link down after enough agents signed up that I could handle initially.

Now that I'm over the hump with most of the major training it's open again for some more members.

So what's this about? There's just too much BS in this industry- basically no place for either new agents or agents moving into selling health to go.

There's no community environment for independent agents and if you have a question, problem, concern or are simply excited about a sale - there's just nothing.

I want to pull independent agents together to create a network. The dues are $19.95 per month and to be honest, for a new agent or anyone who wants a supportive community environment that's chump change.

If you're interested just click the link to the top right and read about it. You can download the forms but don't pay - call me instead. I want to make sure it's a proper fit before any money is remitted.

If anyone has any questions about it just call me - 410-874-7241

This is a marketing, not a sales job

Unless you have some massive book of business where you're getting 3 to 5 referrals a week this is a marketing job. It's 80/20 - 80% marketing - 20% selling.

How long does it take to close the average deal (presentation + app) - no longer than an hour. The math is simple - even 5 deals a week is only 5 hours of selling out of 40.

If you're meeting with clients, even doorstep to doorstep is 2 hours per day and only 10 hours out of 40. And if you're qualifying correctly you're not doing a bunch of presentations that don't end in sales.

And now we get back to that over 80% of your week is marketing. That's 6 hours a day that needs to be spent either generating leads or calling leads back.

The reason for the high failure rate isn't because agents can't close deals. It's because they spend so little time marketing they never reach interested and qualified prospects.

If you think this is a sales job then:

• Try to sell someone a plan who has little to no interest. Sales books will teach you how to turn disinterested people into sales - give it a shot

• Try to get someone to commit before they're ready to do that app. Sales books will teach you how to close people quickly. Be my guest.
  

None of it works....but it's fun to read. What sales book do teach is basic sales skills that are indeed necessary for this job - but by no means will turn "I'm too busy, call me next week" people into clients.

You can try to fish with a spear if you want. You'd better be patient and damned good. I'm neither. I'd rather cast a net over the side of the boat, scoop up a ton of fish and throw the ones I don't want back.

At the end of the day I have fish in the fridge - the guy with the spear is still staring at the water.

You need A LOT of prospects - even if your goal is 2 or 3 apps per week. Not many agents are closing better than 1 out of 20 regardless of the lead source. You want three apps? You won't pull it off with less then 60 leads a week.

If you're manually dialing and getting 4 lead an hour that's 15 hours a week on the phone for 3 deals. Here's the problem - when I can you'll get 3 deals out of 20 leads that doesn't mean immediately. 1 may close in a day or two - another might close in a week and the last might close in 3 weeks.

Because of that it gives the new agent the illusion that "this isn't working" and the throw in the towel quickly. Maybe 2...3...possibly 4 days of telemarketing they say "hmmmm, 4 days of this and only 1 deal - it doesn't work."

You need the pipeline - and I can't state with enough aver (hey, that makes me look intelligent!) that you NEED a pipeline of leads before you start putting in consistent deals.

How much in the pipeline? 100. You need to amass 100+ leads before anything will start happening consistently. Most agents pack it up way before 100 leads are generated.

Another HSA

Put in another HSA today - with my goal being to make almost all of my business HSAs. The longer I'm in this business they're just the only things I really can stand behind.

Two deals in this week so far with 2 more online appointments and an in-person on Friday - I should hit 5 apps this week.

I got a great quote request though my site today from one of my faxes - husband is diabetic, wife and two kids - on Cobra for $1,100.

His benefit admin told him because of his diabetes he'd have to ride out Cobra for 18 months. Wrong. He's off to MHIP and I'm writing the wife and kids - they're thrilled.

I didn't put in any time on the dialer today - my son's school was canceled so I make call-backs, did the HSA deal and played with my boy - probably only put in a solid 3 hour day today however one of the pleasures of being self-employed is being able to handle curve balls.

Back up your data

Our power went out, apparently around 1am and obviously no computer. Area wide - 17,000 knocked out including my son's school so he's off today. Power company's message was all power restored by late tonight.

As luck would have it we just got power back now - and I was on my way out the door. I have everything stored online - all of my prospect spreadsheets, appointments, documents and obviously I can run quotes online.

If you use a desktop CRM to store all of your client and prospect data you're ass out if the power fails and really ass out if you crash unless you backed up your data.

Now, without anything being online - what if I had an appointment this morning with all my client's info - name, number, address, etc...stored on my desktop? I'm screwed. However, I can pick up my cell and call anyone to access my appointment calendar to get the info I need - then drive over one of my friend's or family's home and get to work - really not skip a beat.

Flash drives are fine but useless if the power's out - you'd have to drive somewhere. They're also useless if they melt in a fire. Pure preservation of client and prospect data is online storage. Everything I update gets stored online before I wrap it up for the day.

I personally use upload all my Excel and Word docs to Google but there's a ton of online storage places - including Zoho. I use the Google calendar for all of my appointments.

Working 9 to 5

Well, one of my 1st legitimate days where I worked the full day. Very satisfying. I hopped on the dialer at 9:15 today since I knew I need time to do my call-backs and get in 3 hours on the dialer.
I got in just over three....had to go that extra 10 minutes to get my 30th lead. I just couldn't leave it at 28 (the report shows 28 but I got 30.)



I did call-backs from yesterday's leads and I'll go over some things:

• 2/3rds of people saying "send it" are secretaries. I generated 30 leads today and 12 from owners. Most owners who answer have group and I simply don't deal with group.
  

• When I called everyone back from yesterday I came to find it's a waste of time to call the secretaries back. All of them from yesterday just blew me off with "yep, got the fax.....see ya." The same gatekeeper who wouldn't let me pass yesterday obviously are not gonna let me pass today - and a few were a bit miffed I called back today. I won't be calling gatekeepers back anymore.
  

• I set three firm appointments today from yesterday's leads....but from the owners I knew I already had interest. As I'm making the calls I run into those owners with natural interest. Those are the rare "I'd love to see what you have - please send it. My rate's blah blah..."
  

So basically what this is all coming down to is this method is simply a way for me to have an easy time on the phone so I can stay on the phone long enough to find the people with natural interest. Works for me.

Another item to note - enthusiasm. You need it. I was doing well on the dialer for just coming up on 2 hours, then my tone started to drop. I was getting a bit burnt and wanted to ride it out until I hit the 2 hour mark.

Interesting to note that when your tone drops so do the leads. Later today I grabbed another cup of coffee (nice psychological boost) and hopped back on to try a little experiment. I called for about 20 minutes with a pretty flat "lifeless" voice and just read the script. Nothing - nodda. No leads. I could physically feel how uncomfortable people were.

Then I got back into a strong, firm but happy voice and started pounding them out again. Lesson? This is nothing were you can just put in your time. You need to be into it and believe in your script. You need to be upbeat and change the tone of your voice to keep interest.

But again, a solid full day today and I'm already seeing that it's gonna take full days to punch out a deal a day. That's fine and I need to create a habit or working all day.



This is not easy - it's hard. If it was easy the average commish wouldn't be $700 - three a week is six figs and we all know how many agents are making six figs.

Here are some unfortunate facts:

• Most people are not gonna switch no matter what the rate is. They are "security" people and would rather keep their high rate on the plan they trust.
  

• Most people don't qualify for indie plans. They have either too many health conditions or are undergoing some type of treatment.
  

• You can't better most people's situations. Although the media falsely reports that there's a health insurance crisis nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is almost everyone is perfectly happy with what they have.
  

So who are we looking for?

1. Someone with current coverage
2. Someone who's unhappy enough with their current plan to switch immediately
3. Someone who qualifies

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a very very small percentage of your market. That's not meant to be a downer - just a reality check.

I have no problem just busting my ass all day if it results in 5 deals a week. That's a crap load of money. I'm actually very excited.

Amazing day and some thoughts

Well, I'm proud of myself. Just over 4 hours on the dialer with 32 leads generated.

498 dials
249 minutes
31 leads
29 said piss off
118 messages



2 of the 31 leads were call-backs from messages left - which are obviously fantastic leads. One's a slam dunk - husband 57, wife 57 paying $800 on Mega. He literally said "...I got your message. You got anything that can get me off this shit?" My kinda guy.

If I don't have more than one deal out of today's work I'll be stunned. I'm also tracking my time - which was be an eye-opening endeavor. Although we all like to think we work hard, charting your time will prove otherwise.



Even with 4 hours on the dialer plus time faxing and emailing I only came up with 6 hours of work today - 2 hours shy of a full day. Part of my problem was the 9:50 start time - which I'll solve tomorrow.

So now the gloves are off. I have Gary's incredible dialer, I have a very comfortable pitch and now it's about logging in the time. Can I simply log in the time and put a million on the books? It's not "can I" but "will I."

The elusive deal a day and Zoho

Ahhhh, the deal a day. Yes, I've dreamed the dream. A deal a day comes out to 1 mill a year in volume and I personally do not know any agent doing it with personal production. Why? A few reasons:

• Money: Closing 1 out of 20 leads (pretty much par for the course) at $7 a pop = $700 a week in lead costs. It's a thin list of agents with $700 per week in marketing money. It's also an organizational nightmare to try and deal with 100 shared leads a week.
  

• Can't generate volume on your own. Without buying leads you'd still need to generate very high volume. Aside from hammering the phones almost all day I can't think if a way to generate a high volume of leads.
  

• Belief in what you do. Even with the marketing money or the means to generate a ton of leads, without the firm belief that you're really helping your clients you'll never have the drive.

Well, I feel comfortable enough with my telemarketing pitch to spend a lot longer on the phones then I'm used to so I'm going to drastically increase my phone time to see if I can nail that deal a day.

It's gonna be a lot of time generating leads and a lot of time following up. With my pitch, these are totally unqualified leads and calling back is a lot of "yeah, we got the fax....bye." I really can't worry about any type of closing ratio and simply focus on "X" amount of time spent on the phone = "X" amount of business hitting underwriting.

1st report out tonight.

You should also check out http://zoho.com - they have a lot of free business applications such as a webinar with live desktop sharing, web conferencing and a host of other business tools. As you see, you can embed a presentation or publish it online or share it: http://show.zoho.com/public/healthagent/Telemarketing

Yes another doctor update

Well, apparently I gave a good HSA presentation. After my HSA vs Copay pitch the wife's gut instinct was to go with the Copay Select since at $500+ per month it was $200 less then what they were currently paying.

But I told her that's really not the point. The point is pure protection which copay plans don't offer. So I got not one, not two but three more calls back throughout the early evening with both the husband and wife on the line digging very deep into the real differences between HSAs and copays.

Of course, I'm a HSA advocate to my presentation was obviously slanted towards HSAs. I get "we'll need to think about this and call you back."

Normally that's my "....call you back... in a month" signal however my phone rings just after 8pm and it's the husband saying he's stuck on the GR app.......which I hate it when clients simply decide to click "apply" without me because I like to either do the app myself or walk 'em through it while they're doing it.

So what did they pick?