Agent Sells 47 Policies In A Single Month
I was reading an article the other day in a popular industry publication describing how an agent wrote 47 life insurance policies in a single month. And he did it by seeing prospects face-to-face. To be honest, I was amazed that such a feat was true. But, after speaking to the agent personally, I was convinced. In fact, he shared with me that he was not the only one at this level of production with his life carrier. Then I was totally blown away that each of the policies sold were traditional whole life policies.
It is common knowledge that telephone boiler rooms exist with newly licensed agents selling term insurance over the phone. And these sales reps who are “chained” to their desks are typically given quotas of 2-3 sales a day. Most annual premiums for these policies usually average around $300 for a 10-Year level term insurance contract.
In both cases, these production levels could not be achieved without a consistent flow of quality leads.
Selling Insurance With A System
Developing An Insurance Selling System
Many marketing gurus today are preaching that success in selling comes easier with systems. That is especially true in selling insurance. Most insurance producers today consist of small 1 or 2 man practices who attempt to wear far too many hats. The producers primary responsibility is to generate revenue income for the practice. However, many times the producer is burdened with too many responsibilities as the marketing guy, the sales rep, secretary, underwriter, customer service, etc. It’s too much for 1 person to juggle.
I’ve read that most insurance producers spend 85% of their time doing administrative tasks, and only 10%-15% actually talking to prospects and selling insurance. This is not very productive.
How can systems solve this dilemma? First, let’s define exactly what a system is. The text book definition is explained as follows,
system: any formulated, regular, or special method or plan of procedure.
Said another way, a system is a set of identifiable tasks that are typically repeated for each sale regardless of the customer. Once identified, these tasks can then be organized and documented as a procedure. Thus, the beginnings of a system.
The nice thing about setting up systems is that once organized and documented, they can then be delegated to someone else, thus alleviating the load on the insurance producer.
In my own practice, if I can create sytems to handle the burdensome administrative tasks, I’m convinced that I can increase my sales production and commission income. By freeing up more of my time from doing repetitive administrative tasks, I can focus on how to get more prospects who want to discuss their insurance needs.
The most common reason coming from producers like myself for not hiring an administrative assistant is that it takes too much time training a new inexperienced person for the job. Documented systems solve that problem. Once created, a system becomes a blueprint for an assistant to follow step-by-step.
I will certainly be identifying and documenting my first system this week. If you are a producer, let me know your thoughts.
Selling Insurance Is About Momentum
Going into 2009, especially in a declining economy, establishing momentum is very important when it comes to selling insurance. I define momentum as choosing, implementing and persisting with marketing methods that result in insurance sales.
Sales are a direct result of having a sufficient amount of leads that are either purchased from a lead generation company, or developed myself. I prefer to generate my own leads because I have more control over my chosen target market. However, it’s certainly much easier to make a phone call and place an order for whatever amount of leads I need.
From past experience, I can usually count on selling insurance to 50% of leads that I generate myself. Yet, the cost of generating these leads is about $50 per lead. That’s not cheap. My gross comission income, however, is about 5 to 6 times my investment.
My favorite sales leads are those that are generated from my existing clients. These leads can be interest from existing clients wanting additional products like life insurance, annuities, or IRA’s. Another favorite lead from existing clients are referred leads who have expressed an interest in discussing their insurance or investment savings.
Whether I purchase leads or generate them myself, good leads are a result of good marketing methods. Also, I’ve been evaluating my lead options, and selecting the appropriate ones for my business by reading the Life Insurance Sales Leads Guide.
Here’s a description of my formula for selling insurance… commission income comes from sales which come from talking to prospects needing to solve a need. My opportunity to talk to propects is a direct result of how many leads I can get which comes from successful marketing methods. Successful marketing comes from establishing mometum.
