Leads are the single greatest tool that an agent with Senior Life Insurance Company can have, especially when it comes to our Leads the Way app. The amount of success an agent will have is contingent upon one key factor that is overlooked constantly: Perception. The perception on how we view leads is a direct correlation to the outcome. Plain and simple, if you have no confidence in a lead then it will be highly unlikely that you will profit enough from it. You cannot live solely off of low hanging fruit.

Confidence does not come from the experience of winning, like most people think.  Confidence comes from knowing you can give your absolute best effort in any given moment. My goal is to help manage your expectations and perception on leads in a way that will give you more confidence in working leads. This is the secret sauce, the magic fairy dust.

First, we must understand the minds of our targeted market and why they respond to ads via the internet, TV commercials, and mailers. Nobody would ever respond to any advertisement unless there is a need and a problem to be solved. NOBODY. This is the first rule and you must believe this 100% without any doubt. 
There are only 3 reasons why someone would request information:
1- The prospect has no life insurance at all.
2- The prospect wants to compliment what they currently have.
3- The prospect would like to save money.

With that being said we must also understand that NOBODY really thinks that they will NOT get a call at all from someone like us (a sales person).  How they act and what they say is a different story.  The reality is that we must not allow what they say and how they act to throw us off. Let’s look at this analogy… When you walk into a shoe store, what normally happens?  You are greeted by a sales clerk and they ask us if they can help us. Our response 90+% of the time is “no thank you, I'm just looking”.  See the point?  We are programmed to say “no.” It has become part of our DNA.  What we must keep in mind is that their responses are just reactions to our approach. What I've also learned is that we must not react but we must respond in a way that makes them feel at ease and relaxed. 

Here are some common responses:
1- I already spoke to someone.
2- I already took care of this. or, I already have insurance. 
3- I’m not interested anymore.
4- I never called, responded to, or filled anything out. 
5- I wanted the information mailed to me. 

The list goes on. You must realize that these are just reactions. Remember in the beginning when I said that NOBODY would respond unless they were interested?  Now, that level of interest is what we must figure out and bring them from whatever percentage they are at to 100% and sold.  People only buy things because they need a problem to be solved or they fall in love with something. No other reason. The problem for us is that if we cannot get past the intro, then we have no chance in finding out what the problem is for us to solve it. Let's stay focused on that introduction and overcoming some of the things we may hear on the front-end so we can do a proper presentation, identify the problem, and then solve it. 

The best way to lower the customers guard is to simply agree with them. Yes, it's that simple. Agreeing with a prospect will get them feeling like you are on their side. At this point in the process, anything you hear is a complaint, this is not the objection yet. We do not want to address these complaints. We need to just agree and move on.  This will fix mostly all of your issues. 

If a prospect says "I’m not interested anymore.”
You can say something like “I understand, Ms Jones. I agree with you and would feel the exact same way if I were in your shoes.  Now, when you called the TV commercial, did you want this information for yourself or a loved one?” 

If a prospect says "I never called, responded to, or filled anything out.” 
You say “I got you, Ms Jones, and I am right there with you, I’m sure you are a busy person and have a lot going on. Now, when you called us up, did you want that information for yourself or a loved one?”

It really is just that simple. You and I both know that they are just doing what you and I do everyday which is blow off sales people because we don't want to be bothered, feel they will waste our time, or we do not want to be bullied or pressured into buying. 

We need to focus on setting the prospect at ease and keeping them relaxed.

Lastly, you must know the math.  Sales is a mathematical equation and you can make as many sales as you would like if you know your numbers.

Let's say you want to make $10,000 in deposits.

$10,000 in deposits is:
$13,333 (75% Advance) in gross 1st year commission income 
$13,333 in AP (Assuming 100% commission)
Roughly 18 sales ($720 AP or $60 a month premium)
Say you have a closing ratio of 40%, you must do 45 presentations
If you sit down with or talk to 40% of your leads you will need 112 leads in total. 

Now you just have to work on getting your ratios better and your profit will rise. All you have to do is plug in your numbers to figure out what you need to do and how many leads you need to work. 


KNOW THE MATH.


I wish you all success.


See you at the top…


Doug Blake
Senior Partner

Something that I hear on a regular basis is “I want that Term policy they were talking about on the TV,. You know, the one for pennies a day?” 
​
So let’s talk about it!

Term Life insurance has its place in the market just as Whole Life does. In this article, I would like to explain the differences so that you can make an educated decision as to what type of plan fits your needs. 

There are some myths in the life insurance industry. One being “cheaper is better”, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Term life insurance may appear cheaper, however, if it is not in line with what you are looking to achieve then what good is it?

Let’s dive right into this.  I like to first look at the words. TERM and WHOLE-LIFE. Right off the bat I see a big difference.

Term, comes from the word ‘temporary’ and that is exactly what it is: a temporary life insurance policy that covers you for a short duration of time. Once that time expires, you no longer have a policy and all the money that you paid into that plan is gone. The only upside is that if you pass away during the short duration of the policy, the company will pay a claim to your beneficiary. With that being said, over 95% of term policies do NOT pay out!

This is due to 2 major reasons: 
1: The policy premium does not get paid in a timely manner and therefore the policy is cancelled due to non-payment, or 
2: You simply out live the duration of the policy 

A term policy is really only designed for a few specific reasons, mortgage protection or income replacement. Why? Because you have a defined term or duration that you need to be covered for a specific amount. After that term you no longer need the coverage. 

Let's look now at Whole Life. 

​I love Whole Life because it is very straight forward. In fact, it is the original form of life insurance. Whole Life will cover you for your entire life, regardless of how long you live. And if you are blessed enough to live to be 100 years old, you get a big birthday present: the face amount of your plan!
This type of plan accumulates cash value. This simply means that some of your premium is going into a separate account to be borrowed against, help make premium payments in the event you cannot pay at some point, pay your policy up, or obtain a surrender value. -Term does not build cash value at all.- 
The biggest feature about this type of a policy, whole life, is that it is a permanent plan of insurance.

Now that you know the difference, you can make a better decision as to what type of plan fits your needs the most. 

All the best,
Doug Blake
Senior Partner at Senior Life Insurance Company

Final expense insurance, also known as burial insurance, is meant to cover the cost of funeral and burial services, such as a prepaid plan or preened plan. However, unlike preneed or prepaid funeral packages, final expense insurance can also help cover a wide variety of debts, fees and remaining expenses. Another perk with this type of life insurance is that it allows you to choose your beneficiary, whereas the prepaid and preneed plans do not. A preneed plan is usually payable to the funeral home. However, a final expense benefit goes straight to the beneficiary of your choosing. Final Expense Insurance coverage depends on your individual needs. It can last for the duration of a term (aka Term Policy), or it can be purchased as a Whole Life Policy and last your remaining lifetime, with the policy ending at age 100.

Below is a clear comparison between Burial/Preneed/Prepaid Insurance & Final Expense Life Insurance.
For further questions, call our office at 954-908-3473.