You don't want to buy life insurance do you?

by leojq2
65 replies
This is a fun suggestion for all the people considering cold-calling and it comes from a book titled "Go For No" by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz.

It's one of those books that reads like a parable and I'm not sure if this story is actually true but it's a fun strategy to try and you'll make people laugh.

This comes from chapter 23... "You don't want to buy Life Insurance do you?"

"There was an insurance company in Chicago that called in a consultant to analyze why their profits were declining. The company was averaging only 2.5 sales per agent per month, and they were at their wit's end. He tells them, "your only problem is that you are not calling on enough people."...

He took a group of their salespeople, a cross section of the salesforce from best to worst, and told them, "effective today, you're going to start selling policies door to door in neighborhoods where you don't know a soul. There'll be no leads provided. There'll be no qualifying of prospects. And, when the person opens the door you must start the sales call with the following words: "you don't want to buy any Life Insurance, do you?"

Their mission was simply to see how many people they could repeat that message to every day. That's it! Needless to say the salespeople were a bit skeptical.

59 out of every 60 people they approached said, "you're right I don't want to buy Life Insurance so get lost!" But one out of every 60 said, "as a matter of fact, I do need insurance. Come on in and sign me up!"

(You might think)... one out of 60 isn't a very good closing ratio. You'd be right if you took a month to see 60 prospects but with the consultant's approach the average salesperson found that it took only about 8 hours to approach 60 people with their you don't want insurance message. As a result they immediately began averaging about one sale a day!

Approaching enough people with your offer, even with the most negative message imaginable, can save whole companies and entire careers. You see if you truly want to accelerate your sales performance you have to fail faster!"
***
End of excerpt
***

So, open up your phone book...assuming you didn't drop it right into the recycle bin when it arrived, pick a category and start calling. I'll bet you get a bunch of laughs and a few bites.

"You don't need help with your internet marketing do you?"

Enjoy!

Leo
#buy #cold calling #insurance #life
  • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
    Originally Posted by TheSystemTesters View Post

    This is a fun suggestion for all the people considering cold-calling and it comes from a book titled "Go For No" by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz.

    It's one of those books that reads like a parable and I'm not sure if this story is actually true but it's a fun strategy to try and you'll make people laugh.

    This comes from chapter 23... "You don't want to buy Life Insurance do you?"

    "There was an insurance company in Chicago that called in a consultant to analyze why their profits were declining. The company was averaging only 2.5 sales per agent per month, and they were at their wit's end. He tells them, "your only problem is that you are not calling on enough people."...

    He took a group of their salespeople, a cross section of the salesforce from best to worst, and told them, "effective today, you're going to start selling policies door to door in neighborhoods where you don't know a soul. There'll be no leads provided. There'll be no qualifying of prospects. And, when the person opens the door you must start the sales call with the following words: "you don't wanna buy any Life Insurance, do you?"

    Their mission was simply to see how many people they could repeat that message to every day. That's it! Needless to say the salespeople were a bit skeptical.

    59 out of every 60 people they approached said, "you're right I don't buy Life Insurance so get lost!" But one out of every 60 said, "as a matter of fact, I do need insurance. Come on in and sign me up!"

    (You might think)... one out of 60 isn't a very good closing ratio. You'd be right if you took a month to see 60 prospects but with the consultant's approach the average salesperson found that it took only about 8 hours to approach 60 people with their you don't want insurance message. As a result they immediately began averaging about one sale a day!

    Approaching enough people with your offer, even with the most negative message imaginable, can save whole companies and entire careers. You see if you truly want to accelerate your sales performance you have to fail faster!"
    ***
    End of excerpt
    ***

    So, open up your phone book...assuming you didn't drop it right into the recycle bin when it arrived, pick a category and start calling. I'll bet you get a bunch of laughs and a few bites.

    "You don't need help with your internet marketing do you?"

    Enjoy!

    Leo
    Leo,

    I don't know if that story is true or not but the premise certainly is with one company I had the pleasure of being associated with. I won't mention the company or the owner but he recruited a number of people who did exactly that. Rather than go to neighborhoods they went to businesses. One person would take one side of the street and another would take the other side of the street. They would walk the entire length of the street. These weren't the only two people working that town. He would bring in enough people to cover the town in a week.

    I still get solicited from them to buy insurance - through the mail. They have updated their solicitation to meet the times. I know it worked because I did a stint with them. It is a wonderful feeling to know you can go into any town and have a basket full of clients, never mind prospects.

    Your point is well taken. If you don't want to walk a town, call it. BTW, the original town walkers all retired millionaires. How do I know? I met with several of them before joining their team. It just goes to show what action, action, action will do for you if you are willing to put in the effort.

    Let me close my stick-my-nose comments in your thread with: Keep a positive mental attitude.
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    • Profile picture of the author Allanfederer
      Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

      Leo,

      I don't know if that story is true or not but the premise certainly is with one company I had the pleasure of being associated with. I won't mention the company or the owner but he recruited a number of people who did exactly that. Rather than go to neighborhoods they went to businesses. One person would take one side of the street and another would take the other side of the street. They would walk the entire length of the street. These weren't the only two people working that town. He would bring in enough people to cover the town in a week.

      I still get solicited from them to buy insurance - through the mail. They have updated their solicitation to meet the times. I know it worked because I did a stint with them. It is a wonderful feeling to know you can go into any town and have a basket full of clients, never mind prospects.

      Your point is well taken. If you don't want to walk a town, call it. BTW, the original town walkers all retired millionaires. How do I know? I met with several of them before joining their team. It just goes to show what action, action, action will do for you if you are willing to put in the effort.

      Let me close my stick-my-nose comments in your thread with: Keep a positive mental attitude.

      Good story but not applicable in real life.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rearden
        Originally Posted by Allanfederer View Post

        Good story but not applicable in real life.
        How do you mean?

        I know of an agent that works the South Side of Chicago (a lady, too) who simply knocks on each and every door. Totally cold.

        Placed nearly $200,000 in burial insurance in 2011. Was top writing agent for the company, as well as top agent in persistancy (keeping business on the books).

        And these prospects are inner-city hoods, too.

        It can be done.
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        • Profile picture of the author mojo1
          Originally Posted by Rearden View Post

          How do you mean?

          I know of an agent that works the South Side of Chicago (a lady, too) who simply knocks on each and every door. Totally cold.

          Placed nearly $200,000 in burial insurance in 2011. Was top writing agent for the company, as well as top agent in persistancy (keeping business on the books).

          And these prospects are inner-city hoods, too.

          It can be done.
          I can believe this woman does so well in this area because it has the highest gun violence rate in the whole country. Over 200 people have been killed by some sort of gun violence this year alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author mak25
    Originally Posted by TheSystemTesters View Post

    "You don't want to buy Life Insurance do you?"
    I'm trying to wrap my head around this as how it would work with me.

    Is the success of this because of the short-quick pace coupled with
    the negative approach?

    Or does the negative approach really become a positive one by
    insinuating the we doubt you'll want this, causing them to become
    somewhat curious as to why we think they wouldn't want it?

    Or is it that no matter what is said, just call, call, call. And play the numbers.

    I'm thinking that the negative approach would throw most business owners off base.
    It would be a 180 from the way they're approached most often.
    It sounds like it would drop their guard in some cases.

    Very interesting.
    Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author warrioradam
    This was a great post. When I did door-to-door residential cable sales a lot of the times my pitch was similar to this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    I think the negative works because they can't use it. You disarm them. So the people who don't want it are out fast and those that might don't use the "excuse". You already took it away.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    I could see "you all can always use a free quote cant you?" working better, but the point of the op is that you can say just about anything and the numbers will work for you. Agreed.

    The example in the op "you dont need insurance do you...?" does drop their guard though. It could work either way, however you pitch is what works for you as long as it all gels together. Best advice: "pitch 60 people per day".
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    • Profile picture of the author philipdwyer
      Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

      I could see "you all can always use a free quote cant you?" working better, but the point of the op is that you can say just about anything and the numbers will work for you. Agreed.

      The example in the op "you dont need insurance do you...?" does drop their guard though. It could work either way, however you pitch is what works for you as long as it all gels together. Best advice: "pitch 60 people per day".
      John, I love your final analysis. Pitch 60 people per day! The problem with most "sales" people is that they talk to 4 or 5 a day and ruminate the rest of the day as to why they did not make more sales.
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      • Profile picture of the author kat57
        What a great thread.
        So right about getting the no's out of the way so you can get to the
        yes's. Time is money!
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        • Profile picture of the author TheSystemTesters
          I found another take-away from the webinar which made me laugh out loud...

          "Having a NO goal keeps you on a hot streak!"

          You got a "YES"? Bummer. Sorry to hear that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
    I had read about this a few years ago and it never left a part of my brain :confused:

    The #1 reason I'm sure it works is the NUMBERS you go through. Not much qualifying going on (we can still pick a decent lead list but that's about it) and you get quick "NOs" so you can keep going and going.

    The grind has to be tough though, no doubt. It may be a made up story anyhow. 1 in 60 seems almost a good ratio when you consider it's life insurance and the question. One sale a day in that business would be serious money though.



    "You don't need help with your internet marketing do you?"

    "you all can always use a free quote cant you?"


    So simple yet not one seems to be doing it. It's one of those scripts I'd be willing to let hired telemarketers test out instead of myself - if for the positioning aspect alone I wouldn't do it myself. Pretty darn simple to teach too!
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Makarski
    This is probably not the best script but definitely not the worst. In a b2b scenario though, I don't know if it's possible to walk in into 60 businesses and talk to the business owner, all in one day.
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    • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
      Originally Posted by Alex Makarski View Post

      This is probably not the best script but definitely not the worst. In a b2b scenario though, I don't know if it's possible to walk in into 60 businesses and talk to the business owner, all in one day.
      It's possible. My usual numbers past week are 20 business enter, 3 solid prospects in about 2 hours. So I can see 60 in a day and likely have 9 to 10 solid prospects by end of day. Usually been 50% closing on those prospects so someone can get 5 sales a day on a website all day long with that. Maybe just a bit worse on phone closes. I dont know the ratios for that the way others do here.

      I think it is more the demand ratio. The OP said 1 in 60 said yes I think but for IM, I would say more like 1 in 6 would say yes right now...at least in my town.
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      • Profile picture of the author MonteMichaels
        Originally Posted by RentItNow View Post

        It's possible. My usual numbers past week are 20 business enter, 3 solid prospects in about 2 hours. So I can see 60 in a day and likely have 9 to 10 solid prospects by end of day. Usually been 50% closing on those prospects so someone can get 5 sales a day on a website all day long with that. Maybe just a bit worse on phone closes. I dont know the ratios for that the way others do here.

        I think it is more the demand ratio. The OP said 1 in 60 said yes I think but for IM, I would say more like 1 in 6 would say yes right now...at least in my town.
        The first insurance company that I worked for only did the door to door model. They did no advertising, had no agents offices, just a customer service number and our cell phones so we could sign someone up a week later if they decided on it. It was just a small company that no one ever heard of if they were not knocking on their doors or working for them.

        Four days a week we would stay in a hotel so that we were able to go knocking on doors all day. The majority of it was rural homes even. Rather than trying to get the sale on the spot though, we would set up an appointment to come back at a later time.

        It was definitively effective, and the team usually averaged 3 sales a day. It was not for everyone though. It had high turn over from not only knocking on doors all day, but then we were away from our families for most of the month. That was not a fun job, but it sure did make some money.

        The second company that I worked for did not care what we did. I could have sat there playing solitaire all day for all they cared. They did not have the ambition it seemed to make us any better. That was even a nationally recognized company and I did not make the money that I did at the small aggressive one.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mark68
        Originally Posted by RentItNow View Post

        It's possible. My usual numbers past week are 20 business enter, 3 solid prospects in about 2 hours. So I can see 60 in a day and likely have 9 to 10 solid prospects by end of day. Usually been 50% closing on those prospects so someone can get 5 sales a day on a website all day long with that. Maybe just a bit worse on phone closes. I dont know the ratios for that the way others do here.

        I think it is more the demand ratio. The OP said 1 in 60 said yes I think but for IM, I would say more like 1 in 6 would say yes right now...at least in my town.
        Just curious if you were going into 20 businesses a day for the week or 20 total for the week. And if you know that they needed a website beforehand?

        It seems like this could work really well with some of the scraper programs that can identify if the business has a website or mobile website. The scraper might not be 100% accurate on that but would increase your odds of walking in saying "you don't need a website (or mobile website) do you?" Or "you don't need more customers who are searching for your service online do you?"
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  • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
    That's why I was thinking of telemarketers... how to transform this for phone purposes?

    I guess one of the possible benefits is that whoever answers the phone gets the question, and it might lead fast to the decision maker, or the name of that decision maker. Worth a try I guess.

    The way I envision it, callers ask this time and time again, and if someone shows interest they pass the phone to me or qualified sales rep. There's not even the need for an "appointment setting" by the caller, as I or the rep can handle that if the callee hasn't got the time right now but is interested to know more.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheSystemTesters
    I agree Alex...I think talking to 60 business owners live would be a stretch but this is how I imagine it might go on the phone...

    Them: good morning, XYZ plumbing
    Me: good morning...you don't need help with your internet marketing do you?
    Them: (if owner) "no" or "what do you mean?"
    Them: (if employee) "no" or "hang on a sec" hand covering receiver (do we need internet help?)

    Who knows where it goes from there.

    Leo
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    • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
      Originally Posted by cvcena View Post

      You don't need people to support your products do you?
      Instead of "support" your products why not say "buy your products"? This will definitely disarm them.
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      • Profile picture of the author MonteMichaels
        Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

        Instead of "support" your products why not say "buy your products"? This will definitely disarm them.
        Or try something like "You don't need any new customers, do you?"
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        • Profile picture of the author sprk
          Go for no is not available so easily in the market. What is the resource where i can easily get it?
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        • Profile picture of the author mojo1
          Originally Posted by MonteMichaels View Post

          Or try something like "You don't need any new customers, do you?"
          Simple and to the point. Either they've qualified themselves in or out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    One thing this technique does is qualify people quickly. It removes the dance where some people in polite society don't want to come right out and say no. Doesn't this also go to that other magic number where 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers?
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    • I have sold a lot of life insurance over the years by knocking on doors here and there. I have always enjoyed this approach. I have purchased leads for several years as well with sales coming from the combined effort.

      I am at a juncture in my life where I am displeased with the quality and price of final expense leads these days. Therefore, I am going to be purchasing fewer leads and canvassing more. It isn't easy because one is doing two jobs rather than one. Job one is prospecting. One trades money....the cost of leads for time. His or her time to do that very necessary job of prospecting. The object is to fill ones pipeline. The result is more profit.

      The argument against this approach will always be ROI ...return on investment. Work smarter, not harder. And I get that. In the final analysis, It is a personal choice.

      I find the GO FOR NO approach is what it is. Keep it simple at the door. Knock on a lot of doors in a day. Find the folks who are looking for you.....someone to buy final expense life insurance, or Mortgage term...Medicare supplements etc.

      So I like the approach with the simple question such as "You don't want to buy life insurance do you?" I am sure it works. It's still a numbers game.
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      • In addition to my first post, I would like to suggest that when cold door knocking that a more refined approach than "You don't want to buy life insurance do you?" Might be for an example if you are looking for Final expense sales, one might say "I am looking for some folks I can help." (pause) then say "Folks who might feel they do not have enough life insurance to pay for their funeral. Would that be you, or perhaps a member of your family?" They either are, or they are not.
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        • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
          Originally Posted by Life of a Salesman View Post

          In addition to my first post, I would like to suggest that when cold door knocking that a more refined approach than "You don't want to buy life insurance do you?" Might be for an example if you are looking for Final expense sales, one might say "I am looking for some folks I can help." (pause) then say "Folks who might feel they do not have enough life insurance to pay for their funeral. Would that be you, or perhaps a member of your family?" They either are, or they are not.
          The best cold call(on the phone) I ever had was, "I sell long distance service for 4 cents a minute. Do you want to know more?"

          An approach that worked very well for me was, "My company sent me out to do a very short consumer survey. Do you have a minute to answer a few quick questions?"

          And I would just ask a few qualifying questions (to make sure I wanted to talk to them further), that sounded like real survey questions.

          After a minute, rapport had begun, and I could ask them what they had as far as a vacuum cleaner. But the first three years in selling, I sold life insurance, and the approach worked just as well there.

          If I wanted to maximize my time, I might just ask, "Has someone already been here to take care of your Final Expense insurance need?"

          Believe me, sounding as though it is expected that they would have this kind of insurance already, really helps. And it sound like everyone else has it, and you are just making sure...checking up on them.
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          • Very good! That is why you have earned the title "Master Salesman". I appreciate that. I signed up for your blog this morning. I feel we can always learn new things. And in doing so, we grow. Don't we?
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  • Profile picture of the author cuttingedge
    A good plan,violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.

    Loved the execution.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
      Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

      Instead of "support" your products why not say "buy your products"? This will definitely disarm them.
      Mmmm. What about:
      You wouldn't need help to get people to buy your products, would you?
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  • Profile picture of the author Marski
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Jay Rhome
      Originally Posted by Marski View Post

      Speaking of "Go For No" I reg'd for this webinar last week, don't know if any spots are left. It's tomorrow Thurs 5 Apr at 12 Noon ET.
      I listened to the first 35 minutes with a new rep. It was pretty good! Especially at the beginning, when she said that if a customer didn’t say no to anything, it means we ended the sales, he didn’t. Maybe he wanted something more we had to offer. I've been guilty of this, but now I've been awaken

      One thing she should have mentioned that will help anyone, is to calculate how you get per call/meeting. Ex: you close on average 1 in 20, and make $200 per sale. Well that means on average, you make $10 per call/meeting, whether they say yes or no (as the "no"s are part of the process to get a "yes").
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      • Profile picture of the author TheSystemTesters
        Marski...

        Thanks for the headsup on the webinar.

        My takeaways...

        "Your reaction to YES and NO should be of equal emotional intensity"
        (wouldn't that be great!)

        SW SW SW SW = some will, some won't, so what?, someone's waiting

        There was a physical product sold at the end of the webinar...normally $322 with coupon code MB1 it's $97.

        Here is the link... A Mr. Inside Sales Mike Brooks

        I have no affiliation with this product other than really liking the message.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    First, only use this on people who are not ranked highly in Google organic and places, otherwise they'll be telling you the truth when they say "NO"

    You don't need any help using the internet to bring in new customers, do you?

    Answer = yes: No further explanation needed.

    Answer = no: That's great what you're doing now is working so well.... Did you know you're not even found on Google for any of the most popular search terms used when people are looking to buy xyz? It's amazing you're getting so many customers from the Internet? If you're doing well now, you could really get things cookin' if they found you for the popular terms.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Miller
    Am I missing something?

    It looks as if everyone is looking for some kind of deep meaning to the op's post. I don't see anything deep here at all.

    More sales calls means more business.

    I think that's the point of the story.
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    • Profile picture of the author LifeSafetyExpert
      Originally Posted by David Miller View Post

      Am I missing something?

      It looks as if everyone is looking for some kind of deep meaning to the op's post. I don't see anything deep here at all.

      More sales calls means more business.

      I think that's the point of the story.

      Yup, it's all about the numbers. Selling is a great skill but it is stil a numbers game.. You have to get ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION... You have to get out and get in front of people.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ron Lafuddy
        Good old fashioned door to door. It never goes out of style, because it works.

        Beats the hell out of sittin' home in mama's basement, too!
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    To me it is addressing the procrastinators of getting their business on the net. Kind of hard to ignore "getting online" when you have some guy magically appearing before you with something you have been looking for/thinking about but ignoring. Call it the serendipitous (if that's even a word) approach!

    The backside is it is just numbers yes. So many people want/need your product, you just have to get their attention and get them to take action.
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  • Profile picture of the author hawkhouse
    Insurance sales has been and will always be a numbers game
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  • Profile picture of the author gg282
    I have my life insurance licenses and I am really curious if this works??? I'm appointed with some good life insurance carriers. I'm just wondering how I am going to run a quote when I get a "YES". I don't want to carry to much stuff with me, if I actually decide to try out this idea. Knocking on up to 60 doors could be done in an evening. Here in Dallas there is no shortage of neighborhoods that are dense with families whom should have a good life policy anyway.

    Life insurance commissions can be really amazing. If I write an unhealthy person, those commissions can be several thousands of dollars. All that for just putting ink on an application! One of these every day, would drastically change my life. Thanks for posting this thread. I was looking for a way to drum up business.

    If I try it I will post my results or blog about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author debml
      Originally Posted by gg282 View Post

      I have my life insurance licenses and I am really curious if this works??? I'm appointed with some good life insurance carriers. I'm just wondering how I am going to run a quote when I get a "YES". I don't want to carry to much stuff with me, if I actually decide to try out this idea. Knocking on up to 60 doors could be done in an evening. Here in Dallas there is no shortage of neighborhoods that are dense with families whom should have a good life policy anyway.
      MANY seasoned life agents starting their career this way... most can't or won't do it... but it does work.

      Many carriers have iPad applications... if that's not an option, there's always the "old school" rate book method. You may have to create your own, though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    GG -- do a search on YouTube for "FE Door-to-Door Interview."

    Dude claims he makes $5000 a week going to door to door completely cold working 65-80 year olds. He does have his wife accompany him.

    He leads with Medicare Supplement coverage and mentions his affiliation with a reputable insurance company (Mutual of Omaha). That's to get in the door. When in, if he can find a need, he tries to sell final expense life insurance, although he'll replace a Medicare Supplement, sell an annuity, or other life products, if the need's there.

    Talked with another dude sick and tired of working garbage direct mail leads and he went door-to-door. He sells 2-4 policies weekly now; probably nets around $2000 a week like that with very little overhead.

    -Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author gg282
    Hi Dave - thanks for the info on the FE Door-to-Door Interview. I'm checking it out. It's good to hear that folks are having success going door to door.

    @debml For now it looks like I'm going to have to bring a rate book along. The other thing I'm thinking of is, if the prospect is interested, I will have them fill out a questionnaire about their age, height, wieght and medical history and run quotes through multiple carriers at home. Then set up an appoint to ink an application. By the way do you sell lfe Ins?

    I was hoping to start this after Memorial day, turns out all local communities in and around Dallas require a solicitors permit! $25 bucks or so, no big deal, better than getting hit with a $500 fine for not having a door to door solicitors permit.

    Anyone considering this make sure you check with your city if a permit is required. I think that included walking into businesses.

    As soon as I get my permit, I'll be hitting the street and recording the results for my first 60 door knocks, Cant wait. Actually I dreaded door to door sales in the past but now I am excited!
    - Gary
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    • Profile picture of the author Rearden
      SG -- One important bit of advice.

      DO wear a name tag of some sorts. I would recommend getting the logo of your company you represent, along with your state license number, and a mug shot.

      Lots of people screen you based on whether or not you have a name tag.

      And stop by the insurance-forum for some more pointed, industry-specific advice.

      Originally Posted by gg282 View Post

      Hi Dave - thanks for the info on the FE Door-to-Door Interview. I'm checking it out. It's good to hear that folks are having success going door to door.

      @debml For now it looks like I'm going to have to bring a rate book along. The other thing I'm thinking of is, if the prospect is interested, I will have them fill out a questionnaire about their age, height, wieght and medical history and run quotes through multiple carriers at home. Then set up an appoint to ink an application. By the way do you sell lfe Ins?

      I was hoping to start this after Memorial day, turns out all local communities in and around Dallas require a solicitors permit! $25 bucks or so, no big deal, better than getting hit with a $500 fine for not having a door to door solicitors permit.

      Anyone considering this make sure you check with your city if a permit is required. I think that included walking into businesses.

      As soon as I get my permit, I'll be hitting the street and recording the results for my first 60 door knocks, Cant wait. Actually I dreaded door to door sales in the past but now I am excited!
      - Gary
      Signature
      David Duford -- Providing On-Going, Personalized Mentorship And Training From A Real Final Expense Producer To Agents New To The Final Expense Life Insurance Business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Tell us how your progress goes.

    What niche are you targeting?
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  • Profile picture of the author SynergyMarketing
    If you think its impossible to hit 60 business's a day thats because you've never tried. I average about 50 b2b walkins a day.
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  • Profile picture of the author DoWhatWorks
    This is pretty funny and completely counter-intuitive to just about any other sales training out there that I've seen. This approach is more of an "order taking" strategy and less of a "sales" strategy. Very interesting and different. Thanks!

    -Terry


    Originally Posted by TheSystemTesters View Post

    This is a fun suggestion for all the people considering cold-calling and it comes from a book titled "Go For No" by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz.

    It's one of those books that reads like a parable and I'm not sure if this story is actually true but it's a fun strategy to try and you'll make people laugh.

    This comes from chapter 23... "You don't want to buy Life Insurance do you?"

    "There was an insurance company in Chicago that called in a consultant to analyze why their profits were declining. The company was averaging only 2.5 sales per agent per month, and they were at their wit's end. He tells them, "your only problem is that you are not calling on enough people."...

    He took a group of their salespeople, a cross section of the salesforce from best to worst, and told them, "effective today, you're going to start selling policies door to door in neighborhoods where you don't know a soul. There'll be no leads provided. There'll be no qualifying of prospects. And, when the person opens the door you must start the sales call with the following words: "you don't want to buy any Life Insurance, do you?"

    Their mission was simply to see how many people they could repeat that message to every day. That's it! Needless to say the salespeople were a bit skeptical.

    59 out of every 60 people they approached said, "you're right I don't want to buy Life Insurance so get lost!" But one out of every 60 said, "as a matter of fact, I do need insurance. Come on in and sign me up!"

    (You might think)... one out of 60 isn't a very good closing ratio. You'd be right if you took a month to see 60 prospects but with the consultant's approach the average salesperson found that it took only about 8 hours to approach 60 people with their you don't want insurance message. As a result they immediately began averaging about one sale a day!

    Approaching enough people with your offer, even with the most negative message imaginable, can save whole companies and entire careers. You see if you truly want to accelerate your sales performance you have to fail faster!"
    ***
    End of excerpt
    ***

    So, open up your phone book...assuming you didn't drop it right into the recycle bin when it arrived, pick a category and start calling. I'll bet you get a bunch of laughs and a few bites.

    "You don't need help with your internet marketing do you?"

    Enjoy!

    Leo
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    • Profile picture of the author Rearden
      Sales is not about begging every warm body for a presentation, squeezing a foot, a hand, anything into the door, then using intense pressure, canned presentations, and Johnny-Smiley typical goober-sales techniques to close a deal.

      Sales is all about spending more time with qualified prospects who will buy TODAY. So you can put money in the bank TODAY.

      The method and pitch these door-to-door life guys use identifies LARGELY the people who ALREADY have the NEED for life insurance, but are unsure/have procrastinated about WHICH life insurance program to get.

      An effective life insurance salesman DOES NOT convince the prospect he eventually closes that he's going to die or life is inherently mortal. He's ALREADY convinced of that when he comes a'knockin'.

      What the life sales guy DOES sell is the proper solution and demonstrably showing how his particular solution fits the needs of the prospect the BEST. That's definitely not order-taking -- I've never had anybody with an emotional need throw their checkbook at me, signed and blank, ready for me to fill in the price.

      Any salesman knows not everybody can be sold. Good salesman across all industries with a short/medium sales cycle are happy with a 20% to 25% close ratio to qualified leads.

      Originally Posted by DoWhatWorks View Post

      This is pretty funny and completely counter-intuitive to just about any other sales training out there that I've seen. This approach is more of an "order taking" strategy and less of a "sales" strategy. Very interesting and different. Thanks!

      -Terry
      Signature
      David Duford -- Providing On-Going, Personalized Mentorship And Training From A Real Final Expense Producer To Agents New To The Final Expense Life Insurance Business.
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  • Profile picture of the author danoercwd
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author gg282
      Selling Life Insurance is not order taking. Selling an auto insurance policy probably is, since most people want the most auto coverage for the cheapest price. Don't you? Life insurance is different because people are different, their circumstances are different, where they are now in life, their intentions and whole bunch of other variables, will determine what kind of life insurance they need and how much. Just hope they or YOU don't die without it! I recently saw an ad on Craigslist of a family begging for money, due to a 25 year old male with one daughter who was killed in a Saturday night car crash. they have no money to pay for the funeral or provide for the deceased very young daughter. (are you sure you don't need life insurance?)

      @Rearden Since the local municipalities in North Texas require door knockers to obtain a permit, I will wear my permit.. I plan on buying polo shirts from the carriers I represent as to present an appearance of credibility and trustworthiness. My appearance is very non threatening and I have no doubt that people will want to talk to me. In person I am probably the most friendly person you could ever meet. Also, yes I do read insurance-forums.net but there seems to be a high degree of negativity there so I try to avoid it.


      So here's the deal... The title of this thread is "You don't want to buy life insurance do you?" it caught my attention, I read this thread and have discovered a possible way to sell more life insurance policies. (Not really interested in offline gold, for now). So I will implement this idea and door knock. As of now I got a reason to knock on doors, previously, there was no way in hell I would of ever have done something like this, and the biggest motivating factor for me to do this NOW is because I am really strapped for money and I got a lot of bills to pay.

      So even though it is already 95 degrees here in Dallas TX. It does not matter. I have given myself a job to do and it must be done to its completion, which is 60 doors, or more. No order taking. In fact the best I can do for these people at "first contact" is gather more info from them, go home and work up quotes from my life insurance carriers, then call them back, make and appointment, and present their options.

      Since I have a life insurance license and a property & casualty license, there may be a possibility that there are not to many other insurance agents reading this thread, but many online marketers who would like to see the results of a door knocking campaign.

      As such, probably around the first week of June 2012 I am going to pound the hot pavement of Big D and see what happens in one of Dallas's suburbs. In the "Go for No" scenario, seems like they suggest to accept no and move on. However, I have a strategy to handle the NO objections, that could actually increase the prospect who says NO... To maybe wanting to know more about life insurance. At this time I don't want to say much about my particular method, because I do not know if this method will be effective or not. After several door knocks, I will have more data, as well as know if I could be on to something very lucrative. Life insurance commissions are big

      In the first week of June I have a middle class to upper middle class community targeted. Should have my permit in about a week and I am preparing myself for my presentations.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Just take action. Ready, Fire, Aim. Let us know how it goes.

    -Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author prismkuet
    In that sense it is right that if your success rate is low with more trial you will get better success, But it's not a nice feelings when 59 of your prospective 60 customers will tell you and your product a big NO. It's even not encouraging as well. I don't think, a good selling is approaching everyone but selected target people.
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    check out the Pros and Cons of CPA

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  • Profile picture of the author AndersonGray
    Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (the "benefits") upon the death of the insured person. So it give benefits to both parties.
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  • Profile picture of the author emarion1114
    nice post. I think that idea really works. We need such fresh marketing ideas every once in a while to keep our businesses going. Thanks for the share!
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    • Profile picture of the author RobInMich
      Curious to see if anyone has actually tried this yet. I'm looking to drum up some more business to pay some upcoming bills, and my agency's 'system' just doesn't seem to work for me. I may just try this out starting this Monday to see. I currently average 1-3 policies per week working expensive lead cards. One sale a day average (especially considering no overhead) would be phenominal!

      Edit: Just checked the weather. It's going to be a hot, miserable week. :-( ... but I'm going to do it anyway, just to see.
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  • Profile picture of the author vrdwebservices
    i think this story was not success to improve sales ...????? but ???????
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  • Profile picture of the author AndersonGray
    Life Insurance is insurance for you and your family's peace of mind. Life insurance is a policy that people buy from a life insurance company, which can be the basis of protection and financial stability after one's death. Its function is to help beneficiaries financially after the owner of the policy dies.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rearden
    Check this out, Rob:


    A D2D Life Agent Interview -- leads with MedSupps and tries to sell FE.
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    David Duford -- Providing On-Going, Personalized Mentorship And Training From A Real Final Expense Producer To Agents New To The Final Expense Life Insurance Business.
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  • Profile picture of the author akonzada009
    The way I envision it, callers ask this time and time again, and if someone shows interest they pass the phone to me or qualified sales rep. There's not even the need for an "appointment setting" by the caller, as I or the rep can handle that if the callee hasn't got the time right now but is interested to know more.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rearden
      I agree. However, it depends on the product's complexity of qualifying.

      I've always envisioned having a crew of telemarketers working a list and passing on interested prospects. However, sometimes it is tough to get a telemarketers without specific industry experience to do it as (a) sometimes you have to uncover need on the phone that takes more than a pulse to do it, and (b), telemarketers that advanced tend to end up selling life insurance anyway.

      Originally Posted by akonzada009 View Post

      The way I envision it, callers ask this time and time again, and if someone shows interest they pass the phone to me or qualified sales rep. There's not even the need for an "appointment setting" by the caller, as I or the rep can handle that if the callee hasn't got the time right now but is interested to know more.
      Signature
      David Duford -- Providing On-Going, Personalized Mentorship And Training From A Real Final Expense Producer To Agents New To The Final Expense Life Insurance Business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jerry Williamson
    This is great. I'm sharing that with my team. Thanks for sharing...

    Jerry
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  • Profile picture of the author leojq2
    Almost two years to the day from the last response to this thread and here's a similar story...again from the "Go For No" folks...

    A little NOtivational Story
    by Andrea Waltz

    A friend and fellow sales trainer, Bernie Cronin, of Sandler Training Pompano Beach FL, sent us this great 'Go for No!' story.

    Here it is as Bernie shared with us:

    "I had a client by the name of Fred a few years ago and we were doing a goal setting session. He was in the insurance business and was struggling with his prospecting. I asked him about a goal he would like to achieve in the next 6 months and he said "It will be our 5th Wedding Anniversary and I'd like to take my wife to Bermuda, where we spent our honeymoon for a long weekend. I asked how much it will cost and he said "$1,500.00 off-season."

    I said, "Fred I'm not a good prospect for you. My college roommate handles all of my insurance so I am telling you it's a NO." I then took out an envelope wrote $ 1,500 on it and gave him the envelope and I put $ 1 in it. Then I said "Now go get 1499 more NO's and every time you get a NO put $1 in the envelope and you'll have enough money to go to Bermuda.

    He said astonishingly, "you are sick." Then Fred thought a little and said, "you've got a deal." So he picked up the phone and started calling like this, "Hi, my name is Fred with Northwestern Mutual. I sell insurance and you are probably not interested in speaking with me but your name came upon my prospect list so the reason for my call." Guess what happened ? He closed more business than he ever had, went to Bermuda and never got to his 1,500 NO's. Moral, NOtivation works!"

    ***

    I bet freelance telemarketers would love such an assignment!

    "My name is Joe with XYZ Marketing. We help businesses with their internet marketing and you are probably not interested in speaking with me but I saw your ad in the paper and had a few ideas for you...you don't want to hear them do you?"
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by leojq2 View Post


      "My name is Joe with XYZ Marketing. We help businesses with their internet marketing and you are probably not interested in speaking with me but I saw your ad in the paper and had a few ideas for you...you don't want to hear them do you?"
      The "Negative selling" examples given just show that someone will demand to buy, if you talk to enough people.

      But purposely sounding like an idiot isn't going to help. You'll get far more people saying "Sure, what have you got?", if you ask the question without the "Nobody will be interested in this. Nobody buys from me", inferences.

      If someone called me and said "I sell (something I want). You aren't interested, are you?"

      My first thought would be "Maybe I'm interested in buying. But not from you".


      The best prospecting is not going for a "No" or a "Yes". You're just sorting.
      Signature
      One Call Closing book https://www.amazon.com/One-Call-Clos...=1527788418&sr

      What if they're not stars? What if they are holes poked in the top of a container so we can breath?
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    I haven't read all the posts and I can't claim that this is mine because I'm sure I read it in another thread BUT....

    Having asked the negative question, there is a great follow up to the 'no'

    "Is that a 'NO' now or a 'NO' never..

    Just sayin'
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    Making Calls To Sell Something? What are you actually saying?
    Is there any room for improvement? Want to find out?

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  • Profile picture of the author LifeSafetyExpert
    It's unbelieveable how much money you can make doing door to door. There are so many people afraid of it though. I used to be, until I got tired of being broke!!!
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  • Great comments guys. You are spot on! I think door to door selling is almost a lost art. And as one of you so aptly put it, it is better than sitting around in Mama's basement. It's better than being broke. And it's better than spending all day in some office with the boss man breathing down ones neck.

    W Clement Stone said ....."Get off your ___ and do something. Good things happen.". LOL. And that's the truth.
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