1. Almost all life insurance is sold threw direct marketing. I am not just talking about term insurance. Further more when agents hear of direct marketing the first thing that comes to mind is Matrix Direct or Select Quote. If this is your mind set let me ask you this who is the biggest producing life Insurance agent of all time? The answer is Dr. Joe Gandolfo. Dr. Gandolfo is the go to man in Florida for estate planning and gift trust to this day. Being the go to guy for estate planning in Palm Beach is a good position to be in. Dr. Gandolfo got his start sending out letters to union members asking if they would like to pay half as much for their insurance and get twice the amount of coverage for the same amount of money their paying. When the prospect would call his first questions was "Do you know when you are going to die?" If you know when you are going to die I will sell you a term policy. If you do not know when you are going to die lets talk about something else. The moral of this story is get people to call you. You get people to call you threw direct marketing. After they call you take control of the call.
2. Use the S.R.D.S Direct marketing list source. This is a directory with the entire list of list brokers. People who subscribe to magazines to people who order quotes for mortgages online. This is the only source that can be trusted. Use this directory to find a list broker. When you go to your mail box often times there is a letter from a life company asking you to write business for them? Well how did they get your information? How did this company know that you were a life agent? The way the company was able to get your information was threw a list broker in the S.R.D.S or the department of insurance. If you are serious about making it in financial services the first thing you need to do is get a list. Get a list of people who need rated policies. A list like this knows their not going to get a preferred rate and their going to be willing to work with you.
3.Your general agent does not have your best interest in mind. If you are a captive agent you are being had. When I tell this to agents a response along the lines of "I am not a captive agent I am a career agent." The term "career agent "is nothing more than a term used to sucker in new agents. Here is the bottom line. You are going to churn threw your top 100 list and quite. Guess who gets all the money on the back end. You got it your General Agent. Buyers don't buy the company they buy you. Another trend in the industry is the M.L.M crowd. If the idea of going broke on a %20 commission is your idea of a good time join a M.L.M life insurance selling company. Ask the bank if they except trophies for payment on your mortgage because that is all your going to get if you work for one of these companies.
4.I work with agents to generate quality leads. Here are the cold hard facts. When I do a direct marketing piece I get a 1% buy rate. This is nothing to brag about mind you however, the money is not made on the front end. After the prospect buys from you, you must run a drip campaign with a subject that is of interest to the prospect. If your prospect is a golfer put them on a list for golfers with your branding on the bottom. This creates a positive association with you as an agent and a friend. This is far more effective than saying "I work for referrals". Trust me every agent who walks threw the door gave that tired pitch. So here is the bottom line. Run a direct marketing campaign. The cost is minimal and the money made on the front end can pay for the marketing and provide enough income to live off. Next focus on a newsletter to review other financial needs. Clients are not going to fork over their life savings until there is a relationship built. So once you have a relationship with your clients get ready for phone calls asking how to invest in annuities.