Great Month

It has been a few weeks since my last post, so I thought I'd let all of you know how things are going. As you can see from the picture on the left business is going great. All in all I've been netting $2000ish a week for few weeks with health and life insurance sales. My new regimen has definitely illuminated the potential once I have my system fully up and running.

This brings up a good point that I have thought about in-depth these last 10 months as I have struggled to get my business up and running, as well as numerous discussions I have had with friends and fellow agency owners. I have experienced some major issues and have almost gone out of business 3 times this past year from a lack of cash flow. It has only been recently that I have seen the fruits of my labor. So......What does it take to be successful in my eyes? Some people believe that genetics are the key, while others believe that it is environmental (education, social system, etc.). Discipline, flexibility, honesty, passion, perseverance, introspection and kindness are the keys I believe.

In essence, the morals you have comprise the roots for your success. Mostly anyone can learn the difference between an HMO vs. PPO or Universal Life vs. Term Life insurance. You can fix stupid if somebody is open and flexible, but you cannot teach somebody to be passionate. You either have it or you don't. People have to like you, trust you, confide in you, and have an unflinching believe that you're acting in their best interests. This is where ethics also comes into play.

I have the pleasure of having some great friends who have experienced the same feelings and thoughts that I do from time to time. Specifically, what are you currently doing to get those numbers? The answer is simple, I force myself every day to get off my ass and get on the phone. Actors in showbiz experience stage fright, while insurance agents experience phone fright..... It really boils down to being having some discipline, designing a plan and then IMPLEMENTING that plan without experiencing paralysis analysis. Will this marketing medium last forever? No!!!!!!! I am the type of person who thinks, plans and then act. I'm devising 3 or 4 other marketing campaigns right now and will implement those once I have everything in order.

As of right now I'm doing my own telemarketing to generate leads, while I visit clients and continue to sell online. I call for 5 hours a day EVERY DAY without missing a beat because I don't like going B2B, and I abhor those "networking functions" where members expect me to solicit my clients for pre paid legal services and everything under the sun.

I'm able to consistently generate 2 leads and hour, which means I'm working about 60 leads a week and get 2 or 3 deals. Most of the agents I know work around 20-30 leads and wonder why it is so hard to get 1-2 deal a week. I consider myself to give good phone.....meaning that I'm very comfortable talking on the phone with people and I use my knowledge of psychology and communication to ensure that I hit upon "marks" that I hit every call to generate rapport, trust and honesty. I'm not the pushy, used-car salesman you might expect although I am quite blunt with people as I like to rattle the cage and help people to think outside the box.

I work a standard 40 hour week and consider myself lazy at times, as it is to easy to take a longer lunch when you made a very nice sale in the morning. You need the discipline to sit down and take a hard look at what you're doing right, and more importantly, what you're doing wrong. Continue with what works and modify what doesn't work and then try again.

Between now and the end of the year I'm going to revise my business plan, complete a marketing plan and then implement one thing at a time once I have the cash flow is more stable.

On a side note, I recently found out about a telemarketing system that I believe has potential, Rather than go into all of the specifics, feel free to visit my friend, John at his website to learn more of the details.