BizTart Insurance Tips

Federal High Risk Pool - PCIP

2013-02-26T15:45:00.004-07:00

If you haven't noticed.......the funding is gone now for all pcip.gov plans and my state of Utah has also restricted all new applications from being filed. They basically ran out of money for any new applicants. They are continuing with processing claims with clients that have had it in the past which is good but when I talked to our high risk pool she sounded like there wasn't going to be more money for current claims!

Is this an indication of what could happen to the whole Affordable Care Act? The money has to come from somewhere so get ready for more taxes and/or spending cuts. www.pcip.gov

Suremed Product

2012-11-28T09:54:00.001-07:00

After selling Suremed for the past 6 months I have concluded that the health advocates portion doesn't work at all if you already have insurance. Basically the website claims that it will reduce medical bills down by an average of 38% but doesn't have a disclaimer that the discount only applies to those that don't have any coverage.

The main purpose of this product was to reduce medical bills and if it doesn't do that you're better off selling your clients dental, vision, teledoc and some other products to get more commission and a better product for your clients.

How can I get more medicare leads?

2012-11-26T13:38:00.001-07:00

Hi, Ethan
I've been reading all the great and helpful information on your blog.

Thanks, for placing such a good resource online that newer agents, like myself, can benefit from.

I have a few questions I would to ask you.

Can you used aged leads to build your data base to the 5000 magic number? Or do you have to purchase new online leads?

My market is Medicare Supplements. My leads are all aged leads ( 1 year old ). I read your script for calling aged, 1 year old, health insurance leads. How could I modify it to fit calling aged med supp leads?

Best Regards, R.Lee
Sent from my Windows Phone

Dear R. Lee,

You can totally use aged leads to get to that 5000 number. The best way to get medicare clients are to get a bunch of 62-63 year old clients on individual plans and let them know that you'll take care of them once they turn 65 because you have all of the medicare plans. This way you're the first one that explains how medicare works for them and you have a few years to build loyalty so that when they're aged in you're ready to go. Hope that helps! Aged in leads are much easier to sell than someone that spends all year shopping for a good plan. I would also work on getting networked through people that are in the same industry such as hospice care givers etc. They can be an excellent source for referrals.

Ethan

Exporting from IDA

2012-11-26T13:27:00.001-07:00

Ethan
Is it possible to export client info from IDA? Have you ever done it? I
can't do anything with mine. My email does not work - they have totally
messed up my whole system. I have not been able to email any of my
clients for at least 8 months and no emails are coming in from leads.
They
have totally messed me up. They will transfer everything to their new
system, but they want to charge $29.99 a month plus $29.99 per plug in and
recharge on the plugins every year. I don't want to get involed with
them. They charge too much! I just want to export my info, but I can't
figure out how without their help. Do you know a quick and easy way to do
it?

I appreciate the help!

April

Dear April,

Rule #1. When dealing with CRM's, make sure that there is a function that will allow you to export all of the information the way you want before purchasing it. Rule #2 is when I tell you to ditch a program several times, do it quickly instead of waiting YEARS. This will prevent lots of disappointment and loss of income.

Now the only way that I've been able to figure it out was to right click and drag a specific folder and click copy. Then go to a regular excel spreadsheet and right click paste on your mouse. Then you'll save it to a csv file to import it into your next system.

IDA is pretty ruthless on their exporting policy that's why I terminated after 1 year. Good product but I saw pretty fast that I was painting myself into a corner that I couldn't get out of with my contacts. Be glad that you only have that problem because I've heard of them stealing contacts although I haven't verified that. My source is pretty reliable though. Get out now while it's easier or you can stay in longer and have more contacts later to export. I've used clarifynow.com which has worked great in the past and right now I'm using MOJO.

Ethan

Do I use a quoting engine or quote from the carrier?

2012-05-09T13:58:00.001-06:00

This is a response from Aprils' question. I really like the Norvax product for quoting 4 options with accident and critical illnesses on one email to the client. What I usually do is have a 5k, 3k, 2k, and 1k option with more ancillary features on the higher deductibles. This client applied for 5 different plans. So I made about $1400 off that client the first year. I then extracted contact information and put him into my www.mojosells.com CRM and will keep him posted on the underwriting. You can view more about Norvax's multiple carrier quoting at http://norvax.com/products/howitworks-quoteengine.html.

Alternative Medicine With Insurance Sales

2012-05-09T13:16:00.000-06:00

It is no secret that the health insurance industry has been slowly figuring out ways to decrease commissions long term. The last few years the insurance companies have put together some nice bonus plans if you meet a certain level of sales. Less than half of all policies are kept longer than a year because of change of employment or rate increases. The self employed family is where you'll see most of your residuals. It would be smart to focus on those types of families.

One of the more frustrating parts of this industry is that medications don't solve most medical problems. If you've had clients around for more than a few years you'll notice that they're on the same medications they've been on years ago. I'm not knocking prescriptions because they are what they are. They can help you cope with medical issues but how many medications actually solve health issues. How many people have you seen that have taken cholesterol medication ever come off of it? How many Bi-Polar clients are freed from Bi-Polar? Pain medication does take away the pain but at what cost to other organs? All too often we see commercials of prescriptions that have a long list of possible side affects.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't ever go to a doctor or ever get a prescription. I'm saying that maybe there are alternative methods of healing that are more cost effective and just as good or better at healing.

Yesterday I contacted a client that had been on an individual policy for 3 years and was getting another rate increase. I convinced him that maybe we should apply to another carrier because of the rate increase and the exclusion to 3 of his wifes' health conditions. We had done the application and they were on the phone with the underwriter. The underwriter told them that they needed to order medical records at the clients expense and that they were probably going to exclude 4 health conditions. My client told the underwriter to not bother with the rest of the underwriting because they weren't going to go through all of that. So once again my client is stuck paying about $600 a month with NO relief for current health issues! Am I the only one that gets frustrated with these scenarios?

About 4 years ago one of my friends approached me as a founder of a Essential Oils company named DoTerra . We used the product for years but my income was so high and everything was going great for us at that time. Now he has 7000 customers every month and earns over a half million a year.

I've always believed that you can take your two biggest problems and they can solve each other. So I started using essential oils with my insurance business to increase residuals and help my clients get some help with health problems. I have been really happy that over 78% of clients that tried the products noticed a difference within a few days and were interested in purchasing these products. You can go to www.mydoterra.com/reliableinsurances to view the products and pay structure. To watch or listen to product webinars go to www.builddoterra.com and click on education.

I realize that this is a totally out of the box strategy. It does work and once someone uses the product and as long as they like it they continue to make more and purchases for LIFE! If you got into the health insurance industry for residuals you'll notice that it probably isn't what you had anticipated.

Selling health insurance is a great short term opportunity. I have been selling health insurance for about 8 years and there has only been about 1 or 2 years that I haven't made well over $100,000 a year. It provides a lot of flexibility and if you're good enough you can keep clients around for a long time and get referrals. If you are looking for something to retire you keep looking. I believe that through DoTerra I will continue to build up my residual income enough to someday be able to retire! Until then......I pound out the phones every day with little security if illness or need for retirement comes sooner than later.

Data plan with a dialer

2012-05-09T12:27:00.000-06:00

Terrance asked if I would use a data plan with a dialer. I'll tell you how I use my dialer and that is with my Cricket phone. I use www.makemycalls.com and I have unlimited phone calls across the country for $10 a month with Cricket. I loved having a land line for years but have found that the phone companies keep jacking up the rates forcing me to go with Cricket. I like the www.makemycalls.com aka www.mojosells.com dialer because it is now my CRM and also it can dial 3 numbers at the same time.

Selling Health Insurance in 2012

2012-02-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

So far there has been some interesting developments in selling health insurance post health care reform. Here are some pros and cons in selling insurance right now and in the future.

Pros

1. Because of the requirements of the Health Care Reform Law the rates for health insurance have gone up dramatically the last 6 months. We might have gotten a commission cut but we are making a smaller percentage of a larger premium.
2. Insurance companies can't cancel our clients' insurance anymore.
3. If insurance companies go over 10% of a rate increase they have to report that information to the Health and Human Services department.
4. Clients like the preventative on their plans quite a bit and the healthy clients that never go to the doctor finally feel like their getting something for their money especially on higher deductible plans like HSA's.
5. 80% of health insurance agents quit so that leaves a bigger market for those that are really good at selling.
6. Software companies like Norvax have quoting software in place that allows you the opportunity to quote life, dental, health, critical illness, and accident policies in the same quote. Now I am averaging 38% commission because we are selling multiple products at the same time.

Cons

1. We don't really have any money as a country to fund the Health Care Reform Law so the whole thing might go belly up. As long as we have ink to print paper money then they'll still probably have money in the system to fund health care reform.
2. It doesn't seem like Republicans are really putting forth a lot of effort to repeal the law. They've had plenty of time to do so which makes me wonder.....Are Republicans really against it?
3. If you're not highly engaged in selling and coachable you probably won't make much money selling health insurance. This is because there aren't a lot of new agents selling health insurance. They all got scared off so you're really playing with the big boys. That's ok because hopefully the content of this blog will help even the playing field. I have top agents across the country that are always looking at this blog for tips on how to become better.

Medicare leads

2011-04-06T17:52:00.000-06:00

I was approached today by a gentleman that has been following the blog for some time with his brother. His question was what lead route should he go with when selling medicare supplements. We talked for some time about the new Facebook advertising. I highly recommend this type of advertising because it is the cheapest pay per click marketing campaign you can find and you can focus in on zip codes, age, gender, and even educational background. If you have a website and a Facebook account you can start right away. I have started using it for individual health and have been happy with the results.

I also recommended www.brokersweb.com. This is also a pay per click campaign for your website that has worked very effectively.

Is it still worth it to sell health insurance after Health Care Reform?

2010-10-12T21:44:00.001-06:00

Hello Ethan - thank you for your wonderfully informative blog. I hope you can give me your insight as to how to proceed. I am new at selling health insurance but at this point I am wondering if it's worth it to invest any further time and money in this business.

I have been hearing that a lot of agents are feeling very discouraged. I don't want to invest any more time and money in something that might be taken from us in the NEAR future and by 2014. And diversifying is going to be very competitive. But maybe worth it.

As one experienced GA agent wrote (and many are feeling the same)
>>>I sometimes have trouble justifying the effort at current levels. If the comp cuts in half I will probably send them a link and wish them luck. ...
even if 75% of the agents bailed already this year, those who remain like us - for how long will we consider this business worth the return on investment of our time? it's getting ridiculously difficult to even put a sale together. Tell me, for the next three years if compensation is cut by say 50% is it worth staying in this biz? There comes a point where one either says no or yes to this ridiculous health insurance market...Deciding how much of my time and effort into a different direction. Come January, deciding my direction may come much easier..... >>>>>

Thank you!
Susan

Dear Susan,

I wasn't aware that so many agents were having a hard time with the business.? I have always believed that 90% of agents have NO CLUE how to run a business. Most are average to excellent sales people with charisma and work ethic but don't ever treat it like a business. I didn't either until I really studied people from Asian cultures on how they ran businesses. Most of these people save their money like crazy and really don't turn a profit the first 5 years while they are building clientele.

I think most insurance agents want to start making income right away. As you and I both know, revenue is different than profit. Until you are covering your debts and expenses you really aren't "making money". I think most of the people that are having a hard time are those that have over-leveraged their revenue by advances and lead costs to a point that they are really not making money; they are just spending their revenues and paying themselves on this.

My advice to you is this..........If you expect to start selling health insurance and making a profit right away you need to really have some reserves to get you through the first year. I would take some advice from some Asian business owners on how to start a successful business. Maybe go to a Chinese restaurant or something and talk to the owners.

Get your personal and business expenses low so that you can break a profit earlier. I like the quote from Brad Pitt in a movie that says "The things you own end up owning you." Stuff can make your life more complicated and harder to manage while you are starting out. I should know.....I used to have a driver drive me to appointments. Fascinating idea but in the end I could have sold more without him.

Get advice from a professional who specializes in analyzing businesses. I recommend Randy Russon. He is the one that has helped me and continues to help. My wife is a CPA but doesn't really know how to analyze my business so we go to Randy. You can find his contact information in this blog.

I would also recommend doing everything you can to increase your profitability by $5 a day. I have a person business coach that has helped me for over 4 years with goal setting and techniques that I would recommend. His website is www.performancegains.com. His name is Coach Bob and he is amazing.

Lastly.........If that is true, that 75% of agents might be quitting the industry, agents that can make it are going to make tons of money. I have been selling on average 3 policies per family. If you sell products like dental, vision, life, accident, and disability you have no worries even if they drop commissions down by 50%.

Ethan

Instructions to Import New Business clients to QB customers file (written for Quickbooks Premiere 2010)

2010-10-12T21:19:00.000-06:00

Importing New Clients
• GETTING DATA INTO AN EXCEL FORMAT

This is obviously for a format used especially for Ethan Selph. By no means are these instructions able to work in every situation because your software program might be much different. I would strongly encourage getting a bookkeeper to do this for you or you can contact Randy Russon, his contact information is within this blog, and he can give you some tips on making this work for you.

1. Open the New Business commission statement.
2. Save the commission statement to the desktop.
3. Open the Able2Extract program from the desktop.
4. Click on the folder to open the commission statement - go to the desktop and find the file.
5. Click Edit, Select all pages in order to convert all pages at once.
6. Click the excel icon so that it will convert to excel.
7. When asked which option you prefer, click custom.
8. The commission statement should now appear like a grid with a bunch of lines.
9. The only section you care about is the “Advance on Issue” section. The other sections don’t matter at this point. You want to make sure the vertical lines are positioned correctly for each column in the “Advance on Issue” section. If they are not positioned correctly (meaning that date will be cut off or not put in the right column, you can move the line by right-clicking your mouse and moving the line). If there is an extra line that you need to delete—double click the right mouse. If you need to add an extra line, simply position the mouse where you want the line and click the right mouse once.
10. Once you have the vertical lines positioned correctly, click the excel icon again.
11. The data should convert to excel and pull up the converted excel spreadsheet.

• SORTING DATA IN EXCEL SO THAT YOU CAN IMPORT IT

1. As previously mentioned, the only information that you are currently concerned about is the information listed in the “Advance on Issue” section.
2. Delete all the rows above the “Advance on Issue” section and delete all the rows below the “Advance on Issue” section.
3. Highlight all the remaining information from the commission statement.
4. Click on Data, Sort.
5. Select the column for Writing Agent that is in the “Advance on Issue” section. (probably column E)
6. Delete all rows with information for agents other than your name
7. Delete any total rows.

• GETTING THE REMAINING INFO IN EXCEL READY TO IMPORT

1. Insert a column after Column B Policyholder.
2. Go to Data, Text to Columns.
3. Selected Delimted, Next, check the “Other” box and put a column in the box. Click next and then finish. You should now see the last name and first name in separate columns.
4. Insert another column after Column C (first name)
5. Go to a blank excel worksheet and type in the following formula:
=CONCATENATE(B4,”,”,C4,” “,A4).
6. Copy the above formula into the commission spreadsheet next to the first name of the first client. You should see the following information in that cell now LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, ID NUMBER.
7. Copy this formula down so that each row has the combined name and policy number.
8. This formula will combine the name and the policyholder into one column so that it will be easier to find in QB.
9. Once each line shows the combined data, select all the data in that column (except the header) for Column D. Right click the mouse and select Copy. Right click and select Paste Special and then select Values. Now in column D, you should see the same data as before, but it will be the actual data and not a formula.
10. Insert a column after column D and make a header called Contact. Type in the contact person for each policy.
11. Insert another new column after column F and call that column Start Date. Rename Column H Issue Date instead of New Business Period.
12. Copy the dates from Column H to Column G as well.
13. Delete the Writing Agent column
14. Insert 4 columns after the Premium column so that you have a blank column J. Call these new columns Job Description, Phone, Alt Phone, E-mail. Input the phone and email information if desired.
15. Delete all other columns except the amount of the commission advance.
16. After the commission advance column, add a column for Opening Balance As of Date. Copy the Issued Date into this column.
17. Select the data in the commission column (N). Right Click and select Format Cells. Change to general format instead of Accounting format.
18. Change the format in columns G, H, and O to a Date formal. Select the data, right click and select formal cells, select Date.

• Importing/Copying into QB

1. Go to Quickbooks and select Lists, Add/Edit Multiple List Entries.
2. Go to the first blank line at the bottom of this list.
3. Copy the data from the excel sheet (do not include column headers). Select the data in the excel spreadsheet and then go to the first blank line in the list in Quickbooks, right click and select paste.
4. Make sure all the information was pasted to the correct columns in QB. Make any error corrections in necessary. The commission advance should be in the Customer Balance column. This will show up as an opening balance invoice.
5. Click Save changes.

CONGRATULATIONS—THE DATA IS NOW IN QUICKBOOKS.

6.

• Final step for the weekly renewal reports – add the chargeback information to Quickbooks.

1. If there were any chargebacks on the commission statement that you imported, these will need to be posted as a payment to the customer account in order to clear out the balance.
2. In Quickbooks, Click on Home, then Click on Receive Payments in the Customer Section.
3. In the Received from box, type in the last name and find the correct policy.
4. The date should be the date of the report.
5. The amount is the “Advanced Commission” amount minus the “Earned Credit” amount. This amount is usually different from the chargeback amount listed due to timing differences of when AIO finds out about the chargeback.
6. In the “Deposit To” line, select the appropriate insurance company for the commission advance account.
7. Put “chargeback” in the memo line.
8. Click Save and Close. IF there is an overpayment, an alert will come up, simply click OK.

You can delete the report that you saved on the desktop. You no longer need it.

How to input renewal income into Quickbooks

2010-10-12T21:12:00.000-06:00

Instructions – Inputting monthly renewal statement activity into Quickbooks

This is a step by step guide to entering your monthly renewal statement into quickbooks by exporting and importing. You need to get the "Able2Extract" program in order to do this and if you are just starting out you can do this manually. This is for Quickbooks 2010 Premier Edition. If you just don't want to have to deal with all of this I would encourage you to get someone to do it for you so you can show a payment history of each client and the balance they have with you. I would recommend Randy Russon for the job. You can find his contact information within this blog.

1. Go to your commission statements online.
2. Click on Commission Statements
3. Login to commission statement section.
4. Click on Renewal Statements.
5. Select the most recent renewal statement.
6. After the file opens as a pdf file, save the file to the desktop.
7. Open the Able2Extract Program.
8. Open the renewal statement file from the desktop.
9. Select Edit, Select All Pages
10. Click the excel icon and convert.
11. In the excel file, go to the very bottom of the document and delete any rows that have information on chargebacks. You will enter this information later, but don’t want it included with the renewal information.
12. Delete the header information at the top of the spreadsheet. Delete all rows above the Policy No./ Policyholder titles that start the beginning of the data.
13. Select the remaining data for the entire document so that it is highlighted.
14. Click on Data, Sort
15. Sort by Column D, Writing Agent.
16. Delete all rows for any agents other than Ethan Selph.
17. Open your Customers file in Quickbooks.
18. Hide all columns in Excel except for Policy No, Policyholder, Product, Earned Credit and Earned Commission.
19. For the amounts listed in the “Earned Credit” column you will need to input a payment into Quickbooks as follows:
20. In Quickbooks, Click on the Home window.
21. Click on Receive Payments.
22. Type in the last name in the Received From section until you find the correct client.
23. The amount is the amount listed in the Earned Credit column.
24. The date is the date of the report – for example 5/31/2010 for the 5/31/2010 renewal statement.
25. The deposit to line needs to be changed so that the payment is posted to the appropriate insurance company. Determine the product type from the excel spreadsheet either in the product column or after the name of the policyholder.
26. Click on Save and New and move on to the next payment following the same steps as above.
27. You may highlight or bold the information in the excel spreadsheet so that you remember which payments you have already input.
28. For the amounts listed in the “Earned Commission” column you will need to create an invoice and an immediate payment on the same day.
29. To create an invoice, go to Home and Create Invoice.
30. Select the Customer. If the customer is not in the system, add them to the system.
31. Select the class – product type.

How do I pick a good lead vendor?

2010-09-13T15:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks for your response Ethan! Just to let you know I have been using the mojo dialer for a few months and its great. I wish there was just one program for everything but that's wishful thinking! My problem now is finding a good lead vendor. I started out with insuranceleads.com and it was okay and then for about a month everything started unraveling (i.e., my contact ration went from about 40% to 20%, a lot of incentive leads, people who never requested information, etc.) I have also used netquote and a couple of others and I have found that with shared leads price doesn't mean better quality. This is a journey I guess.

Esteban

Answer: I built up my leads database with Netquotes. You can get hosed pretty bad with them too. I would suggest before trying any lead vendor to go to their site and put your information in there with your phone number and see how many agents contact you. If you mess around with zip codes that a lead vendor might use you might find that you are only sharing with one other agent instead of 10. Also pay attention to how quickly agents call you so that you can determine if you are competing against a call center or a good ole' agent. I prefer competing against agents because they don't have a predictive dialer half the time. I would also work with MOJO to have your leads directly imported into their system. They can show you how to do this.

Ethan

When is a good time to call leads?

2010-09-13T14:33:00.000-06:00

Hello Ethan,

I love your blog, keep up the good work. I have two questions for you. I am a new agent and I just started buying leads. So as not to wait around all day for leads when is usually a good time that leads start coming in or is it sporadic throughout the day? Also, do you do a lot of webinars when selling insurance online? It seems that some of the "experts" suggest you cannot sell successfully without selling via webinars. What are your thoughts. Thanks.

--
Cordially,
Esteban

Dear Esteban,

I don't think there is a perfect time to turn leads on and off. I think a lot of it depends on your situation and how many leads you are getting. If I were getting a few leads I would have them go to a smart phone or something and call them as soon as they come in if you are not in front of a computer all day long. I you have more than 10 leads a day coming in I would use an autodialer like MOJO or a call center like LEADPOD to make calls for you. These two services can help you make a much better return on your investment.

Lastly.........Don't let your business run you. You are the business owner and you need to run the business. If you aren't happy because you aren't doing what you love you will never be able to sell very much. I like to allocate so many hours a week prospecting, doing customer service, outside prospecting, and so forth. You have to figure out a formula that makes you happy. I would keep a time budget and keep track how your week is going to be divided up. Also there is nothing wrong with doing a business venturem like selling health insurance, part time until it out earns your other job. My rule of thumb has always been to not bite off more than I can chew!

Stellar Aged Leads

2010-09-13T14:22:00.000-06:00

Hi Ethan,

I found your blog and recorded webinar when I was researching stellar prospects. I am a bit leery of stellar prospects because I cannot find anything about them, good or bad on Google, the insurance forums or even the BBB. Also the emails I get from them are from a name at a totally different insurance company. I am worried about their legitimacy. But then again they are connected with MOJO which makes me feel a bit better. Since you don’t buy leads how are you connected with them? Is this where you got the original 5000 leads?

Answer: Dear Abby,

I don't know very much about Stellar Prospects. I met the owner at a Norvax convention last year and we joined up to do a training webinar. The owner was very nice to me and there was a lot of people on the call. He doesn't appear to be a person that I wouldn't trust. Since the webinar that I did with him there has been no communication. I really don't do those types of webinars anymore for Stellar or anyone. They end up eating away at my time and I never get compensated more than selling insurance policies.

I want to buy aged leads. I use another source but these prices are good for life. If I buy leads, how do I get them into my account (I use Aliss). Then how would I get them to MOJO and use them with a dialer and my own crm? Do I have to load them manually to Aliss and then again into MOJO? Then do I use the auto dialer, and when I get an answer, hurry up and search in Aliss for the client? I need to have the leads in Aliss since that is my quoter.

Answer: I wouldn't switch your clients from Aliss to Mojo simply because MOJO is an autodialer and not a quoting software. With Aliss there should be a function that allows you to export contacts into a .csv file and you can easily import them into MOJO. I like to "toggle" between MOJO and my quoting software by holding down "alt" and "tab" at the same time. I wish there was one program that would do "everything" for you but it is still in development with me for a while. I will let you know when it comes out.

Lastly, how early is too early to make calls. I am in the est time zone. I work numerous states but mornings are good now that the kids are back in school. I have always started no earlier than 10 a.m. because I don’t want to annoy people. How early is too early? And how early are people in the mood to buy? Thank you for your time and answers. Sincerely, Abby

Answer: I think 8am in a prospects' time zone is the perfect time to call. In addition to that, I would call at noon and 6pm. More than 3 times a day can get pretty annoying but you have to be aggressive with these people otherwise they will go somewhere else. Do yourself a favor and don't leave a message. You will get a better response from people calling you back if you don't leave a message.

Where do I get more General Agent help?

2010-09-13T13:25:00.000-06:00

Ethan,

Love your webinars. I listened to a couple of them. They've been very helpful. Your info was sent to me by Sue from Indiana who has been communicating w/you as of late. Both she & I got in to this business through the Pajama Man (PJM). We both have become somewhat discouraged. I am in the same situation as she's in. I'm running dry in funds and have been hesitant to jump in buy leads & take calls. I feel I need to put resumes out & get a night job until I get up & rolling in this business, but then I feel I won't have the time to do this business diligently. Catch 22, huh?

I'm really emailing to ask if you think I should leave my general agent who's of little value to me to go with AIO. They seem to help you get off the ground running. I've been speaking with a Gary Blanche from AIO who has been trying to recruit me. I'd have to transfer my carrier appointments to AIO. I feel that listening to live calls & their coaching (if they are being truthful) will help me get adjusted.

Are you still with AIO?

Thanks,
William

Dear William,

I am sorry to find out that you are having a hard time in the industry. I know what it is like to be recruited and not helped. It has happened to me several times. I guess you could say I am loyal to my family and not as much to organizations. I do use American Insurance Organization for my insurance products. I don't use them for all insurance carriers because they can't appoint me with all carriers.

I don't know Gary Blanche very well but I do know that he has received numerous awards for recruiting. I was in the Bahamas 2 weeks ago where he received an award for the best "recruiter" of 2009. That being said..........I cannot assure you that he is going to take better care of you than your last recruiter simply because I don't know much about you or your work ethic. The organization of AIO is a good solid one but I am sure that there are a lot of people complaining of not getting enough help from their sponsors. I have had agents that I have spent a lot of time working and training in the past that have said that I don't help them enough and I was spending 10-15 hours a week coaching them.

When I recommend a product, service, or person I have always used them. I never make a recommendation without trying it out for myself. That is why I can't tell you whether Gary Blanche is going to turn your business around for you. I hope this helps!

Do you do one on one sales calls?

2010-09-11T10:21:00.000-06:00

Do you still have personal one on one calls for sale, because I would like to pick your brain on approaches for aged internet leads?.

Corey

Dear Corey,

I don't do one on one sales calls with insurance agents anymore. I have been training agents for years and unfortunately I have never been able to figure out a way to make more money doing that than by just selling insurance. Because of that, lots of insurance General Agents have come to me for enhancing their sales skills and strategies for their agents knowing that I won't "steal" anyone from them. I am sorry I don't do this anymore. I do have plans to put some sales calls on YouTube though. I am just not sure when that will happen. This whole blog is really just a service that I offer to agents so that insurance producers can become effecient in selling insurance without having to make some of the same mistakes I made when I first started the industry.

Do you have Youtube videos on how to enter information into Quickbooks?

2010-09-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

Ethan, Did you do the YouTubes on using Quickbooks? Are you saying that you can build a CRM by integrating it with Outlook? Where can I get more info on all of this?
Jim A. (Texas)

Dear Jim,

If you use Outlook, it automatically syncronizes the information from Quickbooks to Outlook or from Outlook to Quickbooks. I am using my own CRM now that I built because I tried to get Outlook on my new computer and had problems get anyone from Microsoft to help me configure Outlook the way that I wanted with the new edition. After spending literally 2 weeks on this project I gave up and have revamped my own database that I built and it can export and import directly into Quickbooks right now. I do have the information on how to enter information into Quickbooks available but not on Youtube yet. I have been having technical difficulties adding this information to the blog. Hopefully it will be up within the next two weeks.

The CRM system that I have will eventually be available to the public for sale but I am still about 6-12 months from that. I use Quickbooks for all of my customer payment information and financials. I am using my own CRM for a toll free number, auto responders, CRM, and telephone broadcasting. I will let everyone know when I have my own CRM that will be available for the public.

Who do you use to help you make business decisions?

2010-09-11T09:29:00.002-06:00

I gave up trying to make up decisons about my business by myself years ago. It is just too hard to become proficient in one line of work and then be super good at another. We do have to trust and rely on different specialists to help us in any business venture.

During the past 12 months I have been using the financial firm of Russon and Company for all of my financial decisions. Randy Russon, the owner of Russon-Company, has spent quite a bit of time interviewing me about my health insurance business. He has interviewed me about the strategies of my business model as well as asking what has worked well and what hasn't worked very well.

Randys' poignant questions and positive attitude have helped me feel comfortable in working with him.

Last year because of the help of Randy Russon, he helped me cut over $50,000 of expenses and helped me implement new strategies that increased my business revenue.

Even though my wife is a CPA and helps me quite a bit with accounting needs, she doesn't have the background of analyzing financials that Randy Russon has. Becuase of that we have outsourced most of the financial analyzing to Randy Russon.

This past year I had an insurance agent, at a conference that I spoke at, ask me how much money should I spend in leads? I had no clue what to tell him because when I asked him about his revenue, expenses, and profit margins he had no clue what I was talking about. I referred him to Randy Russon in hopes that Randy would help him put all of the information into Quickbooks and help make recommendations for him. At the minimum I recommend that each business owner meet with someone like Russon-Company once a quarter to get help paying your quarterly taxes. It also helps you to get another persons' perspective on your business.

I have referred quite a number of people to Russon Company and will continue recommend his name for small business owners. His website is www.Russon-Company.com and his phone number is 801-226-9075.

Do you have two Vonage accounts because you sell in two states?

2010-09-11T08:47:00.001-06:00

I have 4 phone numbers and one toll free number for my clients. I started with Skype with 4 phone numbers and I got out smarted by their fees in making as many calls as I do that it started costing my more money than having a two Vonage accounts.

My accounts through Vonage have one "real" phone line and one "virtual" number. The reason that I have had so many phone numbers is because if I was trying to get in touch with clients that I felt were avoiding me I would call from different area codes. It has always been worth paying a little bit more in a phone bill because of the people I am finally able to talk with.

I started my phone lines with Skype but I have been much more happy with Vonage with the call quality. I was able to bring down my internet speed from a 10 Megabyte high speed fiber optic line to regular DSL from Qwest when I switched from Skype to Vonage. I think I am saving about $60 a month because of that.

How I organize my clients in my CRM.

2010-09-11T08:32:00.001-06:00

These are a list of statuses that I have set up in my CRM. Basically I have a folder for each of these statuses and when I move a client to a particular status the email auto responders start for these clients.

6 month client review Advises client to call us for 6 month check-up

Application pending Application completion reminder.

Customer service Already approved. Just to advise client that Customer Service is working on their issue...

Delinquent payment Asks client to contact us regarding a policy update.

Lab work/Paramed Advises client a Paramed will contact them regarding required lab work to qualify for insurance.

Medical records request Advises client their medical records have been requested for review by the insurance company.

Missed phone appointment Client did not keep a phone appointment. We request they contact us for a new appointment.

New client check-up Asks client how things are going for them (every few months).

Non-valid leads Advises prospect we tried contacting them by phone, and request correct information

Not interested resolicitation 10-month 'reconsider us' notification for those who are not interested.

Prospect appointment Reminds prospect of upcomng phone or personal appointment.

Prospect introduction Introduces the agent and available products for prospective clients.

Quotes viewed Acknowledgement of client online review of Norvax insurance plan quotes.

Renewal 10-month policy review notice to client.

Thanks for your business (post-sale) Same or next day e-mail thanking client for their new business.

UW customer service Prospect is in underwriting, but has service issues. Notifies them their problem is being worked on.

UW decision (CIRD) Advises client that the Underwriting Department has made a decision. (One of the following: Counteroffer, Incomplete, Issued, Rate Increase or Declined. Note: The decision not communicated in this notice.)

UW decision (CIRD) phone appointment Post-CIRD phone appointment.

UW going well Advises everything is going well in underwriting: No requirements for this client, but no decision as yet.

UW interview - Aetna No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - American Community No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - Assurant No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - Humana No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

UW interview - UHC No decision as yet. Client needs to call for UW phone interview.

Interim rules on Health Care Reform

2010-09-11T08:26:00.000-06:00

http://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/NAHU_2/attach/GLG_Summary_Annual_Limits_Regulations_June_10.pdf

What strategies should I use when just starting to sell insurance?

2010-09-01T15:52:00.000-06:00

Dear Ethan,

I can't tell you how much your information and your videos has helped me.

We had a family construction business but there has been no work for over two years. We were unable to find anything to bring income even though we tried everything we could think of. We were slowly liquidating practically everything we owned and exhausting savings and credit cards and family assistance. We were desperate to find an income!

I am very new now in insurance - just passed the exam and am very green. I was never in insurance industry prior to April, 2010. In fact, I hated even reading my policy and rarely did! What got me hooked was that I could help educate people about insurance and help them get better plans AND make an income. I figured I could learn it but several times I thought "What was I thinking???" But so far so good. People like you have been very helpful and inspiring.

I worried about health care reform but no good in worrying. I like your Phil Jackson idea - take it a day at a time. Focus on now and hurry up and get it done now. (he used to be our Chicago Bulls coach although I'm in Indiana). Sorry to go on - here are my Qs:-

Can you import the client info into Quickbooks from Mojo or Quotit or Norvax? All of those systems will allow you to export that information into an excel file and then you can upload that into Quickbooks. If your reports are in a pdf you can use www.able2extract.com. The link is http://www.investintech.com/prod_downloadsa2e.htm.

What do you feel is a good salary to pay an assistant, how many do you have, and how many hours do they work?

I don't have any assitants at this time. I have felt that by the time you get an office and a couple people helping you it eats away at your margins so much that it isn't worth it. I moved back into my home from my office two months ago and I like it much better. If you need help with a technical project or something you can always call a temp service and they can have an employee meet you at a Kinkos or something. That is what I usually do if I need some sort of project done. I wanted to build a huge agency in the past but I really like my lifestyle of coming and going when I want and seeing my 2 year old lots while working from home. I have tried pretty much everything in this business and I prefer it this way but maybe it will change in a year or so.

Why do you have to work every day if you are just mainly working aged leads? I don't have to work everyday and I don't always but I work and play hard. Last week was the Bahamas and then next week I am taking a 7 day backpacking trip through Yellowstone! Besides.........I am only 37 years old. I have my prime earning years ahead of me and I need to work to keep up with Obamas tax increases that are coming.

Do you send teaser emails before you contact NEW prospects,too, or just renewals and not interested? I was unclear about that. If I were working new leads (which I am not anymore) I would send them an introduction email explaining what I do along with a phone call. If I don't make contact I would send a follow up email 4-6 days later and then from then on I would double the amount of time I am sending out emails. So on the third batch I would send out an email 8-12 days later and then 16-24 days after that and so on.

Do you have a script to suggest to start with these aged leads (but new to me, not renewals or Not Interested leads). There are several videos on this blog that explain a script for new leads and if it is an aged leads you can visit one of my posts at http://biztartinsurancetips.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-call-not-interested-leads-or.html to find out more about this.

you have me excited to start! I am signing on for the auto dialer and then the stellar prospects leads.

Thank you!!!

Susan

Which package should you start out with on Norvax and Mojo?

2010-06-23T16:41:00.000-06:00

Ethan,

After reading all your blog posts and watching your interview, I'm very seriously considering obtaining Mojo and Norvax.

From what I understand, MoJo within weeks will modify their product to have a CRM system as well as automatic lead call and connect. First, is this correct?

If so, then which product from Norvax would you recommend? (answer for a starter agent on a lower budget and keeping in line with your training, "don't borrow or spend more than you earn" The choices are Basic, Professional, Prem, and Elite.
For AIO agents: Are there any discounts available you know of? I don't see any in the AIO site.

Thanks.. I'll watch your blog for a post response. Truly appreciate your help and training.

Joe, FL

Dear Joe,

Anytime I purchase a new technology product there is always a learning curve to making the product work. As a rule of thumb, because I am the worst at learning new technology, I always start at the most basic package you can purchase with that company that gets the job done. My recommendations would be.

Norvax: Start out with just the quote engine. Once you have put in all the insurance companies and you know that product like the back of your hand you can look at the auto responders and some other stuff. There are 3 major components of the Norvax System. They are..............

1. Quote Engine- Basically just gives quotes so that consumers can compare plans and apply right there. This also has a simple contact manager that you can use.

2. Auto Responders - Lead Miner- This automatically sends out a link so that the client can view plans right there. It also notifies you when a client views your proposals.

3. Website - This is a custom built website (template) that you can market and prospects can get a quote and sign up for the plan online. This works great for consumers that can't speak English very well.

Mojo - Makemycalls.com, Mojosells.com: I would just start with the basic package. I only recommend the auto dialer if you have hundreds or thousands of contacts to call. It doesn't make sense to purchase an auto dialer if you only have 100 people to call. You can call over 100 people in an hour because it calls 3 people at a time. The new feature that has auto responders should be great but I would learn the ropes before starting out with the whole package. My policy is "Invest a little, get a return on your investment, and then invest more where you see a profit." The auto dialer is very complex. You could have your brain fried after a few hours of tutorials on this product. As with any new feature there are going to be bugs as well so give it a month or two. I don't even do BETA tests with new products anymore just because I end up being the Guinea pig.

As for the AIO (American Insurance Organization) discount. With both of these products there are none. There used to be and if you had them before you are "grandfathered" into them. If you are with AIO you can ask John Pequeno to see if he is willing to renegotiate the discounts. Daniel Christoffers is awesome to work with over at Norvax.

Interim Rules for Health Care Reform Effective September 23, 2010

2010-06-23T14:37:00.000-06:00

White House Issues Interim Final Rules on Provisions Effective Sept. 23

Interim final rules were issued Tuesday by the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury concerning implementation of the pre-existing condition exclusions, lifetime and annual dollar limits on benefits, rescissions, and patient protections provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) .

Grandfathered Plans

Last week Interim Final Regulations were issued from the Departments of HHS, Labor, and Treasury around “grandfathered plans” under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). Health benefit plans in effect on March 23, 2010, are considered grandfathered health plans, which will not be subject to certain PPACA provisions.

The new regulations allow insurers and their customers to make only certain types of changes to their existing health plans while maintaining their grandfathered status. However, if an employer, member or insurer wants to make any changes to their plan beyond those defined in the regulations, they would lose their grandfathered status and have to follow the new rules identified by PPACA.

HHS included in its rules clarification that grandfathered plans:

Cannot significantly cut or reduce benefits

Cannot raise coinsurance charges

Cannot significantly raise copayment charges

Cannot significantly raise deductibles

Cannot significantly lower employer contributions

Cannot add or tighten an annual limit on what the insurer pays

Cannot change insurance companies