Salesmen always ask me if I work in stormy weather. My response has always been, "Depends on how bad you want the money."

My work territory is experiencing the worst snow fall it's seen in 20 years. I agree It's never fun to walk a mile to a presentation because you will ABSOLUTLY get stuck if you park in their neighborhood. But if you set goals for this year and you want to acheive them, be prepared to pay the price.

On the bright side, all your prospects WILL BE HOME because they are smart enough to stay off the streets. All those clients you have been trying to contact for the last 3 years who were never home... They are sitting in their living room being sold by an agent who is willing to do what others are not. Work hard and keep up the hustle!

Alright, guys and gals. Training meeting tomorrow at 8 am MST. Jared is going to show us how he got 25 referrals in one day! I'm going to talk about when to write Transamerica. We will also cover questions you fellas have for the week and do a little role play. Should take 1-1.5 hours. Bring your agent guide for Transamerica Premier Life (monumental life). If you don't have one, you can get it online. Remote agents can attend via teleconference. If you have interest please contact me and I will give you instructions to attend.

Ordering company supplies is easy and free. Once an agent is contracted, the insurance company usually sends him/her a new agent kit with samples of what is available from their supply department. The quantity  is usually not enough for more than a day or two of selling; so, new agents need to order supplies the second they are contracted.

New agents need only a few things to write business. Here they are:

• ALL State specific applications and required forms (replacement, HIPPA, ect. Check supply for all REQUIRED state forms).
• Brochures
• Rate cards

THAT'S IT! Notice I didn't say planning guides, business cards or envelopes? I didn't say them because you don't need them. Write your name and phone number at the top of brochure while you are waiting for business cards to come in.

Tips for ordering supply:

• Call supply directly for your first order to learn their preferred method of supply ordering (email, fax, online, ect)
• Make a cheat sheet for yourself with the name of the supplies and the form numbers.
• Only order what you need (25 apps/25 brochures/1 agent guide/1 rate cards).
• Order before you need them so you don't end up without writing materials.
• Download available materials off the company website and save them on your desktop in case you run out and need to print them on demand.

Alright folks... It's what everybody has been waiting for. FREE membership to the #1 Final Expense training site on the web. You can now become a member free of charge. Seriously... FREE. You get all the scripts, training, closes, presentations, overcoming objections, and on ... and on... and on! All for FREE.  Join today!

This is among my favorite stalls. You've been there. You are talking with a prospect and for some reason they won't commit to an appointment (sale, delivery, etc)! They try their hardest to make it appear as if they WANT to commit but they just can't so it and they tell you, "I'll call you."

You presented to your customer and you closed the deal! Congratulations! Now you're done, right? Nope! After most agents complete the sale completely they stop working with the customer. What MOST agents don't realize is that there are a series of steps that should and must take place after every sale.

Most companies have them and we all hate them. The dreaded PHI or phone interview. It's about the most annoying 11 minutes you have in the entire sales process. It's uncomfortable because you have to give all of the clients information to somebody else over the phone and you never really know what your customer is thinking. What makes them even worse is when you expect it to go one way and it unfolds in the opposite direction. 

I can safely say that there is nothing more annoying than getting a rejection notification at the end of the phone interview. What makes those rejections even worse is that some of the time they are not even warranted. The customer was asked a question and they simply did not understand what was being asked. They answered in the affirmative and declined because they didn't listen to the interviewer and you didn't do your job. 

So what can be done about the dreaded phone interview that ends in an inaccurate and disappointing decline from the insurance company? The answer is.. you have to provide the customer with a little bit of coaching. 

Before everybody gets up in arms and says "wait a minute, you can't coach a customer. That's against the law." You have to understand what I'm trying to say. I am NOT saying coach the customer to provide false information that is inaccurate. I am simply saying make sure your customer understands all of the questions that will be asked on the phone interview BEFORE the phone interview is conducted. 

For example, if you have a customer who had a stroke 4 years ago and is taking circulation medication. Make sure your customer understands that on the phone interview they are going to ask about a stroke in the last 2 years. All you have to do is tell the customer to "listen carefully to the time frame." Explain that the interviewer is going to ask them about a stroke in the last 2 years. The customer's stroke was 4 years ago, therefor... the answer is "No." 

I instruct my customers to always ask for clarification if they think the answer should be answered in the affirmative. Here is the script I use. 

"If you think the answer is 'yes,' ask the interviewer to repeat the question and listen carefully before you answer 'yes'."