At the point of becoming an insurance sales manager, his brain is erased of compassion, understanding, and concern. Now it is reprogrammed to focus in on the large amount of money created by overrides off his agents. In addition, he is compensated with a base salary. First objective of his is to build up at least a baker's dozen of new agents.

A life insurance sales manager is presumed to be a commander. Carefully tutoring and guiding his recruits through obstacles, making sure none fall by the wayside. NOT HERE... Your leader needs to impress the General Manager as a qualified company man. A company man instructs new agents to do everything by the company book, no exceptions. These are rules made for new agents, not rules for him. His top priority is himself. With in house agent training, he spend so little of that make or break it time. That is personally field training agents, helping them with presentations, and sometimes rescuing them so a sale is made

First the life manager must recruit relentlessly. A large percentage of people answer to the Sunday newspaper classifieds. The bait to find potential newcomers willing to change occupations is the personalized training and high income stated. It sounds TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Answer the ad, and a few nonsense questions, and you are told you definitely should schedule an interview. The interviewing process is set up purposely in 2 parts. The introductory section has the insurance sales manager pumping you up until you have visions of sugar plums dancing inside your head. You are told in 3 to 4 days you will receive a phone call if you are one of the applicants possessing critical credentials.

This delay is a ploy by the insurance agency to create an anticipating desire to being called back. Surprise, you are a chosen one. Now it's time to test your personality and sales ability traits. The sales manager tells you this test is especially developed to weed out all but a few talented individuals. After the test, he gives you a seat in the general office for a hour, while he carefully evaluates the results. (Probably sneaking out to down a cheeseburger, and a beer.).

Your heart races with pounding anticipation. You want the path to honor, glory, and high income. Your test is passed by 95% of the people returning without a beanie cap with a propeller on it. Surprise again, you become the newest agent in his field force. Your sales manager really does not know if you can find people to see, give presentations or close a sale. He is merely playing a revolving numbers game. You win some, you lose some, and you hire some.

Maybe you should have never been hired to begin with. Plus, your training will be minimal, your leads sub par, and your presentations too few. Your chances of success are slim to none. Your sales manager is hoping you stay on long enough to sell lots of family members, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Whenever you do see him, he is going to be on your back like a drill sergeant. Criticizing you for not obtaining enough leads, doing enough presentations, and for not selling fat premium cases.

The fault entirely lies on the entire agency management.. With what you assistance you have been provided its sheer fate you are still selling life insurance. In the meantime your manager has hired 6 agents to replace the six agents that have already left. All their policy holders are surrendered to the company to collect premiums and renewals for years to come. Right now your sales manager is in his office behind closed doors interviewing a candidate. This candidate could very well be your replacement.

Telling Your Insurance Sales Manager he is a Brainwashed does no good, it is his company dedication to making promises and delivering none, and ruining many good people's careers. Don't worry though; there is a 9 out of 10 chance he won't be selling life insurance before 4 years are up. Sales managers hired too early will also fall by the wayside. You pay the cost when your manager thinks he is capable of being your boss.

Most insurance agency owners are rightfully confused if questioned on what exactly website should contain. Their main thoughts center on getting their insurance website on the internet so customers can buy their products. These insurance agency owners do not understand that you can not buy yourself in. Nor do they know many ragged appearing sites spend very little to get a traffic jam of visitors.

If you want visitors you can get them if you are willing to pay enough. But this is a temporary band aid to site visitation that you can get for free.

BEAUTIFUL WEBSITES COLLAPSE FASTER THAN DRAB UGLY ONES!

Hiring a graphic design firm to design your insurance website is a fatal flaw. Have you gone bonkers watching an overdose of the movie "Angels in the Outfield? When Kevin Costner says "build it and they will come" he actually had a deep belief. You must have been in an hypnotic trance that placed this saying in your subconscious mind, and ruled out reality into the twilight zone.

WELL IF YOU BUILD A WEBSITE, VISITORS WILL NOT COME

Beautiful, magnificently built old and new treasured travel sites, bring in millions of visitors each year. The wonders of the world are tourist traps, and rightfully so. Why stay at a cheap motel if you can splurge on a luxury resort? In the real world, visitors scramble to the locations where the masterpieces of design and beauty prevail. You are using real world logic in preparing your insurance website. It must be grander looking than any of your competitors. Spending huge sums of money you have a professional web service design your internet mansion. Flashing actions, colorful blending page color combinations, and a snazzy looking front page design heading. A real world masterpiece.

HEY BUDDY WAKE UP, THIS IS THE INTERNET WORLD NOT THE REAL WORLD

Take at look at the website giants Google and Yahoo for example. Plain white backgrounds, no flashing attention getters, their personal websites pale in comparison to your site. A 13 year old with no graphic skills could have made their websites. Google and Yahoo are smarter than you, they chose to be drab. They know visitors can read everything on a straight white background easier than any color blended combination. If you are professional, you don't have to flash it, at least that's their attitude. An award looking website, by itself will not bring in visitors.

YOU WERE MONEY SUCKERED IN BY TRYING TO MAKE YOUR SITE LOOK PROFESSIONAL

You let the website designers really burn you bad. All the emphasis was put on making you marvel at this beautiful site with some bells and whistles. They did not dig deep into the behind the scenes programming. You paid for designing and not for programming and that's exactly what you got. At least 80% of the insurance websites I examined were much better looking than mine. But they also left out the guts. The guts are what move you up in the rankings to drive visitors to your home site. Just look at the title of your site. Almost for sure it is your company name.

WHY DO YOU THINK IF THE VISITORS HAVE NOT ARRIVED YET, THEY EVER WILL?

Under "life insurance agency" there are 960,000 Google listings. Entering the search term "Johnson life insurance agency", I found a beautiful site with pictures, 3 office locations, and 21 pages of linked data. Let's see why all that in itself is an almost total waste.

1. The title of the page was the name of the agency. How many potential clients looking for life insurance in the United States are going to find this site? Had the title been changed to "Term life insurance, Saratoga Florida" that would have been a start.

2. The site was put on the internet in October, 1999 and still had a low Google rating of "1". This means very few visitors, average information contents, no other site linking to this one, etc. Consider that earning a Google ranking of " 3" means good content with key words, other sites linking to yours, and search word phrases bringing at least 100 outside visitors weekly to your site. Any site earning a coveted Google "4" ranking or above is usually more skilled at attracting visitors than web site look appearance.

3. The site designer never put in the site description... Like "Saratoga Florida term life insurance experts with 3 offices specializing in tow cost term life insurance and major medical health plans.
4. The almighty keyword phrases were missing. Searchers putting in terms like "Florida decreasing term insurance, low level term insurance rates, Saratoga Florida, major medical health plans" and none ending up seeing this website listed.

Above are 4 of only about 20 essential tools and tricks equipping the search engines to spotlight your website in the top 10 listings for a particular web search. Unless you only want your own customers to see your sight, tear down the billboards, lower the lights, and prepare to hire someone to go backstage, and fiddle around to herd the new visitors in.

Internet SEO engineers build or revamp insurance castles. You needed this engineer to map and plan your internet for maximum effectiveness. You have nothing to lose by completely starting over. Are you afraid an associate won't like your sight's look or whether you have heavy traffic stopping in?

The Texas insurance adjuster license is easily the most sought after adjuster license in the country. Famed for its extremely high level of reciprocity with other states' licenses, the Texas adjuster license is often perceived as a cure-all to companies and independent adjusters looking for comprehensive licensure. But what are the real implications of becoming a licensed Texas adjuster and are the common representations accurate? Understanding the true reciprocal benefits of this license will enable companies to make sound licensing decisions for their staff adjusters and allow independent adjusters to maintain well-informed expectations and save time and money. Let's separate reality from common perception and demystify the nation's most coveted adjuster license.

License Overview

There are two types of multi-line adjuster licenses that may be obtained through the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI): the 1) all-lines license and b) property and casualty license. The all-lines designation enables licensees to handle residential, commercial, automobile, farm and ranch, inland marine, ocean marine, and worker's compensation claims. The property and casualty (P&C) license is different only in that it does not certify licensees to handle worker's compensation claims. For the purposes of property adjusters, particularly cat adjusters, these licenses are effectively the same. Another distinction regarding licensure is the resident vs. non-resident status of the license. While both certify its designees to work the exact same types of claims, there are absolutely crucial differences with regards to reciprocity that will be explained in greater detail below.

Obtaining the Texas Adjuster License

Obtaining your Texas adjuster license, be it all-lines or property and casualty, is ordinarily accomplished by taking either 1) the state exam administered by Prometric or 2) a certified pre-licensing course. The state exam is notoriously difficult and there is absolutely no guarantee of passing the exam. Many veterans within the insurance industry, counting on expertise in their particular field, have failed the exam owing to unexpected questions asked on more obscure lines such as farm and ranch and inland and ocean marine. The state exam must be scheduled with Prometric and exam study courses are available to assist in preparation. Pre-licensing courses are 40 hour classroom or online courses that are offered as substitutes for taking the state exam. The 40 hours consist of 30 "classroom" hours and 10 hours of self-study. An exam consisting of 150 questions is generally administered at the end of the course and serves as the culminating evaluation for the prospective adjusters.

The pre-licensing course satisfies all Texas Department of Insurance requirements for obtaining the Texas adjuster license. Once the state exam or a pre-licensing course is completed, students must still submit their application to the state. Application processing typically takes between 2 and 4 weeks. The application may require a criminal background check and fingerprinting for successful submission. Finally, any adjuster holding a CPCU or AIC designation is exempt from taking any course or exam and may immediately apply for licensure.

Reciprocity and the Texas License

The reciprocal benefits of the Texas adjuster license are poorly understood and inaccurately represented. One common misconception holds that once licensed as an adjuster in Texas you are automatically licensed in 32 other states as well. Other notions have it that the Texas license is reciprocal with every other state in the country or that it is by far the most reciprocal license. While certainly a powerful license, these statements incorrectly apply the principles of reciprocity and the scope of influence that this license truly has. The real answer, unfortunately, is slightly complex and, because each state's interpretation of reciprocity is different, varies from state to state. Nonetheless, coming to a correct understanding of the situation is vital and will prevent undue expense of time and money for companies and individuals alike.

First, what is reciprocity? Reciprocity, generally speaking, is the principle whereby the favors, benefits, designations, or penalties granted by one state to the residents of another state should be returned in kind. In the context of adjuster licensing, it means that if one state, say Florida, licenses adjusters already licensed in Texas, then Texas should do the same for those adjusters licensed in Florida. That is the basic principle. Most states, with the notable exceptions of Nevada, Hawaii, New York, Arizona, and South Carolina, are reciprocal with most other states that license adjusters.

The matter becomes complicated when dealing with non-resident licenses. Many states (Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Colorado to name a few) do not require their adjusters to be licensed. Thus a twenty year adjuster from Kansas City wishing to become licensed in Georgia to work hurricane claims might have a problem because there is no license in Kansas for Georgia to be reciprocal with. A Texas non-resident license is then often turned to as a means of resolving this dilemma. The results can be disappointing. Georgia, like many other states, mandates that if you do not hold a resident license you must pass their exam before successfully applying for licensure. It is unfortunate that adjusters in states that don't require licenses are punished when it comes to reciprocal privileges. On the other hand states such as Georgia are merely trying to close reciprocal loopholes (i.e. Georgia residents attempting to get licensed in Georgia without taking the state exam by using a non-resident Texas adjuster license). There are, however, some states (i.e. Alabama) that aren't concerned whether your license is resident or non-resident.

The lesson to be learned is that the matter should be examined on a case by case basis and should consider a) your state of residence b) the licenses you hold and their resident/non-resident status and c) the policies by state of the licenses you wish to obtain. Again, merely holding a Texas license doesn't guarantee reciprocal licensure in most states. The most important consideration and the factor that will most influence the level of reciprocity to be enjoyed is the resident/non-resident factor. Adjusters holding resident licenses will be able to gain far greater reciprocal privileges than those holding non-resident licenses - regardless of the state.

Other benefits of the Texas License

There are other benefits, aside from reciprocity, to be gained by obtaining the Texas adjuster license. Within the independent insurance adjuster industry, and especially among cat (catastrophic) adjusters, the Texas adjuster license is probably the most widely recognized and respected of licenses. Many adjusting firms that contract IAs to work claims are based in Texas. Having this license may be even be mandatory as a prerequisite to employment in some cases, whether you are a resident of Texas or not.

Another benefit of this license is that it is relatively easy to obtain. Online licensing courses and an abundance of regularly scheduled classroom licensing courses are available for immediate registration. Most other states lack the educational resources and support for licensure that are hallmarks of the Texas Department of Insurance and its licenses.

If you are beginning your insurance adjuster career, be sure to check your state's adjuster licensing rules. Starting with the right license will get you started on the right foot!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel Kerr has served as a career and training consultant for thousands of experienced and aspiring professionals in the insurance claims adjuster industry. In addition to his work as a catastrophic claims adjuster, Mr. Kerr is considered as one of the nation's foremost authorities on adjuster licensing and license reciprocity.

Let's think about the senior annuity market place. Over the thirty years of producing annuities we continue to see the competition for investors dollars increase on a yearly basis. Our potential clients are receiving information from a large source of independent professionals, including the internet.

Their lawyers, accountants, insurance salesmen, and financial planners are usually a good source of information. The problem is that most of these centers of influence fail to advise on another professionals work so no one person dealing in the house ties everything together.

Most all of these centers of influence are either to lazy, just don't care, or lack the knowledge to dot the I's and cross the T's.

Because of this, the typical Senior is left out in the cold and is independently trying to fill the holes left in their estate plans. You should be that person who fills the holes. Just think about it, at one time the family lawyer gave a lot of advice in dealing with estate planning affairs. Due to the uncertain cost of their services they have gradually scared the heck out of most middle class people (buyers of annuities) to not seek advice from them. Tell me one Senior that you see that wants to visit with an attorney. What I'm saying here is the legal profession continues to have less and less involvement in our market, all due to their arrogance, cost structure, and lack of compassion. I'm not saying that we don't need lawyers, but rather saying you as a planner can be a strong center of influence by being educated in all aspects of your clients needs. If you have a solid foundation it will be evident to the potential client by your confidence and knowledge. You want to be the one to advise a particular lawyer, based on experience and cost.

Accountants, tax preparers, life insurance salespeople, and typical stock brokers alike, don't cover all aspects of a Seniors estate planning needs. They do their job and get out. The tax people talk about getting a tax refund, or a reduction in taxes. The Life insurance person talks more insurance. The stock broker pedals better rates of return. What I'm saying is that you need to tie it all together and fill the holes left by all of these professionals. If you have a good personal understanding of all these subjects and you can explain the facts in a way that seniors understand, then and only then will you see a huge increase in your ability to close more annuity and life insurance sales.

So with all that being said it should be evident to you that the appointments being generated by PAP are all great opportunities for sales, but in order to be successful you have to see things through the clients eyes. The first thing they think, is he like all the rest of the sales people we have seen over the years? What's different about this sales person?

Can we trust him to be the person who gives advice for the preservation stage of our lives?

You need to be the person who covers all the bases with perfection. You have to be talking about all subjects. You need to talk about Probate, taxation of Social Security benefits, and protection of assets from nursing home care liens. If you truly get what's on their minds, selling annuities will get a heck of a lot easier.

THE KILL ZONE STARTS WITH THE HEADLINE

Gossip publications and magazine ads constantly rely on a long list of passionate titles to capture your interest. Likewise you must manipulate emotions to stir up the prospects emotions.

The prospect's attention starts instantly with your dramatic headline. Lose the curiosity here, and you lose the prospective client. Over 30% of insurance agent mailers do not provide a head turning headline. They try to use the headline to sell. The headline's purpose is to attract and hold interest only! Reaching the kill zone, involves giving emotional benefits received from using your extraordinary product Your insurance prospects want to know what benefits they receive by buying your policy.

Having a dependable list of adjectives handy, serves as a experienced guideline to writing your sales piece. This forces you to continue adding stirring adjectives to your sentences. You must guide and open up your client emotions and attention. Don't be afraid to use strong adjectives like elated, crazy, bold, or exuberant in your sentences. Try it yourself; injecting beefy adjectives of elated, crazy, bold, exuberant to make an emotion statement benefiting your prospects. Hear is an example of using all 4 in one sentence "Your might venture to think I am a bold and crazy agent, but when all your medical bills are paid, your elated relief and exuberant smile will beam."

THE KILL ZONE ENDS WITH THE CLOSE

The kill zone ends with an insurance prospect replying to your offer. Is your direct marketing piece aggressive enough to go for the kill zone? The salesperson trusts considerable responses will merely flow in. Many a costly direct mail campaign was ruined by the established, yet not competent letter writer. They forgot the kill zone close requires crucial wording to capture the insurance prospect. You must tell the prospect to reply right now, or the offer is limited. Provide an incentive for replying immediately. Just adding a phone number provides measly bait Use kill zones techniques to make a creative competent insurance mailer.

Below is the first list of 50 free adjectives.

Adventurous, aggressive, anticipating, assertive, attractive, attentive, authoritative, awesome, beastly, bewildered, Blessed, bloody, boiling, bumpy, candid, captivating, changing, charming, cheap, chic, chilly, clever, closing, clueless, colorful, colossal, combative, comfortable, committed, compassionate, competent, complex, complicated, confident, conforming, considerate, convincing, cooperative, costly, courteous, crazy, creative, credibly, creepy, crowded, curious, dangerous, daring, deafening, and decisive.

This 51 word adjectives list follows.

Dedicated, defiant, deliberate, delightful, dependable, deserving, desirable, determined, devoted, different, dignified, diplomatic, exuberant, discreetly, distinct, disturbed, domineering, doubtful, dull, dynamic, eagerly, earnest, frantic, economical, dry, educative, efficient, elated, elegant, embarrassed, encouraging, energetic, enlightening, enormous, enterprising, effortless, entertaining, enthusiastic, envious, established, excellent, exceptional, expensive, fabulous, faithful, famous, fancy, fantastic, fascinating, fertile, focused, and free.

For insurance agent recruiters, insurance marketing organizations, and product marketers selling to agents, this is the cream of the crop. These are the four leaf clovers of the annuity, life, and health insurance agent force. Think outside the bun, this is the sizzling steak that can enrich your career or permanently burn you.

EXPERIENCED CAREER AGENTS

Agents who have to this date not placed outside "brokerage" business may be sitting on the fence. Remember that this agent (like many others), may be a super shopper who enjoys collecting sales brochures and spend hours comparing them. Other times this agent might be trying to pass off a case that no one else wants, or might have an extremely peculiar client who would only agree with mommy and the family attorney present. An occasional agent fitting this category might be okay, but overdosing on too many like these will require more than aspirin.

ESTABLISHED INSURANCE BROKERS

Receiving insurance mailing lead responses from an agent who has previously placed any kind of case as a broker causes your spine to tingle with anticipation. Your base of agents consists of 75% of the agents that broker some form of insurance! You can help to tilt these numbers in your favor. This agent is easily scared off if your product offering is too technical or portrays too darn many features or riders. Keep it simple on both your approach and the material presented. Let you advertising piece talk about the ease of selling, not the vacation in paradise rubbing noses and drinking nectar with the company big shots.

BROKERS SELLING YOUR PRODUCT

This is as hot as fire can burn, Get a insurance mailing lead response from an experienced agent already brokering a similar product to yours and get ready to make your best move. A single response of this caliber is worth 2 dozen from rookie career agents. This is where you concentrate upwards of 80% of your time, your mailings, your recruiting budget, and your skills on. So what if this agent is already writing for a competitor or two of yours? This is war, survival of the fittest recruiters! Reel your competitors' agents in, and then don't let them go unnoticed. It pays to advertise when your ad tick lands on a fat dog. Don't let the experienced bulldog escape until he is leashed into your agency system. Say yes to veterans.

YOUR OWN BROKERS

Give yourself a well deserved kick if you don't look in your own backyard. The next multi-million dollar case might be by a broker under contract with you, writing a small case or a different product. The work getting the contract signed and first piece of business placed is already accomplished. Developing a monthly email newsletter to your current base of broker is mandatory. Don't smother, mother. When your contracted broker base becomes too large to carefully nurture, cut off your non-producers. Don't cut back the email newsletters.. Agents are told to ask for referrals, but do you do the same? Let's say it costs $600 or more to recruit one prime agent that writes multiple cases. Would offering this broker a $50 restaurant gift certificate to locate another broker be reasonable? You have to spend money to make money. Keep your agent informed, do they know about every single product you handle? If they do not, they should. Your current producer might just rate a perfect 10.

It is time to awaken your senses to no limitations .The technique is surprisingly easy to master. Take the time to search for and then practice learning the trade secrets. To soar up like an eagle, you can't have clipped wings. This means being one mean selling machine. Awesome achievement provides the incentives to master the required steps. Do not combine ANY of your new, highly effective closing presentation with the company man presentation. Write it yourself, it must sound like you, not a recording.

The keys to a superior presentation are self motivation, knowledge of your product, and confidence to make the sale. Start by making your sales presentation more powerful than ever. You can get five stars on your forehead! Just do an entire presentation in 10 minutes from start to finish. Have an associate, spouse, or friend time you until you can do it with skipping any steps.

1. Get your prospects attention. This doesn't mean driving an army tank to the prospects' door. Put yourself in your client's shoes. List a perfect combination of 12 items that will rattle your client's attention. Start immediately at the door with a free gift. A new sports team logo hat or a small bunch of flowers could be two of your dozen ideas.

2. Next you need to get the prospects interest in your product or presentation. Telling them you are very busy, is packed with dynamite. Your briefcase is no longer seen as overnight luggage, and it portrays you not fighting over a sale until they say no eight times. Keep control by asking to set at a table where you want you show them a must see option that was just introduced. Ask them if they mind if you take off your tie.

3. Limit yourself to three brief reasons why your plan is superior. Include painting a picture of someone who didn't think they needed your product, yet signed up. Then explain in visual term how this person or the person's family was paid benefits they would have otherwise not received.

4. This is the portion most articles, most letters to get leads, and most presentations share in common. THEY OMIT THIS PORTION! Give 3 to 5 essential benefits your insurance product gives your client. You will automatically overcome some objections from ever coming up. Break out piece by piece how your product is going to solve the puzzle. Each of your benefits must link to an emotion. For insurance salespeople viable emotions include fear, love, security, increased happiness, and greed to build up money. Keep it positive and exciting. Inject motivation and inspirational adjectives and verbs to keep your entire presentation positive.

5. Sales experts know that less talk tops all closing rules. You already instilled the urge, now close the gap. Never say, "Well what do you think?" Instead slowly say, "Does this plan provide the protection you need, or if you can't afford it, I can show you the limited benefit plan? Wait until you get an answer, and this means sometimes a few minutes. Practice with a variety of questions, until you find a couple that work best for you.

Explore the office sales chart, watching how consistently you are giving yourself a raise graduating to the major leagues. It may be time to set a higher goal. There is no harm in striving to become the world's greatest salesperson If feel you are falling short, remember success is a journey never a destination. The journey becomes very rewarding.

Using a quality prospect list and a terrific postcard easily produces a 33% increase in leads. By injecting action verbs and descriptive adjectives it is possible to squeeze the bottle harder. The final makeover shoots boiling hot response to a 45%.increase. All this without spending a penny more

THE ORIGINAL SALES POSTCARD:

New Announcement

Dear Reader. we wanted to pass this information on to you. Our combined 95 years of home office experience has made us one of the top sellers of insurance, with our headquarters in Omaha. Nebraska. Everyone buys insurance, although it takes some convincing.

We are expanding to California, and need 3 new representative to fill the position of District Manager of Sales. Only the best managers qualify for a new paid Lincoln lease for a year. The best 12 also attend the convention at a resort in Maui, Hawaii. Joining a large firm like ours is good for you and your family.

If interested call 555-555-5555. Thank You.

THE REVISED SALES POSTCARD

The Dream Career Opening of a Lifetime Awaits You

Finally advance forward to bankers hours, while accumulating attractive benefits exceeding your wildest dreams.

Your full incentive menu includes sunny daytime work hours, a guaranteed salary, major medical health insurance, generous recruiting funds, an exclusive territory, and superior overrides on agents hired.

Of 110,000 California licensed agents, this massive initial list was examined and scrubbed down to 1%. You and 1,100 top-notch selling agents were keenly selected as having the highest caliber abilities.

When the three slots are filled, this offer will terminate. Pick up the phone and call Rich Moneymaker, our expert regional manager at 555-555-5555 between 9:00 and 5:00. To talk to Rich, beyond normal business hours, email him. Rich will respond quickly to your email sent to rmoneymaker at financialkingdom,com.

P.S. Rich will be locked in his office all next week, with the sole purpose of hiring three aggressive, and advancement orientated managers.

This enhanced postcard covers necessary sales points, and excites the prospect by injecting descriptive words.

Here's a spirited list of 50 descriptive adjectives shoving blah out, and ramming yeah in:

Dream, immaculate, priority, instant, elevated, frantic, remarkable, genuine, mysterious, sticky, precision, wildest, massive, optimistic, professional, top-notch, full, positive, generous, keenly, superior, slick, marvelous, reflective, progressive, heroic, ripe, persuasive, fantastic, outlandish, mammoth, increased, valuable, heavenly, outstanding, knockout, sparkling, motivational, priceless, healthy, positive, serene, rosy, famous, loyal, glorious, passionate, intelligent, magnetic, special, outstanding, and radiant,.

For the driving force that steers action pushing positive responses are 50 action verbs.

Capture, showcase, regain, dissected, opening, launch, focus, engineered, advance, navigate, achieving, howl, scrubbed, accumulating, yearning, aggressive, injecting, quicken, transforming, investigate, venture, predict, surprise, locked, exciting, tantalize, outmaneuver, ramming, scream, probe, shoving, interject, prove, astounding, overpower, witness, motivate, qualify, visualize, scrutinize, igniting, monitor, revealing, speculate, transmit, validate, tailor, succeed, forecast, unleash, inspire, and motivate.

You can't play hit and miss. Your selling future is at stake, and your mind won't focus on anything but the cost of the lead. It's time to have yourself hogtied and force a thinking cap on your thick skull. Grab firmly near the eyes and force focusing on the big picture. The big picture affects source of lead, appointment ratio, closing rate, average commission, and then net commissions. Get more informed by comparing these 3 totally different life insurance lead options.

1. The $10.00 life insurance "shared" lead sold to 6 agents (actually a bakers dozen) sounds as tasty and as cheap as a box of donuts, that you don't need. Cheap does not mean better. You don't need 20./20 vision to envision what happens. Purchasing 20 leads for $200.00, you achieve a meager appointment ratio of one in 5, and a sales ratio of 25%, 1 in 4. With internet shared leads you directly compete against other agents, plus the sale may have already been made .The total picture views one $550 sale, but after lead expenses, sandwiches, and gas leaves $300.00. Can you survive on $300.00 weekly?

2. Now search the internet for life insurance exclusive leads. At least you are told they are exclusive. Taking a chance you shell out $460.00 for 20 exclusive leads sworn to be the best available, 6 of these life insurance prospects agree to an appointment, and you sell two an average policy of $600.00. Now you netted out, before gas, $1,200. This semi-improvement reflects after expenses, income tax earnings of $50,000. A big step up, but it's certainly not worth bragging about.

3. Search next for reliable companies using direct mail to uncover life insurance leads. One reputable firm charges $540.000 for finding 1,000 prospects in the income and age bracket that always works best for you. The cost includes postage and printing services, and you receive all leads exclusively. 12 life insurance prospects request info and real interest. The six appointments with more sincere clients results in half (3) purchasing life polices; increasing your average sale to $700.00. $2,100.00 in total. After expenses of gas, lunches, and direct mail you wind up with a respectable $1,500. Now you are a life insurance salesperson, and a $75,000 income potential.

FINAL ANALYSIS: $10 internet shared leads left you in poverty, $23.00 internet exclusive leads kept the water level at your neck. $45.00 direct mail life insurance leads made you a successful professional. The amount you are willing to spend on a lead system can make you a poverty case, bill struggler, or career advancer.

Locate the cost per lead source that works best and matches your skills. Then reluctantly swallow a face the facts dose of life insurance selling reality.

You're in the insurance business. Isn't it your job to help your clients reduce their risks? Then why don't you protect your own, and I don't mean just having the necessary insurance products in place for you and your business?

I'm referring to the risk of bringing another producer into your business. As a successful producer yourself you've come to a point where you're trading time for dollars. You've run out of time so you've capped your dollars, so to speak.

This is both a good and bad position to be in. You're no rookie and you know how hard it was to build this business. You know you're one of the rare few who've actually succeeded in this business in spite of all the misguided advice you were given.

You did it right. You invested in yourself and you developed a business where you attract the right kind of prospects to you, and you help them to buy from you. You've built a solid reputation among your clients and you hold a positive position in the minds of both your clients and your prospects.

Any new producer you bring in to your business will be a direct reflection on that reputation and position you've worked so hard to build for yourself and your business. You can't afford to risk tarnishing this reputation or position. When you allow the "industry" experts to train your new producer for you, you're risking damage to your reputation and positioning.

Things have changed and things have remained the same since you were a new agent yourself. The industry is still pushing the same manipulative and coercive marketing tactics that don't work. Now, however, the industry has gotten even greedier and they're pushing products with multiple hidden fees and tiered payouts. You know how to protect your clients and prospects, but will this new producer?

You're already faced with a time versus dollar crunch will you have time to invest in developing a producer that meets your standards for excellence? It's no secret, the industry as a whole is doing a poor job of properly training agents. Your new producer won't learn how to ethically market themselves and generate sales from the "industry".

You've seen it perhaps you've even been there. An agent who can't pay their bills is a desperate agent. Desperate people do and say desperate things to close a sale. Those moments of desperation can translate into a lifetime of distrust for your business.

You don't have to be locked into this catch 22 situation. The problem isn't you and the problem isn't the new agent. The new agent is a blank slate waiting to be filled with the right stuff. Training doesn't do what it's supposed to do.

Training is an incomplete solution you buy over and over again. Training is based on symptomatic treatment without addressing the root cause of the problem in the first place. Plus you certainly don't want your new producer to be "trained" to follow the unethical practices of scaring people, and using manipulative or coercive language.

Instead you need this person to develop the skills to ethically market and sell themselves. As you know these skills don't develop in a predefined "training" event timeline. Plus you have to grow into your own skin and build on your existing strengths.

You could work intensely with the new producer yourself and act as their mentor. Although when you choose to do so you pay through your own decreased productivity. You wanted to increase the productivity of the agency and decrease your time commitment, right?

You can alleviate your risks and lower your investment through coaching. Coaching is proven to produce positive results. The new agent gets the one-one-one help they need so they're productive sooner, and you get the increased agency production and more free time you want. You don't want an agency puppy mill making money from agents you know are predestined to fail. You want a successful financially secure stable business that reflects your values and protects your clients. Coaching is an option for you. Get your new agent off to a good start by sharing the free 7 Secrets report below.

Insurance companies battle each other for every type of coverage, coveting the prize of growing their base of loyal policy owners, Each year, the cost of being this exclusive endorsed carrier skyrockets upwards.

Why is AARP in the insurance marketing business?

This steals millions of prospects from qualified insurance agents. Look at AARP as a business. Which is more important? Empathy and concern for 1,500,000 agents or greenback money? Money, Non-Profit Money. Non-Profit money acquired to pay loyal and savvy directors, a large staff, and key executive salaries. Money gained to recruit additional members and step up offerings of insurance. In print buried among the 8 pages of company procedures, AARP explains that a chosen insurer pays a "royalty fee" to AARP.

The insurance underwriting company is found guilty of harming licensed agents. They think sneaking around to pay royalties and offsetting insurance agent commissions is absolutely honorable. A portion of the money an agent would receive goes into the coffers of AARP's non-profit budget. AARP has a deadly and unfair advantage over insurance agents. As a non-profit they receive massive postal discounts, and their printing costs are a write off. No wonder why they advertise, advertise, and advertise. The membership growth rate charts point highly upwards, likewise do the insurance policies sold though their direct marketing pros.

Just one 39,000,000 mailing, at $500 per thousand would cost $19,500,000 dollars to an insurance company not classified as being non-profit. To AARP, total costs are offset by extreme postal discounts and royalties paid by insurance companies. AARP easily has more ready cash available for promoting insurance "benefits" than 100 insurance companies combined.

They are aggressively slashing agents' throats. Agents are stuck in neutral, struggling to obtain a dozen qualified leads weekly. At the same time AARP gets back thousands and thousands, most with the premium paid, Not just a lead but an automatic sale.

AARP actions jamb insurance agents against a rock mountain. AARP is stealing prospects and clients and AARP chosen insurance companies are depriving agents of commissions. Bring your chisel; you have your work cut out. Insurance is not a "one shoe fits all" product. Members are bypassing experienced knowledgeable agents, experts in tailoring need matching coverage. Members can't do this by blindly buying insurance by mail. They will only discover the difference when the need to use it occurs.

Become David fighting Goliath.

Auto insurance, Homeowners Insurance, Long Term Health Care Insurance (ltc), Investment Programs Medicare Supplement programs, and Supplemental Health Insurance and more. AARP is increasing trying to cover more territory. Few insurance companies and their agents "specialize" in all these types of insurance. That is an incredible portfolio range of insurance coverage. But frankly how good is AARP endorsed insurance. It is not a scam, but who at AARP takes the time to examine the members' needs?

Property and casualty agents get out your ax. Whack into that standard coverage. You can provide lean discounted rates with offering multiple discounts for combining their home and cars with one carrier. Plus you add on many riders for each insured persons special coverage. Has AARP ever offered an umbrella policy? My agent convinced me to purchase a $2,000,000 umbrella policy covering me against any catastrophic claims or jury awards against me. All for $79.00 a year.

Financial Planners pull out your power drills to explore. Cracking an AARP endorsed Mutual Fund with balanced investment products can prepare members for a safe retirement without leftover holes.

A nursing home is a poorly staffed home where poor people wait to die. Is this what a member truly desires?

Long term care and Medicare Gap health specialists have to carry a piercingly bright spotlight. Enlighten AARP members with alternative options essential to their long life and health. Increased benefit term and inflationary options, plus home care benefits in their current plan do not suffice. Share light and piece of mind and body paybacks your top-notch plan gives.

Stop the AARP onslaught on your market. Start targeting AARP members almost exclusively. You are the insurance professional not the AARP chosen insurer or AARP itself.

Fight fire with fire. Otherwise you are going to let yourself get burned. Your insurance skills and tools can handle many hot sales. Profitably aim for AARP members starting today.

The dictator of punishment? It is none other than your Insurance Company Career Life Insurance Sales Manager that hired you. First you study for the state insurance exam and receive the canned insurance company's sales presentation to memorize. Your sales manager is kind enough to provide a 50 page binder of colorful pictures and information. He remarks this is his personal copy. To you it looks almost brand new.

License exam graduation, your presentation, and 100 man list will launch your $100,000 income. IF YOU FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, step by step, word for word.

Now you are excited, confident, and possessing your official state insurance license. One more step, complete the 100 man list. "All" successful life insurance agents start this way. You have 6 days to complete this sheet, while mastering the speech and presentation. You tell your spouse how helpful everyone is. Vacation this year can be their first trip to an island Also you expect shortly to be watching a new 60 inch television.

Time to start the journey, get your 100 man list. Looks simple enough and no directions attached. Fill in each line with people's names, addresses, phone, and how you know them. Asking the spouse for the holiday card list is the start. Quickly you fill in all family members, close friends, and people in your wedding party. Upon taking a close look at the sheet you see only 20 of the 100 man list slots filled.

The next day after your training session, you start again. Now your mind starts blurring. You can see dollar signs, but not new names. Examining the original 20 you try to expand. Three hours you spend, slowly writing down aunts and uncles, even great aunts and great uncles, some in nursing homes or frail health. Racking your brains expands your list to 45 names.

You sleep restless counting people instead of sheep. At the office, your manager asks if your 100 man list is done. You respond nervously it will be completed on time. Your spouse says you're too wound up and go glance at a magazine. Picking up "People Magazine" your mind plays helter-skelter tricks on you. Almost enticing you to write down names mentioned in the magazine.

Back to reality, you call your folks and ask them for names. Your spouse nags her parents for more. In a moment of brightness you add a few names from your previous job. Close to a spousal fight occurs when you ask her for her fellow employees' information. It's almost like pulling teeth, she angrily supplies a few names heading to bed with a headache. Total lines completed equals 70. The next day you have a migraine headache and put the list aside.

The weekend is here, time to barbecue and maybe down a few. During your nap, flashing of gold nuggets keep appearing, then disappearing. Grabbing a pen and the 100 man sheet you try again. The process of starring at name after name refuses to move your pen. It seems like a horror movie where someone goes into a trance. Glancing over, the yellow pages directory is spotted. A whopping five people that you do business with are added. Five hours for five new people.

It's Sunday, last day, before your life insurance sales start flying. Only 30 more. You and your spouse walk down the street. Running back and grabbing the 100 man list, 7 more slots are filled. A measly 23 becomes mission impossible. Panic strikes, eyes blur, stomach growls, heart pounds, sweat pours, and the clock keeps ticking, driving you nuts.

To insure her husband doesn't go stark mad, your spouse comes up with a lifesaver idea. She finds the local white pages and tells you to randomly pick out 23 names to get the darn nightmare agony over. Well, this jeopardizes reaching life insurance salesperson heaven. BUT the list is completed.

Monday morning you anxiously await your manager showing you the 100 man list wonders. He mentioned you would sell between 1/3 and half, plus lots of referrals. The sales manager cancels. having two new prospective agents to interview. Friday he will spend time, in the meantime start calling for appointments to go out and sell. All your initial training is complete and the 100 man list will make it a breeze.

Starting phone calls, numerous people not are home, and many not interested. The next four days result in 4 set up appointments. Your two sales of below average premiums occur from relatives wanting to give you a break. Friday you have two good appointments set, the last one with a relative. Disappointment sets in, your sales pro manager says he is meeting a couple wanting insurance that the agency manager provided.

Finally the sales manager returns for your last appointment. He tells you to watch him make a big sale. He starts without the thick sales presentation binder. Nor does he use the company presentation. He presents a very high premium plan you know your relatives can't afford. For a straight hour he keeps badgering them relentlessly. Afterwards in the car, with no sale made, he brags to keep pushing until no is heard 10 times.

You keep pounding your 100 man list. 25 hard earned appointments produces 8 sales. Just enough to slip beyond radar. You learn that friends and relatives are not obligated to buy. The sales manager constantly drills you with negatives. The advice is pushing for appointments harder, and higher sales. Your ego keeps nose diving downward until you doubt if you can sell.

Salvation arrives. Fed up and in debt, you glance at the Sunday help wanted ads. There is an ad for licensed agents with a lesser known company. Upon interviewing, the 100 man list is never mentioned. This company on a co-op basis is going to provide you with leads of sincere people requesting insurance information. Your determination gets you hired.

You know now where you want to shove that 100 man list. A year later you learn your former insurance manager and all but one of his 15 agents are no longer in the business. Numerous career life insurance agencies continue to tout this list as the best money maker ever conceived. In the meantime you keep closing in on the top life insurance salesperson in your agency.

90,000 agents invading the Texas life insurance market should appear similar to hordes of revved up longhorn bulls tangling horns, to fight over prime turf. It Isn't. The number of life licensed agents exceeds Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, Delaware, Idaho, Rhode Island, and Nebraska combined. Plus throw in your choice of either Colorado or Arizona life insurance agents. That's no bull.

Only after integrating over 20 data factors, including demographic and financial statistics can a state is measured in a rating versus all other states. The analysis results firmly proclaims that Texas life insurance agents ARE RANKED #3 closely following California and Florida.

Since the focus is highlighting life insurance selling, that 90,000 agent number dwindles down to 60,000 agents when one category of agents is eliminated. Although these insurance producers are licensed to sell life insurance products, they often sell life polices sparingly. And collectively, these insurance companies comprise a small fraction of the life insurance sold. Their massive squad of agents is full of activity concentrating on selling auto, home, and commercial coverage.

Just look in the yellow pages, and you will find listings of agent after agent advertising Farm Bureau, AAA, Nationwide,SF,Allstate, and similar over captive carriers. Watch television and you are blasted with Geico and Progressive ads. Before removing these agents, Texas has an unusually tiny amount of licensed life agents.

HERE TEXAS HAS A RANKING OF #1

In fact the rate of 2.68 life insurance agents per thousand residents is the lowest in the nation. Some big geographic states like Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas have an agent ratio almost doubling Texas. Now throw a population statistic in to tip the scales in the life agents favor. The population of Texans is exploding, growing by 7.9% just between the years 2000-2004. These figures in current years keep escalating.

For newer agents this means lots of new prospects rarely approached by other agents. Experienced agents have an added bonus. With the state a low percentage of senior citizens there is plenty of room for retirement planning without overheated competition. In turn insurance marketing firms can key in on a sufficient amount of established pros to sell their life products. As a result of this, life insurance brokers have a growing encyclopedia of life insurance companies to write business for.

Insurance marketers and insurance company recruiters concentrating on independent and semi-independent agents have three additional bonuses.

The bonus is agent turnover ratio well below the national average. This provides the ability for more agents to make selling life insurance in Texas a career. Definitely a vast improvement over insurance sales being just a temporary job.

A second bonus is discovered by reviewing the 60,000 revised net life producer figures explained above and compare it to the fact that 40,000 of these life insurance agents are independent or semi-independent. For marketers and recruiters this produces a positive ratio figure exceeding normal boundaries.

The last fact is one that sure has marketers and those selling products to insurance agents leaping quickly to grab a sure fire opportunity.

Nothing to these guys can beat the lack of competition. Texas has the 2nd highest number of brokers, but drops down currently to #12 on the amount of mailers and calls made to life agents. If this is your area of marketing, you are smart to act fast. Right now better than imagined results are obtainable. In another year when your competition wises up, all this can rapidly change. A marketing tip. Keep your attention streamlined toward outside the big city limits. The five largest counties in Texas are hit 2 to 3 times as hard as the 80+ remaining counties.

Unless absolutely necessary, concentrate on 80 counties where cattle outnumber residents. You do not pass go until you hit the range of small towns. Target these areas twice, once now and again 2 months later. Starting with the often overlooked 55% of agents will greatly enhance interest and response to your product. This is a state where your agent selection quality must greatly outweigh quantity.

For a life insurance agent, an insurance marketer, or a product seller, profitable results are yours. Act now and capture a lion's share, before the competition battle begins.

THAT'S TRUE, BUT WITH A TWIST

The inquiry form was there alright. This inquiry should have been forwarded to the agent in the hometown area to immediately follow up on. Almost an ideal agent lead. The perfect opportunity for the insurance company to prove it cares about its agents future.

Instead on 40% of the web sites the Insurance Company works against its agent base. They collect the necessary information on the prospect and attempt a quick online sale. This is truly the case of insurance companies biting the hands that feed them. They are thoughtful enough though to send the local agency this "lead" if they failed in selling the client themselves.

LET'S DIG DEEPER, UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE PRESENTED

Now put your sales manager under the microscope. How many times a week does he/she go out with you to assist on closing a sale? Check the responsibilities your sales manager has. Some are allowed to go out on their own appointments and earn commissions, plus a base salary. It is simple to conclude who would be handed a quality lead. A manager who can make extra commissions will be looking out for number one, himself. Also keep an eye on how often a new agent is hired, as this new agent maybe your designated replacement.

For the first time actually examine the contract you were suppose to read before signing. Check the provision written explaining renewals. Is the insurance company providing lifetime renewals? This means that each year your client pays premiums to keep the policy going, you are rewarded. It is very doubtful you have signed with a company offering this.

The company has put the golden handcuffs on you from 3 to 10 years or even lifetime. This means that if you quit, any renewals immediately cease. Same goes if you switch to another insurance carrier, all goes to the 1st insurance company. The longer you stay, the tighter the insurance handcuffs get under your skin. This is a well planned defense maneuver the insurance company applies on all agents. Either you remain under slavery or you fail and surrender future benefits. Renewals yearly become a thicker carrot of addiction.

Income subsidies are a trap allowing you to scrape by with company extra pay if you meet your set monthly quota. This is while you are in your training stages. A true hands on training is very limited, then you are thrown out to survive on commissions (and renewals) only. Once again the company works against you. On a life insurance policy, they may pay you 55% first year commissions. If you were to place a similar policy with an outside carrier you would likely receive at least 65% to 70% commissions.

THE CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR ESCAPE

After around 4.5 years, enough determined agents are convinced they can do better without the assistance the company fails to provide. Going independent or semi-independent to write with any carrier is a route over two thirds of experienced agents take. Half of them become fully independent breaking the barrier of the insurance company to directly compete with them or control them.

Suddenly seeing your commission rate jump from 55% to 90% is worth letting the insurance company take all your meager renewals. Plus now your renewals may even be lifetime. It is not usual for an agent to keep getting monthly renewal checks for 10 to 20 years. This is despite the agent is no longer producing cases for them, or entered a new occupation.

The choice is yours, let the insurance company control you, or control your own destiny. If you have the selling skills, confidence, and ability to acquire leads, the answer is fairly obvious.

What seminar topic and how to give your seminar is up to you. Here we stick to sales seminar suggestions and tips on inviting qualified licensed agents and proper pre-planning. The end result is a seminar producing results exceeding your expectations.

PLAN FAR ENOUGH IN ADVANCE

Two months in advance should be the minimum to start your sales seminar recruiting plan. Actually look at the calendar and set the date(s). A conflicting ethnic, religious, or patriotic day of observance could have critical impact. If it is a Friday or Monday date, remember "holiday weekend recovery" or "pre-holiday anxiety" produces salespeople no shows. (Also numerous Career salesperson office meetings are held on these 2 days) Planning for the sales seminar far enough in advance, saves you from frantically calling for the more names for your seminar sales mailing. Yesterday is always a day too late when it comes to planning.

HOW MANY AGENTS DO I WANT TO RECRUIT?

This is the failing point of countless insurance seminars. No guessing here! You can not use "give a seminar and they will come". You need to know (1) how many total licensed agents exist, (2) what experience of line of sales should these agents have., (3) how far are these agents willing to drive, (4) how many seminars mailers you need to send out, and (5) how many of your currently contracted salespeople will be invited.

DRIVING DISTANCE

You might like to think that insurance agents from all over the United States should jump at the chance to attend your seminar, a realistic approach is needed. For a small town location, 55 miles is just about right. Keep the minimum to 45 miles and the maximum to 60 miles of driving. If the seminar is to be held in a large metropolitan area, even 40 miles could be pushing it. Increasing mileage provides, at best, a minimal increase in response. If your seminar mailing can be slimmed down, do it only if it will lower driving distance.

QUALITY OF SALESPEOPLE

A key decision to ponder is determining what style of agent benefits most by driving to your seminar. Do you waste time and money trying to recruit Property & Casualty captive salespeople? How about new agents or overly captive career life insurance agents? Eliminate the primarily health insurance producers? Make it a goal to eliminating 60% (or more) of the total license agents. This one detail becomes a major sales seminar cost saver and quality enhancer. Besides, it's better to have a dozen sincere and receptive attendees than a crowd of 50 maybe attendees who have no place better to go. They love to snitch your fresh coffee, donuts, and bagels.(A Free Lunch) For your seminar mailing also consider that sheer quantity of attendees does not mean your goal will be reached. Tape the word "Quality" to your computer.

RESPONSE RATE

Once you decide on insurance salesperson quality & driving distance, check on the number of available qualified agents or brokers available. This mailing count is essential. With accurate numbers you can then fine tune it and broaden or narrow it to size. A well prepared sales seminar mailer often produces a response rate close to 2 percent. Yours will vary, but there are certainly means to pump up the salesperson or broker outcome. One is by making calls to a few agents that forgot to reply.

FACE SAVING HINTS

Never rent a space too big for holding your insurance seminar. Next, do not set up all the chairs right away. Nothing looks worse that attendees scattered all over the room. Weather and other factors can produce an embarrassing impact. If you expert 30 to attend, set up only 12 chairs in advance. As a sales person shows up, set up a couple more chairs. Make sure that no more than 6 chairs are empty. This way it always looks to the attendee like you have a full seminar.

Additional hints, place your presentation space directly across from the entrance. This instills in the attendees embarrassment for getting up, or worse yet, leaving. Provide each agent with a new legal pad and $1.00 pen for taking notes. Do not use tables unless necessary. Do not be a preacher, forget the podium, and walk around while speaking. Ask each agent for their business card upon entering, and if there is not an email address on it, have it written on the back. Use the business cards to pick the winner of a nice prize at the end of the seminar. Shake hands with each attendee as they leave.

Within 24 hours of the seminar, email the agents attending a personal Thank You. Please ask them to send back the same email with a short comment on the seminar. You know now the agents to add to your email list and every 2 month mailing list, if they don't contract right away. Send up to three emails until you get their comments. Call the best replies first.