This Telesales Phone Script Made Me $30k in 30 Days ft. Ashley Mullinnix | Ep27

I show up and I dial about 8:30 in the morning and I'm done about 2 o'clock and I can average over $22,000 AP. I think in July I did $27,000. I mean, decent. I'm definitely not like top of the leaderboards.

So do you think most people watching this would be like, $27,000 part-time, decent? What is up, y'all? John Wetmore back again with another episode of the Insurance Insiders Podcast. Have Ashley Mullinix with us today. Referred to me by some friends in the industry. My understanding is one, we just met 13 seconds ago.

Yeah, yep.

But I understand single mom of two, I believe, if we looked right, and, uh, selling a bunch of insurance, figuring out how to provide for her babies. And thought, what a better story to share than this one. I grew— I was raised by a single mom and have watched the struggles and You know, it's, uh, always respect. That's the one thing I have a hard— like, the one person, if you will, I've always been like, I have a hard time relating on how to do well in the business because I, I don't know that, you know what I mean? I just, I can't relate.

Yeah, so kind of juggling all of it, right?

Yeah, it's got to be a different perspective, I can assume, you know what I mean? But it's—

no, it's, it's an entirely different perspective. I've talked to a lot of, um, moms in the space, and it is— it's a whole nother beast. I really feel— excuse me.

So how old are the kiddos?

Uh, they are 11 and 13, almost 12.

Girls?

Yes, two girls.

Yeah, two preteen girls.

Oh, trust me, the hormones, they're, they're there. It's a real thing.

You've been in insurance Under 2 years, you said, right?

18 months. Yeah.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, under 18 months.

All right, it's been a journey, but you're doing well.

Yes, yes, I am. Yeah, I've— yeah, I'm doing really well. I've been through a lot of ups and downs. I got my butt dragged through the mud. Yeah, I learned a lot of lessons. I didn't really have sales experience at all coming into it, and it was a— it was a battle. I think most people would have tapped out.

Most people do tap out.

Most people— oh yeah, that's, uh, that's the truth, right? Yeah, most people do tap out, but I was stubborn.

Most do tap out. Fortunately, someone will be watching this ready to— maybe you'll give them a little hope.

Maybe that's the point of this thing, to help them out.

Let's start with the, the current. You said doing really well, so define really well because I actually don't know anything about your numbers. So I'm— we're just I'm curious as the next person.

Yeah, no, so, um, you know, when I say really well, obviously I don't work at a full-time capacity, so I just want to be transparent with that. I'm not the agent out there doing 40 to 60 hours a week. Um, I show up and I dial about 8:30 in the morning and I'm done about 2 o'clock. Um, and I can average over 22 AP. I think in July I did 27. Uh, last month. So I mean, decent. I'm definitely not like top of the leaderboard by any means, you know what I mean? There are agents that, you know, produce more than me, but I don't work as long as other agents. Yeah.

So do you think most people watching this would be like, 27 grand part-time, decent?

You know what's crazy is when I started this journey, I was like, wow, that would be so amazing. But now that I'm in it and I have a flow, I'm like, oh, Ashley, you could I mean, I mean, this is easy. You do more than that. I mean, you get in a flow when you figure it out.

Yeah, I mean, that's normal, especially— I'm guessing you're somewhat competitive and a go-getter, or you wouldn't be thinking like that, right? But again, think from the other perspective. It's like, my point is you should give yourself more credit versus giving 27 reasons why it's mediocre.

No, I mean, I mean, it's good. I couldn't— I could— I tell you what, anywhere else— yeah, where else could you do that other than life insurance, right? Work at that capacity and have super flexibility to be a mom and make that kind of money. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think I'm just my own worst critic, right? I know that I could do more if I just push a little harder, but I'm doing pretty good.

Do you know much about me? I am a do more kind of guy. I don't know if you know this or if you just happen to say the words.

Yeah, no, I, I happen to say the words. I honestly— ah, do more. There you go.

Yeah, I'm a big do more person.

Yeah, that was a good word to use.

Yeah, don't— again, give yourself more credit. It's okay. Yeah, you know, you can get there. You are still newbie in this space.

I, I am. I'm an infant. I'm a baby.

So $20+ grand, 18 months in. Schedule, I assume, is like that because what do you take the girls to school and then you have to pick them up?

Yeah, so I'll take pretty carpool line timing. Yeah, so my girls— I, so I'm not a huge fan of the public school thing, so we do the private school thing.

Me too.

Um, yep, and it's it's a ruck, right? So it's not just right down the street is school, it's 22 minutes one way. So you're looking at 45 minutes there and back minus the drop-off and pickup time. So it does eat a chunk of my day doing it twice a day, um, which is why, you know, the hours. Um, and then they're in extracurriculars, you know, we got taekwondo, gymnastics. And so I got things to do in the evening, um, with them. And so that's why my hours are the way they are.

I love it. Yeah, yeah, it's all good. Um, so let's, let's— now that they see the end result, my goal is always to teach them how to get there. So one, how you— I know just because my team gave me some notes, used to be around, plus I saw something about for sale by owner on your social when I peeked. So you used to be in real estate?

I don't even know how to delete all that stuff. That is so old. Yeah, I tried to— I tried to let— I try to be a whistleblower and tell homeowners that you don't need an agent to sell your house. Like you could do it yourself, but I wish I lived. Yeah.

What, um, so you were in real estate for how long?

Um, about 3 years.

Were you not— so you were telling them not to use an agent, so does that mean you weren't an agent?

No. So see, what had happened was— oh, that's funny. No, what had happened was I found myself— so, um, the agency that I was a part of at the time, um, they invited the team, the brokerage team, to an event, a Tony Robbins event. First time ever, ever I'd gone to Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi. First time I'd done one of those events.

Did you walk on fire?

It— well, honestly, I think that was the projection moment that kind of just triggered a lot of like inside drive that I never really kind of tapped into potential. But it definitely got me thinking, oh, okay, because they were— it was kind of like a pitch, you know, when you go to those things, they always have the thing that they're gonna sell you or encourage you to do, right? And And that thing was courses. And so I was like, oh, okay. I was motivated. I said, you know what, I can show people how to sell their house themselves. Because at the time, my target audience was for sale by owners. Like, I would go in and snag them as listings because they wouldn't sell that if they just had some tips and tricks, they could do it themselves. So that's why you see all that stuff. Um, makes sense. But yeah, that's, that's kind of where I came from. And then I was a stay-at-home mom for a minute, um, and I was losing my mind. I cannot, I cannot just sit.

It's not your jam?

No, I don't like it.

Love the babies but can't stay home and do nothing.

Yeah, well, I mean, they're, they're older, so they're at school and it's quiet. And I mean, what are you gonna— I try to pick up gardening. That didn't occupy my brain space well enough. I, I'm a worker bee. I need something to challenge myself with.

Yeah.

I love it.

So why insurance and how? Why and how?

Well, I put my resume out there on the internet and one of those big IMOs had gotten a hold of me and called me and said, hey, you know, Zoom room tomorrow. You know, you want to do this thing, final expense. And I didn't even— I'd never heard the term before. Found myself in a Zoom room with 20, 30 other people on a prerecorded kind of here's, you know, the thing. And then I was in a one-on-one and was told to go get your license. So that's how I— but it was the flexibility, obviously, that kind of drew me in.

That's what I was going to ask. What was the draw?

The draw was the flexibility. I wanted something where if I wanted to be the, you know, attendant for the field trip, I could go do that with my girls at school and have my weekends off and obviously be able to take them to their classes and do all the things. Um, and, and what I thought was going to give me a lot of freedom, it— in the beginning there was no freedom.

What'd you think about the money potential right off the rip? Would you believe you could— I mean, real estate, probably you had a vision that you could make some money in sales, I'm guessing.

But yeah, you know, I was never one to chase like the big numbers, even in real estate. You know, I was, I was an average— well, I wouldn't even say average agent. The average agent makes less than $10K a year. Yeah, I was able to replace my income that I was formerly prior to that a respiratory therapist. I worked in the hospital. So I was able to replace that income with real estate, but never strived for anything crazy. And so coming into life insurance, it wasn't until my second IMO that I was like, oh, wow, you can really do some crazy things here.

Got it.

Because it was the trips and the, you know, get the Rolex watch and do the thing. The first time I had been introduced to any of that stuff. So yeah, it wasn't the draw. The money wasn't the draw. I had done no research. Sometimes, depending on who did the video, sometimes that's all they pitch, and I'm like, yeah, no, yeah, no, no, that wasn't, that wasn't really pitched, uh, that way.

What up, y'all? Officially releasing my book. You can go on and order it now at johnwetmore.com or click the link below. That's where I go over the 6 basic principles I implemented to go from Struggling agent for my first couple years, issuing nearly half a million bucks a month. And go through stories and examples and exercises that you can do to implement for yourself. Appreciate it. Again, JohnWetmore.com, get yours. Later. Okay, so you get your license how quick?

Oh, like 7 days.

Okay, so you knocked it out. It's good. Yeah, you bought leads right away, or how'd you get in?

Yeah, so I did. Um, the first IMO I was with, it was the buy the aged leads. And so I found myself, I had like multiple, multiple pages of an Excel sheet, and I just bought all these leads.

I grew up in the business on those. Yeah, a bunch of money on that stuff.

Yeah, so I just, you know, I didn't, I didn't go very far. I was, I was losing a lot of money. I just didn't I don't know, I didn't understand it. I was given a script, I didn't know how to get through the script. Um, I would be paralyzed on the phone calls. There was no, there was no mentorship guidance, no coaching of any kind. It was just come in here and then a couple times a week we have these mass trainings. And then when I would show up to the mass trainings, it was always the, you know, you can do it and it's just a script, read through the script and do the thing. And I still was not getting any guidance or training. I just felt so lost.

Got it. Okay, so how long did that— how long did it— did you like know you were going to stay in it? Did you think about quitting? Obviously you switched companies. I'm not crazy worried about that, and yeah, I get into the details of them because who cares. But yeah, just out of curiosity, were you like, I can do this, I just need— or did you start to like second-guess the industry?

So I didn't actually start to second-guess the industry until I was about 6 months into my journey. Um, so it definitely— it was one of those I thought it was, um, a me problem, you know, like, okay, you're, you're doing something wrong here, um, because when I'm on YouTube land, everyone's doing good. And so I'm like, okay, what am I doing wrong? And so I was on a journey to figure that out, um, and then I kind of went into deep dive mode. I was just on YouTube constantly watching different podcasts and people talk about it, and I slowly growing and understanding the industry that I just got into.

So what did you figure out you were doing wrong then? Obviously something changed because you got better, right?

Yes.

And be clear, very few people take ownership like, damn, I must be doing something wrong. You know, most blame me or you.

That's philosophy to have in my opinion.

But what did you— what do you think— what did you figure out maybe you weren't doing correctly, or as good as you could be, or where were you off, you think?

Um, so it started to click for me when I started to realize this was sales. So coming into it, I didn't realize this was sales, you know. I just— it was pitched to me too of, it's life insurance and here's what it does, and wouldn't you want that? I'm like, well, yeah. So I just— someone raises their hand, I tell them about it, and they just buy the thing, right? Um, there's much more to it obviously than that. There's a little finesse. So, you know, you need to know the product first and foremost. I was lost, you know, I was driving in the dark initially. I didn't know what carriers did what or what it was actually truly doing for them. There was just such a learning curve, um, you know, in, in the beginning. So I realized, uh, when things started changing is when I realized that I needed to actually sell and learn how to sell and move someone to a decision. That was my biggest problem because I had gotten to the point where I would get people through presentations. This was like at the 6 months, the easy part. Yeah, well, I was finally getting them through. People were listening to me finally, you know what I mean? I was getting people to listen, but I couldn't get— I kept getting, I want to think about it, I want to think about it, I'm gonna talk to my wife, I'm gonna think about it, I need to talk to my— you know, all the things. And it was con— it was, it was so frustrating to me, the I want to think about it. That's all I was told all the time. And this was July of '23 when I'm experiencing this frustration. And that's when I kind of shifted what I was researching online into more of like sales. And then I found like Jeremy Lee Miner, and then it was like, whoa. And then like this whole thing opened up. And then I'm wanting to like rewrite my script that I was using with the IMO I was at. And I was telling my upline, I was like, this is why, like, this doesn't make any sense now that I'm learning how to move someone or get pain out of someone and talk to someone. Um, and then that's kind of where my journey really began on, and just focusing on a skill set and learning how to talk to people and get them to open up.

It's the intentionality. For those that don't watch Jerry Miner, he's a big sales guy, he's all over the internet. I mean, good stuff. It's just, and it's, it's the intentionality in the way he speaks that gets— he's really good at getting people to think. Yes, and get them to, get them to like their mind to turn and want, you know what I mean, like getting something out of someone. Yeah, you know, and I think early on I remember feeling a lot of the same things, and for me it was the light bulb moment for me was realizing not that there was a need, and I didn't even take it as much as a sales— not that you're wrong, then I didn't take it as much as it had to be a sales pitch, but I understand what you mean by it now that you defined it. I, I realized these people are some of the biggest procrastinators ever, or they would have already had it. I don't, I don't think there's a confusion that they need it, to any of them, you know what I mean? I don't think they misunderstand the importance of it. I don't think they don't want to take care of their family. Like, I never questioned that, but it hit me— the think about it to me was like, they're just procrastinating again, like they have been the entire time before I got there. I'm just the next person they were procrastinating with.

Well, that's how I view that objection now, correct? A year ago in July, when I kept hearing it and I didn't know what was going on, I didn't view it that way.

But yes, it clicked, and I was like, oh my goodness, you know, they're just putting it off again, like we put off all kinds of stuff.

Hey, listen, I was on the phone today with an 89-year-old, had no insurance, none. And he said that he tried at the age of 84 and then he just didn't make the decision, and now he's looking and no one can offer him coverage. I'm like, well, I mean, I got some carriers for you, but your birthday's in 3 weeks, so it's time to like make a move or jump overboard.

One of the best things I started asking people, and it was just kind of out of frustration when, when I would go into— because I did a lot of final expense stuff too, or even mortgage, just seniors. I, I sell a lot of older people for sure. Um, and I would start asking them when they didn't have insurance. I'd be like, do you not have any because you've been procrastinating all this time, or is it because you were too sick to get any?

Hmm, yeah.

And they never wanted to tell me they were too sick to get any, so they would always— 99% of the time they'd be like, yeah, I just been procrastinating. I'm like, oh, you're finally ready to stop doing that, huh? I would do that at the beginning of the appointment, and my whole world changed with just— no, that's the intentionality.

Yeah, that's a good—

because then they tell me, no, no, I just been procrastinating. Oh, you're ready to stop doing that finally? Makes sense. And they'd be like, yeah, I'm 30 seconds into an appointment. It was really hard to undo that for— you know what I mean? It just— yeah, it opened up the door for me just differently.

It's powerful. Yeah, absolutely. And it lays down the groundwork too that, you know, you're the— that's one thing I had to learn, um, is to realize, um, I kind of reference myself as like I'm the doctor. Like I got the white coat on in the room, you know, and Um, I, I know the solution, so I need you to tell me what's wrong so I can tell you how to treat it. And that's kind of the mantra that I have going through my script.

So what's— let's get into some of the stuff then that you actually— like, your version of mine is just getting people to move. Same concept, we're on the same page there. So I would love to hear how you, um, this may be some of the things you started implementing, whether on the phone. Is it all— do you all telesales?

Yeah.

Have you ever been in Home or never?

Never face to face, but for one of my IMOs, we did like the Zoom thing. So I would, I would get them in Zoom.

Okay, cool.

So it's kind of halfway to face.

Is it mostly one-call-close stuff, I'm assuming?

Um, no, currently, currently, yeah, one-call-close kind of thing. Yeah.

Okay, well, let's get in. Let's give me some of the stuff that helped you move people, wherever you want to start.

Yeah, um, you know, it's initially for me, um, what I do is I, I lay down the groundwork first and I need to get them to agree that they are looking for the thing that they raised their hand for. So right when you call them, yeah, right when I call, I get them to verify their zip code, um, and then immediately, are we looking for coverage for you or was this for a loved one? It's like my—

that's it, you call, hey John, this— give it, give it to him. Like, what would you say?

Yeah, hey John, this is Ashley. I was just giving you a call back here on recorded line with the final expense price quote you requested on Facebook. Your zip code is 12345, is that right?

Yep.

Okay, are you looking for yourself or was this for a loved one?

Okay, what do you— what's the most common objection you get there? Like, huh, who is this? I'm assuming—

well, I mean, no, I don't, I don't get a lot of those objections anymore because I've honed in on my marketing and my— the wording's dope. Too.

I like the way you worded it about the life insurance.

I mean, I want to be assertive. You want to go in— I don't like small talk. I don't like, you know, the whole— I know a lot of people out there, they do the whole confusion thing. They're like, hey, uh, John— John, is that— what?

That's minor. Legit.

Yeah, so that is minor. I don't care.

I don't like that either.

I don't think it projects well, especially in telesales. It's not— I don't advise— I hear a lot of agents do it too. I've been in a lot of Zoom rooms. I've heard a lot of calls. And agents like to play the dumbfoundedness. These seniors have been around a long time. If you're in the final expense field, uh, they don't want to waste—

you did— I just did date of birth instead of zip code. It was the same. And that was my first pause, was date of birth is this, right?

Yeah.

You're like, yeah, all right, so cool. Then if it's me or spouse, I tell you, what if I go, it's just for me?

Okay, that's great. Are you looking just to cover the final expenses, or we're trying to leave some extra I love you money?

Probably kind of depends on pricing.

Yeah, sure. That's not a problem. Now here's what I do with pricing. I always take that as an objection, beginning, middle, or end. So I always confront it upfront and I let them know, hey, John, that's not a problem. Just so you know, most of all the families I help, they're on a fixed income. They're either receiving Social Security or disability. The goal is to always make sure something is comfortable and affordable. Now, do you currently have anything in place to help cover the final expenses or not yet? And I'm into the next question.

Yeah, okay, love it.

So it, it goes far. If you're in final expense, anytime they bring up anything related to money, doesn't sound like an objection, that is an objection. You need to squash it.

Yep, 100%. Yeah, you cover it but move on with another question.

Yes, you don't linger in that stuff too long.

You remember you got the doctor coat on, so you don't go, does that make sense? Does that work for you?

No, no, no. Yeah, does your doctor ask you when, when, you know, they like tap on your knee and they're like, does that make sense why I'm doing this for you right now? It's like, no, no, no, no, no, be the person of authority.

Okay, cool. So now, man, we move on to the next. You get me there.

Um, yeah. And then so, you know, do you have anything in place currently or not yet?

Say no for this example.

Okay, yeah, that's not—

or whichever one you think is— the people watching are gonna complain is the hardest one if I give the wrong one. They'll be like, that's an easy one. Give them like— you pick the hardest way to go.

Um, I, I mean, I don't know. I guess you can say that you do have some coverage in place.

Perfect. All right, go for it.

So that's great. Are you looking to add to what you got, or are you trying to find something more affordable? And I'm trying to figure out exactly why I'm on the call with them. So my entire first 30 seconds of the goal of the call is I need to know exactly why we're talking so I know exactly how to help you. Because if you're on the call and if you're not answering these questions, I can tell right away if you're a tire kicker I know if you're a buyer. Um, and then I'm also asserting my authority by asking these questions very blatantly. Now, I don't do what a lot of people do out there. I don't go digging. If you already have something in place, John, that's great. You want to add to find something more affordable, you tell me what you're doing, and then I'm going into the next thing to let you know how I'm going to help you. I don't know you yet. You don't trust me yet. I'm not trying to be like, well, who's your carrier? How much coverage do you got? People get defensive. They think that you're some salesmen and you're going to try to steer them wrong. If they give away their information. So it's like Jeremy Lee says, right? We're lowering the sales resistance the whole time. Yeah, I just genuinely want to know because here's the thing, me personally, if you tell me, well, I just want something more affordable, hey, that's not a problem. I work with over 26 different carriers. The way I'm going to help you, we're going to see who you're eligible for. We're going to then see who's giving you the best rate. But I can get answers on the phone. Would that be helpful? They give me a yes, that is a permission to pitch. And if they want something more affordable, I'm skipping everything. I don't even go into pain or discovery. Because this is a numbers game now, and I either got the thing that you want or I don't, right?

That's my jam right there. Yeah, I love it, I love it. And you didn't even talk about what they have yet. You know, later—

no, yeah, I will bring that up. So, right, because from right there you're going to pivot into underwriting, right? You got to figure out which carrier to go.

Most people are going to go, like you said, what's— how much you paying? Who's it with? How long would you have it? Right off the rip.

They get so defensive, they'll lose them.

Smart. Okay, didn't mean to interrupt you. Go ahead.

No, that's okay. Um, I think I kind of finished the thought on that one. I mean, just gonna move the quote if that's kind of the journey.

You're going right into it. All right, now you start asking medical questions to understand.

Yeah, if I'm trying to replace it, I ask the medical questions. Right after I ask medical questions, I always text a copy of my digital card. I let them know, with the way of the world, it's important you know who you're talking to before, you know, I start giving you too much stuff here. And then I just re-highlight, they have my license number, photo of my face. And it's the way you say that that's important. I've also heard agents try to be like, you have a pen and paper so you can, you know, kind of take down my information. If you seem uncertain about sharing your own personal information, no one's going to trust you.

Yeah.

So it's again, it's the tonality. Listen to yourself on the calls, make sure you don't sound like a creeper, someone that can't be trusted. But so, you know, I'll share that information. And then if they want a quote by then, with my tonality and the way I walk people through, I will ask the question at that time. Okay, with the coverage you have in place, I know we're trying to get something more affordable. How long have you had it? And then I'll start asking questions about it. And then sometimes, honestly, I can't beat it. And I'm straight up with people. I mean, it's— and by the time I get there, what, we're 3 minutes in. I've not wasted anyone's time. And I'm like, hey, I can't help you out here. I cut bait and then I'm on the next.

I love it.

And other times I can quote better, and then other times if they don't have a policy in place or they want to add to it, then after I give all that information, then I'm moving into kind of the pain and the discovery a little bit after I share my card. Yeah.

Were you always in and out like that, or did— were you early on like— I hear agents all the time, they're like, I'm 45 minutes on the phone before I even give pricing or get to that state, you know what I mean?

That used to be me in the beginning. Oh yeah, I've had those long scripts, those long scripts, and it is so painful, especially when you get hit with the objections at the end and then you're just like, oh, the time. So right now, even if I need to get someone through all of the pain, all the discovery, I mean, I am— I literally, it's like you walk into my doctor's office and I'm boom, boom, boom, boom. I know exactly where you need to go. I know exactly how I'm going to help you. I know exactly like the solution you need. So I'm very much guiding in the entire conversation. I maintain control the whole time. So I find myself sometimes I can get from pick up the phone, hi John, how are you doing, you have no coverage, here's your pain, here's your numbers, through an entire application in like 30 minutes.

Yeah, agreed.

It shouldn't— if you're still talking and wining and dining for 45 minutes, like, there's a problem. It's not— it doesn't take that long to make that kind of decision.

What do you think from your perspective, you would— what was, what was all— what was causing all the time before? What were you— would you get rid of? Would you eliminate? You know what I mean? Like, what were you dragging your feet on before? Do you—

looking back on it, um, I was, I was doing the whole gotta get to know them, gotta build rapport, you know, gotta hear their story. You should share your story. And people now know— I tell you what, you can call up any one of my clients and they have no idea, like anything about me. They don't know that I have kids. They don't know that my, you know, so-and-so has cancer. A lot of people are like, oh yeah, my family member, my mom, my this, my that. Oh, I understand. I used to— my people don't know that about me because it's not important. Like, they're calling and I'm here to fill a need for them. So I just, I omitted a lot of the small talk. And now it's funny because when I run into family members on the call, the ones that start the small talk and they go off into left field I know that I have to snap them back real quick because those people, they're not buyers, they're tire kickers. Yeah, and I can recognize that now, you know.

But how do you do it? How do you bring someone back to life when they're going off about their 5 grandkids that they took to Disney last year and they, you know, bought some bubble gum and whatever?

That's a good question. So, um, again, I am— I'm very particular about my script. My script's always open next to me. I always know where I'm at, and I never move on to the next section until I've completed the section I'm in because there's a meaning behind each section. So wherever they're getting sidetracked off of, I will interject and kind of roll in and kind of finish their sentence with them. Like, okay, yeah, the grandkids throwing ball, my gosh, that's crazy. But hey, real quick question, was your date of birth 12/20 or was that 12/25? I missed that, I'm so sorry. They give me an answer and you have to be so quick with the next question. Like, you need to be comfortable in your script because when people throw you and they try to get you off track, you have to like be very, very stern with them. There's been a couple of times, I'd say a couple times, 2 times in particular that I can think of where I literally had to do the, I'm talking and I hang up the phone to make it seem like I got disconnected. And that, that was so hard for me to do because I'm not built like that. And that internally, I felt so bad when I got off the call when I first— and it was funny because I was I was chatting with my, uh, coach at the time. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't— I cannot get this person. Like, I could not move them over, and I knew I just needed to cut bait. And then they had texted me back and they said, well, just start talking and hang up on yourself. And I'm like, I was like, okay, I'm gonna try that. Boop.

Oops, sorry, Mary, we got disconnected. So anyway, your date of birth is Yes, exactly.

Get them back on track. That's like, if you're really, really— that's a tactic. You really need help to do that. It's true.

It's the inside secrets right there.

Yeah, I love it.

I love it. Cool. All right, so you get all— you get all the way down there. I think from there, people's real struggle is like closing a deal, getting social, getting banking, you know what I mean? You hear all that crap a lot. Um, so let's figure out how the hell you do that.

Yeah, Sonny, I actually just had an agent day before yesterday message me about that. He was asking me about banking and how I word it, like, how— what's your track? How do you get banking, Ashley?

I love— I already know where you're going and I love it.

Uh, you know, there, there is no track. It's all coming from the front end. It's the trust and the, you know, the, the journey that I take people through. There's never a question when I'm in an app. I don't get they know that they're gonna buy the thing. Like, there's nothing gray about the situation. So, you know, when, when I'm in an app, I don't have— I don't say anything for banking. I literally am in the app and I'm like, okay, are you setting this up, you know, through your checking, your savings account? How are we going to do this today? You know, like, it's not—

you mean just like the question asks?

I just— here's the application, we're going through the application. One word track that I will share though, that I use, even if I have really good, you know, solid rapport, I find that this is very necessary, is the social. So I do have a script, well, not even a script, but it's just the word track that I say. So I'll let them know what I do whenever I'm in an application with whichever carrier. I'll ask everything else on that page but the social. I get them in like a mode of like giving me information, their address, where were they born, you know, that kind of thing. And then I let them know, okay, John, so the way this carrier is going to give us a decision today on whether you're approved or declined is they're going to do what they call a prescription check. So what they're doing is they're looking back 2 years, hospitalizations, diagnoses, any medications that you might be taking. Really, they're just trying to make sure that you're not currently like tied up in a hospital bed or taking chemo radiation therapy. So for your prescription check, what's your social? And then they give me their social. So I find that when you explain to them upfront why you're asking for the social, it— and again, it probably helps me a lot because there's this path that I've brought them down, right? They know I'm the person of authority, they know what I'm talking about, and they know that I have the solution for them. So when I continue on with the doctor's code, okay, so what we're going to do is a prescription check. We're looking back 2 years. This is how we're going to get an answer. So for that prescription check, what is your social? Like, that is how I approach it. I don't skip a beat. I don't make it awkward. Very matter of the fact. And it actually wasn't until recently I was talking to one of the directors of sales at one of these other IMOs too. It's not even like— I didn't realize that just the address and the name alone, they can find the prescription check. I genuinely thought the social had to be used for the script check and they don't. But I haven't changed my word track because it works.

Yeah, 100%. Quick break in the video. This is John Wetmore. I want to invite you to join my new school community. You will get access to tons of free sales training. There's a community of other insurance agents looking to win. We have hundreds of them already in there where we're giving out answers to questions people have, coaching, guidance. Tips on not only selling but building, team, team stuff, um, leadership tips. And I'm personally in there responding to messages, putting out challenges, talking about our wins, our losses, our struggles, and sharing things that'll help you win as well. To join now, go to johnwetmore.com/school, which is S-K-O-O-L. The link is also below. So I have a question going back. I thought of, because you said a couple times like they're not confused at what we're doing, they're just buying the thing or they're not. Do you, do you do anything like upfront? I don't know if we— I don't feel like we covered this or asked the right way. Do you do any kind of like setting expectations of how the call is going to go in any way? Like, hey, here's who I am, here's how this is going to go, yada yada?

Yeah, so right before underwriting, I let them know kind of how I'm going to help them. I let them know that I'm a broker, 26 carriers. See who you're eligible for, then who's giving you the best rate, but I'll get answers for you on the phone. Would that be helpful? And I get a—

oh yes, you did say that part.

Yeah, I get a yes to move forward. And then also, and part of my underwriting is also asking payment information.

So you tell them then?

Well, I don't tell them, so it's more like a question to foundationally set the tone.

Makes sense.

Yes, I love it.

Some people tell them right there, hey, I'm gonna go through this, you're gonna have to have a checking account. Like some people— no, no, no, give it all.

Yeah, no, I don't do it like that because again, they don't know me. They don't know that I'm the expert, and you can lose people. So instead, I'll let them know, with all these carriers that I'm looking at, some take certain forms of payment, others do not. So do you have a traditional account with a bank, or do you have a Direct Express card from the government? Now here's the beautiful thing about it. The people who have a traditional account, they are all about like, oh, absolutely not, I do not have a Direct Express card. I've got a routing and account. Like, they'll tell you it's something like, yeah, They don't— yeah, they want to be associated with it, right?

It is funny.

Yeah. And then the people who have Direct Express card, you'll know immediately up front, like, this is our option. But the fact that I've brought that up and we're looking for a solution, it just kind of all just— you're just stacking the bricks and building it. It works.

Yeah. Are you doing anything kind of back towards the end, getting— obviously you got banking, social stuff like that. One, two things, and I'm asking both. You can answer how you want just because I'm I'm thinking of both. Um, do you do anything in case of like a decline, like how to pivot the right way? Let's start there. I'm gonna— I'll ask you the second one separate because it'll probably mess you up. So if it doesn't go through, right, you don't get an immediate answer, you get declined for whatever reason, something comes back, or how do you handle those? Or do you?

Um, yeah, I handle them. I mean, I try to pivot. I don't have a specific word track that I use like, for example, today it happened. Um, I had a gentleman, we went through, um, and it just— we got kicked back. They went from preferred to a standard rate.

Yep.

And so I said, you know, we really wanted to aim because, again, we were looking for a better rate. We wanted to get you a better rate. So hold on one second, let me look at some of these other carriers because they know that I can look at 26 of them. That was my goal I said in the beginning. Let me look back, see if anyone else can put you in a better position.

And because the reason I ask is when I used to do it in the house, I was all in-home, but same concept. And obviously e-apps started coming out and it was like, oh dang, this is great, you found out right away. When I first started—

oh, so you're, you're old school.

Oh dude, I used to have to tell people 2 or 3 weeks when I first started. I mean, I've been, I've been in business 12 years. Oh yeah, I'd be like, yeah, we'll let you know in 2 or 3 weeks. It was nuts. Oh, um, but as, as immediate stuff came out and phone apps and all that jazz um, when it came back, I'd be like— and this is where I do like a little bit of Jerry Minor stuff— I'd be like, huh, so actually it's kicking back saying maybe you might have forgot some kind of medication or something. There might be something you forgot. They can't tell me, it's HIPAA stuff. But I, I feel like you're missing anything else. You're missing health-wise, meds. And I would, I would go that route versus going, hey, by the way, Ashley, you're declined. Um, now what? Yeah, it it gave me more info. I'm so curious how you navigate.

Yeah, I kind of do that. I mean, I'll let them know, like for example, the call today, I told them, I said, okay, something on the prescription check, right? I mean, I explained, I guess I just explained the situation. I'm very transparent. I let them know what's going on, right? Um, and so in that situation, yeah, I would, I would just be like, today I said, hey, something on the prescription check, I don't know what, but it's pushing us from the preferred to the standard. So we're not, I mean We, we were still saving the dude like $3 a month, but it wasn't worth it to him to jump ship. He wanted the $20 difference, you know. So, but I have these conversations. They trust me. They know I'm the expert. And so we have a conversation around it, and then I go help them. I go look for the next carrier. Yeah, I don't— I just, I don't know. I don't put— I don't put a lot of weight in it.

I just— you're just keeping it really simple. Most people overcome, which is why I'm asking some of the— it's just questions I've been asked over the years, is people people want to overcomplicate some of this stuff versus just going, it is what it is. Like, this isn't that deep.

It's not, you know, it's really not.

I like it. It's all, it's all very smooth. Um, what do you do to get— or do you do anything in terms of like having people pay and be covered immediately versus draft dates down the road, or getting them to push it off a month or whatever? You mean how do you deal with navigating?

Yeah, that's a fair question. Um, because I've I've seen, well, I've been a part of some teams where they push pay now, pay now, pay now, pay now. I don't. I actually approach when I go into my applications, I let them know like, hey John, just so you know, the goal right now is to see if we can get you approved. You don't have to pay for anything today. Most families would like it to align with Social Security or disability. And then I'll approach the app. And then when you're setting the start date up in the app, what I'll usually do is say, okay, if you are approved, just so you know, you're not covered until a premium payment's made. So, um, did you— if you are approved, do you want it to kick in and start today, or are you most comfortable with it coming out with your Social Security? Right, because at least the demographic I work with, they're on a fixed income, 100%. You know, most of them don't have anything right now. Sometimes they do. You know, you'll get random people that are like, yeah, let's do it today. You know, I had someone call me this morning, was like, Ashley, I don't want to wait till the 3rd, charge it now. and I had to go in and adjust it and charge it now. So, um, I don't, I don't fight for pay now. I—

no, yeah, I like the style the same. I'd just be like, hey, do you want this to go into effect today, or do you need it down the road? Just keep in mind it's not— you're not covered if you get by bus in the meantime.

Yeah.

Um, cool. And how about anything like wrapping it up? Anything you do special there to kind of end it, keep them, keep them your client for life, get referrals, keep things on the books? Anything you're Anything you're intentional about?

Yeah, I'm not super intentional about referrals. I have been told, uh, multiple, multiple times, do the referral thing, Ashley, it'll save you a headache. But honestly, I have so many leads coming in, I'm, I'm fine with the way my lead flow is. Um, but I do summarize everything at the end. I make sure that they write everything down. I reassure them that if they need anything, I am a point of contact. I don't intend to ever leave anyone high and dry. Um, you know, and I let them know when that day comes, feel free to give your son Johnny my name and my number. I can help connect him with the carrier, get the ball rolling, and, and really make sure that he's not left high and dry when that time comes. I'll be here for your son, you know, till death do us part. Sometimes I'll let people know, till death do us part. And I say, if I pre— depending on how the conversation's going, I'll even say, hey, if I predecease you, you can still call the career. And then they'll laugh, and then they'll remember, like, oh yeah, like, you're not gonna live forever either, Ashley. Like, you could die on me. Like, you know, I love it.

Yeah, all super good. So what's your thoughts on leads? You said lead— you got a lot of lead flow. It's my style. What's your— how do you, how do you get in the right mindset about investing in leads? The numbers game, you know, I mean, so many people struggle with that.

They want to—

I guess so many people ask me for help, and then I'm like 'How many people are you calling?' They're like, 'I called 12 people this week.' And I'm like, 'I want to bang my head against that.' Like, they're open and they'll— all the time. I had someone send me their little tracker yesterday and he had the entire week off and he made 72 calls the entire week and he was like upset that he had no money. And I'm like, 'I'm— I, I don't have good answers. You're gonna dislike me at the end of this call.' Yeah, that's no bueno.

That's no bueno. No, listen, those types of people out there that are, that are working at that capacity, you just find a place that'll give you free leads, take a commission cut, and figure it out. Like, you, you are not in the place to enter the world. You just can't. You won't survive.

I would say I'd argue at the— if, if they did sucker someone into giving them free leads, it ain't gonna last long if they're doing that little activity. It's not going to be profitable for that person either.

No, but sometimes too, I feel like some of the agents, they just don't know when— because it gives them— when you jump into those free lead programs, it forces you into structure, right?

Sometimes. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. And sometimes that's what some agents need, because you come in and you realize that you don't know how to be a boss, and that's what you have to be, is a boss to yourself.

And I always go, free leads, by the way, they aren't free when you take a 50-point hit in comp.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, they're not to be clear at that point.

It's free like insurance is free for some people, you know what I mean? They ain't really free to the people paying for it.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And if you're taking a comp hit, I ain't mad at the programs. Oh yeah, I get free— no, you get leads at 50% less comp. That's what you do, right? Or whatever it is.

Yes.

You know, at the end of the day, it's— you do got to work your leads. It's prospecting, it's sales, as you said.

You know what I mean?

It's like you got to go after it.

How many— how important—

yeah, no, go ahead. How many leads are you getting now to write that kind of volume, roughly, ballpark?

Yeah, no, so, um, on average I get about 120 to 130 a week, um, is my, my lead flow. Um, on, I would say anywhere from like, I don't know, under $550 a month for sure on, on lead flow.

Running your own stuff?

Yeah, well, no, I use, um, I use a vendor. I use Scale My Social, um, and then so they manage. It's on my Meta account so I can see everything that's happening. But yeah, so I'm on average right now, I'm paying like $550 to $650 a lead. Um, they're high intent, you know, I got really good, um, really good ad sets going. And so it helps being able— and again, if you show up and you do the activity right and you track what you're doing and you know that you're profitable, it makes everything very, very easy. Because there was a time where I was trying to learn how to run ads myself I took the course, did the thing, and it was so daunting. I quickly realized that it was so distracting and there was so much weight on my shoulders, I couldn't sell. It was paralyzing me from being able to do the thing that makes me money. And so I needed to outsource that to someone else to control for me, and it's, it's been magical.

Yeah, the cost of you doing it yourself is very expensive a lot of times, unless you're just a wizard at it, which I know a few people that do their own, but yeah, the overwhelming majority Yeah, have no business running their own stuff.

Yeah, I can't run my own. I second question everything, right? You wake up one morning and you're like, oh, I'm 5 leads shy of what I got yesterday. What's wrong? I need to change. Like, I can't—

I love it, I love it. So what's, what's next for you? What's the plan coming, coming up? The year goals next year, you're gonna stay, keep doing the part-time thing, or what's on your radar?

Yeah, that's, that's kind of like my goal is just to hunker down. I've found a flow I'm really enjoying the industry. I can do this, you know, it's just, it's, it's the best position for me to be in now. When my girls are older, right, which is not very far away, where they're more independent— quick, I know— and, uh, you know, I have a lot more time on my hands and I'm not focused on trying to raise them to be little ladies, um, I'm, I'm probably gonna look into, you know, maybe building out a team, coaching some people one-on-one, and kind of doing that thing, but not Not in any capacity right now. Right now I just kind of— I share insight because I was a struggling agent for so long, you know, and I just want to— I just want to help other agents. It was very helpful to me to hear other agents on calls on YouTube, and so that's kind of what I've been doing for now is just kind of sharing. I share my script with people and start conversations with agents, but aside from that, I'm not looking to, you know, build an agency or anything like that. No, that's not a goal.

Yeah, makes sense. Just take care of the girls.

Take care of those.

You've been able to do anything dope with them yet since making some— anything like, I don't know, trip to Disney or something y'all always want to do that you couldn't do before?

No, we did. So we are booking a Christmas cruise, so we're going to Mexico and we're doing like the whole thing for Christmas time. We're kind of— we've never done anything during Christmas time, and we're like, we're headed out of Texas, like we're gonna go to the beach. And so they're really looking forward to that, but Aside from that, no, we, you know, we go and we visit family. I honestly, doing this has just been able to afford us like a comfortable lifestyle, you know. We don't stress for much. I have noticed I've spoiled my girls a little too much. Like, I literally this morning on the way to school, my daughter was being a hotheaded diva, and I was like, huh, I think, I think you're a little entitled. I think I've been— you make life a little tougher for you.

It's an interesting balance. I always want to like take care of my kids and be a provider and do all this stuff, and then they're like, you know, he's like, I need this, it's only $800. And I'm like, you little shit. He puts it in my face. He's like, you did it, you said you wanted to spoil us.

Yeah, my girls haven't done that yet, but they literally— like, my, my daughter will fill up my Amazon cart with crap, like actual— like she's into skincare products and stuff now, and I'm like, I don't even spend this much money on skin. Where are you finding all this stuff? She's— I'm like, this cart is $600 worth of crap in it.

There you go.

You're out of your mind. There's no—

yeah, that's what Maddox did, and he would— he, he knows who to go to for what too. So when he fills up the Amazon cart with stuff, he brings it to Mom. But if he wants like, I don't know, new golf clubs or baseball gear, he'll come to me. Like, it's— he just knows how to— I'm like, you want a little But I love being able to do it for him, you know what I mean? It's like, yeah, I just— I tell them that you better learn how to sell, bro, because Daddy's money runs out soon. You don't get to keep using it.

Yes. Well, and that's one thing too, I have literally heard my girls, like, they'll try to any pq, like, they're, um, like, they're— okay, so for example, their grandma, we were going to visit, and my daughter, my oldest one, she was like, so Grandma, Grandma Terry, would you be opposed if I asked you, um, you know, if we could go and get ice cream? I mean, you don't seem like the type of person that would notice something like that. And I was like, holy crap, get you some, girl! Okay, this is awesome. That was, that was great.

They do listen.

They do listen.

I love it. It sounds like you're proud of them and Good role model. Life is good. Anything you want to add to anyone watching? You can end it however you want. Literally, floor is yours.

Um, I don't— I just don't— if you're new and you're watching this and you're lost in the sauce, um, don't give up and really evaluate everything that you're doing, um, and not doing, right? Track your metrics. Are you dialing? Are you doing activity that will get you to where you need to go? Because yes, I can work at a part-time capacity now. But in all honesty, in the beginning, I was at an overtime capacity trying to figure it all out. So definitely go— I'm a big proponent of go find the person with the most arrows in their back, because they're going to help you get where you need to go fast. And then don't question, be coachable, follow the person with the arrows in their back. And then yeah, if you want, you can find me on YouTube, just my name, Ashley Mullenax. I share my phone calls, feel free to listen to them. My script's also there for free if you want that. Um, but yeah, I love it. I love it.

I'm a big activity guy. Anybody watching that doesn't already know or have it, on my site you can download a free activity tracker, just johnwetmore.com. And so I'm a nerd, I'm an Excel geek, and so you can just type in numbers and it does all kinds of formulas for them, tracks their hours, tracks their commissions, tracks lead spend, all kinds of stuff. Yes, we give that out.

You have to have that. Like, you, you absolutely have to do that. Because you won't know, you won't know how you're progressing, and you won't know where your pitfalls are and why you're failing. Like, you gotta have it.

I love it. Well, thanks for sharing, Ashley. It's been a blast. If I can ever help you with anything at all, please let me know.

Thank you.

Look forward to chatting again soon.

Yes, have a good time today.