This Telesales Phone Script Made Me $600,000 in Insurance Sales ft. Nate Ruiz | Ep65

average issue pays were like around high end if you're an elite, like $40,000. Now you're seeing people doing over $100,000 in a month. 100%.

Insane. Changed a lot, bro. I did— $460,000 was my high year. That was in 2015.

If you convert that into inflation, you'd probably—

What up, y'all? John Wetmore is back with another great episode coming of the Insurance Insiders Podcast. Got my dude Nate Ruiz here who is a killer sales guy, building a team, living life pretty healthy, uh, all-around stud dude making things happen. I'm sure you've come a long way, but appreciate you getting on, dude, and being willing to share, man.

So you kind of just want to give me like a breakdown like from where I came from? Yeah. Okay.

I mean, I think, I think if, you know, here's what I know. I always tell people this, like, I think people overcomplicate the industry. Yeah, yet at the same time they don't work on the detail. That's really easy to work on. Yeah, I mean, it's the weirdest dynamic ever. And I've obviously— we're not super close, but I've known you a while. Yeah, now I've watched you climb, uh, the ranks in this, in this space, and you're at a stage where quite frankly you make it look damn as easy as it is. Yeah, but you know, from the outside looking in, man, people are like, they can't figure it out. So I always try to get different people on to kind of tell their story and share their path so we can help other people make it in this space, because neither one of us would be here without others.

Yeah, 100%. Well, I'll start off like, um, I was in the military, so I was for like about 3 years. Um, I joined 2011, got out in 2014. Um, before then, actually, you know what, the— I probably should bring that up. I was actually doing door-to-door sales. This was like— for that 2011, like right after high school. And I was doing— I was selling Comcast and I got fired. I got fired.

Really?

Hell yeah. They said I was being a cancer to the team, which I was 100%. I was terrible. Um, but what's interesting is that the one of the guys that I sold— I was selling, I knocked on his door and I was trying to add a phone to his, uh, to his like plan. I, it's been a while. Um, he's like, dude, I like the way you sell, here's my card. So I applied for him. They took my badge. I literally walked off and then I got a phone call. Hey, you remember me, Nate? I was like, uh, I was like, no, who's this? He's all this guy from the Sears. You want a job? I was like, yeah, which was pretty funny. Um, then I got fired from that.

What was that one?

Um, it was, I was in Sears.

Oh, the old school.

Got it. So listening to people going up to them while they're shopping to get them on a consultation to renovate their home. So I was picking up—

really? God, I've seen that in Home Depot. I don't— yeah, I remember Sears back in the day used to do that with— and when they had all them lawn mowers and crap out.

I was too immature at the time, that's what it was. And then I was like, I got to get out of here, because I was born and raised in Fresno, California, and then I went to the military, which helped out a lot. And then from there, um, I was working at a vendor school, dropped out, realized it wasn't for me, and then I went to work at Verizon. And while I was working at Verizon, I, um, I answered a DM on my Instagram. Somebody recruited me practice company, got my insurance license. And then anybody that knows On, On Nguyen, he was working at AT&T. He kept dripping on me. We were in the powerlifting community because I used to do powerlifting for like 10 years. And he was like, look, dude, this is what I'm making. I know, I know you try to get me on a call with this one. And he showed me his deposits and I was like, I was like, okay, I'm sold. And then I just, I put my information in. I was like, let's do it, bro. And then this is when we're in home. And then I pretty much just stopped showing up to those team calls. For the other ones, dude was blowing me up. So I finally answered. He's like, I was like, what's up, man? He's all, where you been? I was like, oh, I just, I went to a different IMO. He's like, I wish you would have told me. I was like, nah, cause he would have, you would have, you would have sold me to stay here. So that's why I didn't tell you anything. Um, and then first year, first month I issued paid about $15,000 bank deposits. Maybe like $7,000, $6,000. I've never seen that type of money in my life. To me, that was a lot. Really? Okay. And that was it. And then from there, I think the first year I issued paid around $230,000. I'm probably off. $238,000. Second year is shy of $300,000, $290,000, give or take. And then the last year, which we just passed, was about $638,000. That was full telesales.

You went all out this past year.

It took a while to catch it, but I was pretty mediocre at Indian home.

Um, I feel your pain there. Yeah, yeah, I can relate.

And then from there, it's just— to me, it's just like selling is just kind of like a game now. I just, I'll pretty much sell somebody within 20 minutes, and then the app takes the majority of the time.

Yeah, yeah. So you said $6K was— you'd never seen money like that. Yeah, it was. What was life like before? I don't, I don't know your background like that.

I think I was making probably like $2,000 a month, maybe $2,500 if I got lucky, $3,000. But that was very rare. God, I was like, how old were you when you started insurance? Uh, got my license in 2022, 2021. I'm 34 years old right now. Okay.

So over 30 still.

Yeah, 30, okay. So 10 years BS in my 20s. Yep.

Yeah, and I lived there, bro. I know that.

2, 3,000. Oh yeah, yeah.

Were you, were you like a fool too? Like, why'd you get fired? Um, I know you said you're a Cancer, but like, what is that? I'm curious because you're so chill now.

I would, um, it's like back in the day I used to, you know, smoke all that crap. And I, me and my buddy, because we, we need deals, they would answer like, how many deals you got? And we would just literally make up deals, put in an order because you have to call in, and then we'd cancel. It's, it's terrible. It's cool. I'm just like, I, I, I would have fired myself too. I was like a terrible person.

So you were a shithead too?

Yeah, no, that's why I went to the military and I was like, dude, I need to, I need to do something in my life because this is, this is not working. Yeah, yeah.

So crazy.

That was my life then. I'm like If I don't think— if I don't— if I didn't join the military, I don't think I'd probably be where I'm at today because I needed some discipline.

Damn.

100%.

Did you have family in military or you were just like shit on a whim, decided to go?

Well, my brother was in the military. Got it. All my uncles were in the military, but I mean, it's not one of those things I'm like calling them. Yeah, talk to them very often. They would tell me when they're drunk about Vietnam, things like that, but I'm like, I don't— that's not one of like— we're not close. Yeah. But it was cool because when I was in the military I was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, and my brother was stationed there, so we got lucky and we were stationed at the same location, which is kind of a very rare thing to happen.

What was that like, going from smoking weed, dicking around, the military? I don't have a— I know that I understand the smoking weed, dicking around part. I do. I can imagine military, bro.

Um, I took me a while that my drill sergeant absolutely hated me. He— I remember this, uh, he looked at me in the face and he was like, he's like, Ruiz. I was like, I was like, yes, yes, sir. So he's like, I freaking hate you. If it wasn't for these ranks, I'd punch you in the face. I'm like, roger, Sergeant. Wow. He would tell me that on a continuous basis, but it was cool. I think they were just messing with me. Yeah. I mean, that's what drill sergeants do, but it was, uh, definitely a learning experience.

Crazy. What'd you do in the military?

Like, what was your role? Um, MOS was, uh, 14 Tango. It's, it's this long name. Um, it was It's pretty much like you see, like a, like the semi-trucks instead of the, the cargo. It's just big missiles on there.

Bang.

But I didn't do any of that. They, um, they pulled me from that and I was in some different special unit working with like a chief. It was— it wouldn't even be worth saying. It's just kind of technical stuff. Yeah, yeah, makes sense. But it was cool. They get—

all right, well, let's, let's talk about— because some people would love to get to 6 grand. I mean, again, you go that, but you— $200 to $600 is no joke. What changed last year? I mean, you can talk about whatever part you want, but I'm intrigued to know what made you triple. Um, anyway, double plus.

Well, I, I remember because we— you know how we do the old one, Mondays and Thursdays?

Yeah, Monday, Monday, Thursday dial day, for those that don't know, and run 4 days basically.

And then, um, I, I made my dials and I was telling Om like, okay, I did what I got to do, what I got to do now. He's just Go to your appointments, call me when you're there. And I was just like, okay. Cause I'm so used to when I was the other IMO, I was dealing with just like IULs. Got it. I didn't, it was like, I'm so used to this, like IULs are not complicated, but like this bigger product and then going down to a smaller final expense product and I'm like, I'm overthinking it, but it's a smart final expense product. Um, and I think what made me do really well was. I was able to just take one step by step by step. I'm not over at like, well, what about this? This is because I mean, I did ask that, but he told me just stick to this. And that's what I followed.

And that was this at the beginning for you was basic.

Making dials.

All this. That's it.

Got it. That's it. And I remember first time I get in on Zoom, it was just me, John Schill, and I think it was Mahmoud. Yeah. And I'm just, I'm staring at these guys. I have no idea who they are. And I'm like, I guess I'll make phone calls. It was so weird, but I was just like, all right, just, just stick to it. If he said he made these deposits, why can't I do it? Um, and I think that's what helped me being successful and just understanding that, like, I had the right group of guys. Obviously, if anybody knows Mahmoud, that guy works like a— dude's a workaholic. So I would just take his charge, and I was like, this guy's dialing to this time, I'm just gonna— I guess this is normal.

You didn't know any better.

Yeah.

Um, what'd that kind of day look like?

Um, well For those that don't know, I got 3 little ones. At the time when I first joined the business, I only had 2. Uh, drop off the kids at school. I don't know why that's happening.

Your hand gestures made balloons show up, bro. That's good.

Um, I would drop off the kids at school and then I would start dialing like around 8:15-ish, and then I would just finish until I got the appointment. Sometimes it would be till 3. I mean, to be honest, sometimes it'll be till like 5, 6, maybe 8 PM. It just, it just depends.

But how many were you going for?

30 plus, 100%.

In the two days? Yeah. So on Mondays you're booking 30, on Tuesday and Wednesday come, so 15 each day roughly?

Yeah. And I, it would get to the point where I'm like, I wouldn't make it to all of them. Obviously you probably—

yeah, 100%. But what's cool is to know, it's like, dude, that's where people get so confused in the space, because they come in and their buddies not doing 15 in the week. Yeah, you know what I mean? It's like, for us, the norm— I don't, I don't understand. I'm like you now. I mean, it doesn't make sense when all year round is just— I don't know, you walk in at the beginning, you book 15 every two days, every, every day.

That was fun too. Um, and I, I think from there, what made the transition from being in the 200s to the 600s, um, the second year I had a really rough time trying to master the telesales because—

did you?

Got it. The— I mean, we had no— nothing to go off of. We were creating the scripts and all that, and I had about 10 active writers and they all left. Yeah, because it was all in-home and I had to learn it myself, and I can't teach it if I don't know it. So sure, eventually I got— I was— so I mean, it is what it is, but, um, to rebuilding now and it— now that we have the scripts and everything, it's, it's so much easier where you don't have to do a travel trip going all the way to, you know, Kentucky, flying anywhere, when you can just literally call them. And that's why it's easy to pretty much going from ish— because the, I think, average issue pays were like around high end if you're an elite, like $40,000. Now until you've seen people doing over $100,000 in a month.

Yeah, insane. Changed a lot, bro. When I did— I did $460,000 was my high year. That was in 2015. And dude, there was only 4 of us that did that.

If you convert that into inflation, you'd probably—

uh, 100%. Yeah, in-home in 2015 also.

Yeah, that's—

so we were figuring something out then too. Yeah, that's sick, dude. So I, I want to go back to even early though, dude. So this is— you said '21, '22, '23? No, '22 was your first full year. '22, '23, '24?

No, 2022 I got into the business, March, March.

Got it. All right, so I want— got it. So '23 was the figuring it out year. Yeah, we lost everything.

But I would—

so go to the first year, dude, you still did a couple hundred grand that first full-time year. What is— but you're running— were you running 60 appointments a week all year? So 15, 4 days a week?

I mean, here and there I would take— yeah, I mean, trips. But I mean, but it's the— this is— I eat, breathe, slept this thing. I mean, I remember times I'd be watching your videos like on equity protection, like the in-home stuff, which I still refer to other guys. I mean, there's, there's, there's no better thing on equity protection still to this day on the one that you made. I appreciate it. Um, things like that. And then, I mean, we would— I mean, we had a lot of time on our hands when we were driving from appointment to appointment, so we would call a lot of guys, things like that. Yeah, I pretty much— that, I mean, still is my life.

This— so you weren't a killer closer then either, necessarily?

No, but I knew the business would work. There's no way. Sure.

Yeah, that's what I think. So many people get hung up there, dude. I your life. Does that make sense? Just run a bunch and I'll eventually figure this shit out.

Yeah.

But just by mistake, I made more money than— same as you— more money than I ever seen in my life. Just, yeah, pure activity.

You're just like, what the heck is—

yeah, yeah. And then I got good, and then it was lights out from there, you know.

And I, I think too, um, like a lot of the guys that they like, they see me write and they're like, how are you doing that? I'm I'm like, dude, I absolutely sucked for 2 years.

Yeah.

You want to be good within like the first week. It doesn't work like that. Yeah. And I always create the, like, the, like, the first 2 weeks should be learning over earning. Don't even expect a paycheck, like, because telesales, because I mean, it takes when you— how long does it take to receive your first paycheck? W-2? Like 2 weeks.

To do— my daughter, funny enough, is 18. She's working full time for the first time ever. And she's like, I'd have to wait 3 weeks to get my first check because it's every other week, but you got to get in the 2 full weeks, then the first check's the week later. Yes, she's 18, dude, she can't even— you know what I mean? She's like, can I have gas money?

So let's wait for the taxes paid, pulled out.

Yeah, she doesn't know what she's gonna make. She didn't have a clue. She's making like $15 an hour or something.

So it's— that's, that's why I explain the guys in, in—

yeah.

Too. Like, I mean, you got a good point. Factoring— if you sell somebody in a different— yeah, buying a new state license, it's— sure, it's a small— it's a process, but it pays off. That's— I mean, that's what I always like, how— as far as I frame it when new, new, uh, new agents come on. Yeah.

How do you, um, how do you talk to people about getting a lead flow to be able to run that many? Um, you come from not having a ton of money, so you must have figured something out.

I, I I sold my parents. I used the old method of the, for Saudi, your friends and family. I was like, well, I mean, I can't— they can't get IULs. I'm gonna just sell final expense to all my family. And then I got the profits and I put into here. And I understand that everybody's gonna support their business like that. I was lucky enough. Um, but as far as, um, another thing I— we generally do now is we like old leads, but at least the leads— so it doesn't even matter. I've sold leads that are like a year ago. Yeah, we pretty much just start off them making dials. And if they're putting in the work, like, if you suck, I can work with that. But like, if you're putting in the work and you suck, I can work with that. Yeah, we just gotta, we just gotta mold you into like with the business, understanding the business scripts and things like that.

Yeah.

Um, so I mean, we may provide leads. It just depends on the individual. But if you're coming into the business, you're not being intense, you're, you're in the office because we're in San Antonio. So we have a house that we're going to do a grand opening for and you're doom scrolling. But dude, get out of here. We don't— because that's a cancer. That's, that's me. That's old me. So we don't want you in the office, things like that. So that's how we go about generally as far as like getting people up and running, because I understand not a lot of individuals are going to have $1,000 to spend on leads or anything like that.

Or when you set a lot of expectations for guys coming in, 100%. I want to hear.

We got, we got a, we got a pretty rough office here. So like, for instance, like if a lot of guys are— am I allowed to cuss on this?

You can say whatever you want.

So a lot of guys, you know, they end up talking shit to each other, things like that. They'll end up wrestling in the middle of the day. Hell yeah. Things like that. They'll bring out the gloves, things like that. So we got a pretty— there's a lot of testosterone, rowdy group. Yeah.

Who else is there with you that I would know?

So just, you know, you know, On, right?

Yeah, for sure.

Um, other than that, no, it's a lot of guys you never met. Um, and two, what helped us a lot was, uh, the, so it was just always me and On, and we brought in this other individual, his name's AC. Yep. He's the one that helped like systemize everything, automation system, really things like that. I think that's within your, your realm, right?

Yeah. Hell yeah. That's what I did for Mike. Yeah, when I was—

yeah. So him creating that with me, because I'm very aggressive on selling and on understanding like the whole dynamic, kind of helps us with— yeah, leveraging each other. And as far as helping all the guys, things like that. Yeah. Um, but as far as standards, um, you got to be here because a lot of guys travel. Sometimes they'll come from Austin. Um, be here by 10, and then we Most of the guys won't leave till like 7, 8 at night. Some guys will stay sometimes at midnight. I can't do that because wife will be like, what the hell are you doing?

I mean, you're knocking down $600 grand doing what you're doing.

Yeah, that's what it is. And then, uh, yeah, just coming in, dialing, coming and learning, um, and then just asking questions, not staying quiet. Like, hey, I just did this, come ask us. Um, and then the ones that are not in office be on Zoom. So we're, we're all over the place.

Yeah. What's the hardest part about growing for you?

Um, personalities. Okay, tell me. That's, um, not everybody is starving. Everybody has different expectations. Um, that, that's what I would say. But a lot of it probably has to do with me just being a better leader. Sure. Um, which is always learning, things like that. Um, but I, I think it would be that more, more or less that. But for the most part, it's just— I mean, once everybody's— once she gets inside the office, they do pretty well from each other.

Yeah, it's hard when you bring people into our culture to be— yeah, a bum when everybody else is smashing it.

Yeah, too. I mean, and then too, if I remember Zach saying this, and like, if If you recruited yourself, why would you need yourself? It's true. You're not— if you— and plus, if you bring on an A-player, it's not going to happen overnight. Yeah, so that's true. When you're trying to recruit, it wouldn't make no sense.

Yeah, yeah. If you're in the insurance space and trying to build an agency, or you're trying to like break records in sales, just hit new levels, new heights, click the link below to apply to my consulting and coaching program. Program that I have out there. I'm helping tons of people get to new levels, get to new income heights, help them build their teams, put systems in place, staffing stuff, recruiting processes, automations. I'm just teaching people how to get to a point where they're selling on their own pen 30, 40, 50 grand a month. And if they're building a team, teaching how to have an effective structure to your insurance agency for the most profitability you can. There is an application process. I'm only looking to work with like high-end people who really want to make big things happen. A couple recent clients that we've had in the, in the coaching program. One dude as an individual went from selling like $8,000 a month, barely getting by, about to quit the industry, found the book, hit me up direct, started the coaching program, went to $35,000 his first month, has issued like $150,000 in the last 90 days and has changed the trajectory of his career. Working with another agency builder, very first month went from doing like $800,000 a month to almost $1.1 million. We added like 10 or 15% production in 30 days and continue to work on things there. So if you're interested, click the link, apply, and if you're a fit, I'll reach out. Yeah, I mean, it's like I always had to convince myself that how I used to— because again, I was with Zach early too, and we were both shit shows. Yeah. And, uh, I had to convince myself early on to go like, dude, if they were all perfect, what would they need me for? And then what would I get the override for? Yeah, I mean, and so it was just a little mental because I was so bad at that piece too, dude. It was— I was awful. And my delivery to those people was awful. So not only did I deal with it awful, I also spoke awful about it. Yeah, I was like, I meant well, I just, I just delivered it poorly.

It didn't come across right. It did not.

But you know, you live and you learn. This, this thing's, this thing's interesting. So let's teach them how to knock down $600 grand, dude, remote. You figured it out. Telesales. I always struggle with it. I mean, I didn't, I didn't do telesales at a high level. I did telesales before telesales was cool because, yeah, sometimes you have a trucker and that's what you do, you know what I mean? But never at the pace y'all do it at today. Yeah. Um, but I also don't Also, I'm stuck where I'm like, I don't know, I have agents all the time, they're like, so we talk about such and such type of lead and they're like, is that lead a telesales lead or an in-home lead? And I'm like, I mean, the lead doesn't pick how they're going to be closed, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Now one guy caught me a little bit, he's like, I meant distance, like it's in another state. I'm like, well, that makes sense. That though, not really, because I've gotten on planes, but I got his point. So I would love to hear, dude, from someone that had to learn it. You mentioned figuring the script out, all that stuff. Like, what do you see as either the difference, or were you making a bigger deal than it really is and it ain't that deep? I can't imagine the client's that different.

No, it's, um, it was making it overcomplicated.

I'm glad you said that. Perfect.

It's so simple. Yeah, because they don't want to buy, I just call another lead. So you want to have a lot of leads.

Simple math right there. That's what I found, bro.

You want to learn your craft too. Yeah, you want to squeeze out the lemon. It's so I generally do maybe about like $2K a week on leads.

If you got to spend.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then it just from there, I mean, I already met, I automatically know I'm going to convert that over to $10,000. Yeah, it's— I mean, there'll be very rare occasion, but, um, because the skill set's there and it doesn't matter the lead because all it is is, um, I call you and I say, hey, for the discounted life insurance, state-regulated life insurance, or the mortgage protect— it's just a keyword that you just insert whatever lead it is. Sure. Um, but I mean, did you want me to go over it or—

yeah, run it, let's go.

Um, I'd be like, hey John, Yeah. Hey, this is Nate. I was giving you a call here on the state-regulated life insurance. What state are you in? Georgia. State-regulated life insurance here for the state of Georgia. How you doing? Doing great, man. Cool, man. Is this the first time you're going through this process?

Yeah. Which— do you get big objections right there? I'll follow. I'll flow however you want me to.

It's all— it's all—

it's all— it's either like, yeah, it's either, wait, who is this?

Who the hell is this? Or, oh, yeah, yeah, this first time.

Let's go with what the newbies get because, you know, I know they flow easier for you. How do you get it to flow smooth? You know what I mean?

Um, though, so there's a few things. Oh, I already got that taken care of. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Just so you're not getting these phone calls anymore, John, how much coverage did you end up getting?

I forget.

You forget? Got it. Did you get the policy packet in the mail?

I did.

Yep. Gotta go ahead and grab that real quick because I want to make sure I don't get these phone calls anymore because I'm sure it's a nuisance, right?

It is a pain in the ass, bro.

Go ahead and grab that real quick.

What if I don't know where it is?

It's fine, I get paid by the hour. I can wait. It depends too.

Yeah, I love it, I love it.

Or it'd be if they, if they're like, oh well, I got that taken care of a long time. Was that like within like Was that recent or within a few years? Like, or like a few years ago? Oh, it was a few years ago. Okay, got it. So you were just looking at on coverage, I'm assuming then, right? They'll tell me yes or no. And then if no, then I just kind of just leave it. I'm just like, yeah. Um, that, or if it's like, um, I'm not interested. No, I'm pretty terrible at that. I'm gonna be honest.

Um, but what do you do? If they say you just move on, just hang up and move on.

No, I essentially, I just asked, so why do you feel this way? Why do you feel like— flip it? Yeah. Yeah. And they're like, well, I'm like, okay, got it. So were you needing coverage at all? Do you have any life insurance? I mean, it didn't make no sense. I wouldn't call you if you weren't interested. I'm not, I'm not a telemarketer. Yeah.

It's more the delivery and the tone. Like it doesn't throw you off your game. It's like you're expecting it. It is what it is, and can I get through it? Great. And if not, great.

It's, it's a big, um, assuming, not sounding like a pushover, very passive. Yeah. Talking very authoritative, um, and then just, you know, telling them what to do and then keeping every very— everything nonchalant. Yeah. Um, understanding how to change tonality, um, Like, for instance, they told me they had a plan which they probably should not have. And like, well, why did you go with that plan? Or, you know, are you sick? Yeah, obviously you shouldn't be replacing policies. That's, uh, sure, things like that. But it's just everybody's situation is different.

That are you sick, want to get you in some houses or get you some appointments now. Yeah, they'd be like, wait, what? No, I ain't sick.

Do you got like HIV? You have amputations?

Yeah, um, yeah, I think it's, um, what I used to do poor there too was like, even when you said like, well, I assume you need some more coverage or whatever, I'd, I used to get like super defensive about it, you know what I mean? Like, what the hell? I mean, you filled it out, bro.

You know what I mean?

I'd be like aggressive. Yeah, you were just like, yeah. No, I hear a lot of new people do that. They get frustrated, you know, and I think they believe it. Yeah, I mean, they're like, damn, another lead. They sold me this lead and they knew they already got something else before, man.

That's why we— I mean, we have those like aged leads, and I mean, that's what you're gonna majority come off of. I mean, they think people can't get to them, all of them, but I mean, yeah, they're not going to remember. A lot of the individuals are old. Or you can— like, they always say, like, uh, I don't remember I eat for breakfast. Or you can say, for instance, like, um, yeah, most people do this like in passing, you know, like you're looking at it, you kind of just forgot about it, but giving you a call here, date of birth is— was that correct? Things like that. No emotion.

It's funny, as people get all worked up about it, but to your point, it leads a lead. Yeah, it's like, dude, people have been getting wealthy in this business for 200 years. And there were no leads at one point. Hell, there was no internet. There was no phones.

There was, you know what I mean? Spending like $70 a lead, weren't you, or something like that?

Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, on the low end, direct mail, low end was $45 a lead. Yeah. High end was $75, $80 a lead.

That's— yeah. Yeah.

And people are like, $22 is expensive. I'm like, okay. Cute.

Like $9.

Yeah, yeah.

But what do you do?

Mm-hmm. I love it, dude. What else is important to you to make sure things you touch on, on the phone?

It's credibility, knowing like, you know what you're talking about. Like, for instance, if they were saying, you know, who do you work for? Yeah, I represent many different A-rated carriers like Mutual of Omaha, Transamerica, AmeriCo, Gerber, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, you know some of those companies, right? They'll be like, yeah, okay, cool. Um, so that's what we represent. And then as far as, um, you said you wanted to make sure that the burial was taken care of. Was that, was that correct, John? And yep, okay, right back to it. Who's the beneficiary? And then if they tell me who the beneficiary is, I know they're a buyer right there.

Second, third question.

Yeah, I'll ask for the beneficiary right away because I'll ask if this is the first time you're going through this process. They'll tell me, you know, I— if they tell me no, I know they've gotten quotes. And then two, I'll be like, okay, got it. Who's the beneficiary? I'll get as much information about the beneficiary without even telling really who I am. If they, if they tell me that, I know they're a buyer. Um, I'll test them on that. And then from there, what I'll do is to kind of, because I mean, I hate to say a lot of them are old and a lot of them are undiagnosed dementia because this happened. I've ran into this quite a bit. Um, I'll test their memory if they know their driver's license and be like, hey, so what's your driver's license number? This is like midway. And they'll tell, if they know it by heart, that lets me know that they are going to know their account number by heart.

That's slick. I've never heard that before.

I've tested this many times. I've never heard anyone say that because generally it's—

I ask them, oh, that type of person.

Yeah.

Um, and then interesting, what percent know their driver's license? And there's— how many? I give— if you, if you ask 10, how many know it?

Roughly like 2 or 3 maybe. Okay. But it's, it, I, I've learned it just, it just, you do this repetitively over and over.

You catch, yeah.

You catch things over and over again. Um, and then from there I like to move with speed. I kind of have it in mind where it's like a visualization where think about like a boxing match where you're like, you're just getting left, right, left, right. You don't really have time to think. So I try not to give the, the client time to really process anything. Because quietness, awkwardness kind of makes them not want to buy. This is just my opinion. Yeah. Um, and then from there I'll throw little jokes to kind of bring the, the guard down. Like, say for instance, how— what's your height and weight, John?

Um, 6'1", like 215.

215. You sure you weren't— you should have been in the NFL, dude. They'll make a little snark, and then I'm like, hey, really quick, and then I'll go back to the to the, the script. If the— it's all— if it's always a woman I'm dealing with, I'm like, okay, I'll read their date of birth, I'll have their age. Oh, okay, so you're not a day over 21, huh, ma'am? They'll always laugh, things like that. Um, and that tends to bring guards down, kind of just everything just pretty smooth. Um, and then from there, like, for instance, um, after they tell me the beneficiary, I'll be like, okay, got it. Were you going to do a cremation, burial, or, you know, which What are you going to do? And they'll tell me cremation. Okay, got it. I like to call it price anchoring. It's just a thing I made up. It's not a real thing, but I'll say, okay, so cremation is anywhere from like $3,000 to $9,000 depending on inflation costs, state costs, things like that. Or they'll— and they'll say, you know, funerals anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, big in fluctuation depending on like the casket, burial, things like that. And not to mention the beneficiary where they're Um, if they're living in a different state, if they're working, things like that, time off work, I mean, things like that. And then what do you plan on doing? They'll tell me, uh, burial. Okay, cool. And then, um, your, your son John Jr., he's, uh, he lives in California, right?

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

There you go. TJ's in Cali.

And, and then they'll say, okay, God, he's, he's working, right? Yeah. Okay, he has his own job. Job, you know, his own bills. Yeah, okay. So he would have to take time off, get on the airplane or drive to go to your location, get everything ready. Unfortunately, he just lost his dad, which again, you're his, you're his daddy. You, you raised him since he was a little boy, and you obviously, he's going to mean a lot, right? It's gonna be devastating, right? They'll be like, yeah, okay, he's probably gonna take time off, right? And then, I mean, not to mention the bills are certain, they're not going to stop, right? No. Okay. So if you're thinking about burial and with trying to make sure his bills are taken care of and then top of your bills, you're probably going to be wanting to look around $25,000, $30,000, kind of more or less. Right? Right. Okay. And then that drops it down. They know, obviously, after I go through the financials, if they don't make a lot of money, I'm not going to— sure, that doesn't make sense. I want to charge back. And then from there, I pretty much I create an outline. Hey, so the way this works, It's going to be very quick. I'm going to go over a few questions here on your health, which is part of your MIB, which is short for the Medical Information Bureau. We'll make sure it's within affordable budget. No sense of having coverage if you can't afford it. And then whatever option you do choose, we'll go through the application process. You're going to find a day where you'd want the policy to draft, and then you'll get a policy pack in the mail within 7 to 10 business days because I upfront all the objections. So when they come ask me, why do you need my social? Yep, just like I mentioned. Um, it's all going to be part of the MIB. Why do you need my banking? Yep, just like I mentioned, we need to pick a draft date for the policy because, I mean, you know, how you're going to pay for it. There's tons of ways you can handle that. Sure. And then I— if I don't send them any credentials, but if I have to, I will. I'd never—

it's funny, I, I hear the guys that sell the most don't, and the people that are new freak out and want to.

I know, and I'll do it if I have to. I have all my— yeah, but I'm like, you're not doing it every one on purpose. No, that's probably like 1 out of 100.

Yeah, that's sick.

Yeah, it's just I don't want to do all that.

Yeah, I agree, dude. I, I always tell people, man, I— you know, people are like, credibility on the phone is so important. I'm like, yo, these fools used to let us into their house and didn't check our ID. I was at their kitchen and they didn't check my ID.

They don't even know.

I mean, I would think that'd be— you'd have to build more trust to get it. You'd have to build more trust for me to get in my house than on the phone, for sure.

100%.

Yeah, so I've always thought people overcomplicate that shit too.

It's, um, pretty simple, and the longest part is the app.

So you don't, you don't spend a ton of time on the why. You almost self-generate the why through your questions. You give them kind of suggested standard reasons why they need this shit.

I try to make it sound horrible, which, I mean, I'm not lying.

No, you're not. You're just helping them build the story more. Some people spend a shitload of time there asking question after question, just waiting for them to volunteer the difficult pain part.

And then a lot of them get anxiety because they don't, um, it's they don't know what to expect. But if you tell them like that, that's actually what's going to happen. Yeah. Which is great.

Seems easier than the other path, you know what I mean? And God, you see, did you ever go through that stage, dude, where you were like with a client for an hour and a half and don't make a sale?

So what? And telesales, I've done that.

How do you, how do we, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if there's a way to avoid it other than going through it and slowly tweaking things.

You know what I mean? I figured it out. If they're talking too much, I just cut them off, say, hey, really quick. And then I go back to my script. I just, for them to shut up.

Just straight cut them off.

Yeah. Hey, really quick. That's, that's my go-to if they're talking too much. Like, yeah. And then I'll just go back to, because you just wasted, you could have called like within an hour, maybe like 50 people, 60 people, 100, versus into the stories about nonsense. So I—

yeah, no, it's funny. What up, insurance agents? If you're looking for a roadmap on how to win in this industry, check out the book I wrote about a year ago, Do More Now, Get Better Later. Check out the reviews here somewhere. My team's putting them on. I'm getting tons of great feedback about all the people it's helped. Appreciate those of y'all that have bought it. Appreciate all the reviews that are going out. If you're new to following me or the industry, check out the book and get it in your hands now. All right, what else is important for you? Part of the app, transitioning to it, getting it— I mean, you, you went over social, you went over banking. I mean, is there a, is there a Do you have a close, if you will?

You mean, um, like, as far as the close, once— like, I, I— they— a lot of new agents will do like gold, silver. I don't do any of that. Yeah, look at, you know, hey, based on— say everything made sense, you made enough money, things like that— I'll tell them, hey, um, based on— I'm gonna look at $20,000 in coverage. I'll always quote them high and then I'll apply lower. Yep. Because expectations— because, because a lot of individuals, there's not everybody, but they get prescribed medications, they don't take it, but it's still in the MIB. Yeah, sure. There's no way to escape that. So if I quote them high and they're happy and they get approved for it, cool. But if, say, if I quote them like a, like a CoreBridge SIWO and I apply for Americo and we go through the app, I don't tell them carriers at all. I give them all the information later.

Got it. So when you're giving them pricing, what— are you giving them worst-case scenario pricing, or does it— it depends on that? I mean, if they're— if they're— if it's close, I assume you make a judgment call, you go that way. But if you know for sure, you're giving them what they get.

I'll look at whatever, like the, the toolkit, the quote tool. Yep. And then, um, say you're 66 years old and $30,240, but Americo's like $220. Um, I'll, I'll tell them the CoreBridge, and then I'll go to the Miracle app. We'll go through it. I'll go straight to the, to, because I only use a few carriers.

Yeah.

Um, you're crazy if you use a bunch of carriers. Um, but I will do that because worst case scenario, if, I mean, well, there's times when you don't have to backtrack, GIW, and I got, I got to resell them. But that is, sure, sure. Um, but I'll, I'll do that and I'll tell them, hey, if you get them better coverage, they'll absolutely love you. Because I mean, I'll just match up the premium and get them more coverage. Hey, so the carrier actually, um, approved you for instead of $30,000, $33,000, $34,000. Can't hurt, right? And they're like, oh really?

Yeah, Mark.

Um, and then, um, but my close— you're asking the closing, so I'll tell—

I like it, dude. I like this part. Like, it's— this is unique. I don't know that I've had someone tell me they do it just like that. You get them sold on the higher price and then it's like that under— which way do we say it? Under-promise, over-deliver. Yeah, doing it the right way.

But two, that's why I asked in the beginning, hey, is this the first time you're going through this process? If they— if not, then I can figure out, hey, what were you getting? What were you quoted?

Correct.

Yeah, I can.

So they're a newbie. It doesn't matter if they've had a bunch of quotes, you know what you're playing with.

Yeah.

So this is where you learn your craft, folks. This is what he was talking about earlier when you're like, know your shit. This is hard for a new guy to do day one, but you start learning some stuff.

And a lot of it too is, you know, is like if you're at the gym, if you're driving, plugging into FFL, um, anybody, any trainings, doing your own, being resourceful, learning everything you possibly can. Because I mean, we can only teach you so much, but it's going to be up to you. It's going to be up to you, um, what you put into this. Um, and then as far as I'm quoting outside, hey, it's for this much. Did you want to apply for that amount or did you want to just going up or down? And then if they give me like pushback right away, let's go down a little bit, John, because I want to make sure that it's, um, with an affordable budget. Um, just we'll say $25,000, we'll go $5,000 interest. It's for $220. Do you want to apply for that amount? I'll just keep tapering off.

Yeah.

Um, and then my, my way to close it, I'll tell them, okay, got it. So the next step, we're going to go into this application. Some of the questions are going to be a little redundant, so bear with me, try not to get annoyed. Um, I have here your full legal name, John Wetmore. Am I missing anything? Is there a junior, senior, the third, or is there a middle initial? And then I go straight to the application.

Easy.

That's pretty much easy.

It's funny, the guy who mentored me, he taught me his close was getting their middle name. He's the same thing. Yeah, all right, Nate, what's your middle name?

And you move on right to it and then, uh, send them the signatures and get the policy, uh, approved.

You do 10 presentations, how many you close them today? Oh, if I do whatever you count as a presentation, right?

Because everybody gets stuck there up to the numbers.

Okay, so you're showing numbers, you show numbers 10 times, how many are getting apps?

I'll say like 8.

Okay, you get 10 people on the phone, how many you showing numbers to?

So not presentations.

And yep, there's new question.

Yeah.

If you get 10 to pick up and listen to more than you're on the phone more than a minute, how many are you presenting the whole way to?

5. Okay. Maybe. Depends.

Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Just some ballparks.

Yeah. And some days I'll have where I'll have like 8. Sometimes I'll have where there's like 1. I'm like, what the hell's going on?

Yeah, but I get Yeah, you get 10 to pick up. How many tell you to fuck off today? Just straight, fuck you, bro. They ain't listening to nothing.

Christmas Day, all of them. No, no, just messing around. No, probably like, like, like pretty rude.

Yeah, like, like more than normal.

Like 3. Like if there's many, like 3, I'll get those here and there and they'll be like, license number and Yeah, keep it moving.

So all the time is what you're saying?

Yeah, yeah. No, there's a week throughout the week. Yeah, there's one.

You're getting a bunch.

Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I mean, all right, man, there's part of the game. Other people to call, man.

I just, I try to tell people, dude, like, you got to get used to that part because it ain't going away. I don't care who you are, dude. I pick up the phone today, I'm getting whacked from some people. Some people are not gonna like me. Oh yeah, that's what it is. Yeah, um, damn, you just said something that made me think of another— what the hell did you do? You just said something like kind of joking a second ago. What was it?

Christmas?

Oh yeah, what's the craziest— tell me about your work days. Do you do anything crazy? What, what most would consider crazy? Because I know your culture is the same as mine and we work a lot of holidays because how fruitful they can be. But do you do anything there?

Um, I work the first, I work the 31st, The only day I don't work is Christmas.

Uh, Christmas, the only day you legit take off?

Yeah, I'll take that.

Memorial Day, you just, you just close then?

Honestly, I forgot it was Memorial Day. I was like, it's Monday, what the hell? I don't even know. I had a pretty, I had a pretty bad day that day, but it was, I mean, whatever. I mean, I think I just sold, I sold one.

Yeah, yeah.

But I mean, I honestly forgot it was Memorial Day. Yeah, more people are home, so I would thought like, okay, cool, why not sell? Yeah.

I agree, dude. I always— bro, you ain't gonna convince me. I've always— it's weird though when you start talking to people, and I know so many people outside of our company even, it's even more foreign out there in the world.

Yeah.

And they're like, don't people get mad? I'm like, no more mad than they do any other fucking Monday, you know what I mean? And to be fair, I've always found this funny, that like some people are like, you just can't work on a holiday. But they'll consume stuff from somebody who is working on that holiday. You know what I mean? Go to the movies, go to the restaurant, watch whatever it is.

Sometimes we'll work Sundays too here.

Oh yeah, yeah, that's— I mean, I worked every Sunday my first year. That's all I did because I was part-time. I worked every Sunday forever, um, my first year and a half. Yeah, so prime time. I love it, dude. What else do you want to add? I know you're gonna run, so I'll let you kind of— anything I, I— anything maybe you wish I asked I didn't or something you want to tell them?

Um, what I would say is you'd want to— if you're, if you're— it's your first time dialing, you want to get as much nos as possible. You want to kind of take no as a reward because think about it, if you, if you, if you absolutely suck and you stick with it and you, and you're, you're doing everything possible to do trainings Talking to yourself while you're driving on scripts, all the silly stuff that you may think it is, um, working late hours when people are off, or it, it will pay off. Because there was times where, um, that transition from telesales, from in-home to telesales, where I don't know how I paid my bills, but I stuck with it and I, I somehow sold and paid bills and still was in the business. And most people would have quit. So it's just, it's, it's not an easy business, but it's very rewarding.

Hey, most people have quit since you started, just to be clear. You've seen, you've seen a lot of them come and go since you've been—

Yeah, I've seen a lot, a lot of unfortunate people. I wish they wouldn't have left, but I mean, yeah, it is good people with good skills too.

Yeah, you know, he just mentally couldn't, couldn't keep it, keep it together.

Yeah, so it's scarier if you come in this swinging and you're making tons of money and you're selling like natural. That's actually way more scarier because when that hard day gets them— yeah, hopefully you can, you can stick through it.

It's true. I love it, dude. How old are the kids?

Um, my, my daughter is 7 years old. Uh, my son will be 6 years old this Friday, and then my— I have a 4-month-old boy. So, okay.

His wife home or she work?

We used to live in New Mexico and then we moved out here to San Antonio to be closer with the guys and open up the office. And now she doesn't work anymore. Love it. Which is awesome.

How's it been for family life last couple of years?

Oh, crazy. Crazy. I mean, cause I'm always, I mean, if, especially if it was in-home, I would, I wouldn't come home till late driving now. I mean, they come here to the office, you know, because I have like a TV set up here and they'll hang it on the couch. I'll be dialing. I use— if you got kids too, you want to invest in a headset. It's, it's gonna be crazy, but you can't hear a damn thing through this thing. Really?

What kind is it?

I work for them, so I'm not marketing it, but it's not, um, it's, uh, Poly— Poly something, I don't know. Um, but we all use it, man. It's, it's, uh, it's like $115 and on, like, you— I remember this one time I was in the car with Mahmoud, and we were all joking around, and Mahmoud's like, let me use your headset. I was like, all right. And we were loud, and Mahmoud was like, be quiet, dude. I'm like, the lady's right here, and you closed her. I'm like, dude, she can't hear anything. Ask her if she can hear anything. He asked her, and we— I was sitting like right here next to him. She's like, I can't hear anything, just you. Dang, it sounds cool. You— I'd be on the highway sometimes, freeway, closing it, writing up an app on my phone. Dang, it's cool. Hopefully not driving. That'd be weird.

I've done it. He was driving. He's like, I was driving. Yeah, you know, what do you do?

Yeah. So it's just little, little tricks like that. Just, that's investing in your business. Buy headsets, buy, um, buy a nice computer so it moves faster. You're not low waiting to load.

Yeah.

So I mean, that's, that's what I would say as far as— and obviously spend as much money as possible you can, you can on, on leads. Yeah, or you can write. That's dope.

Wife's not in the business now? She just takes care of the kids and stuff now?

Uh, yes and no. She has her license.

She does?

Got it. But she's not— it's not nothing that she's like doing this crazy. Yeah, it's good.

It's good. Hey, this business will change this thing. This business will make things different for the family, that's for sure.

Oh yeah, awesome.

So it's good. I love it, dude. Well, I appreciate your time, brother. Thanks for sharing, sharing. And if I can ever do anything to help you out, man, just hit me up, let me know. Appreciate you, homie. Y'all have a good one. Let us know if we, you know— later, guys.