This Telesales Phone Script will 5x Your Income as an Insurance Agent ft. Austin Jones | Ep45

Stop soft selling. I don't know why, but everyone wants to do that.

Some of them don't even think they're doing it, bro.

Yeah, you know, there's people out there doing it right now.

They're like, what's soft? And they're literally doing it every day.

So a soft close is like, hey, let's just see if we can get you approved.

I hate that, dude.

I'm like, why would you do that? You do understand you're going to have to get their bank account information for you to get paid, right?

What up, y'all? John Wetmore back with another episode of the Insurance Insiders Podcast. Got my dude Austin Jones, First Class Agency, doing big things in the space, selling a bunch, making noise in this— in the industry, and just a good dude, man. Appreciate you getting on, bro.

Now I appreciate you, brother, as always, man. You're one person that, uh, I've always looked up to in this industry and I've always appreciated you, man. So anytime you— anytime you need me, brother, I'm here.

Amen. I appreciate that, brother. Same, dude. You, uh, for those that don't know, um, give them a little— I mean, you definitely give him a little background. I— the part I know is you went from Waffle House to living a good life. Yeah, you know, you can share the parts you want, but, uh, if y'all don't follow him on social, you should because he's got a lot of cool things going on. I wish that— what are you, 27?

I'm 30. Are you 30?

Yeah, I thought you're still late. I thought you're still 20, 27, 28. Okay, I didn't know you hit 30.

Oh man, cool. I am, I am. When I met you, I think I was like 27. Yeah, originally. Yeah, so getting old right there, I guess. My kid is 8 and 6, so dang, that's crazy. We're getting old.

It's crazy for sure.

But yeah, I mean, a little about me, just like you kind of said. I mean, I grew up playing sports my whole life, uh, that's always been my background— basketball, football, track, whatever I could do. And, uh, went to school, got hurt Freshman year, preseason, tore my Achilles, had to figure life out from there. So, you know, I never had a B. Always been that type of person. It's Plan A. This is, this is what I'm locked in on. This is what I'm focused on, and I'm gonna accomplish whatever I got to go through to, to make sure I get there. So when that happened, I was 19, and I'm sitting in my room in my dorm, just lost for the first time. Uh, an Achilles— I don't know how people do it now. People come back super quick, but then it was like a career-ending injury. So, um, you know, I kind of had to figure out life from there. I was dating my wife at the time. Um, I was— like I said, I was 19, so leaned on her a lot. Ended up finishing school, graduated, moved to Tennessee, uh, got married, started building a family. I didn't have a ton of experience, didn't know anything but work. I mean, my dad, you know, he grew up— me growing up, I always just saw him just working. He always had 2, 3 jobs. Uh, doing whatever he could to make sure he provided for the family. My mom was always a stay-at-home mom. They've been married for 40-plus years. Uh, so, you know, this set a great example. Uh, you know, me and my two brothers, that's what we grew up seeing. Uh, so obviously that's just embedded in me, so that's all I know. So for me, it was like, all right, we, we got kids now, like, we got to figure this thing out. So I was in the restaurant industry, was at Waffle House, and, um, you know, making some decent money. You know, most people look at Waffle House and they're like, oh, what, Waffle House? I never worked in a restaurant before. And I had like 3 jobs at the time, and I got recommended, hey, you should, you should do work Waffle House, make it like $60, $70 at that, at that time. Decent. But, um, I wanted more, man. I knew I wanted more, and I didn't know exactly what I was looking for that was going to get me that. Then I found out about insurance, started in health insurance, crushed it from a personal production standpoint, but I wanted to build, wanted to scale. So jumped into life insurance. That's where I met you. And, uh, we've been building ever since. Now we're here.

It's crazy. Did you, did you jump right in full-time to health from the— you quit the restaurant, went right away? You just dove in?

Yeah, I had a week vacation, so I spent that time, uh, just studying. So at that time they were like, hey, you pay for the, the pre-licensing course and your, your actual exam. If you pass the exam in 4 days, we'll, we'll refund you your money. So I'm like, perfect. So free money. I took my vacation to study for like 2 days, passed my exam, they refunded me the money, and, uh, it took like a week to get my license back, and then I got up and going.

Nice, dig it. You may— you start making money right away?

No, not at all. So I, like, I'm one of those people, especially then, like, I was just like, show me what to do and I'll do it. I didn't ask many questions, didn't even really know what I was signing up for. Like, my interview, and then thinking that I was going to be a pharmaceutical rep. Uh-uh, because you know how the ads are. I had no idea. You know, the ads are there, they make it sound like everything else. Yeah, I'm like, oh, okay, I'm selling like medical equipment, I guess. I don't know. So I show up, this is a huge room of people. I'm like, dude, what is this? I'm the only one in the suit. Everyone else is just dressed regular. I'm like, what are y'all doing? Like, who showed up to an interview not in a suit, you know? And so the guy points me out out of everybody. He's like, do you want to make six figures next year? I was like, uh, yeah. And he was like, I'll show you exactly what to do, you just gotta let me lead you. And I was like, I mean, I didn't know I had to buy leads, I didn't know anything. All I knew was I had to pass my exam and then I was gonna make six figures. So passed the exam, showed the office, they're like, okay, so you got to get leads and this is what this is going to look like. I'm like, bro, the only money I have is the money you just refunded me back from my exam. That's it, that's, that's all I have right now. Like, we're paycheck to paycheck, if that's in between paychecks, we, you know, like Yeah, so it was a struggle. It was a struggle, dude. So I literally would call— because I was selling health insurance. So the way I started, I would call doctors' offices, dentist offices, or offices like just smaller facilities and ask if they offer their employees health insurance. If they said yes, I would mark them off the list. If they said no, I— and I was trying to sell whoever I could speak to some health insurance. That's how I got enough money for leads. And then I started buying leads. First couple months was rocky, but I was— third month is when, you know, things started to click. So I think my first month made a couple grand, second month maybe a couple grand, third month I made like— and then COVID hit. And so once COVID hit, we got out of the offices. I'm having to do it from home. We're in this little bitty apartment, me, my wife, my two kids. My son was like— I don't even think he was one, so he's loud. We like— I'm trying to be at the desk on the phone with the client So it was a struggle. It was a struggle, but we made it through it. I, uh, I started going to my upline's house, lived an hour and a half away. I would drive every single morning, get 6:30, work all day, leave at 11 PM, drive an hour and a half back. And I did that for 6 months.

There you go. So people wonder what it takes, man.

It's a grind. That's a grind. So I, I know, I, I knew in my head I never wanted to feel that feeling again of just being flat out broke. So I'm gonna do whatever it took for as long as I could to make sure I never felt that again. So I, I talked to my wife, I said, look, I'm gonna commit to a 6-month sprint. If you give me 6 months, life is going to be different. We ain't gonna be rich, but life is gonna be different. So yeah, uh, that's what I did, 6 months. And, uh, you know, my first day, like, $50,000. So it wasn't like astronomical, but that was 4 times whatever I had made, you know, at that time. So I was excited.

Hell yeah, that's a good, good little, good little start and change. It, it gets you some diapers.

Yeah, yeah, we got some, got some diapers. We got to upgrade the house a little bit, moved into a bigger space, and yeah, you know, it, it was up from there.

I love it, dude. What was the, what was the hardest part for you in this, in this ever, in the space? Curious.

Back then or just now, like in general?

In general. Yeah, just in general. If I go, what's the hardest thing you've had to that you think for you going through this sales insurance specifically thing?

Yeah, I would say the hardest part is the people. So like, I'm those people that something can— like, something can happen, and I'm— I've gotten to the point to where I kind of through stuff and just keep pushing. Like, literally right before I got on this call, I just got a text message that somebody in my staff is having to quit because has cancer, they have some personal issues going on. Like, so obviously most people are gonna be like, dude, John, I can't do this.

I got 100%.

I'm just that type of person, like, all right, we're gonna figure it out. Like, I'm gonna continue to keep doing what I gotta do. I'm praying for you and your family, and we're just gonna keep rocking no matter what. So I'm that type of person. Most people are not. So just understanding, one, how to get through to people. Everyone's different. It's similar to you when I, when I heard you worry. Like, you try to, in the beginning, you just try to— what motivates you, what pushes you, you try try to instill that into them. Yeah, dude, you got to go hard, like you got to get through it. And then realizing like most people, that they don't— that doesn't push them, that doesn't motivate them, that if anything that pushes them away. So figuring out how to understand people and, and get to know like what motivates them, what pushes them, understanding that why, um, and, and then getting from that point to, hey, I can't want this more than you. And one of the things you said that has always stuck with me is, I will quit on you before you will ever quit on me. I didn't understand that. So I'm like stressing myself out, bro, like just up at night, can't sleep because I want it so bad for people. They don't want that bad. And so just realizing, bro, like getting people's goals and meeting them where they're at. Like, you tell me that I can hold you accountable, I'm gonna hold you accountable to what your goals are, not what my goals are. And then if you decide that you're not going to show up, dude, you quit on yourself. I'm not quitting on you. I'm not— I'm allow you on me. I'm gonna quit on you before you quit on me. So just understanding that, because I'm just a team player, dude. I really want people to win. That's what pushes me. That, you know, the bad things that I've dealt with in life and in business, that's what always has kept me afloat and just keep going, is just getting that new blood, continue to give people an opportunity. You know, these new people, they're looking for the same opportunity that I was looking for when I started. So now that I made good money and I've been able to become who I am, that is an opportunity for them. So I was just coming with the same energy every day trying to do the best for people. But, you know, so that— I would say that just people, if I want to sum it up. But that, that's something that, you know, I have, have, you know, just learning, becoming a better leader, mentor, you know, just developing myself, developing and understanding people more. So that, that's, that's definitely been the, the biggest, uh, struggle, learning curve I've had to deal with for sure.

I can, I can relate, dude. People are like the, the ultimate Rubik's Cube.

Yeah, that is a great explanation.

Yeah, it's like, dang, you figure out that little— like, I learned how to do that little 3x3 one this year because it just— my staff— so I bought one for Amanda, who obviously you've met, uh, right? Because I told her one day she was complicated like a Rubik's Cube. So I bought her one because I couldn't figure out how to solve one, and I was joking with her telling her she— I couldn't solve, right? I couldn't figure her out. So I bought one and it just sat in the office. It was just like, like a joke, right? And then, uh, she started messing with a little bit and she could do little patterns, but she couldn't solve it. And we hired the, the, the dude who does my social now, Reese, okay? And he comes in, he can— he knows how to solve it. So he'd come in and fix it for her, and I'd watch this fool all the time do it. And I'm like, yeah, I've been— I used to like peel the stickers off to solve it, you know what I mean? And dude, I got annoyed one day that someone else can do it and I can't. I ain't taking the time to learn it yet. So over, uh, like, I think it was Thanksgiving break this past— just a few months ago, I learned— I learned how to solve the Rubik's Cube, right? I study it, I'm watching video, so I actually know how to do it now, the little 3x3 one. And, uh, as soon as you do that though, then I found out there's one that's 4x4 and then 5x5, and they get harder and harder and harder. Like, yeah, yeah, they're endless, bro. I'm like, nah, I'm sticking with the baby one. That's it. I'm one and done.

That's definitely how people are for sure.

It is, dude. It's, um, it's a challenge, but I've learned to love the challenge. Yeah, you know, I think it, it, it's a challenge. When I realized it was like I could control a lot of it and the— I was the emotional part, the frustration was because of me, like my expectations. I was like, yeah, oh, I ain't mad because of them really, you know. I'm mad because what I expected of them.

That's it.

I was like, dang. So I started changing some stuff, dude. It don't make it easy, but it does make it different. It does make it different. Um, dig it. Um, what, um, what— how'd you get to a point like— and for those that don't know, if you want to share some of your sales numbers, cool. If you want to keep it high, I don't care. Either way, um, you pick. I, I know you're, you're making good money. How does— how do you get to a point where it's consistent Um, you've been around long enough, dude. There's people come in and they're like, I'm gonna kill it, I'm gonna do everything. Uh, maybe they have a good month, maybe they don't, good quarter, maybe they don't, good year, and they just don't have what it takes to keep it recurring and make the lifestyle change. They make some money, but their lifestyle doesn't— they, they don't get through it long enough, right? Um, what advice can you give there of how have you done it? I want you to talk on that some. 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.

I think What changed for me, John, because once I got into life insurance, you know, the money just came. Like, it just, you know, you know how easy it is, like, when you just have a natural ability, like, to just get on the phones. And I did telesales, so I've never done like you, where you were out and driving in the car and showing up and getting ghosted. So I've always just done, you know, 100% telesales. So for me, there's nothing hard about what we do, like, if we're just being quite frank. Which is why I respect you so much, because I'm like, this dude is like taking what I think and just telling people. There's nothing hard about what we do. Like, people have way harder jobs. Yeah, people are in the military, fucking books. It's not that. Like, get it, emotional, it may take you up and down and all that, but what we do is physically not actually hard. So understanding, for me, because it was very simple and easy to get the money It was, now how can I make this sustainable? How can I keep this going? How can I continue to keep this thing going up? And so I had to get really good at just duplicating myself, right? And I also had to stop associating success with money, and I had to associate success with how many people I'm able to help. But once I did that, that paradigm shift to where it's not so much just focused on the money, The money is now a byproduct of how many people I help. That's what helped me to gain the consistency to just keep it going day in and day out because I understood this is a team effort. I can only so much on my own. Let's say I can go out and do $60,000, $70,000 per month off my own pen. I've done it before. Do I want to do that for 5 years though? No. So I'm going to have to show a lot of people how to do this thing so I can now make $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 plus. You know, it's like that. I understood that. So Uh, with day one, I always recruited, um, I always recruited and sold, always was a, you know, top producer and, and building same because I always understood the, the long-term goal. And so for me, just trying to duplicate that in as many people as possible, but ultimately just genuine caring. I think if you just genuinely care about people, that money's just gonna come. And so I just don't focus on the money. I understand that the people that solve the biggest problems and add the most value to the marketplace are going to make the most amount of income. So how can I self-develop enough to truly help and be the leader for these people they deserve, and ultimately just genuinely care about them and their success? And I'll get the money just as a byproduct.

Yeah, yeah, it's fire, dude. It's, uh, it's a pretty simple concept, you know. We, uh, we rate a lot in my office because I'm— I can be pretty simple. About stuff too. And I'm like, we just call it give a shit level. Like, that's how I look at everyone I work with. It's like, what's your level? Because if yours is low, I'm out. You know what I mean? Like, if it's just— it's become easy. Um, and I think when you, when you really do— again, I, I might not be like the most empathetic person to situations, but I actually want people to win a lot. Yeah, you know, um, and that made it easy. I was like, dude, I got a lot of people, a lot of people around me winning. This is fun because I saw the joy that other got out of teaching me how to make money. I was like, yo, they're more fired up. I got my— when I got a house, I don't know, the first one, like 6, 7, 8 years ago, whatever it was, people around me were like way more excited than I was. I was like, what the hell? I want that feeling.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Um, it's been, it's been fun, dude. Um, so I want to go to the telesales thing for a minute because I didn't realize you didn't ever do in-home. I didn't, I didn't know that. I thought you had done both.

Never.

Interesting. What's your pers— what's your perspective, man? I'm curious because you're like, it's easy, but then you hear people that can't figure it out, you know what I mean? And like, yeah, I don't know, how do you, how do you— I don't want to word it like, how do you go about teaching it in a way that telesales is easy And what I hear is like, it's harder to build trust, um, you have to have more leads, make more phone calls, um, you know, people can't figure out how to transition from like, hey, I'm calling you about this, to like, let's do business right now and get banking and social. I think a lot of people overcomplicate that stuff. Yeah. So I, I'd love to just hear your perspective on it, dude. And how does one go about making it easy? Like, what are the steps you, you take?

I think number one, um, like you, right? You, you know your numbers. So that's one thing that I remember in the beginning learning was, okay, he keeps saying like, know your numbers, know your numbers. Like, I gotta figure out my numbers. And so once I figured out the numbers, now I can, can show those numbers as to goals and targets that you need to hit. So that's the first thing. These are the numbers. Because this is what I think, John. Most people that come into this business, they've never worked for themselves. They've never been 1099. They've never been entrepreneurs. Majority of people— some people, yeah. Majority of people. So we try to force that on them from day one. Hey, you're an employee, but now you're an entrepreneur. Go figure this thing out.

Yep.

Understand investing. Understand this. Understand that. Like, even though, like, I know you, like, with your interview, I remember you always say, like, I try to like turn people away during the interview process. Like, I almost want you to turn me down, and when you can still want it, that I know you're a good hire. So for me, know that, yeah, that's the way you should interview. I also want to make this as dummy-proof as you as possible, because when you go work at McDonald's, you get a handbook that says do this, this show, this time, this is how you do your job. So for us, that's the biggest thing. So just making sure that you have every single thing that you need when it comes to knowing your numbers, knowing the systems, this, knowing the scripts. Watch this boot camp video that's going to show you A to Z what you need to do. Like, when you get on Zoom, you're going to shadow 10 presentations. You're going to watch people that are making $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 plus show you exactly what they do. You ask for it, you give feedback, you take notes. Like, you're ready, you're well equipped. So once you get those carriers, now you're in the first 48, we're going to get you paid quick, even if I got to close the deal down for you or not. I need you to see as much success as possible, as fast as possible, so that you understand how this process is. So that's, that's number one, like instilling the belief into them and making it as dummy-proof as possible. From there, it's just about the reps. I remember hearing Martin Ni when I first started talk about you need 100 sits, 100 sits, and at that point you mastered this. So I'm like, okay, 100 sits is that you have to drive to someone's house, sit down with them, go through a presentation, whether they say yes or no, that's a sit. So how can I do that from a telesales standpoint? All right, so your first goal is, after the first 48, is how fast can you get through 100 presentations? How fast, right? So my goal, my first month was to do that. I did— I issued paid $41,000 my first month. I didn't even know. I remember my wife came in, she was like, dude, you, you killed it this month. I'm like, man, nah, like, I could have did better because I— yeah, one of those that like tracked every penny that was coming in at that time. So I was just gunning, I was just running, and she came and told me that. And, and she's like, have you not looked at the bank account? I'm like, no, like, I'm just locked in. I didn't close this deal, I didn't close that one, but I made my 100 presentations. But that, that was because I wasn't focused on the results, focused on work and the things that I could control. So now just teaching people that. But as far as the other stuff, it's simple. You have a script. These are people, and people forget, like, these are people. And once you understand how to just communicate normally and ask good questions, that's really it. Ask the right question, people will show you how to sell them. Prep them, help them understand like, hey, these are— this is the way the process is going to be. Reason they don't give you social banking is because they didn't know they needed to, or you soft closed them. So I mean, let's talk about that.

Let's talk about that soft close.

Let's go there. You know what I mean?

I want to hear this.

Yeah, bro, like there's so much sales psychology that, that we can go through, but at the end of the day, I'm trying to just keep it simple. But yeah, soft closing. I literally am in the office with these guys right now, um, and they're, they're brand new to the industry. They don't have a ton of success, and, uh, I mean, just the second week, but they're grinders. They're grinding all day, every day. They like, dude, I'll drive 2.5 hours just to come to the office with you every day, like whatever. I'm like, yo, pull up. I got one in my house and comes to the office. Yeah, bro, I just like seeing people win. So he's, he's in here and presentation, the presentation, the Gold Star presentation of the day, and they're both killing it. And the first guy, uh, he did like $5,000, $7,000 his first week off a couple deals. The other guy, he didn't make a sale, but he had a lot of presentations, a lot of high activity. Second week, he's starting to make the sales, the other guy's not. So now they're like Pitter-pattering. But at the end of the week, you know, we would do a review and we talk about the week, and I'm like, there's 4 things that you guys need to work on. So they're doing mortgage protection, so I start going through them, but the last one is stop soft selling. I don't know why, but everyone wants to do that.

Everyone— clarify for those that don't know, you give them some examples. Some of them don't even think they're doing it, bro. Yeah, you know, there's people out there doing it right now, they're like, what's soft? And they're literally doing it every day. 1000%.

So a soft close is like, hey, let's just see if we can get you approved.

I hate that shit, dude.

I'm like, why would you do that? You do understand you're gonna have to get their bank account information for you to get paid, right? So why would you even proceed the conversation? But they're trying to avoid any type of confrontation. Yeah, but I'm like, if you do your job properly, there will be no confrontation. If I understand— and why I put this in our script, it's called a, um, I call it an upfront contract. Okay, if I ask you, hey John, does this make sense financially as well as the benefit amount? Is there any reason at all why you would not submit an application today? What other reason out there would you not submit an app? There's not one. So as long as it makes sense financially as well as a benefit amount, there's no way they're not gonna purchase. So at some point, lost them somewhere, and that's what you got to figure out. But you should never have to soft sell. So I'm always on them about stop soft closing. Like, that, that is what's hurting you. Yeah, I'd rather you just tell me no, or it just doesn't make sense, or you can't get approved, or like— but don't, don't go into an application thinking we're just gonna see if you approve. Now you're giving yourself another objection that you have to get over. That's— that doesn't make sense. But naturally, that's what people do. I'm okay with confrontation.

It seems more confrontational the other way.

Exactly, because now we're going— now you gotta flip it. Yeah, correct. So it's just— it's so— who teaches this shit? I'm like, oh no, and that's the thing, they just, they just naturally do it. They just naturally— everyone just naturally does it. They just naturally say, well, let's just see if we can get your— I'm like, no, bro. Like, well, AJ, didn't we hear you say that? No, this is what I say. Yeah, as long as it makes sense financially as well as a benefit amount, is there any reason why we would not submit an application today? All right, John, so in order for us to get you approved, we have to submit an application today. That's not a soft close. Yeah, before I get into an application, I'm explaining the process to them. They understand what is on the application. So all this stuff is in my script. If you read the script instead of getting nervous and trying to avoid certain things because you don't want them to tell you no. Yeah. Then you, you won't have to worry about that. So that's why I'm big on, look, dude, don't worry about the results. I understand you need to make money, I understand, but what you need more is to learn this process so you don't prolong your success, right? Like, let's get through the ugly first, which is why I want you to focus on 100 presentations. And then from that point, now we can get to the good. And that's what we focus on. Just try to keep it as simple as possible, and, and that's how we're able to teach people. So I mean, obviously I can make it sound way more simple, like everyone know. Obviously most people struggle with one-call closing and telesales in general. They— but you have to, you have to know your number. I've worked tons of different types of quality of leads and all that stuff. It is what it is. At the end of the day, this is a person. You get really good at asking questions, they're going to tell you how to sell them. You try to surprise them and make them think that you're going to just see if they can get approved They know what the process looks like. They're gonna give you their social, they're gonna give you the banking, and as long as they can afford it, they're gonna pay for it every single month. It's that simple.

Yeah, yeah. I think most people are afraid to just ask, in a sense, ask for the sale before they show pricing, you know what I mean? Like, you— like, that's what I think is funny is a lot of people watching, they don't— they don't know whether or not they make a sale till the end.

Yeah.

And I'm like, that's when you find out.

I know as soon as you grab that pen and paper, that's about 38 minutes too late to find out. And that's what I tell people, bro. One of the first things that we do is we try to grant— gain credibility by understanding, using the information we have on the lead. Because there's two questions that someone always wants to know when they get a phone call from somebody they don't know. Who are you? Are you calling? That's the first thing we're telling you. We're getting over those objections before you can even give them And then from there, we're going to gain credibility by using information they would have and verifying that with you. And the next thing we're doing, getting you to physically get up, grab a pen and paper, write down my information. If I can get John to get up and go do something, I have full control. I, I know I sold you from that point. Now it's just, can you afford it and can you qualify for it? But it's how you get into that that's going to decide whether or not you're gonna sell them. That's why the first part's the most important.

Yeah, I'd say even too, man, when you're— I've seen people that are asking for the pen and paper and they're timid to do it, and they saw— they, they, they, they go— they soft step around that even. Yeah, yeah, it's like, well, I mean, do you have time like right now? Like, if— could, could we do— is now okay?

Like, ooh, they're like, what do you say if they say they're busy? Dude, if somebody called you right now, would you answer? No. Why not? Because you're busy. So they're not that busy. So I don't— yeah, I understand, busy, do everything first. I'll have you off the phone here in a sec. I just keep moving.

That was a tough one. If y'all can't overcome that one in the future, like, yeah, that's always— it's always been like the one where I tell people to the triple dial or whatever, and they're like, what do you do if they're mad when they pick up? I'm like, oh my bad, it wasn't ringing on my end, sorry, my bad, anyway, so my name is John. Like, who cares? I'm like, you can't overcome that one.

Yeah, but that's the hard part, John. Like, I think because of our personalities, it's okay. Like, that doesn't bother us. Yeah, but most people are not like that. So how can I instill my belief in how I am and how important these products are and why you just need to just keep pushing even if it makes you uncomfortable into you. And that, that's the biggest struggle that I think most people have.

Yeah, that's— it is tough, man, to, to, to give people something you have internal. It's tough, man. It's, um, and that's, that's what makes a difference, I think, between a lot of players that, that build something big and those that get stuck.

Yeah.

You know, as they struggle with that. Dig it, dude.

Just a kick in the ass. You know, I love John Wetmore for that. So, yeah, great, great event.

If you're a struggling insurance agent or quite frankly, an agency manager struggling to grow and you're looking for some help, let me help you. My name is John Wetmore. I've built an agency of over 6,000 agents across the country. We'll issue over $200 million in paid premium this year. And I have an event coming up in my office, Metro Atlanta, February 27th and 28th. I'll be spending 2 days teaching you everything I've learned in the last decade and helped thousands of agents build their agency and their business. Click on the link below, register. We'll see you there. What do you think— where do you think, besides those 2 things, is there, is there a major place? Let's say someone knows their numbers, and let's say that they have the script right? Maybe they've looked at it, maybe they ain't done it forever, but they got it. I mean, they're somewhat coachable. Where do you see most people go wrong? You know what I mean? Like, they're, they're putting in the numbers, they're putting in some work, and they just— their results suck, dude.

Yeah. So for us, I have this thing, it's called a circle of life. My mom and I, we came up with this thing, it's called the circle of life. So, um, It's on my Instagram. If you, if you have seen that Instagram, you'll see it. But basically it's, it's going to show you where you're failing in the process, right? So the first thing being, are you getting enough leads? Are you working them properly? Are you triple dialing? Are you getting them often enough? Are they fresh enough? Like, that's the first, the first step, because typically that's the first thing that people don't do. They're not getting enough. They're not working enough. They're not triple dialing like they should. They're not doing something properly from a work ethic standpoint.

All right, can I pause you in the middle of this? Do you mind?

Yeah, for sure.

Absolutely. Define enough.

Okay, so it depends on what type of lead you're working. So let's say we're just doing, I don't know, the IOC leads or whatever, the internet, internet final expense, something, right?

Sure. Yeah.

So you're gonna need more of these than, you know, like mortgage or IUL leads. But so we'll say we'll take the worst of the worst type of lead. And if you do finance, it's not this worst lead, it's just, yeah, you, you need more, right? So, um, with those, you're gonna need 100 leads twice per week. 100 leads twice per week. So you need 100 on Sunday, work those Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Get 100 on Wednesday, work those Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and if you Sundays. Yeah, so that's, that's enough leads. And I say twice a week so you can always keep them fresh. Now that's not to say, because a lot of people get this confused, to say don't work the old leads. Still work those too. But you need enough fresh leads. Because this is the thing with a lead, new to you, you might, you might get 100 and say you lose 3. That's not to say all the other 97 are bad, or if I work this the next week, I can't get 1 or 2 out of it. Because you may get a new lead pack and not sell 1, but you still sold another 2 from the old lead pack. And that, that, if we do the numbers, that made for the new fact that you didn't sell anything from. So Get enough, get enough fresh ones just in case, you know, something happens and you didn't make enough sales from the original lead pack, new lead pack, to keep the consistent cash flow coming in. So that way you can continue to keep investing. Because if you don't make the money, now you can't get the leads and now you got a business that— your business, right? So that's, that's the most important thing is getting enough leads, working them properly, triple dialing them like you're supposed to, just making sure you have enough of those. So the next thing is if you, if you have enough leads, you're working them properly, you're doing all the things you need to do, is, is the presentations, right? So when it comes to presentation, we do 2 dial sessions a day, right? 2 dial sessions a day. So a minimum, at least 2, maybe 3. But from 8 till 11, maybe one. From 2 to 5, maybe the second one. Maybe have 1 to 2. We can train us from 1 to 2 every day. From 11 to 1, maybe you take a gym break and you, you eat your lunch, whatever. So 8 to 11, 11 and 1 break, 1 to 2 training, 2 to 5 That's—

that you—

that's a good schedule, right? That's not even more than a normal job still. So within those dial sessions though, you're gonna have certain targets that you need to hit in order to make sure that you're successful. Because most people, John, the reason why their emotions are up and down is because their only target, the only goal, their only focus is results. I need to make a sale. If I don't make a sale, I'm not winning. But that's not true. And so there's things that you can actually control that will lead you to the sale that you need to be tracking to make sure you're doing what you need to be doing. So each dial session, the target— so the first target is you need to be doing $300. $300. You need to be making $600 a day if you're doing final expense leads.

So any session, $300. Each session, $300. Yep.

Love it. Exactly. Love it. So from 8 to 11, $300. 2 to 5, $300, right? That's an hour. $100 per hour. You have any type of CRM, this very easy to do. And if no one's picking up you're not getting no presentations, you should be making $100 in an hour. And the reason why is that's showing me that you are working enough. It's not a work ethic thing, because the one thing I can't teach you is work ethic. Yeah, that's the one thing, right? If you're showing up, you're working like you're supposed to, from that point now we can, we can cook, right? So the next thing is going to be presentations. You need to be doing at least 2 presentations per day, and if you don't make a sale, you may not do $300 because you did 2 presentations, and that's fine. I can show you how to turn those presentations into sales. If you have the activity, I can show you how to turn those into presentations. Two presentations per— so 4 to 5 a day is the goal. And then lastly, a sale. So if you do any of these things, then you hit your target. So either— even if you didn't make a sale, if you did two presentations in that dial session, you won that dial session. Or you did 300, you won that dial session. So that's the— that's the thing that I have everyone track each dial session. That's going to help you to see, am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? So like you said, maybe they do have the number They're doing everything they're supposed to. They're getting the leads. Well, what's the last thing? The next thing is getting approval on the spot, right? Not letting stuff go to underwriting, getting approved on the spot. Because that happens a lot too. People would just put in the sale, it's in underwriting. Obviously we all know if it goes to underwriting, 9 times out of 10 is not getting approved. Then you have to get them back on the phone. That's highly unlikely. Now you just didn't do anything. So what people don't equate for is the numbers. Okay, I spent, you know, this, I spent time on this lead. I put this sale in. I'm not getting paid. I just lost all that and I never will get it back. Yeah. Now they're whole, they're not as profitable as they want to be and they don't understand why. Well, it's because you're not accounting for, you got a chargeback here. You're not accounting for the fact that you spent $100 on leads and you thought you were going to make $1,000, but you didn't. So now that chargeback plus the $600 put you in that much of a negative, not just chargeback. People just don't understand the numbers. And on top of that is not only getting them approved on the spot, not letting it go through underwriting, but getting them to start as possible. Because you push it out 30 days like most of you will do, because you—

when would you like to pay?

Exactly. And I'm saying, so this is how we do it. So when I get to the banking information, first off, they already know what we're doing. So a few, few little finesse things that we— I I get to the people. So we get to banking. The first thing I'm gonna say is, all right, perfect. So as far as the banking information goes, that's going to be the next step. Uh, so as you know, all the different insurance companies and the banks, they actually work together. So, uh, who do you currently bank with? That way I put this in the information, your information, and then it's going to populate for me. And so they come back and they say Bank of America. I'll say, okay, perfect. And like I said, they— all the insurance companies and the banks, they do work together. So I put that information in the system. I just need you to verify the routing number for me when you get a second. We're gonna go to Google, we're gonna Google their routing number. I'm imagining you got that set up in this state. Is that correct? Perfect. Okay, perfect. Let me know when you're ready. I'm ready. I read off the routing number. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what populated for me is— is that correct? Yes. Go ahead with your account number. They give me that. I need that first. I want routing and account before we talk about a start date, because if we start talking about starting and I get hung up on start date You may not want to give me your bank account information, so I need that first. Now that I got that, okay, now we can talk start date. So what I say is, oh, perfect, John. So good news is we got the full approval, we got you started with some immediate coverage. So what that means to you is, God forbid you were to pass away as soon as we get off the phone, as long as first initial payment goes out, Miss Stephanie, she's gonna get that, that death benefit and she's gonna be good to go. Okay, so what that means for you is typically it's not going to reflect on your actual bank account for 1 to 3 business days. But the money's going to be in the account at that point, correct?

Yep.

That's all I need to know.

That's it.

As long as money's gonna be in the account, I'm not asking you, hey, when you want your next new bill to come out? You want like, dude, push it out as far as you can, right? Like, yeah, no one— I'm still like, yeah, 100%, dude. Yeah, I don't gotta pay for this right now. I don't want to pay for it. I'm willing and dealing, bro. Like I'm getting, uh, Airbnb arbitrage, I'm buying cars. I'm like, all right, so last person said they'll give me first, uh, 3 months, I don't have to worry about paying. You do that too, right? So I— it's always, you want to push it out as far as you can. Uh, so with these people, it's just don't even get them in the mindset of the bill is going to come out tomorrow. It's as long as the money's going to be in the account, that's all that matters. They agree, perfect, then I move on. So getting that coverage to start immediately is huge because life happens. You push it out 30 days, they're on the way to work, they can't— flat— or they haven't had insurance, they're 62, never had insurance for 62 years. Guess what? They're not gonna pay for the life insurance. They're gonna pay for their tires so they can keep paying for the rest of their bills, and they're gonna cancel, and you're not getting paid. So if you do all those things properly, like you said, even if you're doing the numbers, at some place you're missing something. So that's typically where if someone is doing all the numbers that they're supposed to, they're pushing the start date out, not getting approvals and sending stuff through underwriting. And they're not getting paid, so they're not getting the results.

Yeah, I would say too, dude, it, it— I think it clearly shows as the agent how little they value what they do if they're willing to ask how far out they want to place the first draft. You know what I mean? It's like, if you really believed in this, you wouldn't, you wouldn't go there first, you know? And funny enough, those are all the same agents that don't have no damn insurance on themselves.

Exactly. Well, the problem is the way that most of these insurance carriers used to be, they would, um, pay you even though it's not starting for 30 days. Yeah, they got smart.

Yeah.

And they're like, no, we ain't paid until we get paid. Yeah, yeah. So before, you know, it wasn't like that, so people didn't care. They were getting paid and it didn't matter. They weren't thinking about the fact that they get a chargeback. Now you got a chargeback, you got debt, and you also the money you just lost, about, uh, the leads that you spent. Like, it's just— it all adds up. But now, you know, you have to coach these people. Like, dude, you, you won't even get paid if you push it out 30 days. Why would you do that? Because then you're gonna come ask me for leads and I'm gonna tell you no because you just wrote $3,000 last week. The money— oh, you didn't get paid because you sent everything through underwriting. I love it.

I love it. This business is really simple. It is really simple.

That's as simple as you make it. And I feel like naturally we're the type of people that we make things super simple because I feel like you're probably like me. Like, I'm an athlete, bro. Like, sports, you give me the playbook, you tell me the plays, I go out there. I don't want to think, I just go out and execute. Like, what are we out here doing? Like, I, I need to just be able to go in and have fun and enjoy myself. And I just treat business the same way, whereas most people, they just overcomplicate stuff. They want to know every little thing And they, they, they get in too deep and I was too late and it took them 6 weeks to start. Now they're even more broke than they started when they came in. Or, you know, it's just so many different things that, that will hurt you by just doing that compared to, yo, let's just get to work.

Yeah. How do you, how do you balance like the— you should be professional and know your underwriting and know your script and know your stuff with yo, get out there. Where's that line for you?

So for me, obviously it takes time to get the contracts back. So during that time, I want you to be a brainiac. Learn everything that you can about everything— products, call every carrier, learn about every product, whatever you want to do. Like, I'm going to give you things to be doing for homework. If you want to go the extra mile, great. When it's time to work, it's time to work. And the only reason why we're able to do that is because we have Zoom with leaders that are here. You got multiple agents that are winning, and we can show you exactly what it looks like. So I— we can be— you can be on a call struggling, and I can either take the call over, I can type in the chat, tell you what to say, I can tell you to mute them, hey, say this, and now you're able to learn while on the job. But without that type of environment, it's going to be very difficult to do that. But that's why I just wanted to create that, so that when these agents come in you can learn on the job, and now your success is going to come that much faster. And you can take the knowledge that I've had over the last 5+ years being in the industry and use it on yourself. And you sound extremely professional, like you've been doing this forever. You didn't need to learn that until now. Like, yeah, you, you're asking me 6 weeks ago about what if a client says this? What if we get a client on the phone and they don't say that? Like, let's get the client on the phone first and then we'll worry about Yeah, but you know, if you don't have— which is why, you know, I've been only a fan of telesales, and it's extremely able— easy to duplicate. I can have 1,000 people jump on my Zoom tomorrow and nothing about my house will change.

Correct.

All of them will get trained, everyone will get everything that they need. Compared to when you guys were going to homes, like, dude, you may be able to take one person, bro, or your agents are calling you from the home as they're leaving. I said exactly what you told me to do, John. It didn't work. You actually say what I told you to do, or did you not? But you, you can't know. Like, I can see it. So the next level is having people in the office with you, and now you're able to just literally see everything that they do all day. I'll grab the phone if I have to.

So yeah, it was, it was definitely a different game, dude, trying to build it early, because you— I had to learn how to get what people said, like the right way so I heard what they actually said, you know what I mean? It's like, I'd be like, well, you're supposed to say this. Be like, I said that, you know. If I ask it the wrong way, I'd get the wrong feedback.

Exactly.

And it was tough, dude.

I got out—

when I got out of the field, it was because I'd go to a house, I'd sit down, be at the kitchen table doing my thing, and I'd miss like 6 calls of people sitting with clients at the same time.

Yep.

I'm like, because we could only call back one at a time. I mean, certainly we had training on, but it wasn't real time, you know what I mean? It wasn't in the, in the moment. Um, man, it's like a cheat code now. Like, hell, how many can you train at once?

And today, oh my God, oh my God. So that, that's, you know, for me, like, I hear stories like that and I try to take this work ethic. I, I think you posted about it today. You said someone that was winning, you— they, they told you, why would you expect the same results as me but have your work ethic? So for me, it's like, yeah, even though we have it technically easier, you know, I still want to use the same work ethic that you guys had. Yeah, to do it the way you did it and not take advantage of the fact that we can just do it from the comfort of our home, you know?

Yeah, yeah, you ain't getting out of the work in this thing. I don't care what you sell. They're just getting out of the work. They try, they do try, they do. I agree with that. I just got to build my CRM and then it'll be like magic. All right, yeah, all right. I ain't mad that you have a CRM, but I promise that ain't the magic.

Yeah, yeah, interesting. I love it.

That's badass, dude. So what's next, man? What's, uh, where are you headed to next? What are you trying to accomplish, dude?

I don't I'm 5 years in, some, some good stuff, you know, nothing crazy yet, but, uh, some good stuff. Made some great money, built big businesses, um, you know, passive income, changed my family's life. Like, it's been great. But now the next 5 years is how many people can I put into this type of same position. So just really want to create as many 7-figure earners as possible and, you know, within the next 5 years build this thing up to sell it for for some, some, some, some— a lot of those, a lot of zeros. So that's my focus. I'm on a 5-year sprint. Um, when I— every year I get with my staff and if I create my goals for myself and then create the goals for the team and the staff, and as well as get with the leaders. And, um, I'm like, dude, I've been doing this for 5 years now. I made some great money, made some good decisions, some bad decisions, learned a lot. But I want to go at this thing for another 5 be 35, and, uh, the same for, for 100 plus. So now, now we're, we're just doing the numbers, just trying to figure out, you know, the most creative ways to get there. And, uh, just keep building, man. Keep being a good person, keep growing, keep learning, and, you know, keep building relationships with people. And that's really it. So, uh, whoever is, is looking to be on the same mission, that's what I'm looking for, uh, because I'm I promise you, in 5 years I'm gonna do something that only a few done in the industry. So that's, that's the goal.

I love it, dude. I love it, man. I have no doubt. It's been fun watching you over the years and, and, and, and change your situation a lot. Always been a good supporter of mine, always promoting the book for me and putting stuff. I love it, dude. Um, it's, it's kind of funny.

Book on me. Yeah, I keep it on me. If you ain't got this book, go get it.

I love it, man. My dude, my dude, I appreciate it, brother. It's, uh, it means a lot, man. I appreciate the friendship and been fun, fun along the way doing some business. I'm sure one day, uh, we'll do something big together again, for sure.

So for sure we will. Nah, you're, you're, you are one of those people that, uh, you always keep it real. You're one of those people that you genuinely want to see people win, and there's not that many people in this industry, unfortunately, that's like that. Um, when I was super small, you didn't make me feel super small. Um, you know, you always were something, dude. You literally— I was just telling somebody this other day, they're, you know, going through the mortgage protection and trying to figure out how to sell equity. I'm like, watch the video, I posted it in my group chat, and they were laughing because you just look so different, you know? And they're like, dude, how old is I'm like, bro, that video changed my business. Like, I was trying to figure the mortgage protection out, and I could say anybody qualify for, you know, term. But when it got to that final expense side, figuring out how to sell the equity protection— when I watched that video, it just clicked for me. So, um, you've just always been a huge inspiration to me. And, you know, getting to meet you and seeing like, oh, this dude is super cool. Like, he you know, anytime you're nearby, they want to link up with you. And, uh, I just appreciate you, bro. I really do. So I want to give you your flowers for always being there for me, always, you know, being one phone call away. Um, you know, there's a lot of weird people in this industry, and, you know, people— a lot of haters, bro. Like, it's weird. I'm not one of those people. I always want to show love, especially those that— that you led the way, bro. Like, I could not be where I'm at today without you. So I do appreciate you for for everything, for sure, my dude.

I appreciate it. That video, man, sometimes I like when people want like a headshot, they'll take one of those old pictures and I hate it. I'm like, to get— but the video I can't get rid of, dude.

I just can't. I'm like, it's one of those classic though.

Yeah, it is.

You should redo it. You should redo it. I should just sit down because I'm sure you probably would like— when looking at it, you're like, dude, like, I probably would say this now. I would do that now. Yeah. And, uh, because I'm trying to let that one go, bro. I'm like, damn, you can't let that one go. You gotta keep that one. I don't care if you lock it for everyone else in the world, keep it unlocked for me. Oh, that video is like— I gotta hang that in the rafters, man. And that literally— I'm telling you, John, that literally changed the trajectory. Like, that reason why I hit Hall of Fame and everything, bro. Like, I was figuring it out, I was doing well, but that just changed everything for me. I started having 60, 70, 80 months, and yeah. It changed everything for sure. So I appreciate it, dude.

What's funny, bro, is, um, that two things. The— when I figured that out, I was the number one final expense producer at the company for a year, and I didn't get a single final expense lead. I just sold— nah, it ain't none. But I just sold so many of those buying time. When I was new, bro, we, uh, this lead company we used to use, they're still around actually. I don't know that they have this anymore. But the company still exists. Um, when we were doing direct mail drops back in the day where you could lock out areas and get whatever you want, whatever they— um, for whatever reason, um, when you got a mortgage lead and the age was like over 70, none of us would call it. We'd be like, nah, they're gonna be too sick, we ain't calling this thing. You just, you just flip it. But these were like, you know, at some state, and they were like $40, $50 a lead. Exactly. And, uh, this one company comes out and they were having the same issues where people didn't want them. They'd complain about them, you know, agents would bitch and want credit. So they made, they made these mortgage leads if they were age 70 plus. They called them a senior mortgage protection lead and they sold them instead of $40 or $50, they sold them for $8.

Oh wow.

So, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna figure this out. And I started kind of like figuring out how to make that sale and deal with that client. And bro, I used to be like, yo, give them all to me. Anywhere you got one, send them to me. And that's all I would run, bro, is these 70-year-old, 75-year-old mortgage protection leads, $300,000. I got good at it, dude.

And they were big.

Yeah, it'd be $200, $300, $400 a month checks all the time.

Yep, yep.

I was like, shit, I'd rather learn how to do that then. Yeah, they definitely get it. Yeah, they definitely got it.

Solving that problem. So, you know, I was literally just doing a training about that yesterday. I'm I'm like, dude, the problem is you guys are trying to sell them. You're not— you're letting them sell themselves. They'll tell you like, yeah, they're just gonna sell the home, you know. They— okay, perfect.

Boom.

That's all you need to say. So yeah, 3— about 3 questions, dude, they hand it to you on a platter every single time.

Yeah, yeah.

So I love it. You're gonna have to— you're gonna have to put in a link.

We'll put it in the link. I'll get Reese to put it out because some people are gonna be like, what the hell?

I'm like, yeah, what video is he talking about?

My favorite lead ever would be that one. Give me someone 70 years old, $300,000 mortgage. I'll take exclusively those still to this day.

Closing them down. Yeah, yeah, man, that definitely changed everything. So I appreciate it. Love it, dude. Love it, my man.

Well, I appreciate it, brother. I'll let you roll, dude. Um, thanks for coming on. Thanks for sharing. Yeah, and, uh, keep killing it out there, bro.

I appreciate you, brother.

I'll see you soon.

All right.

All right, looking forward to it, brother. Hey, thanks for watching the latest episode. I appreciate you. If you will do me a favor, certainly like this video channel, subscribe to it, and if you wouldn't mind, whatever podcast network you listen to these on, if you wouldn't mind going and leaving a review, that will help me, uh, greatly get the word out to more and more people. Appreciate you.