How to Sell Final Expense - Why Do Agents Fail in the Final Expense Business?

The reason agents fail learning how to sell final expense is fairly simple.  The unfortunate reality of sales, no matter the industry, is that 90% of all sales people fail or quit within the first 12 months of starting their sales profession.  Why is that the case?

The number one the reason agents fail selling final expense is because they give up on themselves.  They go into the business with aspirations that didn't match reality.  Looking from the outside in, many new final expense agents have the perspective that to succeed in final expense it is only a matter of going out and talking to people.  If it were only that simple!

It takes time to learn the skills necessary to sell final expense successfully.  Final expense sales training is something that takes months if not years to develop.  A lot of new agents don't understand that sales is totally different from a typical salaried employee position.  You have emotional ups and downs almost daily.  Being on straight commission, you literally wake up every morning unemployed; you must "eat what you kill!"

If you don't have experience, there is nothing to really prepare you for it until you understand what that is like and you are living it.  It is something that many people just can't handle. 

Then the other reason people fail in the final expense business is because they don't get involved with the right agency to help train them, to prepare them for the realities.   They get involved with a business that sells "Blue Sky," meaning all the benefits to a lifestyle of Final Expense and none of the gritty work that it takes to succeed in the long-run.

Also, new final expense agents fail because they get involved in an agency that is designed to short change them and squeeze the dollars out of them at a ridiculous rate.  It ends up being a revolving door type of sales agency. 

It is important that agents do their research on the front-end.  Talk to different agencies.  Get a feel for your managers personality type.  Figure out who has been successful.  How long agents have been working with them?  Ask for proof.  Are they transparent with what to expect as far as commission and percentage advancements based on merit and production history?

What do you get for your investment?  Because the manager makes money off of your production.  You just have to make sure value is there.  Take the time to ask these questions.  Again, it is really important you are reading this because most agents don't go into this business even knowing what to ask, much less what to expect. 

Many final expense agents don't understand that you must come into this business with a business mindset.  Most agents must buy direct mail, and won't have the benefit of a referral network or an existing book of business.  Instead, they have to buy leads to get going. 

My recommendation is to have about $4,000 to $5,000 to invest into a final expense direct mail lead system, or if you have less than that keep a full-time job and then also you know if you got $2,000 or $3,000 minimum into a telemarketing final expense lead system.

You MUST start on the right foot.  You MUST be prepared for the ups and downs.  You MUST be willing to work through it with the understanding that the long-term is what makes it worth having.  What makes it all worthwhile. 

That's the reasons why most agents fail learning how to sell final expense.  The important thing is to go into this with the right group that shows you transparently what to do.  When you know that you have got that on your side it is really up to you.

Do you have the X-Factor to work hard and follow the system that is laid out upon you?

That's really the ultimate determinate of your success or failure.