 You are listening to the 8% Nation podcast created to help you become a top producer in the insurance industry Enjoy the show Welcome to the 8% Nation podcast where this podcast is dedicated to help you as an insurance Agent producer businessmen whatever it is succeed and be part of the 8% Cody bro. Yo, just got you back in town. You did from Vegas. All right. How was your trip? It was good man. He's good. All I have to say is 8% Nation 2020 Forget 10x Dude, this thing may 100x just the overall idea and experience It's gonna be insane. We're going big so yours tell us tell us what you're doing on Vegas going big is an understatement Good. You're just scoping out venues. Yeah, you able to give any teasers There's one that I really like So that's a teaser. That's it. Yep that with a super nice big theater. Yep You know with like floor access for certain people, you know meet and greets with speakers the works good It's one's three stories that I like Well, I'll tell you I can't wait. I hear there's a lot of hype We got a ton of good feedback from this last year and everyone's like already getting tickets and it's awesome It's awesome. So We are now leaving tomorrow morning at 7 30 to go to Tennessee. What are we doing in Tennessee, bro? That's the 8% monster retreat with your boy Landon MacArthur the super coach Michael Burt and Myself, yeah, I'm gonna be breaking down. I'll give you a little teaser Cody what I'm gonna do I'm gonna be breaking down a major Medicare website and giving the pieces of How it's successful on Google why it's successful on Google and how to beat them. Oh So what you're saying is you should not have missed this Yeah, so I'm gonna basically say everybody looks to this particular website who I'm not gonna call it on this podcast as a Industry leader and when I dug in and looked at what they're actually doing It's not rocket science and I'm gonna break it down And I'm gonna give them all the pieces to understand if they wanted to How to recreate this and beat them on Google. It's not rocket science. Wow. So I love that. I'm gonna go through it all top to bottom you're the So when you draw the Google man the stick man when we do like retreat that's me. You have the board. That's you Yeah, that's you. Yeah, no, we uh, we hold the basketball. There you go Duncan Google man Duncan There you go. So we really the thing that I love about this industry is so I came from the previous Advertising world that was not specialized in insurance. So and and I had to work with some of these major, you know brands and and just big businesses and The big websites that we had to beat on Google Were a hundred times What I'm seeing as like the best quote-unquote website in the insurance industry Yeah, so it's just like an easy target to hit and I think people Just need to understand what goes into a big nice website that gets a lot of organic traffic And that's I'm gonna break down. So it's gonna be a lot of good a lot of good a lot of fun We're gonna be locked in a retreat for two days to learn this stuff It's amazing what you can learn what this is what people in the instrument industry don't get yet what you can learn at a two-day retreat and Be so far ahead of so many other people in the industry. That's just silly to me It's fun And I and I hope you guys can join us on the future retreats because we ain't gonna stop It's a lot of fun. Those are one of my favorite things that we do can't stop won't stop But that's not the focus of our podcast today. Okay, so what I like to do is I mean so just for instance It's easy for us to find topics to talk about oh my gosh Well, here's how I like to find them so this this today. I have seven meetings on the schedule, right yesterday I had seven meetings on the schedule and explain those they're all marketing. Well, they're all marketing meetings They're all wanting help with their marketing either Medicare final expense recruiting. You do about 40 of those a week Yeah, probably probably probably well, that's 50 Probably not ten a day probably more like seven right today. Okay, so that's Saturday. Sometimes I work Saturdays Absolutely, dude. Come on. Well, there's just only like there's only so many appointments lots when you're not awake surfing Yeah, no doubt you're dragging me out there. Oh, but it's so fun But so my point is is that I'm taking these meetings all throughout the day and Part of my meeting is this discovery, right? It's what are you doing? What can help you with whatever warming up in fact Fine. Yeah, and so I end up talking to all these like awesome producers all the time And so what I try to do with this podcast is I try to say, you know what I'm been getting asked a lot about this Let's talk to Cody about it because what I like to do is to say, you know what? I'm not the insurance expert necessarily Although I'm the insurance marketing. Yeah, well, I'm not licensed. I'm not insurance agent But I really know how to market, you know, but Cody is the insurance expert over there So I figured I'd have you speak on a topic that I'm getting multiple times in the last several days And that is I want to talk about cross-selling products I want to talk about I feel like some of my bigger clients that are more successful They'll go into a final expense appointment and whether they get final expense or not They're typically pivoting to other types of products and cross-selling and all that So, you know, can you give me like a 10,000 foot view of how we should look at cross-selling products and how that should look How that should look for us. Yeah I mean it varies because you've got a lot of you got some veteran agents that are looking for certain types of business And maybe maybe the types of business we're looking for isn't easy to find, you know Let's just use like an annuity for example annuity business, you know that kind of stuff but you've also got some newer agents, maybe the you know, maybe they're Focused on one product and they're selling a niche, which is great, but a lot of times we're able to you start with final expense pivot and sell Medicare as well or There's a lot of times we're able to focus on Medicare and then pivot and add like long-term care or an annuity, you know Or that's why a lot of people do events like a lot of times the event they do is Not even like they may do a social security event, you know tax the retirement income stuff like that They're not looking to help people with social security. Yeah, they're looking to help people manage their money and Create an income stream for life, you know those type of things. So that's where there's always there's not always a You know additional revenue piece or like an underlying piece that they're looking for it Is not always the case but in a lot of cases it is So when should you be looking to cross out and when shouldn't you be looking to cross out? Okay, not everyone has to certain people Want to certain people actually don't and certain companies don't and that's okay, too but if you're a If you're a single file expense producer out there and you're running into people that have Medicare and you're not Helping them while you're in the home, you know and adding an extra maybe one cell a week You know 50 cells add an extra 25k a year and residual income every year Three years down the road. You maybe you know could have added 7500k and renewal income that you didn't grab um That's the only time where I'm like start thinking that way because I was a Only life producer my first few years, you know And I was in a different scenario where I kind of like had to pivot and had to do some different things It really varies it really does like we talked to so many different agents and offices and stuff And I know this is a bad answer It's like one time you talk to him and it's like oh no and the next time you talk to him It's like oh, yeah, you know, it's just it's crazy So do you feel like is there sort of a newer agents probably shouldn't focus on cross-selling like like or they should That's also funny. It depends of which eight like if you've got all these agency owners and up lines and managers and you know Etc. Etc like bosses and owners and they will the opinions will differ so much Okay, it's insane. What's your opinion? Yeah in my opinion. I think a newer agent needs to niche down and focus on a target and Hit that and get really good at hitting that before you get too complicated getting the weeds too much Most people are like and I like the idea of it But most people want to know too much before they successful people are not wired that way They don't have to know everything before they become successful since certain people are like wired that way where you have to Know everything before you do anything and it's like If that's the case, which is most people are that most new agents are that way actually Then why would I complicate it by adding additional? Yeah analysis paralysis? Yeah, so okay, so let me know They don't end up selling anything so new newer agents should probably Focus in on an itch whether it's final spin it's Medicare live simple to start at least So when when does Wendy when does an agent become into that next sort of level to level up into? What maybe potentially adding a arrow to their quiver well most most the time when it's it become a well oiled machine that they Can rely on and they're like okay, you know Maybe they've got a Somebody in their office that sells annuities and they can like set up meetings for them and get half the business or Maybe they've got a agents that they want to help Let's sell Medicare. Maybe they are like, okay, you know, I'm sitting down with these people I might as well be fact-finding and asking a couple additional questions like that's easy You know a lot of people will will cross-sell for other agents to where though like they don't sell P&C They sell life and health, but they'll ask if it's okay if I give you a free quote for your home I'll see if I can save you some money because they're looking to give a rough they have referral partners They want to give a referral to that referral partner and vice versa. So what what is that? Let's just brass tacks What is a well-oiled machine look like is that like what when as a single producer you get 75k income then it's I always think about like Ryan and Eric and spike all these guys, you know, that's like it's just it's it's it's This business it's really easy to be inconsistent and it to feel like a roller coaster. Okay, if you feel like what you're doing is at least Typically consistent in some way and I'm not saying down to the penny every week But at least you're looking to like, you know, so many sets so many sits so many cells The and you have varies but like a general can like Joey, you know general consistency Then that seems like a well machine not that you couldn't just pump it and start increasing that before you add because you could But I think that the answer isn't as easy because some agents Just need to just keep focusing on what they're doing Yeah, I just seem there it seems to be a hunger out there and I guess my question is I want to clear up Is it a misconception to think that if they're not cross-selling and leave it a bunch of money on the table? Is that a misconception? It's not a misconception, but but also there's there's Final expense. There's term. There's IULs. There's annuities. There's long-term care. There's meds ups There's met advantage. There's group health individual health. There's employee benefits. There's commercial insurance There's home insurance. There's auto insurance. You know, I mean you see the point There's like 82 freaking ways to succeed in this business. Yeah, and there's okay. Yeah, there's a dozen different product types Whatever really there's really more than that when you start niching it down even further, but then even below that, you know, there's the 17 different ways to succeed in that product type, you know, it's just like there's just so many paths and sometimes new agents Never know what path to go down and then it's really easy to be a part of 92% because they just didn't go down a path at all Because they were just so overwhelmed. Okay, so what what what are some? Positive ways to cross-sell like what are some ways that you feel are the smart way to do it? Yeah, I just wait until you're well a little machine if there's like a natural Easy product to add while you're sitting with some how do you identify that naturally easy product to add? If you're sitting with a target market that can also use help like if you're sitting with a lot of people that are 65 to 75 and talking to about life insurance, you know And if and if you're okay adding that niche in that option, then it's an easy question ask, you know I'm assuming you have Medicare you have your Medicare with okay Do you typically so let's talk about the details So let's just say the same things that same thing could be said with larger life policies and Looking for long-term, you know people in their 50s and 60s looking for long-term care and annuity opportunities You know for 1k rollovers or a lot of people do medic turning 65 Medicare Seminars, but they would prefer to write some big life policies big long-term care policies big annuities as well Some work with business owners. We didn't even talk about that yet We never really do but some some work at business owners, and they're looking for You know, maybe they're going in about life or health insurance, but they're really looking for benefits You know, it's like you just you don't know got it. So okay, so let's just take an easy natural Simple cross-selling opportunity. So like it seems like a lot of final expense agents are also cross-selling Medicare You could be selling a 69-year-old A Lot of different products. Okay. Okay. So what you know, have you have you ever crossed-hold? Yeah, personally. So when did you pull that out of your pocket? Was it after the sale? Okay? So I want to get brass tacks. Yeah, I want to talk so you yeah, that's a good question You really have a breakdown of your appointment very clearly in a lot of your training you've done hundreds of hours of videos on this Yep, so we let's just say you're you're on it. You're normally sitting down with a prospect for an hour at a time, right? Yeah, so walk me through when you break out the cross-sell. I like the cross-sell at about 10 to 10 to 15 minutes in Between the warm if I'm gonna add cross-selling I like to add it between the warm-up and the fact find and make it Almost part of the fact find that's between steps one and two and I love I did a video on it Literally if you haven't seen it you go back and watch it. I did it video Dylan the vet Medicare or the money-backed presentation Oh, yeah, it was like two weeks ago. Yeah, we can have to go 10 days ago. Whatever I don't know when this will drop maybe next week. So maybe two weeks ago or whatever and I laid that out perfectly that you're sitting with someone That's a great way to fact find and I like transitioning that into the fact-finding portion Really do and and so most people would do it at the end. Well, they've been sitting with me for an hour and a half They're like ready to move on. Yeah, you're starting over. Yeah, you're starting over or some will wait until they deliver the policy Because some will still hand deliver policies to the clients and then they'll sit down with them and fact find I like to kind of start at the conversation up front So it doesn't feel like I'm always trying to sell them something then I'm like adding stuff on or every time I talk to one gotta be selling them something I like to add I like to take the approach of okay, you know I'm a I'm in you know, I'm an insurance advisor or whatever you want to call it and You know, these are several things that are important to our clients You know, there's areas of concern for each one of our clients some have more concerns here Some have more concerns here some have more concerns here And it's my job to sit with you to educate you on what's available Help you with getting, you know, whatever you look into accomplish today We do it but also let you know that you know what I may I can typically help in other ways too And that's where it kind of leads into that money back presentation. Okay What I've always Understood or tried to have the analogy on not insurance sales, but sales in general is when you walk into the doctor's office You know, they're not Walking in looking at you up and down and writing your prescription. Yeah, they're asking you questions They're figuring it out and you know from my perception is is that if we genuinely want to help people like okay That's what we're actually trying to do. We're not just trying to sell them products then it may be unwise to You know Completely leave that out of the beginning of the fact find and just pummel down one part into the throat Yeah, you know and not only is it leaving money on the table, but it's also potentially not doing what's best You know for the client But there is a school of thought that it's like and and you still need to whether you add this or not You know, whether you do it whether you think about it, you know, whether you're already doing it Whatever whether you do it for referral partners or anything else. There's still the element of You still started with it's it they always see riches in the niches and we're not taking away from working a niche you work a niche but While you're working the niche that's how you get in front of people and then you maybe you know looking for another opportunity as well There is another trap. I feel that I've heard, you know chase two rabbits catch none Yeah, you know I'm saying where you know, you don't want to there is you know The grass is always greener where you're like, well, you know what I'm not cross-selling and I need to do more of that And all of a sudden you're screwing up your whole flow. That's the danger of this business. Is this like Yeah, there's a lot going on. Yeah, what about what about tell sales versus field sales? Is it easier to cross-sell one or the other? I believe it's easier to cross-sell in the field I'd really believe that but that didn't mean that there aren't some that may do it's easier if you're doing a Tell-A-Sale, it's easier to like it's less of a cross-selling a fact find and more of like a bundle of Like hey, here's the package we offer kind of interesting. Okay, because it's just simple to explain like you don't want to go through okay You know, it's it's just easier because you go through four different products and like start stacking and before you know it's like There's too much information analysis paralysis like okay You get you know if you give them too much, they're not gonna make a decision Yep, I need them to make a decision or I'm not gonna make a sale We need to get Justin Brock on this podcast to talk through his bundling and all that yeah So I know he's really good at that for sure He's got a course just on that. Yeah, he does but it's mostly Medicare bundling right? Yeah. Yeah, true Well, okay, so you know, I guess we've kind of talked through you know some some dangers a few more minutes What I'd like to maybe Is there anything else like valuable whenever the topic comes up of cross-selling is there anything else? That's like really valuable for our listeners whether the new and agent or veteran that we should talk about Like is there anything that I'm missing in terms of having asked a question for don't complicate it until you You may never totally master it so I shouldn't say and but at least until you get Like good at what you're doing. Okay, you need to be good at selling if you sell Disability income, you know, yeah, there's definitely cross-sell opportunities. There always is for every every clientele But you need to get really good at selling that first don't complicate it and like go broke Okay, so you're just analyzing everything and you're not ever doing anything. Let's set some benchmarks So when you close 40% of your meetings 30% of your meetings We're ready to then add it to a bit at it to mix. It's hard for me to add a close rate because There's some agents that will never have the close rate that some other agents do never True, I don't care how long they're in this business like they are and they don't have the same personality They don't have the same closing ability. They're not naturally assumptive confident and assertive, you know, yeah So really I'm trying to make a complex issue more simple than I can see that I Can see that well, and I don't want to I don't want to you want to and you feel like there's a need and it's something That you you're leaving on the table and you think you should okay then Let's at least you know what I Think the I think the easiest way to explain it is let's at least get the weekly system down Okay, where we're getting in front of people consistently before we like start complicating it too much Okay, because if you're not getting in front of people doesn't matter doesn't matter. That's really where I'm going Doesn't matter what prospecting the marketing. Yeah. Yeah, so once you get that figured out Then it's time to like think through it. So like in general So let's just call it like and I'm like hammering this because I feel like well people need help like I've had three conversations in the last 48 hours about when should I cross sell should I get final expense leads or Medicare? Andy we need to do a webinar on this. Yeah, I could do a whole webinar on cross-selling. Let's do it. Well The question I'm getting is is should I start with Medicare and then go final expense? Should I start with fun expense and then go Medicare? I know I want to do both But I'm just confused what should I do and I'm like, I'm just the marketing Dude, yeah, like I will give you whatever leads you want But like maybe Cody can speak to this on our podcast you should tune in that's kind of happened multiple times So okay, but I feel luckily at least added some clarity a little bit, you know, well, and I want to there's not a Perscription for all true true. So this was maybe a shorter podcast and the normal that's okay We're trying to move to the weekly format instead of every other week next week is Ramiz Which I'm super stoked about be excited to be two weeks from now by the time is yeah, this goes live But thanks for joining us and dropping some knowledge bombs man. Did you got it man? That was What 20 minutes or so 25 minutes 25? So I feel I feel good about the content Obviously, you guys could leave comments. We check all of our comments. You have any additional questions I do think this is a webinar topic. It'd be awesome to break it down. Totally. Totally. Yes. Yeah, all right Thanks for joining us guys Any other questions you got? How many Marketing clients can you handle? Sheesh? Well, we just hired a couple people so that'll help. There we go. All right All right guys. Have a good afternoon. Talk to you next time