Are you looking into selling mortgage protection insurance?

Do you want to increase your odds of success in mortgage protection sales?

If so, this article is for you!

Today, I discuss the pros and cons of selling mortgage protection insurance.

So… sit back, take notes, and let’s begin!

NOTE: Are you an aspiring or new insurance agent looking for more insight on how the insurance sales industry works? Check out my free New Insurance Agent Resource Guide to help answer many of your questions (as well as ones you didn’t know you had!).

Overview

• What Is Mortgage Protection?
• Why Sell?
• Where Is Mortgage Protection Sold?
• How Is It Sold?
• Drawbacks
• Selecting The Right Agency
• Factors To Beware Of
• Final Thoughts

What Is Mortgage Protection?

Mortgage protection insurance is a life insurance product designed to pay off the insured’s mortgage upon passing.

Studies show that one of the biggest obligations that households carry is the home’s mortgage.

In many cases, the mortgage is the biggest financial obligation needing coverage.

And when someone BUYS a new home, she realizes that she’s REALLY taken on a TREMENDOUS debt.

A debt that would be disastrous if the breadwinner died and the surviving family couldn’t pay!

This is why selling mortgage protection insurance is so powerful.

Simplified Issue

Most mortgage protection products are non-medical term life insurance policies.

This means no exams are necessary.

Your prospect will NOT take an exam, give blood, or pee in a cup.

Mortgage protection products focus on faster underwriting compared to traditional life insurance products requiring an exam.

And the big positive of fast mortgage protection policy approval = FASTER pay for the agent.

Nevertheless, you can certainly write fully underwritten life insurance for mortgage protection prospects.

With fully underwritten policies on healthy applicants, premiums are lower compared to simplified issue coverage.

However, since most agents generate mortgage protection leads via direct mail, it’s paramount to cover costs quickly.

And that’s why many agents choose simplified issue coverage over fully underwritten coverage, due to faster issue and pay.

Mostly Term Life Sales

In most cases, you will write a lot of term life insurance on your mortgage protection prospects.

Not always, though.

You will have older prospects with health issues that cannot qualify. And that’s where selling final expense insurance to them comes in handy.

With these prospects, I suggest selling a “mortgage payment protection” plan.

The concept is simple. The final expense plan pays a number of mortgage payments over time.

This buys the surviving spouse or family time to pay off the mortgage, avoiding foreclosure or loss of equity.

Why Sell?

Now you understand the basics, let’s discuss the pros and cons of a career in mortgage protection sales.

High First Year Commissions

Compared to selling insurance with other products like selling Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplements, mortgage protection insurance sales pays a higher first-year commission.

The average mortgage protection monthly premium ranges between $70 to $80.

At fair commission percentages, your earnings should average $700 to $900 per closed deal.

Not too bad if you sell mortgage protection insurance policies several times a week!

Strong Leads

Mortgage protection lead generation comes from life-event marketing.

In other words, prospects responding to our solicitations JUST purchased their new home.

And we know folks who recently bought a home are more open-minded to buying insurance.

Why does this matter?

This means you’re likely getting a stronger lead than using final expense leads, which requires casting a larger net.

Incidentally, mortgage protection agent presents to and closes a higher percentage of leads relative to other lead-based insurance sales systems.

Also, mortgage protection lead sales copy is very specific.

Your prospects know EXACTLY what the card is about.

And this allows for a higher closing opportunities!

Simple Application Process

Keeping it simple is the name of the game in selling mortgage protection insurance.

And that includes simplification of the application process.

Most mortgage protection carriers have electronic application capability. This means the potential for instant approvals upon application submission.

Usually, there are no phone interviews required at or after the point-of-sale.

And there’s definitely NO lengthy exams and underwriting decisions.

If a case isn’t immediately approved in the home, expect your mortgage protection prospect getting an underwriting decision within a week or two.

Cross Selling Potential

The good news about selling mortgage protection insurance?

You have multiple product sale opportunities beyond mortgage protection.

For example, you will uncover:

• Indexed universal life insurance opportunities for supplemental life insurance retirement strategies,
• Annuity sales opportunities for older, and,
• Indemnity sales opportunities.

Where Is Mortgage Protection Sold?

Let’s talk about the best markets to sell mortgage protection insurance.

Medium And Large Cities

While you can sell mortgage protection insurance anywhere, most agents work leads in medium to large cities.

Here’s why…

Response rates for mortgage protection leads are 1% to 1.5% (sometimes more, sometimes less) on 1,000 mailers.

This means that we need 1,000 *new* mortgage or refinance filings weekly to hopefully get 10 to 15 leads!

From personal experience, the full-time mortgage protection agent needs 20+ leads weekly to make a great income.

And it’s rare even a medium size city has 500+ new home closings or refinances.

Now can you see why we need to target multiple, larger cities?

For example, I discussed mortgage protection lead generation with an insurance agent Ohio.

Get this…

To get 20 leads weekly, he’d have to work Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, AND Indianapolis!

And he had to simultaneously work ALL these areas WEEKLY to stay busy.

After Work Sale

Selling mortgage protection insurance requires you to visit your prospects at their home after work.

And like most sales made to couples, you’ll want both spouses available when booking the appointment.

Unlike final expense or Medicare Supplement sales, most mortgage protection presentations take place in the evening, so expect to work when everyone else isn’t.

How Is It Sold?

Let’s discuss mortgage protection training and selling our prospects.

Here’s the truth…

MLM

Multi-level marketing (MLM) HEAVILY influences the mortgage protection sales market.

For example, if you’ve seen a mortgage protection agent ad on Monster.com or ZipRecruiter.com, chances are it was from a MLM agency.

And therein lies the problem.

Multi-level marketing mortgage protection companies focus almost exclusively on recruiting over training.

Additionally, commissions levels are notoriously poor with MLM agencies relative to producer-oriented organizations like mine.

Why?

Typically, there are 10+ people taking a cut off of your production, meaning it’s difficult to raise commissions to peak levels.

My recommendation is to AVOID multi-level marketers and find an agency focusing on sales skill development first and foremost.

Leads

Undoubtedly, the BEST mortgage protection lead system utilizes fresh and exclusive direct mail leads.

Fresh leads mean you get leads responding literally DAYS prior to receiving them.

And exclusive leads means your lead company will NEVER resell your leads.

Here’s why this is important…

First In Wins!

Mortgage protection sales is VERY competitive.

You can expect your prospects to receive many mailers after their house closes.

For example, when I closed on my home recently, I received 4 solicitations for mortgage protection over a week’s time.

And if your prospect sends back multiple mailers, you want to be the FIRST guy in the door.

NOT LAST! Because the FIRST one in WINS!

For example, our direct mail system for mortgage protection agents is focused on fast turn around.

We mail out the lead first-class and get the card sent back first class.

You can expect to see returns within 2 to 3 weeks of your first direct mail order going out.

Exclusive Mortgage Protection Leads

You MUST make sure your mortgage protection leads are exclusive to you.

Here’s what I mean.

Many multi-level marketing agencies actually resell your leads.

As much as they claim to be in the insurance business, they are equally in the lead business.

For example, after the MLM generates a fresh lead for an agent, the lead is offered for resale at a discounted rate approximately 30 days later. This reselling repeats multiple times.

Unfortunately for agents new to selling mortgage protection insurance, most likely all your leads are aged, already-worked leads 6 to 12 months old.

Why is this problematic?

Picture you’re the prospect talking to the 3rd or 4th person about mortgage protection over the phone.

How would you respond? Irritated at best, right?

Couple this along with a newer, inexperienced agent working these leads, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Look, you CAN close any mortgage protection leads, old or new.

But the odds are you’ll experience more difficulty as a new person working old, worked mortgage protection leads.

Instead, work FRESH leads that have NEVER seen an agent and will NEVER be resold to increase your odds of success.

Multiple Mortgage Protection Insurance Carriers

As a successful national agency, I can tell you this…

It’s CRUCIAL to operate your business as an independent agent with multiple mortgage protection insurance carriers.

As an independent agent, you have access to a multitude of mortgage protection life insurance companies.

And having multiple carrier options gives you pricing and underwriting flexibility.

This allows you to maximize the number of policies sold and the number of prospects you can insure.

Most MLMs Limit Carrier Options

Many large multi-level marketing mortgage protection agencies are married to one or two insurance companies.

They’re required to keep quotas to retain their high commission contracts.

And this means they’ll push a particular carrier on you, whether or not it’s the best match for your client.

Why is this a problem?

Well, if our prospect sends in another mortgage protection lead, and discovers that he can get a better deal, he might drop your policy.

And when you LOSE a deal, you must repay most if not ALL of your advanced commission.

Low Commissions Abound

Multi-level marketing mortgage protection agencies are NOTORIOUS for starting agents at low commission levels.

In fact, the most popular agencies start commission levels at HALF of what producer-focused agencies like mine do.

Here’s why this matters.

Undeserving Uplines Taking A Cut

While all agencies have uplines, MLMs typically have 10 to 15 people between you and the insurance carrier.

That means that 10 to 15 people PROFIT from the sale you made!

Ask yourself… do 10 to 15 people DESERVE to take a commission from your deal?

Cost Of Doing Business

Most business incur costs to operate.

For example, a restaurant must pay waiters, cook staff, and food to successfully operate.

Selling mortgage protection insurance is no different.

Your biggest cost of doing business is lead expense.

And if you’re buying fresh leads at $40 to $60 a piece at a low commission level, this has immediate impact on your ability to make a lucrative income.

Cannot Maximize Commission

As you progress and write more business, you’ll find with MLMs that your ability to grow your commission levels are stunted.

Why?

For the same reasons mentioned above.

You have 10 to 15 people that profit from your activity. Eventually you reach a ceiling where your commission cannot increase any longer.

This means you are forced into a long-term low commission level and can NEVER maximize your take-home income.

Best Commission Level?

What should your starting mortgage protection commission be at?

In my agency, when I recruited mortgage protection agents (all I recruit now are final expense and Medicare agents), I started new mortgage protection agents between 90% and 110% first year commission mark with room to grow.

Look, you SHOULD take home the lion’s share of the commission, NOT your upline!

After all, YOU’RE the one investing YOUR money and time into your mortgage protection sales business.

Sales Training Matters

Along with a strong lead generation system starting commission level, you need access to mortgage protection sales training and support.

When you’ve got an underwriting question, product question, or sales-related question, you should have someone who can help you out.

You want a mentor that can coach you how to improve, analyze your sales calls, and give advice on how to become a better mortgage protection agent.

Better yet, you need someone who’s actually SOLD insurance first-hand, not a marketer with no in-the-trenches experience.

This is why I still sell face-to-face with insurance prospects from time to time.

It’s vital to have a pulse on the sales process to retain relevance.

Drawbacks

In mortgage protection sales, not everything is rainbows and sunshine.

There are both good and bad aspects to selling any type of insurance product.

Mortgage protection is no different.

Let’s discuss those drawbacks now.

Lack Of Lead Density

Lack of lead density is the biggest drawback to selling mortgage protection insurance.

Here’s a quick story demonstrating my point.

When I pull up data to start a mortgage protection lead campaign in my area for 20 leads weekly, I’m forced to work 4 cities 150 miles away from me.

This means I’ll have substantial windshield time traveling multiple hours in one direction to work a handful of appointments.

Unless you live in Chicago, Los Angeles, or Orlando, you’re likely in the same situation.

I remember one agent who lived in Dallas that would drive 9 hours to El Paso to work.

Point is you have to think long and hard if you’re willing to “pay the price” of what’s required to work mortgage protection leads.

Are you willing to travel away from home multiple nights a week? Is this conducive to your family life?

If not, consider insurance sales systems that keep you closer to home like Medicare, annuities, or final expense.

Fresh Leads Are Expensive

Compared to final expense and Medicare Supplement leads, mortgage protection leads are very expensive.

Why?

Because the cost to acquire a list of new mortgage filings is higher than purchasing a list based on age and income.

Plus, mortgage protection direct mail leads usually go out first class and come back first class, adding higher costs.

Also, we get important data such as the name of the bank and the mortgage amount, which costs extra.

How Much?

What can you expect to pay for mortgage protection leads?

A fresh and exclusive mortgage protection lead cost in the mid-$40s to mid-$60s range, depending on the agency or lead house you buy from.

That’s about average for a non-subsidized direct mail mortgage protection mailer.

However, I argue you get what you pay for.

While the cost IS higher than other lead systems, mortgage protection leads are some of the BEST life insurance leads to work in the business.

The show rates are higher, and the close ratios are higher, too.

Mostly Evening Work

Learning how to sell mortgage protection insurance successfully requires most of your presentation times in the mid-afternoon and evenings.

A good mortgage protection agent will get 3 to 5 appointments daily. She’ll start around 3PM, wrapping up the day at 10PM.

Sure, you’ll get people who’ll meet earlier. Just understand a full-time effort takes 10 to 15 appointments weekly over 3 to 4 days.

And you’ll most likely run appointments well into the evening to hit your activity and production goals.

On a good note, since mortgage protection sales are run at night, this means it’s easier to sell mortgage protection insurance part-time.

Selecting The Right Agency

One of my goals in this article is to help you find the right mortgage protection agency to call home.

As you’ve read earlier, many “shady” aspects of this business exist you must make yourself aware of.

You should strive to not only learn how to make a good living selling mortgage protection insurance, but also how to best help your prospects, too.

This facilitates pride in your work, and empowers you to have a great career in mortgage protection sales.

Too many agents leave this business because the “business opportunity” is poorly designed.

They discover how terrible commission levels are, how junky the leads are, and eventually conclude there is not realistic upside potential.

Many agents give up, leaving the industry with a bad taste and disillusionment of what’s possible.

Factors To Beware Of

Let’s discuss some major factors to considering partnering with a mortgage protection insurance IMO or agency.

In-Person Training?

In-person training is vital for many new mortgage protection sales agents.

You want an experienced agent show you the process of how to sell mortgage protection insurance face-to-face.

Learning how to sell is an experiential-based, first-person process. You sit down with your client, you get them to trust and like you.

You ask questions to qualify, then make an offer to do business, all while persuading him why doing business with you is a good idea.

Having someone on your side to coach and support you is vital.

Direct Help Available When Necessary?

Ultimately, success in selling mortgage protection insurance is YOUR responsibility.

It’s your job to set the appointments. It’s your job learn the presentation. It’s your job to EXECUTE!

However, not everything goes according to plan, even with best-laid plans.

Here’s my point…

You WILL have issues starting. And you WILL need help!

You may need advice with underwriting difficult cases. Maybe you’ll have a sales-related issue you need advice on.

Either way, you need an experienced pro who will take your call, text, or email, providing answers to your questions.

Avoid Agencies Not Focused On Helping You Sell More Insurance

With that said, what you want to AVOID is working with a mortgage protection insurance IMO or agency whose focus is on recruiting, not producing.

Many times, these recruiting-only type of “trainers” have NEVER sold the first life insurance policy!

Think about it.

How can you expect someone with ZERO insurance sales experience to help when you need it?

Would you take lessons on becoming a heart surgeon who has ZERO experience actually DOING heart surgery?

Of course not!

We wouldn’t expect that in a professional capacity and we shouldn’t expect it in selling mortgage protection insurance.

Upside Commission Potential

Bottom line, make sure your mortgage protection agency gives the potential for maximum upside commission potential.

Luckily, this problem is mostly solved when you partner with an insurance agency that focuses on agent development first, and recruiting second.

Final Thoughts

In summary, let’s recap important takeaways as you decide whether or not you want to sell mortgage protection insurance.

Beware MLM In Mortgage Protection

Hopefully, you can see that multi-level marketing is highly prominent in the mortgage protection sales business.

Just about everything is worse working with a MLM mortgage protection business.

Commissions are WAY lower. Leads are lower quality.

And recruiting your friends and family takes prominence over developing you into a top gun producer.

The First Guy In Wins!

Effective mortgage protection agents understand that the FRESHNESS and the SPEED of receiving the direct mail lead is CRITICAL to their success.

You will experience measurably higher levels of success with the RIGHT lead generation system in mortgage protection sales.