Thinking about getting your insurance licensing and selling insurance over the phone with SelectQuote?

If so, you’ve found the right article!

In today’s article, I discuss how a career selling insurance with SelectQuote works in a fair and balanced way.

You’ll learn the following:

• • How SelectQuote works

• • How their free insurance lead system works

• • And some factors to consider before you join.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

NOTE: If you’re new to insurance sales, I highly recommend you read my free New Insurance Agent Resource Guide here to learn more about the insurance sales industry regarding leads, sales opportunities, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls that plague new agents.

Quick Navigation Article Links

• • About

• • Products

• • Leads

• • Getting Paid

• • MLM Scam?

• • My Thoughts

About SelectQuote

SelectQuote is the oldest and largest independent term life insurance agency in the US that focuses on direct-to-consumer (DTC) insurance distribution.

It replaces the “one-size-fits-all” model used by most traditional insurance companies and provides price comparisons from a number of trusted insurance carriers.

SelectQuote was established in 1985 by Tim Danker. Danker has held several leadership positions in business development, corporate finance, and sales management and specializes in insurance distribution in direct-to-consumer models.

The company is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. It has six offices across the country with close to 2,000 employees in total. SelectQuote is licensed to sell insurance in all states except for South Dakota.

As of May 2020, SelectQuote is a publicly-traded company.

The mission of SelectQuote is to help customers protect their most valuable assets and their financial well-being by finding the right insurance for their needs at the best price. The company operates through three separate insurance lines: SelectQuote Medicare, SelectQuote Life, and SelectQuote Auto & Home.

SelectQuote doesn’t sell its own insurance products. It offers price comparisons from the country’s leading insurance carriers such as:

• • Prudential,

• • Protective,

• • AIG,

• • Legal & General,

• • Mutual of Omaha, and,

• • Pacific Life.

The company helps match consumers looking to purchase life, auto, or home insurance policies with the most suitable insurance carriers.

Products Sold And Market Focus

SelectQuote provides several types of insurance products:

• • Life insurance like term life and final expense

• • Auto insurance

• • Home insurance, and

• • Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage.

SelectQuote specializes in term life insurance, a type of life insurance designed to leave a death benefit.

Term life insurance guarantees payment of death benefit if the policyholder dies during a specified term. Premiums are based on the policyholder’s age, health, and life expectancy.

Once the term expires, the policy will terminate unless it is renewed for another term or converted to permanent coverage.

Common term life insurance rider options include accidental death benefit rider, accelerated death benefit rider for those suffering from a terminal illness, child rider, and waiver-of-premium rider that comes into force if the policyholder becomes disabled and is unable to work.

SelectQuote partner carriers offer terms ranging from 10 to 30 years, with coverage between $50,000 and $1 million.

As an independent agency, SelectQuote is not captive to a single insurance carrier. This means that customers who shop with them will get access to a wide range of quotes from top insurers.

For term life insurance, SelectQuote provides quotes from the following life insurance companies:

• • American General Life Insurance Company (AIG)

• • Americo

• • Banner Life

• • Companion Life Insurance Company

• • Globe Life

• • Lincoln National Life Insurance Company

• • Pacific Life Insurance Company

• • Protective Life

• • Prudential

• • SBLI of Massachusetts

• • TruStage Life Insurance

• • United of Omaha, and

• • William Penn Life Insurance of New York.

These companies offer over 70 policies in total. They have some of the best prices on the market for customers without any major health or lifestyle issues. However, they may not be the best option for anyone looking for high-risk life insurance.

Besides term life, SelectQuote also offers permanent life insurance and final expense insurance.

Online quotes are not available and customers need to contact an agent for more information on various insurance policies.

How Leads Work

The SelectQuote website doesn’t provide information on how its agents find prospects.

However, our understanding based off of current and former SelectQuote agents is that the company provides free insurance leads to its agents.

The benefit to free leads is that the agent does not have to risk his or her own money in questionable lead sources, and simply focuses on selling.

The company does indicate, however, that it relies on innovative and powerful technology including proprietary routing and workflow systems that analyze and direct leads to agents best suited to meet the consumer’s needs.

How Getting Paid Works

SelectQuote earns commissions from different insurance companies for the policies it sells on their behalf. Close to 90% of its total revenues come from commissions, while the rest comes from production bonuses and other sources.

Like most insurance companies, SelectQuote doesn’t publish its commissions for agents.

According to the company reviews, SelectQuote sales representatives are expected to close at least 5 life insurance applications per day, based on the “one call close” approach where the client commits to completing an application and medical exam during the call.

Agents are also expected to “cross-sell” and suggest auto or home insurance or a possible medicare supplemental policy during the initial conversation.

Sales are done exclusively by phone.

SelectQuote offers professional development programs for the agents, including internal promotions, shadowing opportunities, access to online courses, lunch and learns, as well as in-depth training programs.

Is It A Scam, MLM, Pyramid Scheme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQiJ8Db6xo&t=21s

SelectQuote is not a scam. It is a reputable company with solid, growing profits that has been in business since 1985 and has helped thousands of customers buy life insurance. It partners with some of the most trusted national insurance carriers with excellent financial ratings.

The agency has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 1996 and has a superior A+ rating. It is also on the 2021 Top Workplaces USA list and recognized in the “Financial Services” as well as the “Clued In Leaders” categories.

SelectQuote is not a multi-level marketing (MLM) business opportunity or pyramid scheme. The company doesn’t have multiple layers of agents, mentors, and trainers and is not suitable for agents who are primarily looking to recruit.

My Thoughts

Now you know a little more about how SelectQuote works, I’d like to add in some perspective on the insurance sales opportunity SelectQuote offers.

A little about me: I’ve sold insurance since 2011 and have run a national agency since 2013. I’ve won several production awards over the years and have recruited more than 2,000 people since starting my agency.

I say all this to make it clear that I have a lot of experience in the business helping agents become top producers, and spend a lot of time understanding how my competition works.

With that said, here are some thoughts to consider joining SelectQuote or really any other agency…

The Cost Of Free Leads

Ever heard of the phrase, “There is no such thing as a free lunch?”

Welp, it’s true in selling insurance!

While not having to pay for leads is one of the biggest advantages of working with SelectQuote, arguably the biggest downside is the much lower commission level you must accept in return.

In your due diligence, you will find that SelectQuote’s commission levels are lower than what you’d find at competing organizations that teach agents to sell insurance over the phone (like mine).

But, it just makes sense. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too, right?

In other words, if you’re not responsible or at risk for your lead investment, it’s sensible that you’ll take a lower commission relative to other organizations that do require you to purchase leads.

However, it is arguable that you may make up the lower commission levels with higher lead flow if you’re really productive at closing insurance business. So there’s that to consider.

Point is… take time to consider the consequences of free leads to your commission levels.

In my agency, I teach agents to invest in their own leads, as our agency culture is more entrepreneurial. Yes, the agent puts their money at risk, but they also have some of the highest commission levels in the industry.

Pros And Cons Of Selling Over The Phone

Another thing to consider:

Is selling insurance over the phone right for you?

With lockdowns and people less inclined to see others face to face, there is extreme interest in at-home, virtual careers, where sales are made entirely by phone.

However, what I’ve discovered teaching agents to sell products like Medicare and final expense over the phone, the truth is this: telephone sales is the most difficult way to sell insurance.

In fact, face-to-face, despite the lockdowns, still is the single-best way to maximize your odds for insurance sales success.

Here’s a couple of reasons why:

More suspicion

For certain niches like targeting seniors, they are more “old fashioned” and more often prefer face to face meetings. Talking entirely by phone or conducting virtual sales presentations adds suspicion to the mix.

For example, selling final expense or Medicare is usually 100% telephone based, as having them access ZOOM or Facetime is exceedingly frustrating for them. There’s no eye contact made, no body language signals to read.

You’re a random person to them and some simply won’t provide their personal information to complete the sale.

This is unlike face-to-face sales where you leverage all the trust- and rapport-building benefits of a face-to-face encounter, which leads to higher closing rates on average relative to telesales agents.

Less room for error

Learning how to sell insurance means you have to learn a script and understand insurance carrier underwriting, enough to communicate to your prospect to win their trust and business.

What I’ve found teaching agents to sell insurance over the phone is that there’s less room for making the normal mistakes all new agents experience.

Unlike face to face sales where prospects are more forgiving, if a newer agent doesn’t follow the script perfectly, they’ll experience more pushback, more objections, and find they’re not closing as much business as their face to face counterparts.

Insurance Telesales Is A Great Opportunity

With that said, selling insurance over the phone is a huge opportunity for agents inclined to telesales.

For example:

• • No more driving around to prospects’ houses, putting 1000+ miles on your car weekly,

• • No more wasting time driving to someone’s home to be no-showed,

• • More talk time with prospects since there’s no more drive-time,

• • With the right lead programs like our final expense TV leads, the leads will call you.

In conclusion, carefully consider whether face to face or telesales is the right avenue for you in selling insurance. Both offer fantastic opportunities for the appropriate agent.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this write-up on how a career selling insurance with SelectQuote works.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions below. I personally answer them all.

If you’re interested in seeing how partnering with me can help you become a top producer in selling final expense or Medicare, click the link here to learn more about how Duford Insurance Group can benefit you.