As a new agent, you need to decide whether or not you will exclusively focus on selling final expense in-person or over the phone.

While I think both methods absolutely work, today I focus on the good and the bad of selling final expense on an in-person basis:

1. Easier to build rapport and trust. Ultimately, you the agent ARE the product! And the final expense sale is made based on whether or not the prospect trusts and likes you. Selling in person – seeing you in the flesh – is easier for most of our prospects to buy in and trust you than it is over the phone, where one lacks the natural advantages of a face-to-face interaction.

2. Higher conversions. Simply put, having the ability to physically be in-person – whether prospecting at the door or running an in-person presentation – will convert more leads into sales than if sold exclusively over the phone. Unlike final expense phone sales agents who cannot door knock their leads, the face-to-face agent can, which greatly contributes to higher lead to presentation conversion rates.

3. Easier to learn. New agents with little to no business-to-consumer sales experience will have an easier time learning the craft of selling final expense on an in-person basis. Phone sales take more time and skill; in addition to mastering the script, a telesales agent must practice and develop other skills, like tonality, pacing, inflection, and be better prepared to handle objections, as they are much more commonplace than in the world of in-person final expense sales.

Now, the drawbacks of selling final expense face-to-face:

1. Windshield time. There’s definitely an inefficiency argument to make about face-to-face sales. Most of your time is behind the wheel, traveling to each appointment or door knock opportunity. And in addition to racking up thousands of miles on your vehicle, there’s no guarantee your appointment or door knock will answer.

2. Dangers of in-home sales. Make no mistake, selling in people’s homes comes with added risk. I had one prospect threaten to kill me (I closed him anyway). One of my lady agents had the client lick her neck in appreciation of her services at the conclusion of an awkward hug. A pitbull recently bit an agent of mine on a pre-set appointment; dogs have bitten me 3 times, and one time a pitbull jumped up to my legs, jaws ready to maul my crotch into pieces. If you’re worried about your safety, or not prepared to defend yourself, face-to-face may not be for you.