As an agency owner specializing in 1-on-1 mentoring and training both final expense telesales and face-to-face agents, a common and important question I’m asked is this:

What’s better – selling final expense the old fashioned way, or selling remotely?

Bottom line, there is opportunity with both strategies, but there are details YOU need to discover about yourself to help you determine which pathway is best.

Here are a few pointers I give my new agents to consider to help them make the right commitment:

1. Play The Game According To Your Strengths. There are some in our business who suggest face-to-face final expense is dead, or that telesales is a failed model. Don’t fall for the hype! Just as important, consider the source. Usually, they are biased, recruiting to their particular business model of exclusively in-person or telesales.

My agency trains both intimately on a 1-on-1 basis, and while we’ve discovered that both work, agents are usually better with one approach or the other. Ultimately, trust your gut and follow your instincts. If you in your heart of hearts think that telesales is for you, do it, and likewise with face-to-face.

2. If you’re half-pregnant and don’t know which route to go, start with face-to-face. While I don’t have hard numbers, based on the complaints and frustrations I’ve heard from agents across many final expense agencies, I think telesales generally has a lower success rate for the new agent when compared to face-to-face sales.

And this is more reason why I recommend unsure agents to stick with face-to-face sales, as prospects are much more forgiving in person regarding scripting and attention span than they are over the phone.

3. If you don’t make a sale in your first week, this business isn’t for you. Let’s make some big assumptions. If you get excellent training, 1-on-1 role play coaching, and personal mentoring for 7 to 10 days, buy the right type of leads in the appropriate quantity, work hard for a full week and do NOT make a single sale… I can confidently say the way in which you’re selling final expense is NOT for you. Anecdotally, the biggest indicator to long-term success in this business is closing business in your first week as a full-time agent.

In fact, I’ve never heard of an agent having a “Eureka moment” many months in and thousands of dollars invested into leads that turns around and starts selling policies hand over fist. Granted, there are many who fail BECAUSE of poor/non-existent training, no personal mentorship, and poor quality leads. Fixing those can certainly fix a failed agent, but sometimes you can do everything right, and still not be a good fit for the business.