employers suck!

[Dallas]

I cold-call alot, only been at it for 2 days, and I can understand that

that's only till I can build some solid references

but I'm not selling a phone here, the benefits I sell increase employee retention, and it puts money back in your pocket at the end of the year, I know when I was a W-2 employee, and my boss told me they wouldn't raise my salary anymore, and did nothing else for me, that was basically it, I lost interest and I was gone, I didn't want to stick around at a poor-paying job where the crappy soda machine was always out of soda

it gets pretty sad when these guys won't even let you talk to the employees, those are the ones who benefit from it, and it shows them that you care, one guy even spoke for the employees and belittled them over the phone to me

DW has some very good advice. Keep your head up.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Basically, it's Summer's first day on the job, and he's finding that his target audience is not very receptive to his message, so he's becoming enraged at them, which (as an aside) should make him an even more effective salesman.



Summer, seriously, if you're cold-calling employers to try to sell them insurance, it's going to be a tough sell. Most of them have probably thought about whether or not they're going to offer or what they're going to offer quite a bit before your call... so it's going to be tough to sway someone over the course of a phone call.

I get these solicitation calls all the time, and quite honestly, I try to blow them off as quickly as possible. Not out of rudeness, but because we've put a great amount of thought into our benefits plan, and it gets frustrating when the person on the other end of the phone can't understand that and is just trying to get through their script (I'm not talking about you specifically, of course, just the calls I get generally).

I think the key is to try to be patient and understand that you're going to have to work your way though a lot of rejection before you hit on a receptive target. But I'd suggest patience is paramount.

but don't you want to do more for your employee though? yes your insurance plan may be good, it will probably pay for a hospital stay, but our benefits help pay for the other bills that they have to pay missing work

I know the process is going to be a long one, I'm more pissed at some of their attitudes towards their employee's welfare

 

[Danny White]

I cold-call alot, only been at it for 2 days, and I can understand that

that's only till I can build some solid references

but I'm not selling a phone here, the benefits I sell increase employee retention, and it puts money back in your pocket at the end of the year, I know when I was a W-2 employee, and my boss told me they wouldn't raise my salary anymore, and did nothing else for me, that was basically it, I lost interest and I was gone, I didn't want to stick around at a poor-paying job where the crappy soda machine was always out of soda

it gets pretty sad when these guys won't even let you talk to the employees, those are the ones who benefit from it, and it shows them that you care, one guy even spoke for the employees and belittled them over the phone to me

In this job market, I'm not sure how strong of an argument "employee retention" is.

You have a supply-heavy job market where there are tons of people looking for work, and not a lot of jobs available. In fact, you have a situation where I bet some employers are looking for lower-end people to quit so they can fill them with the glut of over-qualified people who are on the market right now.

I don't know if you're going to have a lot of people leaving a job over benefits right now, when the alternative might be having no job whatsoever.


In asking to speak to the employees are you able to sell to them directly?

 

[Hoofbite]

And yes, employers do suck.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

In this job market, I'm not sure how strong of an argument "employee retention" is.

You have a supply-heavy job market where there are tons of people looking for work, and not a lot of jobs available. In fact, you have a situation where I bet some employers are looking for lower-end people to quit so they can fill them with the glut of over-qualified people who are on the market right now.

I don't know if you're going to have a lot of people leaving a job over benefits right now, when the alternative might be having no job whatsoever.


In asking to speak to the employees are you able to sell to them directly?

yes, it's either non-contributory (the employer pays for it), or contributory (the employees pay)

that's kind of my thing, they won't even let me talk to their employees

it's bad enough when employees are working for **** change, but to have the employer speak for them and make decisions for them? the participation rate to make contributory plans effective is somewhere around 85%, and it's cheap, no way employees w/ families and loads of bills to pay turn this down so quickly

 

[Bob Sacamano]

it's even stupider when they won't give you a reason to why they're not interested (yes, I've asked)

they just say they're not interested

 

[Dallas]

yes, it's either non-contributory (the employer pays for it), or contributory (the employees pay)

that's kind of my thing, they won't even let me talk to their employees

it's bad enough when employees are working for **** change, but to have the employer speak for them and make decisions for them? the participation rate to make contributory plans effective is somewhere around 85%, and it's cheap, no way employees w/ families and loads of bills to pay turn this down so quickly

That is a fine line you are walking. Most business will not forward any calls to the employees, unless you know them by name.

How do you ask for an employee?


"I would like to talk to your employees?"


I would probably say no too.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

That is a fine line you are walking. Most business will not forward any calls to the employees, unless you know them by name.

How do you ask for an employee?


"I would like to talk to your employees?"


I would probably say no too.

I don't ask to speak to each one over the phone, the only thing I do over the phone is talk to the owner or HR person for half a minute about who I am and what I'm providing (it's more of a service than a sale), and ask if I could set up something in the future, if I even get that far

I would set up a meeting so that I could speak to them in groups, perhaps bring pizza

you know, break their mundane working existence

 

[Dallas]

I don't ask to speak to each one over the phone, the only thing I do over the phone is talk for half a minute about who I am and what I'm providing (it's more providing than selling) and ask if I could set up something in the future

I would set up a meeting so that I could speak to them in groups, perhaps bring pizza

you know, break the mundane

Ahh I see.


Have you ever thought about going around and dropping your card off? I know we have breakrooms throughout our complex and keep a BB in each of them that local services post on.

I have seen some insurance cards and flyers.

Just a thought.

 

[DallasEast]

I SELL HEALTH BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES

I SELL HEALTH BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES

I SELL HEALTH BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES

IT BURNS WHEN I PEE

why are they so adverse to providing their employees w/ health benefts?

I even tell them that it offers a tax-break at the end of the year

it increases employee retention

nothing, they don't want to hear it, most of them

half these people are lucky they aren't talking face-to-face w/ me w/ how they treat my calls, I'd probably compile a few charges

gaw

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/disease.jpg

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Ahh I see.


Have you ever thought about going around and dropping your card off? I know we have breakrooms throughout our complex and keep a BB in each of them that local services post on.

I have seen some insurance cards and flyers.

Just a thought.

I don't have cards yet

we usually canvass on Fridays when people are happy because of the upcoming weekend

 

[Danny White]

but don't you want to do more for your employee though? yes your insurance plan may be good, it will probably pay for a hospital stay, but our benefits help pay for the other bills that they have to pay missing work

I know the process is going to be a long one, I'm more pissed at some of their attitudes towards their employee's welfare

Please keep in mind that none of this is personal, I'm just trying to provide you with an employer's perspective... but that attitude would really turn me off if someone said that to me on an insurance sales call.

We've put a lot of time, effort, and money into developing our benefits plan -- as I would wager most of the companies you're calling have as well -- and attitude of "you're being stingy" or "shouldn't you give just a little more" without really knowing what we provide, would really chap my hide.

Employers, in general, are probably going to feel that they are generous to their employees, and also probably feel that their employees don't appreciate enough the benefits they do get... so any attitude that reinforces that is going to set up an adversarial relationship between you and the person you're trying to sell to.

Instead of getting mad at the employers, try to sympathize with them and put yourself into their shoes.

The argument of "don't you want to help your employees when they have to miss work?" isn't going to resonate with them because they don't even want to think about their employees missing work... they want to think about their employees working.

If you're talking to employers, the strongest case I could think to make, especially in this economy, is one of saving money. "You're paying too much for your benefits now, and we can help you cut costs." Something like that.

Good luck and again, the best advice I can give is to try to put yourself in the employers shoes rather than the employees shoes... you need to be able to relate to your target.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Please keep in mind that none of this is personal, I'm just trying to provide you with an employer's perspective... but that attitude would really turn me off if someone said that to me on an insurance sales call.

We've put a lot of time, effort, and money into developing our benefits plan -- as I would wager most of the companies you're calling have as well -- and attitude of "you're being stingy" or "shouldn't you give just a little more" without really knowing what we provide, would really chap my hide.

Employers, in general, are probably going to feel that they are generous to their employees, and also probably feel that their employees don't appreciate enough the benefits they do get... so any attitude that reinforces that is going to set up an adversarial relationship between you and the person you're trying to sell to.

Instead of getting mad at the employers, try to sympathize with them and put yourself into their shoes.

The argument of "don't you want to help your employees when they have to miss work?" isn't going to resonate with them because they don't even want to think about their employees missing work... they want to think about their employees working.

If you're talking to employers, the strongest case I could think to make, especially in this economy, is one of saving money. "You're paying too much for your benefits now, and we can help you cut costs." Something like that.

Good luck and again, the best advice I can give is to try to put yourself in the employers shoes rather than the employees shoes... you need to be able to relate to your target.

you got me wrong dude, the stuff about me saying some employees don't care, is what I'm thinking after I deal w/ some of them, I don't actually tell them that, I'm trying to get customers, not piss them off (I don't want a rep going around that AFLAC salespeople are snooty)

if they say they're not interested, I usually leave on good terms and thank them for their time

I could use what you have in bold though, I don't think I could put it any more strongly than tax-rebates though

 

[Dallas]

you got me wrong dude, the stuff about me saying some employees don't care, is what I'm thinking after I deal w/ some of them, I don't actually tell them that, I'm trying to get customers, not piss them off (I don't want a rep going around that AFLAC salespeople are snooty)

I could use what you have in bold though, I don't think I could put it any more strongly than tax-rebates though

Maybe you need to be a more agressive duck. Take one of your co-workers here for example.


I bet they aren't hurting.


Adapt and overcome.

 

[Danny White]

you got me wrong dude, the stuff about me saying some employees don't care, is what I'm thinking after I deal w/ some of them, I don't actually tell them that, I'm trying to get customers, not piss them off (I don't want a rep going around that AFLAC salespeople are snooty)

if they say they're not interested, I usually leave on good terms and thank them for their time

I could use what you have in bold though, I don't think I could put it any more strongly than tax-rebates though

Can you get the duck to help you make your calls?

 

[Dallas]

Can you get the duck to help you make your calls?

I would SO talk to that duck on the phone.


Duck: AFLAC


Me: LoL do it again...


Duck: AFLAC


Me: That is PERFECT. You sound just like him. Do it again.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Maybe you need to be a more agressive duck. Take one of your co-workers here for example.


I bet they aren't hurting.


Adapt and overcome.

Can you get the duck to help you make your calls?

from now on I'm incorporating the duck into my calls

you buy my assurance or the duck gets it!

or I was thinking

every time you turn down a AFLAC person, a duck loses it's wings

 

[Angus]

that's why I hate employers

No, it's because they won't make you rich.

 

[Danny White]

My favorite one:

[youtube]MlT-CsJ7HC8[/youtube]

 

[Bob Sacamano]

it's funny, all these commercials, and people are still telling me that they already have health insurance

I just want to hold a meeting so I can publicly ream them w/ a soldering iron

but I can't blame them, because I didn't know exactly what AFLAC was before either