In this third episode of “How to Sell Insurance to Seniors,” Lead Heroes’ Founder and President, Glen Shelton, speaks with Jeff Root. Jeff founded DigitalBGA.com, a company that has always sold insurance strictly over the phone. This has qualified him to be the author of the highly regarded book Digital Life Insurance Agent in 2016. He has also hosted more than 50 episodes of the podcast Modern Life Insurance Selling, primarily as a way to demonstrate that life insurance can be sold over the telephone.

DigitalBGA WAS READY FOR THE PANDEMIC

When the pandemic struck early in 2020, Jeff’s company was already far ahead of the curve. Many traditionally trained brick-and-mortal agents approached DigitalBGA. The company had to be selective, but as Jeff explains to Glen, there was a certain, select type of agent they were seeking. They also speak about the hottest products in telesales today.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Interview with: Jeff Root, Managing Partner, DigitalBGA

Glen: When the pandemic hit, correct me if I’m wrong here, I think you were traveling overseas, right? You were traveling, and you were selling here in the states while you were international, right?

 Jeff: Yes. One of the big things I love about telesales is that you can do it from anywhere with an internet connection. It’s a lifestyle choice, as well as a business choice.

Glen: I noticed within the first few weeks, you were running job ads on some of the major social media networks. I’m just like, “This is incredible. Not only is Jeff working right now and his agents are working—they’re doing great—but Jeff’s actually scaling up. He’s growing.”

 Jeff: The whole COVID thing really brought a lot of people to our doorstep. We had to hire quickly. We turned down 80% of the agents that reached out to us. Our company has a specific profile of agents. We have an open release policy. We work on making sure that the agents that work with us are the right agents, that they’re taking at least 10 leads a day. Many of our agents take over 40 leads a day.

Glen: It’s crazy to me that it took a global crisis before there were so many people starting to focus on telesales. Especially in the final expense realm. It can be a little more difficult. You mention people coming from field sales trying to get into telesales, and that’s not a direct translation. My next question for you, Jeff, would be what does a successful work-from-home final expense telesales agent do? What makes them successful?

Jeff: All right. Here’s my super-secret ultimate guide to success in life insurance telesales. Step one: get in the game. Step two: stay in the game. That’s really it. Most agents dabble in telesales but rarely do they actually get in the game. Just working at Digital BGA with our agents for 45 days—we have this thing called “Thrive in 45”—45 days of hardcore focus on telesales. We’ll make anyone successful with the right training and systems. Six months of hardcore focus on telesales will change your life. Where agents really, I guess, fail out, is they don’t stay in the game. Most agents don’t have the grit to make it past 45 days in telesales, let alone the first six months. Agents need to ask themselves every day—viciously ask themselves in the beginning, I should say—if they have the dedication to stick through that first 45 days.

Glen: I can’t speak enough about what you guys are doing from a data standpoint. I’d love to get access. Do you have a video? Do you guys have an intro video that you do for agents or anything like that?

Jeff: We do. If you go to DigitalBGA.com on the technology page, we have a video there. For us, it was to be able to see the data on a high-level view. All the leads that we generate, we can see from the source. We tracked it from the source. And we see the sales ratio—even granular down to a specific agent.

Glen: Is there any advice you could give to agency owners when it comes to maybe motivating their team, keeping them on track with sales goals, sales targets?

Jeff: Daily huddles are one. Not long. Keep it short: 10-15 minute daily huddles. Talk about yesterday. Always start with the good. Praise people. Talk about what the goals are for today, and then we’ll bring up any challenges or any optimizations. This is just the engagement to let them know you are there for them, and that they hear your voice, and that you care.

Glen: Jeff, any final thoughts that you want to share about final expense telesales for any agents out there?

Jeff: Final expense telesales is the hot hand right now. The conditions for final expense telesales have never been better. There’s a big, growing market. The cost per acquisition of a client is still low. I don’t think it will always be this way. It’s just the right time.

Glen: Jeff, what’s the best way, if someone wants to get a hold of you, to contact you or to find you?

Jeff: We have a Facebook group called Digital Life Insurance Agents. Then also DigitalBGA.com as well.

Glen: Awesome. Jeff, again, I appreciate you coming on. Until next time, you guys.

• Jeff Root
• Co Founder of Digital BGA
• Website: https://nationcareinsuranceservices.com/