In talking with agents about leads the questions I am asked are all over the board. Questions such as “What are the returns I can expect,” “What is the closing ratio,” “What’s the cost,” and, believe or not, “How good are they?”

Any IMO, recruiter, upline manager who spits out an answer to these questions leaving you with the impression that their leads are the best around is lying to you. Let me explain taking on these questions one by one.

One of the questions I ask myself after giving a presentation in a home is “…what did I do (or not do) to make (or not make) the sale?” After hundreds of presentations I still ask myself that question after each and every presentation. The goal of which is to increase the success of a positive outcome while developing a duplicable process.

The single most important part of the sales process is choosing the right product and the right carrier to place your application. It is the difference that will either gain you a client or not. Achieve your prospects goal of a new life insurance policy or not.

Field underwriting life insurance applications is about assessing the prospects risk to the insurance carrier and it begins the second you walk up to the front door not during appointment setting. Read the article “The Number One Mistake in Appointment Setting” for why. As you walk up to the door look around noticing any ashtrays or medical equipment such as canes or walkers making a mental note for later.

The most important part of Insurance selling is having leads. Regardless of how those are generated, having people to see each and every week is the difference between succeeding or not. The goal of every lead is getting an appointment…period.

The chief mistake I see agents make in appointment setting is over qualifying the lead.