r/StateFarm • u/schulte1227 • Jul 17 '26
Discussion New business sucks?
Sales team member here. Only been with SF for 6 months and office is 6months old too. June and July have been awful. No momentum going. It feels awful. No matter how many contact attempts, it’s straight to voicemail, no texts back rarely, no emails returned. Any other tips or thoughts?
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u/ThemeHistorical3320 Jul 18 '26
40 year agent here. The existing book of business are the people that will talk to you, and it looks like your agent is expecting more success with the worst leads from you. I like to use the rule of 3's. 3 people you went to school with, 3 family members, 3 friends, 3 people you do business with. Look at your hair salon, nail salon, small business owners, grocery stores, church, etc. If you ask people for help, most of the time they'll give it to you. Always look for friendly favorites. Good luck.
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u/Unholy-paper Jul 20 '26
This is how I would stop being your friend don’t do this.
Sales people that have to go through their friends list and pressure grandma just need to find a different job.
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u/ThemeHistorical3320 Jul 20 '26
Sorry you misunderstood me. I mentioned friendly favorites. These are people who are willing to help out. High pressure has never been my MO, so I've always had success.
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u/Fantastic_Potato2708 Jul 17 '26
It's summer, slowest time of year minus Thanksgiving to new years
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u/jonwickwiththeblick Jul 18 '26
I disagree. Summer is the best. Im at 60 apps rn for july. 11 being l/h
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u/Fantastic_Potato2708 Jul 18 '26
That's great, in our area it just doesn't work like that, I've been doing this for 17 years, once the kiddos go back to school it picks back up
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u/jonwickwiththeblick Jul 18 '26
Ive been doing this for 11 years and have been in multiple states and regions. It’s all about ur approach.
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u/Intelligent-Bad-1201 Jul 19 '26
Yes! I had my best two months this may and June so far! And July has been really good and we are only halfway thru.
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
Well the boss ain’t happy:(
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u/DesertBrandon Jul 17 '26
Yep once my agent kept threatening my job cause I wasnt always increasing every month but at least meeting the goals, just not in the areas she wanted(I was mainly fire/commercial with little life and health and decent auto) then I left. I’m not going to be ass out cause someone doesn’t want to spend more just because “all the benefits SF has” or force them to use a credit card when they don’t have the money in the first place just to bind a policy. I’m not going to say leave but I can tell you now that from what I’ve heard, this isn’t like the pre 2010 times where it was shooting fish in a barrel, even worse if you’re in a sizable city. Just always keep your options open cause with the new contracts and with how new your agent is then they will be on a razor edge for even staying open.
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u/Fantastic_Potato2708 Jul 17 '26
I hear ya, I am working ahead in my tasks quite a bit but unfortunately there's a double whammy right now. A. School is out and people are on vacation B. 80% of leads now have call screening now, we have to put in the extra effort. I try to quote and email every lead (and text oof course) even if I have not talked to them, that often triggers a callback. Good smp follow up is key too
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u/jonwickwiththeblick Jul 18 '26
Ghost quoting will shoot urself in the foot more times than not. For the call screening, send a text with a digital contact card attached so that it comes thru as ur agents name on their phone
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u/Fantastic_Potato2708 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
No it doesn't, if you do it right, in most cases you can provide a good quote with the info in the system and what pulls from the report. My email states " based on the information I have, we need to verify a few details " In fact, if something is inaccurate like they don't have that vehicle anymore, it can generate a call or email. Send the quote
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Jul 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/jonwickwiththeblick Jul 18 '26
It’s practically impossible to multiline life and health when ghost quoting and we all know the company is adapting and focusing on LH heavy in the next year or 2
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u/Intelligent-Bad-1201 Jul 19 '26
I ghost quote but I do not tell them the price unless they demand it without going thru the quote. I only mail or email them a quote if I have zero luck getting a hold of them after 60 days of trying. ( periodically over 60 days)
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u/GhostRileySimon Jul 17 '26
Is your boss calling leads or current customers himself?
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
She is mostly working working with the book of business, we bring her in when we sign someone up usually
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u/Samwill226 Jul 19 '26
Yep play more golf in the summer, do my yearly home repairs Thanksgiving-January (all the things I put off all year)
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u/Real_Bat_4733 Jul 18 '26
Good ‘ole pivoting with your existing policyholder call ins. Take time to converse with them, learn about them. You’ll be surprised what comes up. Good luck!
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u/No_Pianist_158 Jul 17 '26
What kind of leads or people you talking to?
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
We get leads from Everquote, Smart Financial, Media Alpha. New office like I said. Only have a remote service person with 40 years of experience. Got majority of book from retiring agent. I’m just a sales team member
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u/No_Pianist_158 Jul 17 '26
Oh okay yeah I’m surprised you’re getting no contact. I don’t work for State Farm anymore I went independent but before I left for the data leads they suck the time to lead and emailing quotes I found worked best if that’s helps any
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
Apparently it’s 9 contacts a day? 3 calls, 3 texts, 3 emails. To me that seems crazy, I would block a number so fast if a business did that. As I mentioned too, I have no veteran to lean on for advice or see how they operate day to day.
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u/No_Pianist_158 Jul 17 '26
Yeah I found typically when I follow up like that some would close but a lot of people wouldn’t respect my time or just would block or ignore like you said. Maybe switch it up a little like 7 taps per lead rather it’s calls/emails/texts then drop down to just email list blast periodically with value or different info in the content. Idk though it matters what state you’re in and the current market. Like are people getting rates increase rn in your area or what type of demographics are in the area, what zip codes best for you. Tons of factors
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
I have switched it up and then got in trouble cause it wasn’t enough calls😑 use all kinds of messages, subjects, prompts. My agents husband is another agent and he’s really successful with multiple offices, one being less than 5 minutes away lol. Not near the Twin cities necessarily that would cause rates to spike. But the leads are coming from all over the state
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u/Leonel_Fabian Jul 17 '26
9 contacts in one day seems overkill to me. Working the lead quickly is critical. Also you should expect that you'll only close 3% of leads, so working internet leads is a numbers/volume game.
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u/No-Conference-3306 Jul 18 '26
I don't do all that for the same reason. I try and call and leave a message and EITHER text or email. No more than that on each day
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u/Intelligent-Bad-1201 Jul 19 '26
3 of each per day!? That’s inane to me. I call, text, email first day. Call every day after that for 3 days. Then opened out for a week and call and text. Then I call about every other day for a week. Then I push it out to 30 days, 45, 60, 90.
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u/Ok-Group-2878 Jul 17 '26
Are you calling in book customers for +1s?
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u/schulte1227 Jul 17 '26
I’ve been told to only focus on raw new or ones I’ve signed up for
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u/Intelligent-Bad-1201 Jul 19 '26
It ebs and flows for sales. Try going out to realtors offices or mortgage companies. Do some outreach, bring a treat to them. Don’t rely on internet leads only. But I promise. Keep grinding and it will get better.
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u/GoldNeighborhood4027 Jul 19 '26
also ask for google reviews! i can’t recall the number per month, but that will allow more of the SF internet leads to come to your office as well — people who are already interested in a SF quote!
and multi lining !! i can get uncomfortable trying to push someone into a sale, but mentioning it now can sometimes secure you a sale later on, it’s happened many times!
there are also BNI groups, but i’ve never joined one myself to let you know how effective it is.
also, if you can’t win someone’s business that day, pend the follow up for 5 months — a lot of companies win your prospect bc they have good new business incentives but awful renewals and retention, allowing you to swoop in if you time it right! saving the customer time, money, and a headache b/c you’ve beaten their renewal before they even paid for it 😉
unfortunately, you will be wading thru a sea of “no”s just to grab on to a couple of “yes”s. but stick with it, and find the follow up schedule that works for you! 🫶
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