Step 1: Systems
Websites, Agent Handbook & Getting Contracted with the Carriers
Setting up your Passwords and Logins with SFG:
Symmetry has 2 main websites: SFGLife.com (corporate website) and Optpro.sfgcrm.com (lead management website).
SFGlife.com
You should have received your login for sfglife.com when your Unlicensed Agent Enrollment Form or Contracting Paperwork (if you were already licensed) was approved, from SFG. If you haven’t received it yet, please send an email to your mentor.
Opt!
You will be given your login for OPT! from SFG, once you have submitted your license and your completed contracting paperwork has been approved.
Configure Browser Settings: When using the Opt! site, it’s recommended you use Chrome, Internet Explorer 11 internet browsers and make sure to configure your browser settings in order to display the online portal properly. (Note: Firefox and Safari are no longer supported browsers for Opt!) If you have technical difficulties, you may call OPT technical support team at 908-232-9968 to have them walk through it.
Get your E & O Coverage:
E&O Insurance is a professional liability insurance that protects agents against claims made by clients for negligent actions. Errors and Omissions insurance covers both court costs and any settlements up to the amount specified on the insurance contract. Click here for complete instructions.
Review Symmetry Handbook:
This will cover in detail everything Symmetry, including:
- Mission Statement
- Code of Conduct
- Corporate Office Contact Info
- Authorized & Unauthorized Acts
- Commissions
- Contracting Procedures
- Important Terminology & Language
- Promotion Guidelines
- Levels of Leadership Chart
- Bonus Structure
- Contests & Trips
- Marketing & Branding
- Leads
- OPT! Lead Inventory
- New Business Submittal
- Agents Termination or Withdrawal
Step 2: Leads
Ordering & Printing Off Your Leads
Placing your First Lead Order:
- Have a Conversation with your Mentor/Manager: Its important to have a conversation with your Mentor/Manager about what kind of leads to purchase (5A leads, 4 A leads, etc.), how many leads, & what counties to purchase them from .
- Figure out How Much Money you Want to Make: The good news is, there is a science to this business, this is NOT a guessing game. You have the ability to buy your own production here, & print your own money.
- Watch the Unlocking the Combination to your Safe to Print your Own Money: To better understand the philosophy of how many leads to order
- Use the Combination to Your Safe Tool: Watch the video “What is the Combination” & then Click on the “Unlock my Safe Button” and enter in the combination
How Many Leads Should I Order?
If you haven’t done so already, make sure to print out “Outlining Your Success Worksheet” and send it to your manger or the person you are working with so that they can help game plan your success. You will need to consult with your mentor or manager on the amount of money you would like to make your first month, and they will provide you with the information on the number of leads you need to get, the number of contacts you need to make, and the number of appointments you will need to set in order to accomplish your monthly income goal. On average on the 5A, and 4A leads, for every 10 people you get a hold of, you should be able to set 1 to 2 appointments. So obviously if your goal is to set 10 appointments your first week out and you only get 40 5A leads, chances are very good you will NOT get a hold of all 40, and even if you did, the number of appointments you can expect to get would be 4-8. So again, make sure to have the number of resources “leads” to get the number of appointments you want. The combination WORKS every time, we just need you to tell us what’s in your safe, so we can show you how to unlock it. (use the Combination to Your Safe tool below to figure out what you need to do to make the $$ you want.)
Unlocking the Combination to your Safe to Print your Own Money
Activity vs Productivity:
How many leads you get will greatly effect how many appointments you set. The number of appointments you set will greatly depend on how many people you get ahold of, which is greatly effected by the number of dials you make. Don’t be like many beginners and confuse ACTIVITY vs PRODUCTIVITY! You can be very “Active” yet accomplish nothing. You could spend hours organizing your leads, your paperclips on your desk, making sure you call at the right times, and worse yet, STOPPING after making a certain numbers of dials or contacts as opposed to continuing to do the ACTIVITY necessary to have the PRODUCTIVITY of setting the actual number of appointments needed to earn your desired income that week! You hold the combination to the amount of income you want to earn, Its your job to enter in the combination to the safe to unlock it.
Combination to your safe tool:
Watch the video on the left “What Is My Combination?” then click on “Unlock My Safe”.
How To Order Leads in Opt-Soft
How to Print off your leads
For an Extensive Explanation on All Questions that you may have about leads, please Click Here.
Step 3: Calling Leads
Preparing to Call Your Leads
Watch the First 90 Days:
| Recommended Schedule For Calling | |||
| Day | Time | Note | |
| Friday Evening | 3:00pm – 8:30pm | ||
| Saturday | 9:00am – 7:00pm | ||
| Sunday | 2:00pm – 6:00pm | if needed to get the number of appts you need for the week | |
| Monday – Wednesday | 5:00pm – 8:30pm | if needed to get the number of appts you need for the week | |
Listen to the following Audios PRIOR to Calling your leads:
Print ALL the forms below to have with you when calling your leads:
(you will need to have BOTH the A lead Script and B lead Scripts when calling the B leads/Older Leads)
Activity Report
Client Qual Form
A Lead Phone Script
B Lead Phone Script
Step 4: Appointments
Using the Online Product Guide and Consulting With Your Mentor
You scheduled some appointments, now what?
You scheduled some appointments and it’s time to figure out products they qualify for and put some options together. If you are brand new, you’ll want to be in constant communication with your mentor every step of this process. Here are the steps you should take to figuring out the best products for your client.
Reference Product Adviser
Consult With Your Mentor
Do A Risk Assessment
Reference Product Adviser
Watch How To Register and Use The Product Adviser
When scheduling your appointments, you should’ve collected the various health issues from each of your clients. You will need this information to put into the Product Adviser to figure out what products they qualify for. You’ll first need to create an account and select who your manager is. They will receive an email informing them of your request and will need to approve you. You may want to give them a heads-up so they can approve you right away.
The Product Adviser will give you a top 3 recommended products, but you can click on the text below that list to see all products. You’ll also be able to access the following for each product:
- Agent Guide
- Build Chart
- Videos (product videos and sales training videos)
- Quoting Tools
- Link to Applications
- Underwriting Phone Numbers, and more.
Consult With Your Mentor
In the beginning, you should ALWAYS call your mentor to make sure you’re on the right track. Having said that, understand that it is your responsible to educating yourself on each of the products you’re presenting. The Product Adviser was designed to have everything you need to educate yourself about the products and how to present them by watching the sales videos next to each product. As in Football, the coaches job is NOT to teach the players the game what a football is, but in contrast, their job is to COACH and show the players what plays to run in a given situation, perfect their offense or defense, increase the accuracy of the execution of the plays they are running, and most importantly how to WIN the game!
(Your agency may have weekly calls available to further help teach you more about these products so check with your mentor to see else might available.)
Do A Risk Assessment
Once you know what products to look at for your client, call the carrier underwriters and ask to do a risk assessment to make sure the client will qualify for the products recommended and get a tentative approval for each appointment PRIOR to going on the appointment. The underwriter may ask you for further clarification on a certain health issue that you didn’t know to ask the client. This will help you in knowing what questions to ask the client in the appointment if the health issues aren’t 100% clear. For example, the client may tell you they have diabetes. The underwriter will probably ask when it was diagnosed, are they taking insulin, etc. Doing risk assessments are one of the best ways to educate yourself on what questions to ask to be better at determining what products they truly will qualify for. Remember to ALWAYS write down the name of the underwriter you spoke to in the comments section of the application.
Step 5: Quotes
Download The Carrier Software & Creating Quotes
Quoting Software
There are two ways of running quotes: carrier software or mobile quoting websites. The mobile quoting websites are quick and convenient, but the software is more thorough and will allow you to print illustrations for clients that explains what the policy covers.
To download carrier software, login to your SFG Back office www.sfglife.com and click on the “Carriers” tab. FOLLOW ALL the directions to download the following software onto your computer. Below are the main carriers you will be using at first. You can click on each link which will direct you to the individual carrier pages with the software downloads, agent guides, marketing materials, and even training on how to use that particular software etc. (note: the software is only Windows compatible, so if you’re using a Mac you can purchase Parallels Desktop ($79.99) or VM Fusion ($59.99) to run a windows version on your mac in order to download the quotes. These programs allow you to run both your Mac and Windows operating system simultaneously! If you do not have a current windows version you can buy that at the Microsoft Store Online and download that on your computer using your parallels desktop or VM Fusion desktop.)
American-Amicable
Mutual of Omaha
Americo
Transamerica
Mobile Quotes
If you are in the home or on the fly, you can use the mobile quoting tool by going to m.agenttraining.info from your smart phone and clicking on the button called “Quotes”.
Examples of Running Quotes
The Science Behind Creating Quotes
Step 6: Applications
Printing and Filling Out Applications
3 Different Ways Applications Can Be Filled Out
Paper Application
iGo eApp
iPad PDF Application
How Print Paper Applications
Your first applications for each carrier MUST be submitted on a paper application. Most carriers use a website called iPipeline to give agents a central location to get all carrier applications, but the exception is American-Amicable. Use the links below to go to either iPipeline or American-Amicable’s application website and watch the video to the right to see exactly where you go to find the applications you need.
Once you have written your first piece of business with a carrier, you will be assigned a producer or agent number for that specific carrier. You could continue to write paper apps if you choose, but it’s recommended that you start using e-Apps (electronic applications). Below, you’ll find more information on both methods so you can choose the method that you feel the most comfortable with (just keep in mind, e-Apps are not available until you have an agent number with that particular carrier so you’ll have to use paper apps until that point).
How To Fill Out A Paper Application
Filling out your first application can be a little confusing so you can watch the videos to the right. We walk you through, not just how to fill out the application, but the little nuances that may not be clear your first time around.
Print & View the Sample Paper Apps
Print off the sample apps by clicking on each application icon. You will want to use these apps to practice, and reference PRIOR to & while you are in the home, and to review and correct PRIOR to submitting your app to be scrubbed by your mentor/manager. You will have the ability to also page through the sample apps online, as they are in E-book Format.
e-Apps, How to Use Them, and How To Submit Them
Most of the companies we work with use electronic applications, which ensures the application is filled out correctly. They also get sent directly to the underwriters and cuts down on processing time by days. Watch the 4 quick 1 to 2 minute training videos below on how to fill out iGO e-Apps.
Accessing iGo eApps
You can get to the carrier e-apps by clicking here or on the menu bar click on Resources and iGO e-Apps. Or, Select the Carrier Below to Access their e-App
Using Your iPad to Fill out Paper Apps
If you use an iPad, you’ll get the applications the same way as you get your paper applicaitons, only instead of printing them off , just save them as a PDF document on your computer. We recommend you manage and organize them in a Dropbox or Google Drive folder to make it easy to access from your I-pad. Watch the video to the left for more detailed instructions. Please note: the beginning of the videos show the old Symmetry Website, so you can use the links above to get to the application pages. Also, the “Home Protector” name has changed to “Home Certainty”.
Step 7: Presentation
How To Present Full Mortgage Payoff, Critical Period Coverage & Final Expense
Presenting Full / Partial Mortgage Payoff
Watch the video below on how to present a full mortgage (or partial mortgage payoff) option to a client. In this video, we illustrate using the American-Amicable Home Certainty (Home Protector is the old name), but the concept will be the same with most of the mortgage protection products. Once you’ve watched the video, listen to the audio next to it on how to get an 80% close ratio when presenting this concept.
Getting a 80% Close Ratio in the home
Presenting Critical Period Coverage
Critical Period Coverage is going to be used with clients that either don’t qualify for full mortgage payoff or can’t afford it. Critical Period Coverage is designed to cover the mortgage payments for 1 – 2 years (in most cases) to give the family time to put a plan together. Keep in mind that “Critical Period Coverage” is not a product, but a concept. You are typically using Whole Life products and the face amount is determined by how many mortgage payments they would need to make during that time period (usually 12 months, 18 months, or 24 months). Watch the video below and listen to the audio beside it to learn more.
Critical Period Coverage Concepts
Presenting Final Expense
Final expense insurance is an insurance policy used to pay for funeral services and a burial when the named insured dies. Such a policy helps ease the financial burden placed on a family when a loved one dies. Final expense insurance allows the named insured to feel safe knowing that funeral-related expenses are covered regardless of the statutes of their estate at the time of death
The Art of Selling Final Expense with Matt & Brad Smith
Step 8: Preperation
Preparing To Go Into The Home
Preparing To Go Into The Home
You’re almost ready for your first appointment. Let’s go through a checklist to make sure you have everything you need.
Have the necessary applications & backups for your scheduled Appts.
Before going into the home, you want to make sure that you are prepared with the necessary paperwork, not only for the appointments that you went over with your mentor, but also with back up applications in case the situation or product changes due to additional information the client gives you while you are in the home. There are a couple ways you can do this. 1. Go to an office supply store and pick up a expandable file folder or file box to keep in your car. You DON’T want to walk into the home carrying this with you of course, as you will look like a traveling salesman, which is NOT the first impression you want to give as you walk into a potential clients home. 2. Download all of the applications to an iPad using the app “Notability” (you can learn more about this option in Step 6 above).
Below are the applications you should have with you along with the questionnaires. If you do not have them printed out already, please do so now.
American Amicable:
Home Certainty | Easy Term | Dignity Solutions
AM AM Questionnaires (Print 5 of each of the main ones)
Diabetes | High Blood Pressure | Asthma | Arthritis | Cancer | Aviation | Alcohol Use – For someone with a recent DUI or DWI
United Home Life:
Term Life | Final Expense/Whole Life | Provider Whole Life
Americo:,
HMS 150 | Critical Illness Rider App | Critical Illness Disclosure Disability Rider App | Replacement form -required in almost ALL states whether replacing current coverage or not
Have your scripts printed out and studied on what you will say in the home:
The following scripts are the scripts you want to make sure to print out, study, and take with you, as this is your guide to how the presentation will go in the home. In the beginning, many agents have the scripts right in front of them (hidden behind their computer in in their presentation folder) to reference and make sure to stay on track. Print off the following scripts to study and take with you.
Always remember to create the VALUE and find out their WHY?
Now that you are prepared to go into the home, remember that you are there to address a need that your client is or was concerned about. It’s best if you go in with the mindset that you are NOT there to SELL anything, but rather to find out what their concern is for wanting to put coverage in place to protect their family, and helping them to customize the coverage that best fits their needs and fits into the budget.
Message from Agency Director Nate Auffort: “I will tell you, as I tell everyone of my clients, “budget” is a loaded word, as we all budget for things WE see VALUE in. Some people budget $150/mo for a cell phone or $100/mo to watch tv, while others may think $150/mo for a cell phone is crazy, yet those same people may budget $500/mo to go out to eat or even on alcohol. I have made the mistake before, so I am not going to do it again, in terms of determining what VALUE you place on the protection of you and your family or even the value you place on your wife or families life, but rather present all the options you qualify for and then allow YOU to customize the coverage that best fits YOUR needs and what VALUE you see in it.”
We cannot stress enough that the MAJOR area that most agents fail to do well in the beginning is to REALLY find out and PULL OUT the clients Why. WHY did they fill out this form? WHAT was there concern? Example, “HOW would it look for you (fill in their name) if we were having this conversation without (fill in their spouses name) here, and they had passed away yesterday? Would it be tough financially for you to stay in the home or to keep the house?” Would it be somewhat of a financial hardship on you? Most of the time that answer is an astounding YES! “WELL (fill in their name) what would you have to do in order not to lose your home?” And if your home, or a portion of your home was paid off, or even if the mortgage payments were mad for you for a set period of time allowing you enough time to make Logical decisions vs emotional decisions, how would that effect your situation in the event of your spouses death?
Let them answer, and paint the picture of what their life would look like WITH this product in place and more importantly what it may look like WITHOUT!
Listen to the following audio before going into the home to learn how to create the value!
Step 9: Submission
Submitting Your Completed Applications To The Carrier
Steps To Submitting Your Business
Scrubb Your App
Compare your completed application with the corresponding sample application below to make sure everything is filled out correctly. Not having it filled out correctly will delay the approval process and it’s much easier to take care of that before submitting the app. We recommend going line by line, looking for any missed boxes, signatures, dates, etc. See the sample apps below.
Scan Your Application (if paper application)
If you don’t have a scanner you can use your smart phone by downloading an app call CamScanner. This will allow you to take pictures of each page and save it as one pdf document. You’ll can then email it to yourself so you can access it on your computer.
Upload Application To Opt!
Now it’s time to upload your application on the Opt! website. You’ll need the application to be in electronic format (preferably pdf). If you wrote a paper application you’ll need to scan the application onto your computer. (See instructions below if you don’t have a scanner.)
Watch the video to the right to learn how to upload your application. When you have completed this, your manager will review your application to make sure it’s in good order. Once he does this he will either approve it or reject it. If it’s rejected, you’ll receive an email saying it’s not in good order. If it’s approved, it will be sent to the carrier and you’ll receive an email saying it was approved. If for whatever reason you do not see this within 24-48 hours, please reach out to your mentor to bring it to your managers attention. It is VERY important to watch the video tutorial BEFORE submitting your applications.
Submit Your Numbers On Agenttraining.info
Once you have uploaded your application to Opt! you need to submit your numbers on agenttraining.info/applications. This is pretty self explanatory, but if you need assistance there is a video on that page that walks you through how to do it.
Fill in the Weekly Report:
Please fill in your weekly numbers by Friday at 5pm. DO NOT put anything in the PPL Column as the spreadsheet as it will automatically calculate it for you. If your name is NOT on the list you can type it in. Also MAKE SURE you are entering in your numbers on the correct week, which for example, the month and date listed at the bottom is the date of the Friday of each turn in. Watch the short instructional video on how to update the weekly report.
Find Your Manager Below To Access The Correct Report
Not every manager requires a weekly activity report to be completed. If you don’t see your manager below, they don’t require you to report your numbers. The following managers do require it: Auffort Agency, Faulkner Agency, Brock Agency, Page Agency, and Rudick Agency.
Step 10: Completion
Getting Paid On Your Business
Check Your Pending Business
Congratulations on submitting your application to the carrier. This is just the first step in getting this policy issued so don’t forget to continually check the status of the applications to make sure everything goes through smoothly. Occasionally the carriers will have outstanding requirements that you may need to get to them in order to get your application issued in a timely manner. The challenge is that there is no way of knowing this if you don’t continually check your pending business. This is a common oversight with new agents so we highly encourage you to check your pending business at least twice a week. Watch the video to the right to learn how to check your business with four of our primary carriers: American-Amicable, United Home Life, Transamerica, and Americo. The other carriers are very similar.
Submitting the Policy Receipts
Once the policy for your client has been approved, issued, and mailed to you, you will need to schedule a time to deliver the policy to them. Included with the policy will be a policy receipt and possibly an amendment that may be required from the carrier before you will get paid. The policy must be signed by the client when you deliver the policy. This is a very important part of the process to ensure that the policy has been delivered and accepted by the client. In some cases, if these policy receipts are not received in 60 to 90 days, they will actually cancel the policy and chargeback the commissions. You WILL be notified by email and or a letter in the mail before this would happen. You can click below on the carrier contact button to locate the email to send in your policy receipts or instructions for each carrier on where to send the policy receipts will be outlined with the policy receipt when you receive it.
Getting Paid on Your Business
The final step is the best one, which is getting paid for the work you’ve done! Learn from our experiences by listening to the following 3 audios on how to set proper expectations with your client, avoid unnecessary declines, and how to get paid quickly on your business.