FFL USA

How Switching to IULs Took Him From 15 to 142 Policies (Ep. 295)

• FFL USA • Episode 295

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$142,000 in a single month sounds like a highlight reel, but we wanted the unfiltered version, so we brought on Derrick Robison to break down what actually drove the numbers. We talk through the mix of big cases, consistent effort, and the less glamorous truth behind production: lead spend, packed calendars, no-shows, and showing up anyway. Derrick shares what his deposits really looked like, how many appointments he books, and why structure wins when motivation fades. 

Derrick also traces his path from 13 years in ministry into life insurance, and why the overlap is bigger than most people think: stories, service, and getting people to move toward something that matters. From there we get tactical on modern life insurance sales, especially virtual appointments, online lead generation, and why the industry is shifting fast. If you sell indexed universal life insurance, or want to, you’ll hear how Derrick keeps his IUL presentation consistent, why he prefers one-call closes, and how he uses dialers and setters to create leverage without relying on recruiting. 

The conversation goes deeper than sales. Derrick lays out a clear ethical line on affordability, why he won’t push a product that doesn’t fit, and how being blunt can still be kind if people can feel your intent. We also talk co-parenting with 50-50 custody, keeping “first things first,” and how workouts and personal routines keep stress from spilling into family life. 

If you want more conversations like this, subscribe, share this with an agent who needs it, and leave a review. What part of your process needs the biggest upgrade right now?



*****DISCLAIMER******

Results mentioned in this content are not typical and are not a guarantee of future performance. Individual results will vary based on a number of factors, including but not limited to experience, market conditions, product availability, and individual effort. Any examples, case studies, testimonials, or income figures shown are for illustrative purposes only and may not be representative of the experience of other individuals. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Insurance and annuity product guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability and financial strength of the issuing company. FFL USA does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.

Welcome And The $142K Month

SPEAKER_02

Okay, let's roll. All right. Derek Robinson, thank you for coming in. No problem. Thanks for having me. Everybody, thank you for joining us. If there's anything you want to you want us to talk about, please put it in the comments. Today we have a stud who has done 142,000 in one month, and it just happened to be this February. Is that your biggest month ever? Yeah. What was the breakdown of that?

SPEAKER_01

Um, well, I would, I mean, I'd love to say it was just all me, but you know, it's part of luck too. You get a couple big policies, um, which I had I had a couple big ones that that month. Um, but it was like I'm I was ramping up, I was spending more money in leads, um, I was working super hard. Um my my you know schedule was uh pretty consistent and on like it doesn't change. I work the same schedule all every day unless I have my kids, because I'm have my kids 50-50. So the weeks that I have them, I stop and only take appointments after five. The weeks that I don't have them, I will make calls and take appointments until probably seven or eight. Um so yeah. How old are your kids? They are my daughter will be 12 this year, she's 11. My son actually turns uh 10 on Wednesday, so um they're yeah, they're 18 months apart. Awesome, man. Yeah. That's you're gonna have any more? Oh, I'm done. Two and done, dude. Two and done. I wanted kids early, wanted to be a young father, a young grandfather. Um, I was done having we were even my my ex-wife and I were done at 26. So yeah. I'm still able to go and run and take home to the gym and lift with them and you know, do all that fun stuff. So that's awesome, dude. Yeah. Good for you. What made you want to get into life insurance? I didn't want to. Um, it was kind of uh my only option. I was in ministry. I come from a background of ministry, so I was in ministry for 13 years, and I was moving from Albuquerque back to Oklahoma um to help a friend plant a church, and I didn't have really any options. They didn't they weren't paying us at the time because they were it was a church plant. So when you're moving to a church plant and your whole background and your whole resume is ministry, you know, that translating that into something else is kind of difficult, and I didn't want to work construction, and I'd done that, and so I had a friend who was like, hey, um, I know a guy who's doing life insurance.

From Ministry To Life Insurance

SPEAKER_01

Here's his number, call him, get plugged in, and that's kind of how it started. So I needed something that would let me stay home with my kids in the summer because we were moving right before summer, and I didn't want to pay for child care, especially not having income coming in. So did you ever think you'd be a life insurance agent? Uh I mean, no. I worked for State Farm for a little bit, um, but no, not really. Um, I didn't know. I mean, I thought ministry was it, and you know, I'm I'm happy I'm here. I'm able to do a lot more with my I mean, able to do with my family things I didn't think I would be able to do. Um I don't regret the decision.

SPEAKER_02

So dude, ministry and building a life insurance team have a lot more similarities than people think. And you also can really impact people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I would say I had this conversation l this week when we were on the top producer trip um with somebody, because they were like, Man, why don't you have a team yet? Because I'm starting to build. Um, because for a long time I was against it. We can get into that here in a little bit if you want. But um, you know, he they're like, Why don't you have a team here? And he's like, You you can, you know, you are in ministry, you could do it. And I said, Yeah, but the thing is with ministry, getting people to join a team, I I know how to do that. And you are it's you when anyone that joins that team, they are doing it for a higher purpose, right? So it's very, it's very easy to go, yeah, hey, come come join the student team. I could tell you story, I could tell you stories right now that you'd be like, man, students are going through that. And I'd be like, Yeah, and by the time we're done, you'd be like, where do I sign up to serve? Because I want to be a I want to be a role model for these kids that don't have any. Um with life insurance, I would say there's some things that line up with it. It's a little different, it's a little more difficult because one, if they're not licensed, you gotta get them to take a test, right? And then you have to really like you have to get past the people that are just looking for money. And that are like, hey, like we can make an impact. And you do that by stories, the same way you do with, you know, ministry, you do that with stories. Um, talk about the families that you've served that you've had to pay death claims to. Um, those are the those that's what's gonna motivate people.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, but once I've noticed a lot of pe a lot of teams have they do Bible study together, they kind of do life together, and they're starting to bring a lot of these healthy things into business. Have you seen that or no?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, I uh because I really don't like I hop around different Zoom rooms, um, and the Zoom rooms that I've hopped into, and that's how I just network, because we're all in our we're all at home working, right? Unless you're have an office somewhere, you're close to somebody that that would does the same thing. I'm in the middle of Oklahoma, there's no one to do it, no one's doing it that I know of besides me. I'm sure there is, I just haven't met them yet. Um and so Zoom rooms are where it's at, and like I've gotten plugged into the the two or three that I've gotten plugged into are all very faith, faith-based. Um you can tell, I mean, I think when I first got started in the life insurance, it was the kind of not by but you the the culture was you know not as healthy as it is now, I would say. I got sure it's not it. I mean, you get people getting in trouble all the time because of the stuff they're putting on applications or things that they're doing. And now like the teams that I'm a part of that like I see it from the top down, they're like, hey, ask every single question. Like, ask every single question, make sure you're doing what's best for the client, not what's best for you.

SPEAKER_02

So well, yeah, the culture is very good right now throughout the company, and I think that's why it's growing like so rapidly. So we just it's July. The company's issued $500 million in premium. We've been open for three 13 years. We're pacing to hit a billion dollars of issue paid life premium. And I believe that most of these old school companies, th it this is the blockbuster Netflix type of

Culture Shifts And The Future

SPEAKER_02

thing where they don't they think leads are dumb. They think uh you should just use your call your friends and family, and I don't think they realize how clawed uh communic contacting customers is getting easier, running ads on meta is getting easier, and I don't think they understand that this is the future.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I and Netflix had to evolve, and if it didn't, it would have stayed like you remember when you used to get the DVDs? That's what I said the other day.

SPEAKER_02

You remember the DVDs? Everybody, the kids in here were like, no, and I'm like, damn. And then one of the kids was like, I was in third grade then, and I was like, okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. They had that, then they had, and they still have a few, but those the red box like it was that was the thing, and like Netflix was the one that saw it, and they they evolved with it. And look at what it is today. Um, I mean, I remember I think there's I think there's only like one blockbuster left in the United States, and I think it's I I could be way off. I've heard someone say this, I think it's in Alaska. Um I want to go. The one blockbuster. Dude, I loved Gibb going and Friday nights going to Blockbuster is the best. Oh. Pizza, Papa John's pizza, and blockbuster. And you're trying to pick trying to get your mom to get you candy at Blockbuster too.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, or taking my girl my wife now, who was my girlfriend, to Red Box to get a movie to have a date night. Yeah. Is the best. Yeah. We're not getting those times back. No, we're not. I mean Unless you want to go to Alaska, which I might do.

SPEAKER_01

That'd be awesome. That would if I I could be way off, but I think there's only one left in the United States. Um, but yeah, I'm like, they could make some money if you they opened up something like a, you know, it's just like they do with this with the wax wax figures. People pay to go see it. Like, this is what blockbusters used to look like.

SPEAKER_02

So in my house that I've I've lived there for, I don't know, please tell me you have seven years of something. No. Okay. That'd be cool though. Or freaky. But I have a TV that the old owners, probably from like 25 years ago, uh, with a VHS, an old school tube TV that was built into the wall. Okay. Yeah. And I've never moved it. I just left it there. Well, can you move it? Is the question. Yeah, it's so heavy. Well, I told my mom, I was like, because this is the guest bedroom, and my mom's coming over, and I told her to bring some VHSs because there's no cable to it, there's no internet to it, just bring some old VHS movies.

SPEAKER_01

Do you remember the VHS DVD combo? Like, uh, like you could either watch a VHS or a DVD combo. You went to your friend's house and they had one of those. Yeah. Dude, they had it made.

SPEAKER_02

So awesome. All right. So insurance is evolving, it's becoming cool. How many years have you been doing this?

SPEAKER_01

So full-time, this is my second full-time year. Um, so before that, I did it part-time for a year and a half. I was in-home, um, a year and a half to maybe two years, and then I trans I transitioned in back into the ministry full-time and then transitioned back out. Um, and so yeah, it's evolving from, I mean, I remember when I first started and I was in home. And one, I my the upline I had at the time was old school, and that's what he that's what he did, so that's what I was taught, right? And I was looking at these people producing, you know, forty, fifty thousand dollars a month, and I'm like, how in the world

In Home Days Versus Virtual Selling

SPEAKER_01

are they doing that? For the people that did that in-home, like they're they're special. Like they that's a special type of person. Because I think my highest month in-home was maybe maybe fifteen thousand. And it's not that I wasn't working, it's like I was just buying and uh leads are leads, we know this, but also the type of leads are the type of demographic you get, right? Like I was buying these off the ILC um every Monday a thousand dollars in these aged leads, and I was just running through them. I was dial days doing it, then going out, you know, um, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. And my Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays were for dialing. And so I was traveling all over the state, and I just could not I could not figure it out. Like I was not good. Um and then transitioned into ministry, then transitioned back out, and towards the end of that, I started, I found out like, oh wait, online leads are a thing. I can do this from my home. And that's when veterans were first first happening. And I got on that, and all of a sudden it was like a $30,000 month was easy. And then I then I transitioned out, and then I got back in, and when I got back in, I called my upline because my old upline, he he transitioned out, and so I got moved and I said, These are the top two guys on your team. Shout out Terrence Smith. Yeah, he's a great Jason Steiner. Love them both. I said, These were the top two guys on your team. What are they doing? And I'm gonna I'm gonna do exactly what they're doing. And he told me, he's like, This is what they're doing. I was like, okay, so I just head first went in, and I just didn't go, I didn't look back. So I love it.

SPEAKER_02

What what ch so for people who dude, what is what do you think FFL is now virtually percentage-wise?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I I think I would be making up a number because I really don't know. I would say I would say it's in the 90s. I mean, it it has to be. For people that are still doing in-home, like, great. I don't I don't understand it. That's for some people's bread and butter. They want to get in front of the client, they want to, you know, I don't want to drive all over the state, just have someone no-show me. Bro, I don't want people coming to my house.

SPEAKER_02

That's true. Like, as the customer. Yeah. Like I'd rather you not come over. Yeah. So I'm not getting an invite to your house. I mean, you possibly but somebody who I don't know on the phone.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I got you. I don't want you to come over. Yeah. And we but that's what we did for so long. We were just showing up to people's house. Dude, I got stories. I got stories, bro, about like just crazy things that that's the best part about in-house. It is the stories that you have from it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, it's the best part.

SPEAKER_02

So we if we we should do like a book of all the crazy things that have happened to agents in the field.

SPEAKER_01

You know what you should do? You should get agents to submit it. Like, hey, you should start like a feed, message us, and then like you guys just do a podcast where you're reading off. Or you invite a few in that have some crazy stories.

SPEAKER_02

That's not a bad idea. Why don't you tell us one to start? And if you're watching this, throw it in the comments for us. I'm gonna keep this. We might publish this.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna keep this as G-rated as I can. No, you you don't have to keep it G rated. Okay, so I go to this, I go to this older lady's uh apartment. We ride her up trying to do mutual Vomaha, right? Um, she gets denied. And the whole time I'm sitting there, she's like, Oh, you got some big shoulders. And I was like, Thanks, and she's like, You work out? And I was like, Yeah, you know, and I just kind of let it, you know, and she's like, Oh my, you got big shoulders. And I was like, Yeah, thank you so much. And I was like, Okay, well, I gotta go. And she goes, I want to show you my apartment. And I was like, Oh.

Wild Field Stories And Phone Confessions

SPEAKER_01

I can see her whole apartment from where I'm standing. And she's like, No, no, look, look, this is this is this area, and this is my kitchen, and I was like, Oh, that's so great. I was like, Okay, I'm gonna go. She goes, wait, that here's here's my bedroom. And I was like, Oh, okay, she goes, Come here, I want to show I'm like, you know, I really, I really do have to go. I'm I'm so sorry. And as I'm leaving, she pulls me in and hugs me, and like she's an older lady, the door's open, so I know nothing's gonna happen, but she is holding pretty tight, and I'm thinking, something's about to happen. Like, this lady is trying to get something. I was like, I really How old? I'm in her 70s. What? Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

No, it was it was crazy. It was crazy. But I mean, that's what we we deal with, we deal with that crazy on the phone too, right? So I was when we were at the top producer trip. So you were sexually harassed in an appointment for the business. So yeah. That's how committed I am. And I didn't report it to HR, so we're all good. Um but like on the phone, I was we were in Puerto Rico and I was doing an appointment, and um this lady was talking to me and she was trying to get an IUL for her son. And she's like, I don't know though, because he was, you know, he has a record. And I'm like, well, kind of talk to me about that. Like, how long ago was it? What what happened? And um she was like, Well, I just wasn't a good mom, and I I put him around some bad some bad guys as he was growing up. And let's just say he went to jail and he was a little guy, and he does not like talking about it. I'm like, this lady, this mom is confessing to me right now, like telling me her whole life story, and I'm like, trying not to laugh, and I'm like feeling bad for the sun, because I know if the sun's right there hearing this, then he's yeah, it we deal with some crazy things in our business. I've heard I have really good friends that have some better stories than that, okay? If you want to hear a good story, I'm gonna give him a shout out. Go ask Caleb Tipton, okay? Say, hey Caleb Tipton, what's your wildest story about a call that you've done? He'll tell you a good one.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, I'm gonna play this little clip. Hold on, let me see if I can find okay. So I'm with a customer and I asked him if we could do a video, okay? Okay, and we also, when I was in the field, I went through a period of time where I was also doing um Medicare Advantage, and I did like a hundred and something applications like immediately because it was so easy. Okay. This customer was like 90 something years old, but I still was able to help them with that, even though they didn't qualify for final expenses. Okay. But every person I would go see, I would ask them about their life. And I actually would learn a lot. It's kind of like this podcast. I learn a lot from people that come in here, and I take a lot from it. But check this out. Hold on.

SPEAKER_00

All right. How old are you? I'm 95 years old. I did turn 59. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And uh we're sitting in my car when we're helping you with your health care, right? Right. And are you pretty happy about your zero premium plan? Oh, yeah. Cool. What's it what's the trick to uh being 95 but and being as healthy as you are, besides drinking vanilla coke? I made you sure what by the way, we're sitting in my car. Okay. Okay. And a lot of times back in the day, when you go in home, you would just do an appointment in your car for many different reasons. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Matter of fact, I don't I don't go to those fast food places. I and and I make sure that I do not run another man's room. And I exercise every day as for treating four fitness. And uh I that's that's it. I I keep anything that I I'm doing myself surrounding because anything that's harmful to anybody else, I avoid that. That's what I do. I think I keep myself uh prepared for anything that comes up, you know, they won't want to. If men won't try to take advantage of me, I have I'm prepared for them. I mean with women. I have for them to take advantage of.

SPEAKER_02

What do you think you're gonna do if I if I make you mad?

SPEAKER_00

I go get my ER 15, you know, that don't don't spin it around because they may come out here and I had to shoot them.

SPEAKER_02

Bro, but what a beautiful job to be able to connect with people, learn about them, give them something that everybody needs, learn from them, and that was my big thing, dude. What can you what advice can you give me about life?

SPEAKER_01

Man, I would say keep first things first. Like that that's we have we're we're in this business, we're very ambitious, but at the end of the day, the reason we're doing this business is for our families personally. Like the reason I'm in this, the reason I do what I do, is for my kids. So I can spend time with them so I can keep them first, right? And my kids know, like the so for the summer, they're home with me. Um their mom drops them off on her weeks, my weeks they're just home with me. And I'm working, and they know it's when I'm working, I'm working, but they also know, okay, when dad's not working, his phone is down, and we're gonna we're gonna

Family First Advice And Co Parenting

SPEAKER_01

go do something fun, we're gonna hang out, we're gonna build, you know, we're gonna build memories. Um that is like with any anyone that I would tell about life insurance, because this can be all consuming. And so just remember to keep first things first.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people that have that have split up, and I can't imagine how hard it is raising kids like that. Do you have any advice for anyone who's in that situation? Because there's a lot of people in that situation.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, I have an incredible ex-wife. Like I do. She's she's incredible. She's an incredible mom, she's an incredible person. Um, so for us, you know, w it was just like, hey, no matter what disagreements we had, this we're not gonna make this about us. This is gonna be about our kid, like our kids. We're gonna put them first. They're not gonna there's not I'm never talking bad about her. She's not talking bad about me. And I think that's what happens in a lot of divorces is and they're because there's so much hurt and so much animosity, and the parents are trying to get kids on their side, and it's like what you're s you're just being selfish when you do that. Because what you're trying to do is turn your kid against their parent. Like, it doesn't matter, like, let's just say a guy or a woman guy, whoever whatever, they're horrible to the spouse. Okay? If the that kid, they're still looking up to that dad, that mom, like they're holding him on a pedestal. And when you talk bad about them, that's just driving a wedge. Like, yeah, no matter what your experience with your ex-spouse is, keep it your experience. Like, unless it's something where the kid's in danger, right? Like, but we're all adults, we're all, we're all humans, we all make mistakes. Move forward, forgive, and just make it about your child or your children. Um, and that's you know, that's the best best advice I could give. Now, if someone's watching this and they're like, Well, you don't know my situation. I don't know your situation. But you have a kid, and if that spouse is a good parent, you should not be talking bad about that other person. If the kid's safe, if you're safe, if you know they can go over there safely, like, okay, why why that's a win. Like, why talk bad and degrade them? I mean, I don't know. You're I that's a that's a loaded question. Um, I want to ask it because it's way more common than people talk about. I'm okay. I'm okay being asked it. I'm just like, that's something we could talk about for a long time. And because there's so many different scenarios, you know, coming from a background of ministry, I see so many different scenarios. And, you know, I've seen kids in spots where in sixth grade they're having to drive their dad home because their dad is drunk and he took him out for his birthday. Like to a concert that the kid wanted to go to. The dad got drunk, and this sixth the sixth grader is driving his dad home. Crazy. And I'm as a parent, I'm looking at him like, man, I could never picture doing that to my kid. So there are certain situations, I get it, where things, you know, aren't safe. It's not the greatest place, but if everything is good, where I can send my child over there, I know that they're safe, I know that they're a good person, they're gonna take care of them, like quit talking trash. Go go see a therapist. Talk trash to your therapist about that per about your ex-spouse, not your kid.

SPEAKER_02

Well, it's I never realized that the blessing this business could be for you because you get to have your kids home with you. Imagine if you get them half half of the time, and then you have to go to work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And even during the school year, like I I see my kids every day, except Fridays, um, the Fridays, because they're out of school on Fridays, and their mom doesn't work Fridays, so on her weeks she'll keep them. Um, so except the weekends. But like I'm taking them to school every day. If they need to be picked up, I'm picking them up. Like, I'm able to be at the things that they're they're like, Dad, you're gonna be there, right? And they but they they'll make sure it's in my calendar. Because if it's not in my calendar, I tend to forget just because I have I'm running so many things and doing so many things that like as long as it's there, I'm gonna do it. Um, but yeah, I see my kids constantly.

SPEAKER_02

So Sean Mike, for those of you who don't know, he started Family First Life. Um, when I had kids, he called this was his advice, which I'll never forget. He calls me and he goes, Hey dude, I just want to let you know if you mess up your marriage and mess up, which is then gonna mess with your kids, and I've done that and I know how bad it can be. If you do it, I'm gonna break your jaw.

SPEAKER_01

No, but that's like you know, no, I I love it because he he cares enough about you to call you and go, hey, don't repeat the same mistakes I've made. Yeah, and then he but he didn't just say I'm gonna break your jaw.

SPEAKER_02

He continued to say how he was gonna do it. How he's gonna do it, and you're gonna be drinking out of a straw. You're gonna be eating out of a straw, and like it was very detailed. That seems like a very Sean Mike thing to do. I've never forgotten that conversation. It's one of my favorite conversations ever, actually. Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. So, all right. My mom was just telling me my grandma was in real estate back in the day, and ten thousand dollars then would be a lot of money. Okay, so we're talking about what 50 years ago. Right. But one one of the things she would say often was real estate's the only place you can wake up and make ten thousand dollars in one lump sum. Okay, so at this point in time, that was something that was possible if you did a big transaction. Right. You did $142,000 in one month, uh, and I want to talk about this month. You said you got lucky you had some breakthrough big cases in order to hit that number. What did your cash flow look like in that 30 days? And for people watching, there's advanced caps, you don't get all the money right away in case it cancels. There's a lot of things that can limit it, but what was your deposits, do you think? Um, I mean, between 60 and 80 grand. 60 and 80 grand. Yeah. Dude, what a what an amazing how much did you spend on leads?

SPEAKER_01

Um, so here's the here's the great thing. During that time, so in

Cash Flow Leads And Packed Calendars

SPEAKER_01

January. No, no, no, no. It was March before that year. Um, I was only so up until two weeks ago, I've only been spending about 1800 a week in leads. Um, so what is that? 16, you know, seven, right under right around eight grand. Um and so that's that's what that was. And there's been times where there's been more spent and less spent just because I'm, you know, you're trying to new lead vendors cost more, but at that time, from the beginning of the year till two, you know, two weeks ago, I've been on an eighteen hundred dollar a week ad spend.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. So eighteen hundred bucks a week, and what are you writing on average? Sixty to seventy. How many appointments?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I mean it I I mean, I could I I'm gonna say over fifty in a week. More I mean, that's that's probably a low number. I mean, just for example, so like um from the time I left Oklahoma to go to Puerto Rico until Puerto Rico ended, yeah. Puerto Rico ended what was that Tuesday? Wednesday to Wednesday. So Friday, no, we'll say Saturday to Wednesday, I had 90 appointments in those day in those days. Now, did they all show up? No. There's no way, right? So 90 appointments. Um, and so that's how my schedule, like right now, I have I have appointments right now. Um, like tomorrow, the same thing. Like, I'm my my schedule is packed. They're all like they're pre- yeah. Like, so LeeChamp Pro AI, they I love Lee Champ Pro. Um so they don't all get pre-booked through Lee Champ Pro. I just hired a dialer. I also have someone that's coming on my team where he's kind of in a transition period where he was gonna go to another team and he decided he wanted to go with me, so he has to wait like a 30-day period. So in that time, he's dialing too. Um anything that he um anything that he books and like I sell, he'll get a portion of that to go towards leads, because I'm thinking if I'm in his spot, how would I want someone to treat me? And if I'm dialing for some guy, like and I see him making this money, some people like, well, that's part of the business. I'm like, yeah, but if I can give him a foot up and give him money for leads as he's getting started, like that's a win-win. You know what I mean? So he's getting the experience. But yeah, I have a dialer, I have two dialers pretty much right now. Um one is in the Philippines. Um, the other one is my agent that's I'm that's waiting to come on. He's just dialing for me right now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so the a lot of teams, just so you guys know, have a adopted a model where you have setters, and the person in class is the setter for seasoned agents. So they're they're just kind of getting somebody, transferring somebody to a veteran agent or someone who's licensed that can sell them a policy, and it's giving them a lot of practice. And I really like that model because it gets people taking action right away, learning right away, training right away. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And a lot of those, like, those calls, like I will one call close if I can. Um 98% of my business is IUL. Um, and the way I I do that is like I'm just I w I'm very very structured when it comes to what I do when it comes to a presentation. It's the same every time. I now it will vary depending on the person, but I mean 99% of the time it's the same thing. And um like that has been huge for me. That's been huge to help, you know, get to where I'm at. Like, I'm I'm pushing, I want a million this year. That's what I'm going for. Um personally. Personally, yeah. I want a million. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So you're gonna a lot of people say what's the difference from insurance and MLM? And do you have to hire or recruit anybody to do a million dollars? No. I think that's the difference.

SPEAKER_01

Last year I did. Um I mean, it it you don't have to hire and recruit, you're gonna you're gonna be working like a dog, you know what I mean? Like it's it's not something that you can just come in and just I'm I'm gonna get lucky and do this. No, you have to be very intentional with how you do it. Um, but uh it's funny because I was at the top producer trip last year and I'm seeing all these people do a million, and I'm looking at how hard I'm working, and I'm like, there's no way they're doing this by themselves. Like, I'm I'm thinking of every excuse, right? Because I I haven't done it, right? So I'm like, there's no way they they probably have people calling for them, splitting deals, they probably have this, they had this. Last year I ended at 627, and I was like, okay, like they they can do it, they can do it by themselves. Like I see it. You know, I have a goal of my goal, which I will for sure hit with like after last year I set it, 800,000. I will for sure hit that this year, but my big push is is a million.

SPEAKER_02

What I want people to realize is you're in order for you to hit these numbers, you have 50 appointments a week. That I I probably have more than that.

SPEAKER_01

That's just on the low-end guess. How many actually show up? Dude, I wish I could. If every appointment showed up, Andrew, I'd be I'd be rolling. I'd be like, um, I would say it it varies. Um I mean, out of those fifty, it's low for me. I don't and I'm trying to figure out why. I would say 20 to 30, I mean half, if that less than half. And out of those half, if I can get you on the phone and it makes sense for you and you have money, I will close you. If it doesn't make sense for you, I I will not, I won't move forward. If you tell me that you don't have a hundred dollars to spend on it, I won't, I won't do it.

SPEAKER_02

What if they want to buy like three thousand dollars for cremation and they got twenty bucks to spend on it?

SPEAKER_01

I mean I uh yeah, I transition to final expense as far as like, but like if I if I can't get them an IUL, um, I will do that. But if they're doing an IUL, let me rephrase that. If they're doing an IUL and they don't have a hundred dollars, I won't do it. And my some people are like, well, you could still make money off that. I could, but if I'm if someone doesn't have a hundred dollars, what position am I putting them in that I'm taking the last of their hundred dollars with the gas prices going up, with things increasing right now? That's that's not being a good person. That's me looking out for myself. That's and it's probably gonna charge back. Yeah. And and you could you have people that that's something that someone would hear that and go, he's an idiot for doing that. And that's fine. Like, that's fine. I've gotten to where I've gotten because of what the way I do my the way I do things, so I'm I'm happy with it.

SPEAKER_02

Well, people probably want to buy when you tell them that. Like, do you ever say, hey, if you stop spending X amount on stupid things?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, when I dude, when I was in home, like, and I still do it now, but like in home, oh, I was because I live in awkward. I was I was in student ministry for 13 years. Awkward does not bother me. Students would come in and they would they would sit down and they'd be quiet. I'd go and talk to them and they just ignore me, and I'd be like, oh, it's okay. Like, I can I can stay quiet too, and I would just stare at them. Like, it doesn't bother me. So when I'm in a home, when I was in home with somebody and I'm looking and I do a financial breakdown and we

Ethics Pricing And Blunt Money Talk

SPEAKER_01

they're like, oh, we only have $30 left, we can't do it. And then I'm like, man, that's really tough. Andrew, would you say your family's like the most important thing? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Most people would. Like any good person would, right? Would you say your family's more important than those cigarettes? Oh, well, I well you you said it, not me. That's a hard one though. Yeah, I don't care. I don't. That I'm I'm very, I'm very forward, I'm very blunt. I'm gonna be nice about it, but I would be like, hey, is is your is your family more important than you know, you know, that soda that you're drinking, those cases of soda, that how many are you buying? You're buying four at a time? That's 20 bucks right there. How many are you those are you going through a week? Yeah. You know? Like when you when you ch you can challenge somebody and they accept it if they see your heart and if they see where you're coming from. If I'm challenging challenging you just to make you feel like an idiot, then that's not gonna get anywhere. For sure. And I think, you know, if if we're just being honest, a lot of like you hear you get around agents, they talk, and they, you know, there's a bunch of agents that just like to make people feel like idiots. Like, oh, I can't believe I said this, and they and I'm like, okay, yeah, that's that's that's fine. Like we all have quick witty comebacks. We do, because we deal with people, and people are jerks to us, and I've I'm I'm guilty of it too. And I have to remind myself, like, you have to be like be kind about it. Like, let them see your heart, let them see that they that you care enough about them to bring this out. That's like Sean calling you, going, Hey, I I've I've done this, don't do this, or this will happen. And you accepted it, you you laughed about it, but you you behind it, you saw his heart, you saw and and it was the relationship and his heart behind that. For sure. That the reas that's the reason you took it.

SPEAKER_02

One of his skills is to communicate that way. Yeah. That's one of his main that's one of his strongest strengths. Is to like tell you the truth if it hurts, but you know it's coming from a good place. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And yeah, I mean, that's how most I say most, I like to be talked to like that. A lot of people do. Uh just be straightforward with me. Show me like, but I need to know that you care. I need to know that you care. Yeah, that's huge.

SPEAKER_02

All right, working out. Clearly, you work out. What does that do for you? What's your schedule like?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um, so working out for me is just a stress relief. Get me when I was 19, asked me why I was working out. I was super small, I was super conceited, super cocky, want to be the biggest, the baddest in the room. Um I don't care about that anymore. Like, it's just a stress relief. So my day used to be structured where I'm on the phone 7:30 Central. I'm dialing Central and East Coast, and I'll dial till about 10.30 or so, and then I'll eat. Um, like a I'll eat my lunch essentially. And um, about an hour and a half later was a slow time, like 12

Fitness Habits And Stress Relief

SPEAKER_01

between 12 and 2. Some people are like, that's when people are on lunch breaks. I found that was my slow time. Um, so I would go to the gym, come back, protein shake, start dialing again. Um, since I've ramped everything up and with what I'm spending in ad spend right now, I will I won't do that because I need to make sure this works. And so I'm starting my my schedule's changed. I'm up in the morning, I'm going to gym, I'm going to the gym before I work out, before I start my workday, and that's what it is. And is this every day? Yeah, every day, except uh I say every day. I work out four to five times a week, depending on like my week, how late I stayed up. Like if I if I'm I'm someone that I need sleep, some people can get up and just go. Um lack of sleep in the gym for me, it it sucks. Like it ruins my whole workout. Um, but Sundays are days, like Sundays are leg days because I hate working out legs in the morning. It's the worst. So I hate it. So you like to get some food? On leg days, I like to get some food. Like I want to go in there, I want to be able to have a little more energy, I want to go heavy. Um, I don't know if you can tell, but I used to not work out legs. So like I, you know, because I was a wrestler, all I had to do was I could just overpower them with my upper body because I dropped so much weight. Um and as a boy, you just want a big chest, you want big legs, were not important for a long time. And then as I was getting older, I was like, man, I probably need to have some matching up here. Like I can't be walking around looking like this. So um, but yeah, I want to go heavy on legs. So Sundays are legs, Monday is gonna be um buys and tries, when uh Tuesday is gonna be chest, Wednesday is gonna be back and shoulders, and if I can get them done in that order where it's like everything works out where I'm able to complete that, then I will maybe take Thursday off and I'll go Friday and do like an extra leg day or something like that. Love it.

SPEAKER_02

What someone called me the the other day. They're like, the days I work out, I have a much better day. Have you noticed that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. It it's just mentally and there's it it like it does something, it like releases things in your body. Like a natural It's like it keeps you focused, it like it's naturally just better. You feel better because you sit at a desk all day. Keeps you calm. Yeah, yeah. I I I do I'm not a good person if I don't get to the gym. I could I become really snippy and like quick with my kids. Um, my stress levels are really high. I don't feel good. Um, so I that that's a priority for me. Yeah, it's like medicine. Yeah. And I think that's that's one thing. It's like in this business, you have to have something that is for you. Like you need to do some one thing at least one thing a week that's for you. So for me, it's I go to the gym and then on Sundays I smoke meat. Like, give me a glass of whiskey, get me on the back porch, I'm gonna smoke meat all day. And that's what I do, and I love it. It's relaxing. What do you what do you do do you use a Traeger? No, I use uh I use an old time country smoker, so it has this uh it's a wood, wood burning one, it has an offset. Dude, I love the Traeger. I love my offset, man. I there's something about getting the fire started and having to like watch it and like keep it. Oh that's awesome, dude. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

What do you what do you usually smoke? Turkey breast.

SPEAKER_01

Turkey breast and beef ribs. Turkey breast? Yeah, turkey breasts and beef ribs. Interesting. Why turkey breasts? Well, I did chicken for a long time, and um I you know I loved it, and then one day I did a turkey breast, and it just stays tender for so much. It's so it's much more tender meat. So, like yesterday, my brother came over, uh, girlfriend was over, we smoked meat. We, you know, either was four turkey breasts on the smoker with beef ribs, and we just hung out and ate. How long does that take to cook? Um, I mean, turkey breasts is two hours, two and a half. I can get done quicker if I turn the fire up. Like, do you eat it all week? That's what I yeah, I'll prep. That's what I that's why I do. Like, I'll cook two for myself, and uh my brother will come over and he'll like bring me some so I can cook some for his lunch, and uh like that's what I eat on for lunches throughout the week. So that's cool. Yeah. Awesome, dude. Alright. Any tips for a new agent? Um, yeah, I mean, I would say there's no halfway when you do this. Um you know, I I started and I was I it was gonna work for me because I needed it to work, and that's just the type of person I am. Um but if you come in going halfway in, then you're not gonna you're not gonna succeed. I was, you know, when I did not have I had money set aside. Um I told my ex when I first got in, I said, give me six months. If this doesn't work in six months, I'll go work construction. We had a nest egg because we sold our house. Um we weren't touching that money because

New Agent Tips Team Goals And How To Reach Derrick

SPEAKER_01

that was just oh crap money. This isn't working. I got a credit card because I didn't have money for leads. That's what I I still that's that's where my lead cost goes, my credit card. Um and that's the only thing that goes on there business business expenses and lead cost. So I if i I think you can make every excuse in the world of why you can't do it, but if you know, money should never be one of them. Like there's especially with people doing lead assists now. I wish someone was doing lead assist when I when I jumped in, man. Put me at 65% and let me sell. Yeah, no lead cost. I'll go on lead assist right now. You know, like there's no there, I mean, you we're people are doing things to help more agents win than I've seen in the past. Yeah. Like we want people to win.

SPEAKER_02

Although I'm not a big fan of helping people too much because then they don't learn how to do it themselves.

SPEAKER_01

And that's where I that's where I'm falling. Because so right now, for a long time it wasn't I wasn't about building a team because I knew exactly how much I needed to make to provide for my family, and I could do that. Um I heard people talk about roll-up debt, I can take care of my debt. When I hear people talk about roll-up debt, like in the past, it was like that's putting my family in jeopardy because I'm not I'm not getting money. You know, there's ways around it, but like I'm not getting money from my family. Um But I so it's like as we're as I'm building a team, I'm trying to figure out how do I how do I go about this. Um, you know, there's a lot of hand holding. I'm not someone that hand holds. I'm not either. I won't chase you, I'll help you, but I'm not gonna chase you. Um I made this work for me. Like I was told, hey, you need to spend money on leads, and that's what I did. When I s I needed I needed a power dialer, so I invested $100 a month in a phone burner. And that's how I got started. And when I up upped it, like I didn't run to anyone for lead money. I didn't like I made it, I made it work. And I think that's that's why, you know, part I mean, I th honestly that's why I'm honored to be sitting here today. I I if I if I would not have had that, I don't I would not be here right now. Um like I'm I'm I'm the number one IUL producer within FFL. Dang. Now I'm gonna say that, and that changes weekly, but it's been like that for a a little bit now. You know, so like within the organization, like when we look at the I'm within the top twenty. Um, and that would not have happened if I did not have the drive. So new agents, like, you just have to have the drive. Yeah. Or or it won't work.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, love it. All right. How can somebody reach you if they wanted to work with you? Uh Instagram.

SPEAKER_01

Uh MySpace Zanga.

unknown

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01

Do you remember Zanga? No, but you remember Myspace. Yeah, MySpace was it. Yeah. Um, Instagram is the best way. Uh, yeah, or I mean, if you want to I can 816-223-2134, shoot me a text.

SPEAKER_02

Awesome, man. Well, thank what's your goal with FFL in the next year as a team?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so as a team, um, I have one, two people underneath me right now. Um, I'm gonna tell you my personal goal and I'll tell you my team goal. My team, my my personal goal is to go on the top producer trip next year and not have to work, not take appointments.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Um, the past two, that's all I've done. Saturday at the trip, I was had my computer. I was running back and forth from my computer to hanging out and talking with people, and I was like, man, it would be so nice just to be able to be here and just be here. So that's that's gonna be that's gonna be one of them. Team wise, um, within the next year, I would like to see me have um four legs that are doing 30,000 a month. Um, I think I'm pretty confident in I know not everyone's the same, and not everyone can do you know the same, but I'm pretty confident in my ability and and how I do IULs that I can teach those people how to do that, and they can be just as successful. Love it.

SPEAKER_02

So that's awesome, bro. Well, thank you for joining. Hit them up if you're interested in working with them. Send us your crazy stories from the field. Please, we want to hear them.

SPEAKER_01

We want to hear them. You guys have to do something with them. Like you have to. Whether they're like you post them, like weird, like weird stories. I don't know what it is, but like you post them or it'll be a series. Stories from the field. Stories from the field. You know what you could do? You could get a whole backdrop where it's like you in a red velvet chair with a cigar and a cat, and you're just reading bedtime stories. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01

Fireplace. Do it do a Christmas. That that could be our Christmas present, bro.

SPEAKER_02

Dude, we've got to do first of all, we need to get around a campfire and write all the stories down. Yeah. And then we'll do that. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, dude, you were crushing it. Congratulations on being number one with IUL. And uh, let's go kill it. Thank you guys for joining us. Thanks, man.