Brandon Kaiser enlisted in the military before he finished high school. He was sworn in before graduation. For six years, he worked as a combat engineer in a combat support position, detecting IEDs while performing route clearance missions. “I met some of the most incredible people in service,” he says.
After his military contract was up, Kaiser took on several jobs but none quite stuck. First, he worked for the national hockey league’s Columbus Blue Jackets. He was Inside sales representative in charge of selling season tickets, suites, loge boxes and group events. It was his job to sell out the arena. He then became national sales director for an industrial cleaning company called Emmaculate Reflections, now KBS, which involved traveling all around the country. His next position was regional business manager for Oyo hotels, an Indian-based company, he helped open up in the Ohio market. He was happy there until there was a shakeup in structure and management.
“I realized I wanted to start my own business, to create an environment where everyone feels valued,” he says. With that on top of mind, he founded Kaiser Insurance Group, an independent insurance brokerage that represents 32 carriers and sells group employee benefits to unions and companies. Kaiser’s agency also sells life insurance, which is his big bread and butter right now. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, more people are buying life insurance than ever. Kaiser likes helping people have the peace of mind that if, God forbid, they pass away, their families will be well taken care of. “I feel like I’m doing something positive,” he says.
Most of Kaiser’s life insurance leads are from SmartFinancial. “Before we opened June 1st, I shopped around for lead vendors and found that SmartFinancial’s call transfers are the best,” Kaiser says. “We get 25 inbound calls a week, and I am closing upwards of 76% of the people I quote. My ROI for last month just shy of $15,000 and we’ve only been open for five months. Those are incredible numbers for such a young company!” Yes they are!
Not only is the Kaiser Insurance Group doing well, but Kaiser also plans to expand and hire specialists to sell other lines of insurance. “I will then step back and help all my agents get better day in and day out. By next year, I hope to have 50 reps, one in each state.”
6 Golden Tips from Brandon Kaiser
1. Attitude is everything. You’ll have good days and bad days but you always have to have a great attitude. It’s important because it’s the only thing you can control. Never stop grinding. Especially, when you’re starting out, you need to put the effort in. You also have to be coachable and can never learn too much. Work hard and things will go great for you.
2. Consistency is key when you’re working with leads. You have to build relationships with all of them. You have to genuinely care about your clients and let your clients know you care about them. What’s in their best interest is in your best interest. It’s your job to protect the client along their journey.
3. Be extremely thorough and outline a few options for the lead, something that fits their budget. You want them to be comfortable with the price. Make sure you come through in all you promise.
4. Follow up and call when you say you’re going to call. Even after you close a sale, contact the lead so they will stay with you year after year.
5. It’s a more intimate sales process selling life insurance. It’s also a much more serious sale because it’s the value of their life, not a car. It’s not as transactional and it’s very relationship based. I usually have three meetings with a lead before it closes. Sometimes less, sometimes more.
6. Try to do Zoom meetings. About 90% of my job is done over the telephone or Zoom. Once you’re putting a policy in place it’s a good idea to have a zoom meeting.
