I keep running into clients that only speak Spanish and I don’t speak Spanish. I thought about learning Spanish. It might bring in more clients or I will be able to reach out to more prospects. I really don’t want to learn another language, but it might bring in more money. Have any of you learned Spanish to reach more prospects or what are you thoughts on learning Spanish for this business?
I’d like to learn Spanish, but even knowing the few sentences I do seems to help build rapport which translates (pun intended) to them having their kid, brother, cousin, nephew translating for them. It’s not a slam dunk, but it gets me speaking to prospects on a favorable basis.
I wouldn’t mind learning another language, but not for business purposes. There are enough english speaking people for me to make a good living. I took 2-years of spanish in school and can’t put two sentences together. I do know some of the cuss words though. We purchased the Rosetta Stone Italian 1, 2 & 3 set so our daughter could learn to speak the language. When she’s done I may give it a try myself.
I already know the most important phrase needed in Spanish: Si, mas cerveza por favor! Questions? Rick
Learning to speak basic Spanish won’t do much more than frustrate you even further. Being able to sell and close in Spanish is a hot commodity. That skill is not something you see very many people master.
I don’t feel the need to learn a different language. I am feeling the need to have a basic understanding of certain nationalities so that I can interact with them in a way that makes them trust/like/feel good about doing business with me versus another agent. For instance: In some cultures it is offensive to sit with your legs crossed in a way that the bottom of your shoe is toward them.
Better than learning Spanish you should make friends with a bi-ling Hispanic and have him translate. If he is behind you they will be too. You could speak Spanish better than them but they will trust one of their own and buy more from someone that they trust and they don’t trust us as much as their own.
Yes, more beer please LOL
I’ve taken a few years of spanish, I can somewhat understand it, but I could navigate a city if I was dropped off in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Mexico, don’t mind the reasons for such an occurence… I decided to start learning Mandarin lately, it is hard, but I figure, China is the next big market, forget Mexico…
The country of China is an interesting market. We have a sub-IMO in Hawaii that has roughly 150 agents in China selling right now. Learning a new language will help. The trick is to find other people who speak the language that will work with you. Good question, Mark.
Mark, I am fluent in Spanish, and not so bad in English either. As you can see I am based in GA….(Woodstock)….this is the friggin north for me. You and I had a lengthy phone conversation but we never got around to discussing my bilingual abilities. Maybe we can hook up and do a little cross-selling…I am open to any suggestions. I am going to be a mad-man come the new year…got to make some "dinero lo mas pronto posible". I’ll call you after the New Year’s and we’ll talk.
Are they selling American policies to Chinese nationals through third party trusts? (I heard there were more billionaires there than any other "friendly" places in the world)
I run into one per year. Until that increases to double-digits, I’ll stick with my Harrisburg/Pittsburgh/Yonkers dialect.
I think you should contact ACLU and petition the courts for subsidized agent training in the Spanish language. You could site the mental anguish you have acquired since being unable to convert those leads to sales– not to mention the loss of potential income. You might also ask for stimulus monies based upon your consulting efforts with Spanish-only speaking clients. I should think that the government would welcome the opportunity to assist the Spanish speaking community via a real licensed agent.
The vast majority of agents on this board would be well served to master English first.
That and a shower!
Sure, every Saturday night…
Mark, Learning Spanish is not that difficult, but it does take a strong desire to learn it because it will take quite a while. I used Rosetta Stone to learn because I am the liaison between my church and our sister congregation in El Salvador. I am not fluent, level 2, but I can carry on a conversation well enough to get my point across and not get arrested at the airport. What I have done, which I haven’t had the opportunity to use yet, is have an interpreter on standby who can help me. I am going to pay him $20 per hour if I ever need him. He does the same thing with car dealers and other insurance agents. I also think it may be risky having someone that speaks only Spanish sign a contract written in English. I would never try to sell insurance with the amount of spanish that I know.
If you want to learn Spanish that is great. From a business view the learning curve will take too long. It’s so easy to hire someone that speaks Spanish almost anywhere now. We are in Texas it is law someone must speak Spanish.
if anybody needs help w/ any clients let me know. full bilingual agent here.
That is one way. The other is to set up relations with different banks, and use their distribution channels; while letting the banks participate in the override. There are some funny rules, and even funnier hoops to jump through; but the market is very good. It is all about thinking outside the box.
"insuranceexec" i spoke to you briefly a couple weeks ago, i apologize if i was rude in anyway, i still want that met life contract, forward it to jody when you get a chance.
I’m gonna have to look into that. Thanks and Happy New Year!!
I’m willing to learn Spanish so that I can share my services and products to some Spanish people.
I thought about buying Rosetta Stone. Does it work? Has anyone learned from it? How much does it cost?
It works very well. I paid $150 every three months but you can also buy the CD-Rom set for $250.00 or so per level. I liked the online version but the CD would be just as good, I’m sure. It definitely takes a time investment but it is worth it. There are 3 levels and I have gone through level 2, which has taken me about 1 1/2 years because I didn’t do it every night. I can speak on the phone to my church family in El Salvador without much of an issue, except they have to speak slower than normal for me to catch it all. I actually go to church with the son and daughter in-law of the man who invented Rosetta Stone, the Fairfield family is Mennonite like myself. Rosetta Stone is based in Harrisonburg, Va. which is about 25 miles from me.
Learning the language is one thing. It is another entirely to learn the culture. If you want to be truly successful in an ethnic community you need to master both.
Rumor has it I’m the last non Spanish speaking person left in California.
My spanish is good enough to do the pleasantries. Also the sale is easy, as that group are strong believers in life insurance. Doing the app is rougher. I’ve done it ,but now mostly I have a Mexican Woman that goes out with me. She is P&C licensed so she has some insurance background. I will usually drop something like $50. on her for the work. A side benefit to using her, is she pulls out more referrals out than I could. She also finds me several solid quotes per month. When I have a spanish client or quote call I get there phone number and have her call them. I have been thinking of having her record herself reading the app for me. Then keep I can learn the correct terms.
Just don’t get funny, Ed, and use that South Philly dialect! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – How true, Paul!!! BTW, I saw Rosetta Sone discs for English (both American and British) on sale at Barnes & Noble.
I used to work in an area where we had a lot of Spanish speaking individuals. We just made sure during our next hiring process we found someone who could speak it. This is the United States, I am all about customer service but I am not learning another language for it.
Fast food restaurants have pictures & numbers by their most popular items with descriptions in Mexican, I mean, Spanish. Perhaps insurance agents should have the same. Pictures of health insurance & life insurance policies with numbers by the side. They can order a #1 and a #3 by pointing.
Amen! Fortunately I don’t have that problem in the Ozarks although some say we’uns talk funny. I have to go and het up a cup of coffee now.
In Mexican ay? Here in South Florida speaking Spanish is pretty standard. Personally I’m fluent French speaker who’s slowly learning the ins and outs of Spanish. Nothing like speaking Spanish to the latinas.
My ex was from Missouri, and used to say you’uns. She never took on Texan translation: y’all.
"you’uns" is a Pittsburgh term as well. My wife and her family say it all of the time. It drives me up a wall..just like losing to Cleveland, Oakland, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Cincinnati again…
The problem with learning Spanish is what dialect are you supposed to learn? There are several Spanish people that can’t understand each other that well due to the type they speak which always bothers me when you read some job requirement that wants you to know Spanish. IDIOTS! I have seen this firsthand and several Spanish people could probably vouch for this. So you could be fluent to one Spanish person and a complete moron to the next…………..
I am not fluent in Spanish but I know a lot. I knew enough to close real estate deals with clients who didn’t know much English. I got plenty of practice in high school and with my wife’s family. I am in Georgia Mark so you could always send them my way and split commissions or you could pay my wife to translate and help you close the deal. I’ve been thinking about targeting the Hispanic market here in Atlanta. But will insurance companies insure those who only have Tax ID numbers and no socials?
It would be a major advantage to be able to sell to the spanish speaking population. I very briefly thought about it (took 4 years of it in school) and might take it up.
Am I the only one not willing to learn Spanish because this is friggin America? I don’t care how much money I can make off of them. If you are here legally, be thankful for that and learn our language and culture. If you are here illegally, get out……. When English is the second language in our country, you are going to wish you were not so complacent about it. I’m not interested in eating tacos and beans for the rest of my life……although that sounds real good today for lunch.
This sounds like Al’s alter-ego…
What do you call someone that speaks two languages? Bi-Lingual Okay, what do you call someone that speaks three languages? Tri-lingual Finally, what do you call someone that only speaks one language? American. If someone would rather do business in their native tongue it doesn’t bother me at all, even if they’re fluent English speakers… I’m friends with a few Pinoys who speak English with excellent command, but I’ve noticed they tend to do business with other Filipinos in Tagalog… No biggie. If I was fluent in Spanish I’d use it whenever possible.
I’m in Florida and run into spanish speaking prospects all the time. I am looking into getting the Rosetta Stone program. I know someone who did the French version and they came out like a pro. Plus anyone who is reluctant to learn different languages is crazy….prospects are prospects and money is money regardless of what language they speak Plus if you can speak their language they will bring the entire "family tree" with them. I woudn’t be able stand losing a client over not being able to speak a different language….
So how many languages are you willing to learn? Sure hope you don’t get any German or French clients. You’ll be spending so much time learning to appease them and no time selling!!! Ever notice how most cultures, such as the Germans, French, etc have NO expectation of doing business in their language (except in some of their exclusive communities around the country). Why do we cater to the Spanish speaking crowd? Because you put your pocket ahead of your country.
I’m in Florida and have Rosetta Stone 1,2,3 Spanish (Latin America). I highly recommend purchasing it.
You are not going to be able to learn Spanish by taking some Rosetta Stone course, trust me. I learned a lot of Spanish in school but I learned most of it by being around native speakers of the language. Conjugating verbs are the most difficult part. There’s a lot more to it than: Como estas? Me llamo es… Quieres comprar seguro de vida? The language is intense and you need to be able to pick up on different dialects of the language because folks from different countries speak the language differently. Some speak fast and some speak slower. Some pronounce every letter of the word and some folks talk as if they have a lazy tongue. I’m telling you, it’s a tough language to learn on your own.
Spanish is the 2nd most in-demanding language. I hope there could be more institution I can find online tutorials.
Japanese adopts a lot of Chinese characters, so, some Japanese know the advantages of the Chinese language. A learned Japanese states that Chinese language is very systematic and logic. He looks at Mandarin from a different angle. Some Americans say the sound of Mandarin is poetic. IÂ’d say the writing of Chinese characters is beautiful. ItÂ’s also very interesting to note that every Chinese character and pronunciation has a reason or logic behind. That means we can learn Mandarin much easier if we understand the reasons or logic behind. *************** Actually, learning Mandarin can be entertaining and fun! *************** I am a published author with 5 books on Amazon. I’d like to recommend the following entertaining book to you. The book, Learn Chinese Through Song!: The Popular Chinese Nursery Rhyme: Two Tigers ISBN: 1439265062, is about one of the most popular Chinese rhyme for parents and child. * Almost everyone knows the song Frère Jacques (Brother John) — There are probably 50versions of the song, in many languages. This song’s Chinese version is "Two Tigers," which is very easy to learn. It’s interesting to know that almost everyone in China and Taiwan sang "Two Tigers" when she/he was a child, because it’s very easy to learn. By googling "two tigers Chinese song", you could find quite a few videos sung by some lovely children and adults, though some have slightly different lyrics. You will be able to sing the rhyme in minutes and remember it forever!
I don’t want to come across as bombast but, Spanish is anything but intense to anyone with a decent background in Latin or romance languages. I’m surrounded by native speakers ALL DAY, it’s nice to go at my own pace when back at home. Conjugating verbs is the easy part regular or irregular, present tense, past tense, formal, informal… It’s the same in French, Spanish, Italian… Want to discuss tough? Korean… Korean is a tough language to pick up. Already fluent in one romance language, just adding another to my repertoire.
I would rather hire a spanish speaking employee.