In this article, the main topic of discourse is what numbers afinal expense insurance agent needs to track to determine his orher level of success, as well as what agents needto do to improve their odds.

Managing such ratios as closing ratios and average case size isimportant to do on some level. When challenges arise, it'ssometimes difficult to see what the problems are if you're nottracking these basic ratios. By tracking your numbers, you'llfind whatever weakness needs to be managed and improved upon.

One thing that's really cool about tracking your numbers is thatthis simple alone will immediately improve your outcomes. Ithas been proven across a number of surveys and studies, amongstbusinesses and sports teams, that if the numbers are managed andinspected, outcomes improve.

Keep reading for the top metrics an agent needs to monitor tomeasure levels of success and to discover what needs to betweaked. Along the way, I'll also point out some basicbenchmarks for success-minded agents.

Sales metrics to manage

Note: Please assume with all of these ratios that we arereferencing direct mail final expense leads. There will besome variation depending on the lead types, which will bementioned.

8. Application to lead ratio

This is defined as how many policies you write compared to how manyleads you purchase. This is a dependable litmus test to see ifyour production is on par relative to the average.

What I have found is that successful agents have a ratio ofabout 25 percent. This isn't always the case, but 25 percentis a goal that every agent should strive for. This means, if Ihave 20 leads, I should be able to convert five applications.

It's important to understand that this isn't a closingpercentage to lead ratio. In many cases, you may sell to twocouples and a single person, which is five deals, but there are 17leads left you didn’t successfully sell.

As long as you're converting 25 percent, no matter whether thesesales are to couples or singles, you’re doing well. Anythingabove and beyond that is excellent.

Related: 9 deficiencies that led to poor salesresults

The reason 25 percent is a good number is, it allows for thehighest chance, on average, to cover your expenses, but it's alsoscalable. As you will see, it's harder to scale up when youhave a 15 percent closing ratio.

Arrange your leads by type, come up with a total, and thendivide the number of cases according to the type of leadtotal. That’s your application to lead ratio.

If we were looking at another source of leads, such astelemarketing, a good conversion ratio off of pretty much any finalexpense telemarketing lead is about 10 to 15 percent, assumingfinal expense telemarketing leads are competitively priced.

Final expense telemarketing leads are more difficult to work,and are not as high quality as final expense direct mail leads on aconsistent basis.

Your appointments to lead ratio refers to how manyappointments you are actually setting over the phone and by doorknocking compared to how many leads you purchase. (Photo:iStock)

7. Appointments to lead ratio

In my mind, you should be setting appointments with at least 50percent of your final expense leads over the phone, and you shouldbe getting in another 10 percent or more on door knocks.

As a trainer, my belief is that every agent should be doorknocking and appointment setting or doing some kind ofappointment-setting activity. With door knocking, you aregoing to get into a much higher percentage of your leads convertedinto presentations than what you would if you exclusively called.

As many trainers will attest, what the difference betweensuccess and failure for new agents' is often just showing up at thedoor. You can't discount that.

With a combination of these two activities, you should be ableto set appointments with at least 60 percent of your leads everysingle week with the hopes of actually getting in the door andselling something. I would say this metric is also the samefor avatar final expense leads or any telemarketing lead. Ithink it's very possible to get close to the same metric.

6. Appointment conversion ratio

This ratio essentially measures what your closing ratio is when you actually sit down with a prospect. Agood number is going is between 50 percent and 70 percent. Ifyou're closing in that range, you're doing great.

Closing ratios below that tend to indicate that you are notdoing something critical to the sales process. A consistentlylow closing percentage indicates you are probably going to have tolook a little bit closer at what you're doing in the sales call andhave some analysis done to make some changes.

Related: 5 tips to make 2016 your most profitable yearyet

The average case size in final expense is around $50 amonth. It will vary depending on your sales style as well as yourmarket. (Photo: iStock)

5. Average case size

I personally have a lower average case size. I knowthere are many people who think the $50-a-month average is notrealistic. My experience has been, in mathematical terms, theaverage is higher than the median.

If you stack all your policies up in order of size from smallestto largest, the one right in the middle is going to be a lotsmaller than the average. This is the definition of amedian. And why does it matter? It indicates you're goingto write a lot more $20, $30 and $40 cases, but the $100+ cases youget tend to push that average up.

The key point is that it takes time to get to thataverage. This means you have to work your leadshard. You'll eventually hit the home runs and grand slams, allof which will have the effect of raising the average.

If your case size is below $40 a month, you may get betterresults by simply selling the premium, which is the old TimWinders-popularized approach to selling final expense, or byoffering face amounts that start at $40, then see if somebody willtake one of those over something cheaper. The point is youmay need to stop offering smaller premiums in order to raise yourcase size.

4. Lapse ratio

When calculating the average lapse ratio and to expect in revenue,you have to anticipate lapses and not takens.

I always take 20 percent off the top in my management setup toaccount for those who lapse on me. As we know, the reality isa lot of these people keep their plans 3, 6 or 9months. You'll have a smaller chargeback than just a flat 20percent, so it may be a little bit higher, but you also have peoplewho buy and then change their mind. So if you just take 20percent right off the top, you're being conservative from theget-go.

Related: Producer development and sales management: Chartingyour success

A very important ratio to manage and make sure you're doingwell comes from your persistence, meaning how much of your businessyou retain in the first year. (Photo: iStock)

3. Quality of business ratio

A good rule of thumb is to strive for an 80 percent persistencyratio. Above 80 percent indicates that you're following up onyour lapses, and what you're selling isn't necessarily overselling.

Persistency below 80 percent indicates that you're probably notdoing a good enough job selling the prospect, and not selling what is right forthem, while not following up with your lapses.

Following up on all lapses is critical to solidpersistency! Anybody who has been in the final expensebusiness long enough can attest that most lapses occur not out ofspite, but out of ignorance. A simple phone call to reinstatea policy or catch a premium up will probably save half of yourlapses.

There is no good reason to be consistently below 80 percentpersistency across all your carriers. The people who are belowthe 80 percent number tend to be high-pressure salespeople who arelazy about helping clients when they miss a premium. There aremany agents that have much higher than 80 percent, but an 80percent ratio keeps your head above water regarding chargebacks,and keeps you in the game.

If your premium per lead is close to $100, you may haveissues. You're going to find your return on investment is verylow and probably not going to cover your expenses very well.(Photo: iStock)

Overall effectiveness ratios

This last section covers additional ratios that quickly help finalexpense agents identify weaknesses in their business.

2. Premium per lead ratio

Essentially, this is how much premium you wrote over how many leadsyou purchased. If you wrote $3,000 in premium over 20 leads,that is a $150-premium-per-lead ratio. My experience is thatif you have around a $150-premium-per-lead ratio, you're doing justfine as a final expense agent. That is a solid number tokeep. Much of your expenses are going to be handled by yourprofit, and you should be making a nice living, assuming you'rebuying enough leads.

If your premium per lead is close to $100, you may haveissues. You're going to find your return on investment is verylow and probably not going to cover your expenses very well.

The truth is, you're probably not working hardenough. There are agents who can make it with a$125-premium-per-lead ratio and do fine. Sometimes theirmethodology is a little different than your typical approach toselling final expense, but the goal should always be somewherearound $150.

Anything above and beyond that is fantastic. If you can getbeyond $150, you should be commended, but in my experience, thoseare really reserved for the top-tier agents who are absolutelydynamite. The truth is, you don't have to have a PPL way above$150 to be sustainably successful in the final expensebusiness.

Return on investment is the number one metric monitored byseasoned sales professionals. (Photo: iStock)

1. Return on investment

Of all the metrics mentioned here, this is really the number onemetric that I concern myself with as an agent, and as somebody whois training agents.

Return on investment compiles gross premium, or first-yeargross commission, over your total investment, which includesmarketing costs, travel and gas expenses, appointment-settingexpenses and the like.

Here's my take on what your return on investment should be andwhy.

Your bare minimum return on investment should be 4:1. Thatsimply means that for every $4 that comes through the door, youshould spend a dollar. So for every dollar of marketinginvestment, you should have $4 in revenue generated. A bettergoal is closer to 5:1. This is more indicative of somebody whois working the system, following the process, and giving it theirall.

Another reason the 4:1 ratio is important is, this shows youthat you have a scalable business model. The only thing thatmatters is whether you're making enough money to cover yourexpenses and justify the business that you'rerunning. Meaning, if you're spending $50,000 to make $100,000in net income, if that's all you want to make, great.

But there's a huge risk to that because the final expensebusiness is not perfectly formulaic. There are ups and downswith most agents in this business, especially in thebeginning. So the higher the ROI, the more cushion youhave. If you have a couple of bad runs, or if you have a lowreturn on investment, you're going to potentially experience morefrustration.

With a 4:1 return on investment, you can scale it up. If anagent invests $25,000 in this business to make $75,000 ($100,000gross revenue minus $25,000 in expense) you can scale thatup. You can invest $50,000. You can even invest $100,000,and those ratios generally stay the same.

Last words on reviewing your numbers

The biggest reason agents fail in this business is they lack aconsistent activity level.

Many times when I look at numbers, I find that the conversionratio is great. They're selling 50 percent of theirappointments. Case sizes look good. But when we look atthe amount of appointments that are actually converted from theamount of leads they have, it's abysmal.

It usually comes down to the agent not working hardenough. Typically they're not door knocking or settingappointments or they're not working long enough. They're notfighting to see people. And this is probably the case 80percent of the time.

You can teach an agent how to sell effectively, give them asystem to follow, and they will. But a system is worthless, ifthe activity level is low.

Achieving optimal activity first trumps fine tuning your salessystem. Certainly sales systems are important. What yousay and how you say it is critical in sales. But it's totallyuseless without the consummate level of activity required toachieve the optimized goal.

So if you're wondering how you can improve your sales results,do your math to determine the ratios mentioned in thisarticle. If you're having sustained, consistent troubles, y ouwill likely find that you're just not working hard enough.

Related: 9 ways to double your business in oneyear