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Growing Your Property Casualty Agency 8 Ways to Avoid Making a Lousy First Impression Don’t Self-Destruct at an Initial Meeting With a New Insurance Prospect
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et’s start with a couple of clichés… You never get a second chance to make a first impression... and... The No. 1 rule of selling is not to make a bad first impression. As obvious as these common sense statements are, they’re essential to the close. Otherwise, you are fighting an uphill battle from the moment you and By Alan Shulman your prospect meet. Here are eight simple ways to avoid sales selfdestruction. 1. Don’t over-read a prospect’s personality. Sales gurus commonly encourage sellers to align their sales style with the personality of the buyer. But in reality, it’s pretty hard to get a behavioral bead on someone you just met. So, don’t instantly assume someone fits into a pre-determined mold and skew your first meeting entirely in that direction. Instead, be yourself and make any needed adjustments later on, as your business relationship progresses.
overdressing for a meeting, showing up for the first time in swanky wheels makes a bad first impression, especially if yours are a lot nicer than your prospect’s. To some insurance buyers, if you are motoring around in a high-priced car, it indicates you are over2. Don’t try to be cool. Insurance buyers profiting from your clients. This isn’t the don’t expect the people who sell to them to message you want to deliver, especially in a be über-cool. Some of us are, of course, but in down economy. So if your car is too sweet general, prospect expecfor a certain appointment, tations are pretty low. An easy way to make borrow a lesser vehicle — Use this to your advanjust for the meeting. a bad first imprestage. Exceed the person’s sion is say something 5. Don’t stay in your expectations by striking offensive. a comfortable middle car. Don’t make a prosground: not too formal pect wait for you to exit and not too trendy. your vehicle while you are in their parking lot. If you are talking on your cell phone or 3. Don’t say something you’ll regret. An checking e-mails instead of heading directly easy way to make a bad first impression is in, this hesitation suggests that meeting say something offensive. So don’t talk about your prospect isn’t all that important to you. politics or religion, or ask personal questions before you even know the buyer. Instead, 6. Don’t check the time. Remember use a safe icebreaker to get the person to President G.H.W. Bush (the first one) when start talking, such as, “How did you get he debated Bill Clinton at a town meeting? started in this business?” or for personal lines He looked at his watch on national TV, givprospects, “What was your first car?” ing some viewers the impression that he had somewhere better to be. This simple 4. Don’t drive a flashy vehicle. Just like move cost him votes. So, don’t glance at your www.insurancejournal.com
watch (or phone) while meeting with a new prospect, or you might give off the same vibe as President Bush. He lost the 1992 election. 7. Don’t forget to quiet your phone. You expect prospects to give you their full attention, without interruption, so do the same in return. Set your cell phone to vibrate and turn off the new e-mail chime, to avoid distractions while you’re in the midst of your first meeting. And if you do forget, don’t even think of taking the call or e-mail. 8. Don’t offer a bad business card. Even in this era of social marketing, producers are expected to carry old school business cards. Handing out dog-eared ones that you dig out of your wallet makes a sad first impression. And offering one you printed yourself reveals that you aren’t confident enough in your abilities to buy real ones. Don’t hesitate to purchase quality printed cards. They’re well worth the investment. Shulman, CPCU, is the publisher of Agency Ideas, a subscription-only sales and marketing newsletter. He is also the author of the many tools posted on the Agency Ideas Instant Download Store. Phone: 800-724-1435. Email: alan@ agencyideas.com. Website: www.agencyideas.com.
December 5, 2011 INSURANCE JOURNAL-NATIONAL REGION | N1