BUSINESS
Sitting On A Gold Mine: How To Open 20 Cases This Month The answer to where your next 20 sales will come from is easy. But you have to ask the right questions. By Chris Jarvis
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henever I ask advisors what they need to become more successful, one answer always shows up on their list: I want more leads! I’ve never met a salesperson who didn’t claim to close “at least 90 percent” of leads. How salespeople determine a “lead” may frustrate their managers. And how they calculate their percentage might make a mathematician (like me) laugh. All kidding aside, it really doesn’t matter whether advisors sell 20 percent, 50 percent or 90 percent of their leads. Sales go up when activity increases. Activity has been the mantra for decades. Whether you learned to “smile and dial” or “dial for dollars,” you were taught to get on the phone, set appointments and “get out there!” But although activity is valuable, increasing efficient activity should be your goal. Figuring out what activity is efficient is important. But for now, let’s focus on how to increase activity immediately.
You’re Sitting On A Pile Of Gold
The answer to where your next 20 sales will come from is easy: from your existing clients. You only have to ask them 52
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » May 2019
the right questions and they will tell you what to do next. At a recent sales training I taught to 250 advisors, I asked how many of them surveyed their clients annually. Not a single person raised a hand. When I asked how many thought it might be a good idea to survey clients annually, “the wave” rippled through the crowd. We all spend too much time looking for the next client (presumably someone we’ve never met) and not enough
through to the next income level. Paul spent a lot of time doing annual reviews with his clients. He invested time taking meetings and he conducted seminars to bring in new clients. As he added more clients, the service took more time — leaving less time for new business development. He was stuck. Three months ago, Paul enrolled in my advanced course. He followed the instructions even though they included activities that pulled him out of his
The answer to where your next 20 sales will come from is easy: from your existing clients. You only have to ask them the right questions and they will tell you what to do next. time cultivating the ones who already appreciate our service. If you don’t believe the value that’s hiding right under your nose with your strongest relationships, read about what one advisor was able to do.
Paul Talks To John, George And Even Ringo
Paul has about 20 years of experience. He has regularly been a $100,000-$250,000 producer in the Midwest. He has insurance and securities licenses and he offers fee-based plans as well as products. Big income swings come from big cases every few years, but he hasn’t been able to break
comfort zone — also known as a rut. He sent out my 20-question survey to 25 clients. All but six of them responded to the survey right away, and three-quarters of them were happy to discuss their answers with Paul. The most interesting conversations happened with John, George and Ringo. John’s survey answers told Paul that he would be more successful at introducing himself in person, over coffee, than by sending an email. John then asked Paul for some dates when John could buy Paul a cup of coffee and introduce him to the others. As I write