Are You an Unintentional Sales Wuss?

I’m sure your answer is a resounding “no.” But in reality, it’s not what you think that counts. Only your prospect’s perceptions matter—and they can be very different from what you’d imagine.

Why? Because they’re extremely busy. Every time they talk with you, read your emails or meet with you, they’re asking, questions like:

• “Is this person a credible resource?
• “Does he/she bring a depth of expertise?
• “Is this worth my time to continue the conversation?”

So let’s take a look at one scenario to see how your best intentions might be totally misinterpreted.

Revive stale leads

Calling back old leads can be awkward and uncomfortable. Sometimes “old” feels eerily similar to “cold.” Try my 5+5+5 method:

Step One: Every day (and I mean every day – this is a discipline) write 5 handwritten notes to old leads. Just reintroduce and reconnect, and keep it brief. At the end of the note write, “I’ll call you in the next few days to check in and see if there are needs I can help you with.”

Step Two: Wait 5 days. Of course, each of those days will be spent sending 5 more handwritten notes.

Step Three: Make 5 calls to the people you wrote notes to 5 days ago. It will no longer be a cold call – you will have reintroduced yourself. You’ll be amazed at how many people say, “I’m glad you called!”

5 notes + 5 days + 5 phone calls. And you’ll change someone’s world.

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Who Makes the Better Sales Producer? A Man or a Woman?

Many of you reading this would say I’m venturing into risky territory by talking about this, but I’m willing to discuss the elephant in the room.

This question comes up a lot when I’m talking with both sales managers and sales producers.

The interesting thing about this issue is how little there is in actual writing about it. I find that interesting since the question comes up a lot.

First, let me say my views are based on my experience in working with hundreds of sales producers over the last 30 years as a consultant, speaker and trainer.

This work has allowed me to spend extensive time with sales producers of all types across the United States, Canada, and England.

I’ve found myself in nearly every imaginable type of selling situation. My conclusions are not based on statistical research or someone’s doctoral thesis.

It’s my opinion. Okay, with that out of the way, let me dig in.

Before you throw daggers at me for my opinions, please read it entirely and yes, you’re welcome to disagree and send me comments. Please understand all of my comments are not based on putting down one side or another.

I’m merely sharing what I’ve observed.

My first opinion is women are much better listeners than men. Women are far more prone to listen to customers. Why? I’m not sure, but my belief is they come by listening and communication more naturally than men do. Also, women are very open to learning, and one way they do this is by listening to others.

Men aren’t as good of listeners (and I put myself squarely in this camp, unfortunately.)

The reason is because men have this self-driven belief where they feel they know it all anyway and, therefore, the other person doesn’t have anything meaningful to say.

Men also have a desire to compete, which means a lot of time a conversation in their mind turns into a sporting event where someone will come out a winner and the other a loser.

My second opinion is on the topic of being able to develop and close a sale. Here I give the nod to men to close a sale faster. The reason is because of how men tend to see everything as an event that will ultimately have a victor.

Women — because of their desire to listen and learn — may sometimes take longer to close a sale, but can often times get a bigger and more profitable case.

What this means is in short-cycle selling, men can be better, while in longer sales cycles and more complex ones, women may be better.

Prospecting is a very interesting situation. I’ve watched any number of women be far more successful than men in both making telephone calls and making introductory in-person calls.

What is interesting is I notice how women are able to get out of prospects information that men can’t get. Why? Good question! The only reason I’ve been able to determine is that women can come across as less threatening than men.

If I have a policy coverage or risk management service that requires a huge amount of prospecting both on the phone and in person, I would lean toward using female sales producers.

Negotiating is another very interesting situation, as I’ve watched men be more successful, but the reason is not what most people believe. Based on my observations, the reason I men are more successful is that customers may have a feeling they can take advantage of a female sales producer and thus try to push for more.

What I find interesting is leading up to the negotiation phase, females do a better job of uncovering key information they can use during the negotiation.

Negotiation skill winds up being a toss-up in my book because both the male and female producer have strong skills they can bring to the table.

Dealing with customer issues is a real interesting situation for both male and female salespeople. Reason is it depends on the situation.

A sad situation I’ve seen too many times is the female sales producer having to do battle with the strong-willed female customer. In these situations, there is no winner, as both sides wind up coming out bloody.

Conversely, I’ve seen a male sales producer come to near physical blows with the male customer over the most simple of issues.

If there is one thing I’ve found interesting is how many times the best solution is to have the sales producer be the opposite of the customer. When a male sales producer deals with a female customer or a female sales producer deals with a male customer, the outcome tends to be successful.

There you have it! My opinions on which is the better sales producer — the male or the female.

Now comes the question you want to ask me. If you, Doug, could only hire one sales producer, which one would you hire the male or the female?

Are you ready for my answer? I’m not going to hide behind a long drawn out reason. My answer is female.

My reason is simple.

The business world is still primarily a male driven world, and to be successful you have to find the edge and do things competitors are not doing. When others are zigging, I’m going to zag. When people are going to the left, I’ll go to the right.

Thus in a business world that is still comprised of more males than females, I will go with the opposite, thus hiring the female.

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Tips to Winterizing your Home

“The Farmer’s Almanac predicts one of the worst winters ever. Learn tips for protecting the home against damages associated with the season”

The holidays are upon us and many are forecasting cold winter months to come with the New Year. Our representatives are ready and available for policy holders and Adjusters to provide efficient and cost effective temporary housing solutions in case of catastrophes this winter season.

In order for homeowners to prepare for the winter months, P&C put together six practical suggestions for homeowners to “winterize” their homes and avoid having to file unnecessary claims.

1) Avoid Ice Dams
Ice Dams can prevent water from draining off the roof and increase the chance of water leaking into your home. “Ensure the attic is properly ventilated and nicely insulated to minimize the amount of heat rising through the attic,” says Paul Hurd, assistant vice president, National Property Product at Grange Insurance.

2) Prevent Bursting Pipes
When the water freezes in pipes the chances of the pipe busting becomes extremely high. In order to prevent this you must insulate exposed areas with sleeves and seal cracks and holes.

3) Keep driveways and sidewalks clear of Ice and Snow
Homeowners are liable for anyone who is injured due to slipping and falling on their property. Stay safe during the Holidays and avoid injury by keeping ice and snow clear from driveways and sidewalks!

4) Properly shut down your vacant home
If you are planning on escaping to some warmer climates or going on a vacation during the winter months, make sure to properly shut down your home. Turning off the heat, shutting off the water, cleaning out the gutters and arranging for snow removal services are just some of the ways that homeowners should prepare their homes before departing for an extended period of time.

5) Inspecting Heating Systems
Homeowners should take the time to inspect chimneys, heating systems or other supplemental heating devices before winter arrives. Fireplaces, small space heaters and wood stoves require proper maintenance to ensure safe operation.

Winter weather can be unpredictable, talk to your Insurance agent or adjuster about options to improve your coverage. For any questions, comments, or assistance regarding insurance protection our staff is available around the clock ready to help.

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3 Words to Remember in the New Year: Plan, Do, Repeat

I say its 3 words to remember, but really its 3 actions you need to do each day.

Plan, Do, Repeat

If you ask me which word or action is the most important, I would most likely say none of them is most important. Rather, they’re all incredibly important for the simple reason they all build off each other.

If I don’t plan, how will I know what to do? If I fail to repeat what I do, how will I be able to sustain success?

The only question you should have to ask yourself is what is it you can do to help you do the 3 actions even faster and more effectively?

Insurance sales is an awesome profession. The ability to positive impact so many other people is a great calling. Challenge is all of the benefits of impacting others positively is lost if you don’t do the 3 actions.

Plan, Do, Repeat

Since it’s the start of a new year, there is no better time to think through each of the steps.

Is your planning concise and set up to ensure you never end one day without knowing exactly what you’re going to do the next day?

What about your “do.” What needs to be changed to allow you to connect with your clients more effectively? Do you need to change your approach, your prospecting, or your approach to closing?

What is keeping you from repeating things faster? Are there some items you can remove from your calendar to give you more time in the day or week? Your objective should be to find 30 extra minutes per day or 2 hours per week you can devote to selling.

In the end it’s not difficult. It comes down to the middle action: “Do.” The more you do, the more you increase your odds for having more success.

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Happy New Year! 3 Goals You Must Make

First goal is to not set goals you don’t have a plan to make.

Setting goals without a plan is really a dream. Quit kidding yourself. Unless there is a plan, the ability to achieve a goal is going to be left to chance. Why leave something to chance?

If you want chance, buy a lottery ticket or go to Vegas. Personally, I would rather put things in my control by making a plan.

Second goal is to become an impact player.

I would hope by me not putting the word “positive” ahead of impact player you wouldn’t see it as being anything other than a positive attribute.

What are the things you will do in the year ahead that will allow you be a positive impact on people you come in contact with? When we make an impact on others, we are allowing our assets to become part of others and that means we’re compounding the value of our assets.

I framed that idea as one might look at financial assets, but the same applies. Knowledge left unshared eventually becomes knowledge lost.

Third goal is to be willing to be held accountable.

If you’re not willing to be held accountable by others, then you might as well move to a deserted island, because that’s all you’re worthy of. We all become sharper when we allow others to impact us in the same manner we want to impact others.

Allowing us to be held accountable is taking impact and going one step farther. Accountability means being willing to adjust and change. A key reason goals are not achieved is there is no one holding the person accountable.

If you want to increase your ability to achieve goals this upcoming year and know you’re making a difference, then the three items listed above are a must.

All the best to you as we all start off a new year and look to make it the best year ever.

Do Insurance Agents Ever Get To Enjoy Christmas?

When Kathy and I had our agency, I used to get super frustrated in December. Besides the usual pressure of the Christmas holidays, it felt that the pressure within our agency increased ten-fold this time of year.

Why? Well for one, the company we worked for cut off sales goals on December 31. And while we usually were ahead in P&C production, there were a few years when we were scrambling for a few more life insurance sales. (Just being honest!)

Missing those numbers didn’t put our contract in peril, but it meant a loss of THOUSANDS of dollars in bonuses. A devastating loss. And for that reason, it simply had to be hit in time.

Commissions were usually a little lower in December, sales a little slower, the phones didn’t ring as often. Everything around us tempted us to slow down too.

When you’re distracted by holidays, focused on goals, and yet wanting to relax, it creates an imbalance. And imbalance usually means stress. At least it does for me.

I can remember feeling a little angry one year. Couldn’t I just enjoy Christmas like a normal person for one year?

And that’s when I made myself a promise. That would be the last year I let myself and the agency feel behind for the holidays.

We made a plan for our next year’s goals and changed one MAJOR item. We didn’t factor in December AT ALL.

All the P&C annual goals were divided by 11 months. Our financial sales goals (including life and annuities) were divided by 9 months. I wanted to be AHEAD at the end and not scrambling. And I sure didn’t want to put our bonus dollars at the mercy of stressed out clients and the holidays.

This is what is known in the tech world as a “hack.” You trick yourself. You make something fool proof. You don’t do it the conventional way, but the SUCCESSFUL way.

For me, as a grandfather wanting to spend time with the kids, visit Santa, and volunteer at their school, it was important to be able to step back. We made December a time to plan and focus on the upcoming year (as well as cleaning up and out our current business).

And it worked! The following year our life sales goals were done in October. (We missed it by one month on our 9 month goal, BUT we still had 2 carefree months left!) And all of our P&C goals were hit early too.

This is not an excuse to slack in December, but rather a way to give you extreme work-life balance. Being an insurance agent can suck the life out of you. Find ways to make your business work for YOU and no one else. Make a plan to ease the stress and enjoy your holidays.

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