CLIENT NURTURING
How to retain your best clients during the hard market
By Jim Cecil
Top producing agencies identify their top 20% ... [and] interact with these vital few on a regular, intelligent and relevant basis.
While studying the distribution of wealth in the early 1900s, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Since then, the "80/20 Rule" or the "Pareto Principle" has been expanded into the concept that most of the results come from a minority of people. Another one of Pareto's theories is that, for the most part, human beings aren't motivated by logic and reason but rather by sentiment.
The combination of these two principles suggests that pampering at least your top 20% clients will result in a bountiful harvest.
Pareto's Principle may not be a hard and fast rule with a fixed ratio, but its meaning rings true time and time again. Consider that:
* The majority of revenue in most businesses comes from a handful of clients.
* A few products out of the many coverages in a line produce most of the business.
* Only a handful of producers out of the many develops the majority of new business.
* Most grievances come from only a few employees, and most absenteeism can be narrowed down to a few specific individuals.
* Most accidents occur in clearly identifiable groups.
* A few easily identifiable individuals achieve truly poor (or great) performance.
It's not surprising, therefore, that top producing agencies identify their top 20%, then individualize the key decision makers and develop a system to interact with these vital few on a regular, intelligent and relevant basis.
When interacting with your clients, it's important to anticipate their questions and fears: What if I have a major claim? Will my carrier pay promptly? Will my carrier still be in business? Will my agency have the skills and clout to properly present my claim? Do I have adequate coverage? Am I personally liable in any way? Is underwriting sound?
But nurturing goes beyond just answering clients' questions. Following are some "laws of customer pampering" that are important to follow.
1. Care enough to take them somewhere no one has ever taken them before. (Make every point of contact a WOW! experience for them.)
2. Care enough to learn about the five people, places and things that clients care most about in their lives.
(How well do you manage your database?)
3. Care enough to know what three things keep them awake at night. (What books have been published on
these topics?)
4. Follow these laws of the harvest:
Use drip irrigation not drip irritation.
-- As you sow, so shall you reap.
-- You always sow more than you reap.
5. Always make contacts
that count.
In addition, strangely enough, the single biggest motivator in buying is neither data nor facts. It is emotional response. Your clients base their decisions on emotion, then rationalize and justify their decisions with facts. Comfort is a primary motivating factor. Retailer Marshall Fields put it this way: "When given a choice of where they spend their money, people will invariably go back to that place where they have been made to feel special" or pampered, or nurtured or wowed. Human beings buy when they feel comfortable, when they feel they can trust you, when the process feels natural and reassuring and when they come to feel that working with you will make them feel good.
The most successful salespeople possess an ability to get into the buyer's mind and create exceptional value based on the buyer's thinking. But really, it isn't about thinking at all. "Thinking" is just "feeling" all of these things we just listed, and that's what gets them to want to work with you. If you can get their "certain something" meters vibrating, you are well on your way to distinguishing yourself from the crowd and dramatically increasing your emotional decisions quotient.
Without those emotional factors, most prospects will bail. Integrate those needs and your hit rate will soar.
Today's rate of change is both historical as well as unprecedented, and it comes at a time when most people don't have any margin left at the end of the day to deal with this velocity of change. What should producers with foresight be doing right now?
* Take extra good care of yourself. Keep strong emotionally and physically. You'll need all your energy and stamina to get through this market.
* Get out your "A" list and start calling. Invite them out to lunch one at a time, see a ball game with them, play a round of golf (they need a break as well).
* Watch for prospects who are willing and able to change. Don't waste time trying to convert heathens and skeptics. Learn to "cut bait" quickly. People who "get it" are out there; beat the bushes until you find them.
* Don't let the "buzzards" get you down. You will lose clients in this crazy market. Let 'em go. Take a stand.
Your top 20% are under constant attack. Thus, no matter how busy you are, you must pamper, educate and cultivate them in order to ensure that they feel the emotion of your advocacy as well as the logic of their choice. *
The author
Jim Cecil provides custom nurturing solutions for agencies. For a turnkey strategy to making customer contacts that count, review the Nurture Solution for Insurance Professionals
at www.nurturmarketing.com/
industry_specific/insurance.html.
A free copy of his "A Cure For The Common Cold Call" is available at www.nurturemarketing.com, "Free Stuff."