Winning Strategies
Are you getting better all the time?
Coasting won't do it
By Roger Sitkins
Do you remember that old Beatles song “Getting Better All the Time”?
“I’ve got to admit it’s getting better…
A little better all the time…
Getting so much better all the time.”
The truth is, you’re either getting better or worse, or you’re trying to stay the same—which you can’t. My concern is that, too often, agencies and some older producers say they’re just floating along—they’re doing okay and things are going well. But you can’t just float along. You can’t sit there waiting for the roast duck to fly into your mouth.
The reality is that you’re either getting better as an organization or you’re not. The minute your organization stops purposefully getting better all the time, it’s getting worse. There’s no such thing as the status quo.
That’s because when you stop going forward, you soon start to go backward. You can’t stay the same. You can’t coast for long. Eventually you will stop or the law of gravity will take over and you will coast downhill. I’ve never seen anyone coast uphill; have you?
As an agency leader, are you purposefully making your people, procedures and systems better every week? Or are you so caught up in the day-to-day operations that you don’t have time to get better? Everyone uses the excuse of having no time to work on the most important things in life (lose weight, exercise, find a mate, etc.). But you have to find the time; you and your agency must make the time to improve.
Let’s look at some areas where you may need improvement. How are you doing in these areas?
Quality of At-Bats. Once you achieve a reasonably high closing ratio, it’s all about quality at-bats. Are the future ideal clients you’re getting in front of really quality? Are they really people you want to build your agency around? Are they the kinds of clients who appreciate what you do and value your services?
Are you getting better all the time, or are you still dealing in a commodity world where it’s all about price?
Referrals. I realize we talk about referrals a lot, but I still find that some people can’t distinguish between Reactive and Proactive Referrals. A Reactive Referral is when someone hears good things about an agent and calls in to see how that agent can help the person out with insurance. Those types of accounts tend to be more of a commodity relationship.
Conversely, a Proactive Referral is when you’ve identified your future ideal clients and ask your current clients and centers of influence to refer you to them. Producers who choose their clients rather than letting their clients choose them typically are proactive about referrals.
Are you getting better all the time when it comes to obtaining top-notch referrals?
Favorable Introductions. The next level of referral is when a client or center of influence helps the producer meet his or her next great client. For instance, if you (or one of your top producers) and I are out at a big event, I’d want you/your producer to meet my influential business contacts who are there and suggest that they let your agency help them with their insurance needs. Or I might set up a lunch meeting or golf game to make the introduction. Even if it’s done via a conference call, that’s still the best introduction you can get.
Do you have a system and process in place that absolutely guarantees that you and your producers will be favorably introduced to future ideal clients?
Is your system getting better all the time? Are your results?
Five Compelling Reasons. At a networking event, the producer should be well prepared and rehearsed to respond to the question, “What do you do for a living?” The worst thing you can say is, “I’m in insurance.” Why? Because you put yourself in a box by saying that you sell insurance. To many people, every insurance salesperson in that box looks the same. So unless you want to kill the conversation and turn that box into a coffin, steer clear of the dead-end answer.
Instead, make a statement that answers the question, “Why would people want to do business with you?” If you don’t know at least five compelling reasons why people should do business with you, you look like everyone else. And everyone else talks about price, service and access to numerous carriers—because that’s what everyone else offers.
At this point, it’s important to note the difference between answers to the question, “Why would people do business with you?” and compelling reasons. If you’re unprepared, you’ll give answers; if you’re well prepared, you’ll easily be able to recite some of the compelling reasons.
Right now, if I asked you to stop reading and list the compelling reasons why someone should do business with your agency, what would you say? What would your producers say? What does that say about your agency brand? Does it say that you’re original and innovative or that you’re like everyone else?
Are your compelling reasons getting better all the time? Are you getting better at expressing them?
Questioning Skills. It’s critical to a producer’s success to be able to conduct an effective discovery session with a prospect by asking the right questions. All too often, we find that producers tend to ask a lot of closed-end questions that lead to “yes” or “no” answers. For example: Do you like your current agent? Does the agency respond to your needs? Are you happy with your company’s claims service? Do they do a work comp experience mod analysis?
On the other hand, producers who ask the right open-ended questions tend to be successful because they elicit detailed, quality information from prospects. For example: “Share with me what you and your company do in the area of disaster recovery planning.” Although that’s more of a statement than a question, its open-ended structure lends itself to a conversation vs. a “yes” or “no” answer. In turn, the astute producer should be able to build on a prospect’s response with additional open-ended questions.
The key to the questioning process is to be able to create pain issues, where the prospect realizes that his or her current insurance provider is shortchanging that prospect on many levels. Otherwise, if price is the only reason people move their insurance, then you can bet they’ll have no qualms about switching agencies whenever their policies are up for renewal.
Therefore, your objective in asking questions is to help a prospect become aware that: (1) his or her current agent isn’t meeting the needs that he or she has just identified (with your help); and (2) the impact that is having on the company’s total cost of risk as well as its overall strategic risk.
Typically, the average producer is just one or two questions away from making a great sale but is so bad at asking questions and so bad at listening that he or she doesn’t really hear what the prospect needs or wants. We’ve found that if you ask enough quality questions, your prospects will actually help design their own plan, which you will then sell to them.
You know your questioning skills are improving when your prospect says, “No one has ever asked me that before.” If no one is saying that to you, you haven’t differentiated yourself from the competition.
So, are you getting better at asking the right questions?
Presentation Skills. The ability to get on your feet and sell a message, not tell a message, is crucial to being a successful producer. In fact, when we look at our top producers (whose gross commission income exceeds $1 million), every single one of them has outstanding presentation skills. You’re just not going to see what we call “soaring eagle” producers who lack these skills.
Unfortunately, poor presentation skills are about as common among average producers as are poor questioning skills. And both are areas in which agents and agencies need the most help.
I recently read a comment from Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence and other books on leadership. He said: “Those who practice, improve; those who don’t, don’t.” That’s so true! And yet we’re constantly amazed that agencies don’t make practice a non-optional behavior and demand that producers rehearse their presentations.
The reason that most producers don’t practice is the fear they’ll look stupid in front of their peers. They’ll tell you as much if you ask them why they don’t practice their presentations. My retort always is, “You’re going to look stupid someplace! Isn’t it better to look stupid in front of your peers than in front of your prospects and clients?”
Is the culture of your agency to always be relentlessly prepared? If so, there’s no excuse for producers not to hone and perfect their presentation skills. Are yours getting better all the time?
Personal Improvement
When it comes to getting better, it’s important not to overlook the personal areas of our lives.
Health. For instance, is your health better than it was three years ago? If it is, chances are you’ll live longer, be more productive at work and home and, in general, enjoy life more.
Here in my office, some of us recently participated in a hospital-sponsored 90-day health and fitness challenge. For some, the challenge was to lose weight, lower cholesterol or improve fitness. For me, personally, it meant all of the above.
For all, it meant working out and exercising more. We formed teams of three people who weighed in and had blood drawn at the beginning and end of the challenge period. The goal was to see who could earn the most points for making measurable improvements.
I’m pleased to report that everyone lost weight and reported other significant improvements in their overall health. So within our company, our physical well-being is getting better! Is yours getting better all the time?
Wealth. No doubt you’ve heard, “It’s not what you make; it’s what you keep.” But all too often, producers’ spending habits are commensurate with their income. The more they make, the more they spend.
Most Americans are great at spending what they make and then some. What steps have you taken to retain and build wealth? Is your personal wealth accumulation program getting better or worse?
The bottom line
You can’t stay the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. Are you really getting better—so much better—all the time? As always, it’s your choice. *
The author
Roger Sitkins, president of Sitkins Group, Inc., offers his Vertical Growth Experience™ programs exclusively to his client group, known as The Sitkins 100™. These programs provide members with ongoing development and strategies that force vertical growth in the agency’s critical indicators of Closing Ratios, Revenue per Employee, Revenue per Relationship, and Revenue per Producer.