Producer Self-Management

Running the first meeting

Meeting with prospective clients requires a specific skill set

By John Edward Love, CPCU

I have always thought that the first meeting with a prospect was rather like a blind date. Somewhere in your mind you contemplated the gamut of possibilities—from the large account one-meeting-broker-of-record-success to the “I love my agent but we’d move if you could save us some money off our current premium of $800 annually.”

That first meeting requires a producer to possess a skill set that is often overlooked by management. The necessity for preparation for the meeting and the self-analysis of what you did well—and what you should have done differently—are often neglected by many producers. Some sales professionals have enough moxie and, perhaps, a competitive bent that allows them to overcome sloppy skills in running the first meeting—but that’s not something to rely on.

For my money, the way you run the first meeting is the most critical step of the sales process. More important than the quality of your quote(s) and the way you present? No, but without proper structure of the entire process—a set of ground rules established in the first meeting—you run the risk of your great proposal being used and abused. Discipline, matched with the ability to think on your feet at the first meeting, is necessary to dramatically increase your chance of success later on.

So here are some of the “do’s” and “don’t’s” of the first date with Mr. or Mrs. Right:

• Do research everything you can about the company, particularly their best products, most important locations, most unusual exposures, and who their competitors and/or partners are. Like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, chances are you will be able to reference another of your clients or your past experiences to begin establishing a connection.

E-mail your fellow producers to see if they know someone at the prospect company. If you haven’t spent at least 15 minutes on the prospect’s Web site and sent an e-mail to your fellow producers (and, yes, your business network that sends you referrals), you’ve just reduced your chances of success by a significant percentage.

In addition, don’t make statements about their products, priorities, partners or anything in a way that backs you into a corner. Assuming things and talking in absolutes can derail the initial goal of establishing some rapport. If you find prospects saying things such as, “No, actually we discontinued that product” or, “We don’t care about that”—really, any type of short answer—you aren’t structuring your questions properly.

Learn to say things a little differently. For example, “I read about your product, the Widget 2000. Is that a big seller for you or is another product your sales leader?” Stay calm and let the prospect talk. The producers who won’t make it in sales are the ones who are so eager to impress the prospect that they make a bunch of emphatic statements with which the prospect doesn’t necessarily agree.

• Do ask your prospects at the outset about their goals for the meeting, be prepared to offer some, then confirm if they agree. Also, ask at the outset how much time they have for the meeting.

• Don’t jump right into your canned pitch about why your company is simply the best. You are about to tell the prospect a bunch of things that she doesn’t know she should care about. Base your tempo on the first two minutes of the prospect’s energy and focus.

Is she distracted? Is he looking everywhere but at you? Asking them non-threatening but constructive questions is the best way to focus them. Use a statement such as, “I don’t want to waste your time with a lot of information that’s not useful to you. Could you share with me some of your goals for your insurance program or what you want out of your relationship with your broker?”

• Do—and practice this ahead of time—articulate what your goals are for the relationship if the prospect should want to move forward. The time-honored tradition of stating a feature of your services and explaining the benefit to the prospect is too often overlooked. My favorite catch phrase was: “And what that can mean for you is . . .” A follow-up to that is, “Have you ever thought about that?” And, “Would you see value in that?”

• Don’t just shotgun a bunch of things that you think make you look great and go on for five or more minutes. I have found that after you’ve uttered three sentences, you had better interrupt yourself and ask something like, “Does that make sense?” or, “Have you heard of something like that before?” or you will begin losing them.

Do you have a tendency to explain the history of watch-making when someone asks you for the time? Come on, be honest. If you are long-winded (and I am guilty of that), you had better learn to ask confirming questions.

• Do establish the prospect’s ground rules for the competitive process—if indeed there is to be competition (ignoring for the moment if you even want to participate). Help them out, objectively, with ideas of how to achieve the best result. Many veteran producers tell stories of how they eventually won an account that they originally decided not to work on by giving the prospect some ideas of how to run the process. The rapport that was established later made the producer the #1 option in the buyer’s mind when another broker shot himself in the foot.

• Don’t feel the need to compete for every piece of business, especially when you are in your first two or three years in the business. In fact, I would argue that if you went into every meeting assuming that it wasn’t an account you would be working on, but you just wanted to learn about them, you’d ultimately have greater success. Be relaxed and have a conversation about what’s important to them. By the way, that’s a pretty good recipe for conversational success in any setting.

• Do customize your marketing materials to their industry, products, unique exposures, etc.

It’s not necessary to blast them with both barrels in the first meeting. It’s a good thing to have some materials in reserve that you can use as a follow-up. Prompt follow-up is a subtle reinforcement of your professionalism and builds trust with the prospect. I am amazed that producers will take months to get an appointment and hours to drive there and conduct the meeting, but they won’t spend 15 minutes on creative follow-ups. This is a step that can be systematized and delegated to an administrative assistant, if you have the luxury of some form of sales support.

• Do ask the killer question: “Can you see yourself actually leaving your current agent at the end of this process?” You can add the ending, “Or would that just be too painful?” If first meetings took place in an elevator you’d only ask, “What do you want from your insurance broker relationship?” And, “Can you really see firing him or her?” So, be sure you ask at least those two questions.

• Don’t run down the competition or go negative early in the process. If the prospect is upset with his agent, let him emote without getting too caught up in it. If you know her incumbent is less than perfect, don’t spill the beans directly. Set that agent up with indirect questions such as, “Do you ask your agent to disclose their commissions or fees to you each year?” or, “What are the other services, other than insurance placement, that you get from the agent?” Honest but less threatening ways of getting them to think about some issues is a safer and more professional approach.

Create a road map

Which of these “do’s” and “don’t’s” is the most important? Establishing the ground rules for proceeding. You need a road map for the next steps in the relationship, and because you’re going there with someone else (the prospect), you really need to understand how they see things progressing. Because you may decide to participate in a competition, depending on the quality of the prospect and your own sales philosophy, you need to understand the prospect’s selection criteria and any rules for the broker’s conduct.

Not all prospects are “good” clients to have; you will need to walk away from many potential sales if you want the right kind of clients. In my experience, the prospects most likely to make good clients are seeking an agent they can trust to be their business partner. Your conduct in the first meeting, including your knowledge of their needs and their perception of your professionalism, is critically important to your success as a producer.

The author
John Edward Love, CPCU, is president and executive director of TechAssure, an association of insurance agents and underwriters who specialize in managing risks for technology and life sciences companies. For 18 years Love was a leading producer at Armfield, Harrison & Thomas (AH&T) in Leesburg, Virginia, and a founder of AH&T Technology Brokers.