“What You Don’t Know Can’t Help You!” … Eddie K. Emmett, Editor / Publisher
26 Ways to Get More Sales from Insurance Producers Written by John F. Carroll 1) Better Lead Allocation Are you allocating every lead to the salesperson most likely to close it?
In This Edition 26 Ways to Get More Sales from Insurance Producers ............... 1
Or are you using a random distribution by day of the week, first letter of last name, or an alternating “round-robin”?
Halloween Word Search .......... 7 How to Hold Your Salespeople Accountable ............................ 8 Benefits of Representing Aggressive .............................. 9 The Insured Has Been Served Suit Papers…. What Happens Next? .................................... 10
"If It's Free … It's For Me!" Aggressive Agents are welcome to download the "Setting Realistic Goals for CSRs & Producers" at http://www.aggressive.rocks
Here are some other ways to consider for boosting close rates: Want more sales from your producers? Stupid question, huh? Getting the most from your salespeople is one of the biggest roles of an agency owner but it’s also one of the most difficult. I’ve worked with hundreds of agents across the US, and the ability to draw the most from their producers is a quality I’ve seen in the most successful agents. And it’s always missing in the agents who fail.
1. By Location: Which producer leaves nearest the lead? 2. By Age: Which producer is closest in age to the lead? 3. By Gender: Do some producers sell better to one gender? 4. By Other Demographic: Which producer matches the overall demographic of the lead? 5. By Value: give the higher potential leads to the best closers
I thought you might benefit from a few ideas to get your producers producing and your agency growing.
The more your salesperson looks, sounds, thinks and behaves like the prospect the more they’ll sell.
So here it is, 26 ways to get more out of your current insurance producers:
2) Constantly Remind Them “Why” When you’re selling insurance all day long it’s easy to forget WHY you’re doing it. Continued on page 2
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There are other ways to improve their sales skills just by talking about how they’re selling. Discussing recent sales that didn’t close, new cross-selling ideas and ways to get more referrals. Just ask, “What’s working? What’s not?” and see what happens.
26 Ways to Get More Sales Continued from page 1 Your salespeople can think they’re helping people, strengthening families, and contributing a valuable service to society.
5) Sales Bonuses
Or they can think they’re insurance quoters.
Get your producers shooting for higher numbers with bonuses.
Who do you think sells more? Take every chance you can to show producers successful claims, congratulate them on doing the “right” thing for convincing a customer to increase coverage, and remind them constantly that selling insurance is a noble occupation to be proud of. It is.
Your bonuses don’t have to be money. You could give away prizes, free time, free lunch, or any other perk your staff would enjoy. In fact, the more variety the better. Remember that you WANT your producers to get the bonuses. It’s discouraging if they consistently fall short. Set bonuses at attainable levels and do all you can to help your producers achieve them.
3) Provide Sales Improvement Material If you’re lucky enough to have a producer willing to read books about sales, make it easy for them.
6) Free Coffee
Buy them. For $100 on amazon you could build a great library of resources in the agency. Just look for the highest rated and most popular books in the sales section. Producer with a long commute? See if he or she wants to listen to audiobooks about sales. At the very least, make your own books available to the office and encourage your producers to borrow the best ones. 4) Help Them Practice
Coffee is a stimulant. It wakes people up, makes them more attentive, more talkative, and more persistent. Why should your salespeople ever pay for something that does that? It should be required. 7) Keep Service Far, Far Away Sales and service are two different worlds, and it’s best to keep them far apart.
Everybody knows practicing sales sucks. But it works. No producer is going to ask you to practice, but there are many who will be happy to and will benefit from it if you ask. You’ll need to create a relaxed and positive atmosphere. Think “practice sessions” will bother your salesperson more than help them? I get it.
It’s hard to sell something that you’re constantly hearing problems about it. The trouble with customer service in your agency is that you only hear from people who have problems. These only represent a few of your clients but when you hear about them all day long you start to question your product. Every policy from every agency has service problems, rate complaints, claim problems, and other gripes from the customers. Don’t let your producers hear about bad customer experiences because it takes away from their conviction in the products. Continued on page 3
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10) Give Them Better Communication Tools
26 Ways to Get More Sales
Look at all the different ways your producer communicates with prospects. Are there any opportunities for making their job easier?
Continued from page 2 8) Sales-Only Time
An autodailer service for telemarketing? A CRM for lead management? An appointment scheduling service (I use and recommend Calendly) A text chat option on the agency website? (I use and recommend PureChat) A better email service so their messages always get through? (I use and recommend Gmail) A cell phone for 2am sales calls? 11) Give Them Better Equipment I don’t recommend the same person doing sales and service but sometimes it’s unavoidable.
Take a look at your salesperson’s desk. Are you treating them like heroes of the office like you should? Do they have a comfortable office chair so they’re still energized to make that 4:59 call?
I just mentioned one reason in #7 above, another one is because the service work inevitably eats into the sales work.
Do they have a webcam to record custom videos for prospects?
Service is easier. And people will subconsciously gravitate toward easier work.
Do they have an iPad with quoting capabilities or a sales presentation loaded into it?
Producers tasked with both sales and service will find ways to spend more time on service, whether they know they’re doing it or not. If both tasks need to be done by the same person, split their time throughout the day so every moment is designated as EITHER sales OR service but never both. Otherwise the sales won’t get done.
How about an phone headset so they don’t have to hold it up to their ear all day? Take a look at the desk and ask. You’ll find more ideas.
9) Alter Your Commissions Relax, you don’t have to pay more. If you want to get more from your producers take a look at your commission schedule to make sure you’re rewarding the right things proportionately. Everyone wants to make the most money for the least effort, especially salespeople. So it’s a problem if your commission structure doesn’t reward them for going after the business that makes you the most money.
12) Ditch The Ball and Chain
There are two general rules I tell agents regarding producer commission:
Don’t just allow your producers to get out from behind the desk.
1. Pay as close to 100% commission as possible
Encourage them to!
2. Match your producers’ commission to your own so the more you get paid for something the more they get in direct proportion. The closer your producer gets paid like you the more you’ll both be on the same page moving in the same direction toward the same goals.
There’s nothing your producer can do at his desk that a GEICO call center rep can’t do at his. Local marketing in the community is the largest advantage a local insurance agent has over direct writers but only if you use it. Continued on page 4
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26 Ways to Get More Sales Continued from page 3 13) Help Set Good Goals Help your producers set good sales goals. Here’s a few tips for setting good goals: Set goals for short, medium and long terms. (daily, monthly, yearly) Keep them challenging but attainable.
17) Get Rid of The Stupid Stuff
Set goals for the entire agency to benefit from the team influence and support.
Are there any processes in the agency that aren’t even really necessary?
Don’t focus too heavily on the end results if possible and instead focus on the behaviors that get to those results. (set goals for how many referrals you ask for instead of how many sales you made) 14) Ask What They Need
TPS Reports? Pointless tasks waste time, but they also condition your producers to think their work is unimportant. Review everything your producer is doing to identify and drop agency-mandated tasks that are unnecessary. 18) Put Them on a Pedestal
Just ask them. Say to your producers, “Is there anything I could do or get to make your job easier?” And when they say “better leads” you say “…besides that.” 15) Give Bigger Responsibilities Some producers thrive when given additional responsibilities in the office. It makes them feel more ownership over the agency and that’s good for everyone. Could one of your producers be in charge of:
Look around your agency and remind yourself that none of this is possible without sales. Your salespeople are the most important part of your business and they need to feel that way. Salespeople can be like famous musicians, they may appear confident on the outside while desperately needing to feel important and cherished to perform. Put them on a pedestal in the office and they will act more and more like sales rock-stars. 19) Create Competition
Agency cross-selling
Get your salespeople competing with and against each other.
Agency referral process Office recycling/green expert
Keep it friendly because everyone still has to remain friends in the end.
Some other office process that needs improvement Don’t just hand out the dirty work. Try to fit the task to the person. If they’re good at something put them in charge of it. They won’t sell more because you asked them to scrub the toilet bowl. 16) Take Away The Admin Crap Do your producers waste time filling out forms or some other mundane task that could easily be done by someone else?
Avoid any competition where everyone knows who’s going to win before it starts. That’s counterproductive. 20) Foster a Positive Environment This isn’t as actionable as some of the other ideas here but it’s worth noting that every employee of your agency, including and especially salespeople, needs to feel comfortable to give their best. Ask yourself every now and then whether all your employees are made to feel as comfortable and welcome as possible in your agency. Be honest.
Take it off their hands. You’ll save time, relieve frustration, and most importantly you’ll make your salesperson understand exactly what their job is – to sell insurance.
Keep in mind, if your agency isn’t a comfortable atmosphere for your employees it won’t be for your customers either. Continued on page 5
They’re not here to dot i’s and cross t’s. Aggressive Rocks!
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26 Ways to Get More Sales Continued from page 4 21) Let Them Train Others One of the best ways to get better at something is to teach others. Teaching solidifies the knowledge in your producer’s mind which results in better execution. It also makes your producer want to step up their game to set the right example for the person they’re training. 22) Hire Appointment Setters Are your producers setting their own appointments? Maybe it’d be more cost effective to outsource that to a telemarketing company or hire someone part-time? What other activities are your producers doing that could outsourced to a less expensive part-time employee?
25) Higher Intensity/Shorter Duration Cold Calling Nothing will burn out a producer like long stretches of time cold calling. It’s also ineffective for most salespeople. Some people can hit the phones all day long and never tire, but for most it’s more efficient to do short bursts of high intensity cold calling.
23) More Leads and/or Better Leads Well this is obviously a tough one. I don’t have any simple solutions but you need to consider the value of your producer’s time here.
26) Lead By Example
Would it make sense to invest in more leads or higher quality leads so they can sell more policies per hour? What could you do to generate more leads in the agency?
I honestly don’t think anything on this list can draw more out of your insurance producer than the example you set for them. Be the businessperson you want your employees to become and they will. You don’t have to sell better than they can. I know some amazing agents that suck at sales.
24) Regular Sales Meetings I know agents who are hesitant about running sales meetings. They tell me they don’t know what to talk about.
Your attitude, your commitment, your sincerity, your devotion, your hard work… These will lead your salespeople to sell more.
The point isn’t what you discuss. It’s about dedicating time to to demonstrate the importance of sales in your business and your commitment to make it better.
Here’s What to Do Next 1. Decide which of these ideas will resonate best with your producers.
Here’s a simple formula:
2. If you want to use several of them, come up with a sustainable plan to introduce things gradually so you don’t overwhelm your producers and burn yourself out.
Highlight the big recent sales Ask what’s working Explain any changes
3. Don’t just come up with a plan. Follow through and MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Answer questions No complaining Everybody back to work now
If you know another agent struggling with getting the most from their producers, share this article with them. And if you want more helpful articles like this let me know by hitting the like button or sharing it on social media! Hope this helps, John
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Why is it important to keep “emotion” out of your agency notes / e-mails? It is probably fair to say that from time to time, conversations between the agency and their customers (whether on the phone or face to face) do not exactly go as planned. There are a whole host of issues that could prompt a customer to become very agitated at an agency staff member such as advising them of a probable uncovered claim, etc. The opposite (agency staff member getting agitated with a customer) could also occur both hopefully those circumstances are few and far between. As agency staff is aware, it is very important that these conversations be documented in the system. Based on the situation, it may also be appropriate and beneficial to document these conversations in some form of written communication back to the client. Let’s focus on discussion on the recording of the conversation in the agency management system. Many agency staff are of the opinion that these agency notes are for “their eyes only” or at least only for select fellow agency personnel. In most cases, this is probably true. So the agency staff member records something to the effect of “Just spoke with the insured regarding their uncovered loss. What a real jerk they are. I can’t believe that we insure someone so stupid in our agency”. Now fast forward the timeline and now that same customer is pursuing legal action against your agency because they thought they should have coverage for their loss. Both the defense attorney (defending your agency) and the plaintiff’s attorney (defending the client) will have a right to see the entire agency file (notes, proposals, e-mails, etc.). As the agency staff member involved, how do you now feel about the agency notes that you entered that you thought were for “your eyes only”? There is certainly the possibility that these notes (containing the negative comments) will be used against your agency. I would trust that the jury is going to look very negatively on the comments. There are a number of “rules of thumb” that are used regarding notes entered into the agency management system. One that every agency staff member should honor very carefully is: Don’t put anything in the agency file that you wouldn’t want a jury to read! More E&O Tips at http://www.agentseotips.com
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How to Hold Your Salespeople Accountable by John Chapin In an article a couple of months ago I mentioned that one of the biggest issues I see when it comes to managing sales teams is a lack of accountability. Because it was only mentioned briefly as one of several issues, I’ve had many people come back to me asking for more on this particular problem, so here it is. Five Steps to Holding Your Salespeople Accountable Step 1) Set high standards during the hiring process.
Are they working on Saturday if that’s what they said they would do? What’s their work ethic? Are they meeting their daily numbers, exceeding them, or falling short? Do they show up early and leave late? The key here is, whatever they agree to they need to be hitting those numbers and ideally exceeding them to some degree. They also need to be working hard on the right activities. If they aren’t hitting the numbers, are they putting up a valiant effort? Do they need some skills development or time management help? Whatever the issue, if they are falling short on their numbers it needs to be corrected quickly which leads to the next step… Step 3) Everyone needs to be on a 180-day employment cycle.
Whatever your standard expectations are for your salespeople, double those expectations when talking to a potential new hire. For example, if you expect your salespeople to make 50 phone calls a day, tell the candidate it’s 100. If you expect them to go out and knock on 25 doors a day, tell them it’s 50. If you expect them to work until 7 at night, tell them it’s 9. Do you expect them to work on Saturday? Tell them Saturday and Sunday. Yes, I hear some of your groaning right now. The point of this is to test the candidate during the interview process. You’re looking for hard workers, not skaters or slackers. You can adjust your numbers to something more reasonable later but if you start with average numbers, you’ll get average people to agree and then fall short even on those numbers. You have to set expectations high to begin with. Note: You also need to be hiring attitude and aptitude. You can’t teach work ethic, drive, selfmotivation, and perseverance, and you can’t teach people to sell who aren’t cut out for it. You need to hire people willing to do the hard work and make tons of calls, even cold calls if necessary. Have a tough hiring process and stick to it no matter who the candidate is or how good they seem to be. Make them jump through some hoops and be tough. If they can’t take a little heat from you, how are they going to take the heat out in the streets?
Every new hire should have an original employment contract of 180 days. Look, you probably know within a couple of weeks whether or not this person will make it so you don’t want to be stuck with someone for longer than 180 days. With new hires you want to micromanage their activity a bit in the beginning and review numbers almost daily. Track calls and activity and the bottom line is: ultimate sales numbers don’t lie. If they are falling short in the first 90 days, and they have the right attitude and aptitude, they should be able to make the necessary course corrections and you should see marked improvement and growth in the second 90 days. If numbers are still abysmal after 180 days, it’s time to cut bait. All your other producers, even the veterans, should also have a serious 90 and 180-day review. When you look at their last 90 days, if there are problems, they have 90 days to get them corrected. You may not have to be as strict and overt with your “good” people, but just make sure they aren’t getting into a comfort zone, developing bad habits, and/or getting complacent. Note: This is another area where sports has it right. The goalie not stopping pucks, pitcher giving up runs, and quarterback throwing too many interceptions isn’t the starter for long. Continued on page 9
Step 2) Hold people to the expectations they agree to. Everyone needs to have annual, monthly, and weekly goals that translate to daily activity. Are they making the number of phone calls and knocking on the number of doors they need to? Aggressive Rocks!
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Step 4) Check up on your people. In addition to tracking the number of phone calls everyone is making, you also need to be listening to phone calls and going out on calls with your people. The best way to listen to and go out on calls is with no prior notice. What I like to do is call someone out in the field, ask where they are, and then meet them and go on a few calls with them. I also walk into someone’s office and say, “Let’s make some phone calls.” And then I listen in. The element of surprise is the most effective because the salespeople who are making the calls and are out doing what they are supposed to be doing won’t be offended and will appreciate the help and insight. The mediocre and poor producers who aren’t prepared for the phone calls, or who say they’re out making calls but in reality are hiding out at a coffee shop, the movies, or elsewhere, will hate this.
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Note: As with Step 3, you know who your best people are and you can let them be a bit more autonomous. You may not have to surprise them like you do the person you suspect isn’t doing what they say they are. That said, no one gets a pass on accountability. If people are allowed to rest on their laurels, most will. Be careful of being too lax even with your best people.
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Step 5) Post sales numbers where all can see and use peer pressure.
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The lunch room is a great place to post numbers. The point here is that people with low numbers will feel pressure to get their numbers up and the champions don’t mind some friendly competition and pushing one another. You also want a positive environment of winners where the people who are working hard and doing the right things will thrive and the negative people and slackers will conform or exit stage right.
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Overall the most important part of accountability is to be committed to it and don’t let people slide, because if you do, most will.
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John Chapin is a sales and motivational speaker and trainer. For his free newsletter, or if you would like him to speak at your next event, go to: www.completeselling.com John has over 27 years of sales experience as a number one sales rep and is the author of the 2010 sales book of the year: Sales Encyclopedia. For permission to reprint, e-mail: johnchapin@completeselling.com.
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http://www.agenciesonline.biz/blog/monday-morningthe-most-overlooked-salespeople-your-csr-s The Insured Has Been Served Suit Papers‌. What Happens Next?
For English, they can call Carla Boykin 972-8273674 or email carly.boykin@aggressiveusa.com. For Spanish, they can call Myrna Tarango 972-827-3673 or email myrna.tarango@aggressiveusa.com Please note that in GEORGIA, we must provide a defense once we are notified that the insured has been served regardless of where the notice of service comes from. The sooner we are notified of service on the insured, the better to be able to handle their defense.
First, do not panic. We are trained to assist your insureds if they are served. Our first duty is to protect them. Once papers are received by the insured, we are on a time deadline to answer. In Georgia, this is between 20 and 30 days depending on the court the suit is filed in. If your insured brings in papers and advises that Thank you all for your continued partnership. they have been served do the following: Carla R. Boykin 1. Take all paperwork served and place a fax cover sheet on top. This should include your agency Litigation Manager-Aggressive Insurance information and who is sending the paperwork. 2. Update all insured information on the cover sheet including address, phone number(s) and email address. (this is VERY important) 3. Fax ALL documents served with the claim # prominently displayed on the cover page to 1-866-4249531 attn LITIGATION. 4. Advise your insured to contact our office immediately: Aggressive Rocks! Page 10 of 12 October 2015
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