YOU'VE GOT A LEAD. Someone left a message stating that they'd like to talk to you about their coverage. Maybe it was a voice mail, they saw your add in the back of the Weekly Saver. Or maybe it was an email from a client who wants you to call their friend who is the HR Director at a mid sized business in town.

These are time sensitive opportunities that don't come as often as most insurance brokers would like. You need to get them on the phone as soon as possible before the next broker returns their call. You don't really think you're the only broker they're going to reach out to, do you?

YOU'VE GOT THEM ON THE PHONE. What would you do here? You have someone on the phone who wants to talk to you about buying insurance. Should you:

A) Tell them you have great customer service

B) Tell them you can get them the lowest rates

C) Tell them that you're a 3rd generation broker who is an expert

D) Ask them why they called

What would you do?

I guess a better way of thinking about it is what do you do? Your first reaction is probably to start talking about insurance, which is what most insurance brokers do. You don't want to be every other insurance broker, you want to stand out and be different. So do something completely crazy that they wouldn't have expected in a million years! Ask them some questions.

Sales organizations that follow a Consultative Approach call this behavior QUALIFYING, the act of understanding the buyer's wants and needs. It is a critical step of the selling process. If we don't know what the buyer's pain point is we can't provide the remedy to make the sale. No pain, no gain.

LET'S QUALIFY THEM:

How did you hear about us?
Are you prepared to fire your incumbent broker?
What do you like that your current broker does for you?
What could they do better?
Who is involved in your buying process?

Do you ask your prospects these questions? This is how you should open every conversation, with every prospect, every time. It lets them know that you are going to learn about their needs. It lets them know that you care. That you are here to listen. And there's a reason you ask these specific questions:

How did you hear about us?
- This tells you which marketing efforts are working and what got their interest.
Are you prepared to fire your incumbent broker?
- If the answer is no just end the conversation. If yes, ask why?
What do you like that your current broker does for you?
- This gives you baseline of their service expectations.
Who is involved in your buying process?
- This lets you know who you're currently dealing with and who you need to get to.

If you had this information after an initial conversation you would have power in the sales process. I'm not referring to you making the buying decision for the prospect. Rather, you have the power to pursue the sale or walk away. Insurance brokers who talk about themselves and rush to get a quote processed don't have that choice. They could be dumping valuable time and resources in to a lost cause. Let's assume the prospect was an assistant to the CFO. Their job may be to go to market for the CFO who will in turn use the quote to beat up the incumbent insurance broker.

Suppose you're talking to the CFO and they're the ultimate decision maker. Is this better than working with the secretary? Not necessarily. What if their broker is the CFO's brother? He isn't going to fire his brother. Maybe his brother wanted to see your work because you're competitors.

By asking the important questions you are able to determine if this is the type of business you want to put time in to. As you know your time is money and your staff's time is money.

You want to work with businesses who have already done their homework and researched you. They're prepared to make a clean separation from the incumbent insurance broker for specific reasons and you know what they liked about that broker as well. Finally, you know who you're speaking to and it is the decision maker. These are the only conversations I'm willing to have and you should consider setting your bar this high too.

-R