7 Deadly Cold Call Sins

We've all said them in the past.

Some of us still say them today. 

Eliminate them from you vernacular before they eliminate your revenue.

  1. "Hi my name is..."
  2. "Have I caught you at a bad time?"
  3. "How are you today?"
  4. "I'm sorry to bother you?"
  5. "I won't take too much of your time."
  6. "I wanted to introduce myself."
  7. "Thanks for taking my call."

 

If you'd like to read more about these and other sins or if you'd like to learn more about better selling systems, please go here to read more from Peter O'Donoghue.

When you're done reading blogs set a goal for the number of calls you're going to make today. Then exceed it.

-R

Cold Calling IS Dead, If You're an Idiot.

Maybe "idiot" is too harsh. If you're in a production role and currently employed there has to be something between your ears.

If you've seen the "Cold Calling is Dead" headline before than you might be like me and laughed and then opened the email.

BOOM! We just proved their point. Not that cold calling is dead but that email engagement, when done correctly, can drive brand engagement and lead development. This can lead to future warm leads which lead to things to fill the pipeline and hopefully sales.

Does that last paragraph sound simple? It shouldn't. How many of the words or phrases were unfamiliar to you? Lead development is a complex process that combines content, a database, reporting, follow up, and most importantly a capable person to manage all of it. Who can manage that at your agency?

 

COLD CALLING IS ALIVE

If you consider yourself a one-man-band when it comes to finding your own opportunities then you already know where they come from:

  • Referrals
  • Cold Calling

At this exact moment I have 18 opportunities at various stages in my pipeline. Cold Calling generated 11 of them. There were 3 referrals. I already closed 3 opportunities this month and all 3 were from Cold Calling.

Unless you have a dedicated marketing person driving leads, this is where your business comes from. Take a look at your pipeline and see what your ration is.

 

COLD CALLING IS EASY

You just need to know what to say.

Unless you don't like talking to people. Then you should probably be working at a toll booth. 

Each call needs a goal. Mine is to walk away with an appointment.

I'm interrupting whatever it is that they're doing before they picked up the phone so I'm not trying to tell them my life story right now. 

 

COLD CALLING THE WRONG WAY

  1. "Hello PROSPECT'S NAME, I'm Rob Erfurt from ABC Insurance. How are you today? 'FINE'
  2. "That's great. I was hoping to talk to you about how we might be able to save your-"   '(interupts) WE ALREADY HAVE AN INSURANCE BROKER, THANKS.'

You're giving them way too much information upfront. Our natural defense skills kick in and they hear sales call. You don't get a chance to share with them how you could truly help.

Thus the frustration of Cold Calling.

 

COLD CALLING ROB'S WAY (SCRIPT)

My calls are not scripted but I know what I want to say before someone picks up the phone. Here they are:

  1. "Hi, PROSPECT'S NAME. It's Rob Erfurt, you and I have never had a conversation before. Can I tell you why I'm calling?"   99% OF THE TIME THEY SAY YES
  2. "Thank you. My firm is called FIRM'S NAME and we help PROSPECT'S TITLE with WHATEVER VALUE YOU BRING THEM (I tell them 2 things, DON'T SAY SAVE MONEY).
  3. "Because this is the 1st time we've spoke I don't know if either of these things interest you or not." SILENT PAUSE. THEY'LL SAY YES.
  4. "OK, can you tell me more about that?"

Now you're having a conversation. And that gets you closer to a sale than playing Solitaire or online poker. Or reading blogs.

Go sell something.

-R

 

 

You're Not Going To Hit Your Goal

  Are you an insurance producer? If so that means, like me, you work on commission. If you're the 1 in 4 producers that actually achieves their revenues goal this year then very little of what I'm about to say applies to you. 

If you're not trending to hit your revenue goal this year here are some reasons why. The point is to identify what is holding you back so that you can fix it:

  1. You haven't set any professional goals this year. "I want to be the best producer" doesn't count. Have a specific quantifiable goals and WRITE THEM DOWN. This is no one's responsibility but your own. Here are some goals I set for myself: Cold Calls per month, Meetings per month, Revenue per quarter.
  2. Your agency principal is a bad leader. Attitudes and behaviors come from the top down, be they positive or negative. Principals are former producers who were either great producers or were given the business by their parents. This does not mean they know how to lead. You're an adult, motivate yourself.
  3. You spend too much time doing Customer Service. If your value proposition to your clients is "They can call my cell phone anytime!" than you have poor time management skills. You also are attracting small needy clients. Stop pretending to work, it's costing you money. 
  4. Your value proposition is weak. Everyone says "Great rates, Great Customer Service, and expertise". If you want to stand out from every other broker that has already sat in front of your prospect than you need to STAND OUT. Stop leading with price and savings. If you think that is important then make it sound different at least. How about "We increase profitability". 
  5. You read too many blogs. 

Successful producers who hit their goals have the opposite of these behaviors. Go forth and do likewise. 

- R

 

 

Don't Show Up & Throw Up

This month's post is written by Joy Justus, SVP at ThinkHR, and originally appeared in The Strategic Broker, Issue 2.

How many times have you seen a sales person show up and throw up on a client or prospect with a features and benefits focused pitch that is not relevant to the audience? 

Every sales person is guilty of this amateur move at some point in their career, and I was certainly no exception 20 years ago as a rookie carrier rep.

When you hand a prospect one of your brochures, you can be more effective in conveying the value and driving engagement if you ask the right questions first to identify HOW the client or prospect could best use your solution tailored to their specific situation.

Start by asking open ended, probing questions until you uncover one of their challenges, below we'll use HR pain as an example. After you uncover this “pain,” proceed by presenting your value proposition. Then, watch their faces light up and the magic that will follow. And remember to ask for the BOR!    

HR Challenge #1 – No HR department or understaffed HR department

  • Under staffed HR department
  • No HR professional (just an office manager who wears multiple hats and holds HR responsibilities)

HR value proposition and solution:

“At [YOUR AGENCY NAME] we work with employers who are understaffed and/or do not have a dedicated HR professional. Often, the office manager/owner/accountant is wearing multiple hats and is responsible for HR procedures.

As your broker, I will provide you with a solution which expands the capabilities of your existing HR department. One of the many resources I provide you with is [INSERT YOUR HR SOLUTION].  It helps with everything from basic compliance to leaves of absence (i.e. workers’ comp, FMLA, etc.) to hiring/firing practices and so much more.”

HR Challenge #2 – multi-state/multi-location employers

  • Multi-state employer who needs to stay abreast of state-level employer compliance requirements
  • Employer who has multiple location managers who manage people, but whose primary role is not HR management (ie: hospitality, restaurants, retail, auto dealers, etc.)

HR value proposition and solution:

“At [YOUR AGENCY NAME] we work with employers who have multi-state locations and they struggle to stay current with changes.

Some of these employers do not have locations large enough to warrant a dedicated HR professional on site so they rely on the General Manager to handle all HR responsibilities. While this arrangement is a necessity, it also raises liability concerns. We have a HR solution in place that will help you. Our services include: [INSERT YOUR HR SOLUTION]

  • Example: a team of expert HR professionals your managers may call or email for immediate help regarding important HR matters – think if this as an HR lifeline for each of your locations.
  • Example: easy to use, online employee training with a catalog of more than 200 courses covering OSHA, safety, harassment and HR management.
  • Example: alerts notifying management of key employment law and HR compliance matters at both state and federal levels

HR Challenge #3 – Limited or no training and development budget, worker’s comp claims

  • Limited or no employee training budget or program (common with municipalities, non-profits and schools)
  • Workers’ comp and safety concerns in the workplace

HR value-proposition and solution:

“At [YOUR AGENCY NAME] we work with employers who desire a formal training and development program, but who simply don’t have the time or resources to execute on the strategy.

As your broker, we recognize the importance of a training program and how such programs can favorably improve your overall risk containment strategy. Our program helps you ensure that your employees are properly trained in areas ranging from HR management to OSHA, safety and harassment prevention. Our solution is an easy to use online platform that delivers training courses to all employees with a catalog of more than 200 courses." 

Client Portal Survey: Results

These are the results, speculations, and conclusions of the Client Portal Survey from January. Here is what your peers had to say.

"Does your Insurance agency have a Client Portal?"

100% of participants answered YES

These participants are representative of the roughly 10% of all insurance brokers who believe it's important to differentiate and provide clients with more value in their industry. To put that in perspective, the other 90% are collectively saying to prospective clients "Work with us because we will take the paperwork to the carrier and bring you back a quote. We will be very friendly when you call us on the phone to add and remove enrollees.This is what makes us unique." In short, providing more value is not their job.

 

"Is your Client Portal advertised on your company's website?" 

75% of participants answered YES

25% of participants answered NO

Is anyone wondering why some of the participants are NOT advertising their Client Portal on their website? I bet if we asked them why they might say "We don't want to offer it to everybody, just our top clients" or "We don't want to take attention off of our giant 'CLICK HERE FOR A FREE QUOTE!' button". 

Today's insurance buyers do research on your company's website before they become a referral. This is your opportunity to display your expertise, but more importantly what makes you different. The brokers who don't advertise their Client Portal are screaming to the world from a website designed in 2006, "Look at us, we're not unique!" 

They also have poor to no utilization of their Client Portal. Out of "site" out of mind. 

 

"What percent of your clients logged in to your Client Portal last year?" 

33% of participants reported that < 10% of their clients logged in 

That could mean a couple of things:

  1. They don't know they have access
  2. It doesn't provide them with a business solution
  3. YOU DON'T ADVERTISE IT ON YOUR WEBSITE

33% of participants reported that 25% - 50% of their clients logged in

These are strong numbers. 

  1. Clients know they have access, probably through regular communications from the broker or vendor
  2. Client sees value or a solution to their business challenge
  3. Portal is easy to find on the broker's website

33% of participants reported that THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT % LOGGED IN

Here is why you want to know your clients utilization.

  1. There are many value added services available to brokers today. Portals are just one. If your clients don't like/use it, understand what they do want and spend money on that.
  2. The reporting will tell you what interests/challenges them. Get to know your clients better so you can upsell them. Buyers buy.
  3. If your clients use your portal religiously this can make it an exit barrier. Especially in those dreaded CFO changes where they bring in their own broker. Be more than a commodity and show that CFO what you're doing to earn their business.
  4. Deliver more than just an increase at renewal time. Highlight their utilization in the meeting. 

 

"What was the reason you invested in a Client Portal?" 

66% of participants said it was to WIN NEW BUSINESS & STAND OUT

33% of participants said it was to SAVE A CLIENT & INCREASE RETENTION

Client portals DO help brokers WIN NEW BUSINESS & STAND OUT. They also help them INCREASE RETENTION. But they don't help brokers with all sizes of clients.

For example, a Client Portal can help a broker win a < 50 employee group but not a 100+ employee group. Why is that? Small employers are accustomed to getting ZERO from their broker due to the commission structure of the carriers. Something is better than nothing.

Large groups typically are already investing in these types of resources for their business already or get access to them through their associations. While the minimum expectation is that their broker be forward thinking and have technology like Client Portals, these are just 2 of their many boxes.

~ CONCLUSIONS ~

If you want to win new business, get more referrals, and keep more of what you've already earned then you've got to be different and solve problems. Focusing on a particular industry or demographic makes you an expert or specialist which is sexier than being a generalist, "I'll write anything!"

Get the right tools for the right job and do your part as the broker. Talk to your prospects about their challenges. Educate your staff on what makes them great. And keep your greatness in front of your clients so when a smart producer asks them, "How is your broker doing?" They'll say, "SHE'S GREAT." And then hang up the phone.

-R