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Discover what every agent ought to know about insurance marketing and sales…
In this issue of 'Insurance Marketing and Sales Mastery' - August 2004
* To Make More Money From Your Insurance Business, Help Your Clients & Prospects To See You As An… Advisor!
* Success Tip
* Important Prospecting Update...
* Sales Tips
* Hot New Sales Opportunities
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To Make More Money From Your Insurance Business,
Help Your Clients & Prospects To See You As An… Advisor
Would you like to:
Have your existing clients keep on doing business with you for years to come?
Have your existing clients refer you to everyone they know?
Have NEW prospects, who are anxious to do business with you?
Then you must transform yourself from the typical insurance agent into an Advisor.
Most insurance agents believe that to make more money in their business, they need to have either the lowest priced product, the top performing product, or the newest product and they must provide exceptional service. However, don't all agents claim to have the lowest price, or the best and newest products, and don't they all claim to provide exceptional service. If that's all an agent has to offer, how are they any different from the other insurance agents out there?
Do your prospects and clients think of you as an "Advisor"… or do they simply think of you as another insurance agent who sells insurance products?
To make more money, you need to find a way to make yourself standout from the rest of the crowd. The object is to keep your existing clients buying, while you identify and attract more high quality prospects. You need to address two critical questions your client and prospects want to know "why should I do business with you instead of one of your competitors" and "what's in it for me." You must show them you understand and can solve their problems.
The first step to helping your clients to think of you as an advisor is to develop a Unique Selling Proposition.
Your Unique Selling Proposition or USP is that single, compelling ideal or benefit that makes people want to do business with you, instead of your competitors. To put it another way, your USP is that distinct and irresistibly appealing idea that sets you and your business apart from all your competition.
Almost every successful business, not just insurance agencies, whether small or large, has a USP. In fact, that's how small businesses grow into giant corporations. For example, both Domino's Pizza and Federal Express became billion-dollar corporations in a very short period of time - because of their powerful USP.
Federal Express' USP was, 'When it absolutely and positively has to be there overnight.' This statement tells the potential customers if they want to be 100% certain their mail will get delivered the next day, then, they must use Federal Express. Domino's USP was, 'Hot, fresh pizza delivered within 30 minutes - guaranteed - or it's free!'
Your USP, when formulated powerfully, can propel you to the top of your industry in a very short period of time, just like what Federal Express and Domino's USP did for them. So, if you want to start improving your business, you need to invest whatever time necessary to create a compelling USP and implement it in your business, immediately!
Remember all of your prospects want to know what benefits they'll gain from doing business with you. What problems can you solve? Unless you can answer these questions to their satisfaction, you have very little chance of getting an appointment, let alone getting them to buy from you.
The main reason the prospecting and marketing materials or systems currently used by most agents are so ineffective is they don't answer the prospects' most important question: "What's in it for me?" They don't give their prospects a good reason for wanting to do business with that particular agency or agent."
How to develop and use your USP…
Your USP must be one sentence.
Your USP is either Pain or Pleasure oriented. Since most people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure, you might want to model your USP around the pain that your product or service removes. What problem can you solve for them?
Make sure your marketing theme, campaigns, and business plans evolve around your USP. Did you ever see a business who's marketing had nothing to do with their USP? Did it made them look like as if they had a values conflict?
Your USP should address a void in the marketplace, with a promise you can honestly fill.
A mentor of mine, Hilton Johnson, gave me this formula for designing your USP: "Do you know how [state the pain or problem the prospect has]" "What I do is [state the solution your product/service solves]"
The true test of whether you've designed a good USP or not, is if sells for you in the marketplace. Does it define your edge? And, does the marketplace value it with their pocketbook?
Lew Nason, RFC
Marketing Coach
Creator & Founder of
www.insuranceproshop.com
P.S. If you want to learn how to attract your ideal prospects, learn how to help your prospects to identify their problems, and then offer them real solutions to their problems - it's all in the Insurance Marketing and Sales Resource Center…
© 2005 by Lew Nason, RFC, All rights reserved
Lew Nason has been helping agents to achieve long-term success in insurance sales for over two decades. His unique perspective, on how to truly help clients, has enabled scores of agents reach the top levels of their profession. Visit his web site at www.insuranceproshop.com or call him toll free @ 877-297-4608.
All the tools and information you need to create endless streams of new, repeat, and referral business, are in the Insurance Marketing & Sales Resource Center…
"All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us have an
equal opportunity to develop our talents."
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Success Tip
You've probably heard of many great stories and examples of the power of Visualization, including the POW who played 18 holes in his head everyday for his 8 years of imprisonment and then shot par his first day back on the Golf Course. When you learn to visualize the end result of your efforts, it dramatically increases the odds for a successful outcome.
If you're planning on buying a different Car within the next year, go to the Dealership today and take a Camera. Have a friend or the Salesperson snap your picture sitting in the exact model that you want and have your local Photo Store or Drug Store blow it up into a Poster. Then, look at it many times each day as you are reading your written Goal out loud and be prepared for some amazing results.
All the tools and information you need to create endless streams of new, repeat, and referral business, are in the Insurance Marketing & Sales Resource Center…
"Everyone has peak performance potential - you just need to know where they are coming from and meet them there."
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Important Prospecting Update…
Ask For Referral By Letters
A good letter can be an effective way to ask for referrals. Here's one for an advisor:
Dear Bill,
I am writing to ask for your help.
As I'm sure you're aware for the past few years we've seen a lot of turmoil in the stock market and extremely low interest rates. A number of my clients recently expressed gratitude for my insistence that they reposition their money into conservative, tax deferred investments that have performed very well in comparison to the carnage suffered by others, in the past few years.
In the coming year, I hope to add new clients who share my prudent philosophy and who have either tried (and failed) to manage their own portfolios or are dissatisfied with the advice and results that they've received from their current investment advisors.
Which brings me to my request.
If you are happy with the job that I've done for you, may I ask you to consider introducing me those of your friends who are unhappy with their investment portfolio results?
The last thing I want is for you or your friends to feel pressure or discomfort. Therefore, I have three suggestions:
First, if you've talked to someone whom you feel I should contact, please tell me and I'll gladly get in touch with them.
Second, I have taken the liberty of attaching a few of my business cards. Should the opportunity present itself, I'd be most grateful if you'd give them to friends or colleagues who might be interested in a complimentary second opinion on his or her situation.
Third, I would be delighted to add people you know to the mailing list for my monthly newsletter, so they can get to know me and the type of work I do. Please, fax or mail back the attached page with their information.
Thank you in advance for putting me in touch with people who I can help in the same fashion in which I've helped you.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about your own situation, as always, please don't hesitate to call me.
Thank you,
Lew Nason
Remember, sending any letter is never a substitute for talking to clients about referrals face to face. Also, have low expectations for any mass request - especially in the short term. That said, periodically planting the referral seed in your clients' minds can only help, provided that it is periodic and the way you ask doesn't undermine your position as a professional.
"Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea."
Robert Half
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Sales Tips
The Five Easiest Sales
In previous newsletters we've discussed how and why Referrals, People you just Sold, your Existing Customers and Former Customers are 4 of the Easiest Sales. Many of you have asked is there any others. First, please appreciate that the cost of constantly advertising for and looking for new Customers can be prohibitive to most Companies. Also, the time required to constantly prospect and/or cold call for new Customers is always prohibitive for Sales Pros. So, here is the of the 5th Easiest Sale - Other Salespeople!
Hey Guys and Gals, lets face it . . . we Salespeople LOVE to be sold. However, don't call me if you're an amateur because I'll eat you for lunch and probably ruin your day. But, if you're a Pro, I'll buy almost anything. We appreciate a creative opening that's better than the other 95%. We love it when they qualify us in a professional manner to determine our needs. We're thankful when they tailor their presentation to our needs, wants and desires. We're pleased when they hang tough and don't run away after 1 or 2 objections.
And yes, we absolutely go bonkers when they close us with anything other than; "So what do ya think?"
"It's not the answer, it's the quality of the question."
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Hot New Sales Opportunities
Are You Selling to the Older Community?
Seniors are defined as anyone over age 50 and there certainly is a lot of variety in this demographic segment.
There are basically 3 adult marketing segments in America today:
81 Million Seniors... numbers growing rapidly
76 Million Boomers... numbers shrinking quickly
44 Million Gen X/Y'rs... numbers steadily declining
Based on the above numbers, wouldn't you agree that there is a great opportunity for you to make a lot of money in the senior market - selling annuities?
If you haven't taken a good look at our Annuity Sales Excellence™ 'Quick Start' Lead & Sales System yet, then you may want to do it today. It's a complete, Turnkey, Annuity Lead and Annuity Sales System. It's everything you need to identify and attract a steady stream of your ideal annuity prospects. And, you'll learn the all the latest secrets 'Top Producers' use to set high quality annuity appointments, overcome objections and close 9 out of 10 annuity sales.
Agent Testimonials
"I have been applying some of the techniques you shared with me and have been doing really well. I did 1.1 million in Index Annuity business in June and have been promoted to branch leader with my company." Gregg H., FL, July 2, 2004
"I bought the Annuity Quick Start plan with the hope of getting a system that will keep me in front of the money. The first day after reading some of Lew's ideas on presenting and closing sales, I closed 3 out of 3 appointments. I ended up closing 5 out of 7 appointments for $350,000 for the week (all were one call closes). I have to give Lew credit, I made some slight changes in my overall approach that produced immediate results. I now feel confident that Lew can help me when I begin to set up my marketing game plan. Nobody will ever be any more skeptical than I was, when I ordered this program. The very first appointment after implementing these techniques, I paid for the plan almost 20 times over just off of that first sale."
John H., LA, November 24, 2003
My Thanks to Gregg & John for their kind words!
Over the years, you're going to spend... thousands of dollars in time, money and effort promoting your insurance business. Why not learn to do it the most effective, money making way? Why not learn the techniques that some of the best agents on the planet use? It just makes good sense.
To find out more about us, our products and our services please visit…
http://www.insuranceproshop.com/productcatalog.html
The Insurance Pro Shop is ranked as the #1, Most Popular and Most Trustworthy...
Insurance Marketing and Sales Support Web Site On The Internet!
By Ranking.com
We are Members of the 'Better Business Bureau' Florida, South East Chapter…
I-Cop Protecting the Consumer & the 'Better Internet Bureau'
"Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it." David Star Jordan
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Have you visited ProducersWeb.com yet?
ProducersWEB.com is currently offering all Insurance Pro Shop newsletter subscribers and website users a FREE subscription to ProducersLIFE, the industry's leading e-Magazine. Delivered directly to your inbox once per week, ProducersLIFE is your weekly source for sales ideas, hot, new products and the best content and media in the industry! Click Here
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Well, that's it for this month's insurance marketing and sales tips newsletter. I hope you found the information interesting and helpful in your efforts to grow your business.
Yours In Success,
Lew Nason, RFC
Marketing Coach
Creator & Founder of
www.insuranceproshop.com
P.S. Stop wasting your time, and your money playing marketing and sales guessing games! Invest a few tax-deductible dollars today in the success of your business. Click on the following link and start running your insurance business with the confidence of an Insurance Marketing Mastermind. www.insuranceproshop.com/productcatalog.html
P.P.S. Do you have a friend or associate who needs help? Why not tell them about our web site or better yet, forward this page to them. They'll thank you!
© 2005 by Lew Nason, RFC, All rights reserved
Lew Nason has been helping agents to achieve long-term success in insurance sales for over two decades. His unique perspective, on how to truly help clients, has enabled scores of agents reach the top levels of their profession. Visit his web site at www.insuranceproshop.com or call him toll free @ 877-297-4608.
Helping Insurance Agents create endless streams
of new, repeat, and referral business…
www.insuranceproshop.com
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