What's The Definition of Insanity Again?

I have a set of hair trimmers that I absolutely loathe.  I mean it, I seriously hate these trimmers.  They operate with AAA batteries and run for approximately one minute and thirty seconds before they completely drain a new set of batteries.  Not to mention the trimmer head won’t stay on without holding pressure on it.  It has been my intention to replace these trimmers for the last two years, and I am still yet to do so.  I keep spinning my wheels every week replacing batteries, holding the plastic together with duct tape and living with the aggravation.  Why?!

As my time and space with this blog is restricted I won’t digress anymore about my love/hate relationship with my personal grooming gear, instead I’ll attempt to bring it back around to my main point; Why do we keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results?  The number one complaint of the agents I coach is the amount of time they spend daily with clients that give them as much trouble as my broken hair trimmers.  You probably do it as well.  You unintentionally spend the majority of your day on insured’s with which you probably make the least amount of profit?  Of course I’m speaking of the infamous Non-Standard policy holder.

If you added up all the time you spend with your non-standard policy holders, adding and deleting vehicles, calling about cancellation notices, or working with underwriting to re-instate coverage, you might be surprised to find out it’s a considerable drain on your daily routine.  On the other hand, the average preferred risk policy holder is in contact with their agent only once in every four years!   Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend the majority of your time and resources on policy holders that cost you the least amount of work and earn you more revenue?   

Let me be clear, I’m not advising you to stop writing non-standard policies; on the contrary, I’m a firm believer that any successful agency will have access to multiple markets with varying degrees of appetites.  However, I am suggesting that as a Next Generation Agent we realize that our time is valuable and more importantly limited.  We should prioritize our actions to market, brand and otherwise contact our preferred clientele before our competition does.

Next Generation Agent Contact Tips:

·         Use your agency management system or have your company representative run you a report of all of your business with preferred characteristics.  I.e. high limits, full coverage, package business, etc.

·         Send a letter to everyone on that list thanking them for their patronage and ask them to complete a short post card questionnaire to see if anything in their DNA (read previous post) has substantially changed.

·         Be sure to include a business card with contact information informing them they are welcome to call at any time.

·         Follow up after one week with a phone call.  Keep it light and simple.  Ask if they received the letter and if they didn’t want to mail it back could they take a few minutes to discuss the information over the phone.

·         Create an agency newsletter to send out quarterly or if you’re really energetic monthly.  Clearly state that you offer coverage with multiple companies!

·         Call everyone on the list at least once every six months

It’s not complicated and there are many more examples.   Keep in mind the idea is to focus your priorities and resources on maintaining contact with your preferred risk customers.  Don’t let the only communication you get be the Loss Policy Release form they send you for obtaining coverage with another agent.

The Future Really Is In the Palm of Your Hand

Many of you reading this might remember “the good old days.”  It was a little before my time, but I’ve heard the horror stories about the overwhelming amount of people and time it took to present a policy to an insured.  For all of you young whipper snappers it went something like this.  A producer would quote it, using nothing more than a pencil and calculator, pass that on to a CSR who would fill in endorsement forms by hand and then finally it would end up in a processor’s hands to be typed up and mailed out, all in a few days!  How’s that for efficiency?

 

And yet, are we any more efficient today?  We can turn our computer on, and in forty five minutes or less, quote a policy, issue it, take a payment, print it out, and hand it directly to the insured.  We are able to handle the work of three people, in a tenth of the time and in spite of that, finding the extra time in the day to conquer important tasks eludes us.

The majority of you don’t need to work any harder; you probably couldn’t even if you wanted.  But you can work smarter.  The Next Generation Agent answer to being more resourceful might just be in the palm of your hand.  You’re probably using it right now.  Of course I’m referring to your smart phone (On a side note if don’t own one, get one).  It could be argued the development of the smart phone has been the single greatest innovation to improve productivity since Henry Ford gave the world the moving assembly line.  No matter what occupation you’re in, it has become an indispensable tool.

So how can it help us in insurance?  Here is just a small list:

·         Most have high pixel cameras to take pictures of risks.  Store them on your phone or in the cloud (Google it).  Or immediately use it to send them to your underwriter. 

·         Need help finding a risk?  Use the GPS and mapping systems to guide you and even trace the distance to the nearest fire department for PC rating.

·         Receive and answer email while away from the office or use your hands free device to handle that important phone call while driving your car or better yet hitting the links at the driving range.

·         An infinite amount of apps to keep you on time with alarms, reminders and notes.  Some of my favorites are Card Munch, Any.do, and Evernote.

·         Marketing capabilities through social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+

·         Banking apps to track expenditures or PayPal to send and receive money.

·         Getting ahead of the game as insurance companies are just now developing their own paperless apps for insured’s to manage their policies.

·         And probably the most important, the Starbuck app that you can use to pay for your coffee and earn member rewards….like more coffee!!!

I know that adapting to change can be hard, and certain aspects of technology can be intimidating, but don’t let a little fear hinder you from discovering innovative and creative techniques to becoming more efficient.  In conclusion and to quote a phrase from one of my favorite TV shows, Star Trek, The Next Generation, “Resistance is futile.” 

New Year's Irresolutions

"This year I'm going to go to the gym at least three days a week," I told myself around the end of December. I promised this would be my year but three weeks and a dozen donunts later it was just the middle of January and I had already broken my new year's resolution. Be honest, what was your resolution this year? To lose weight? Start a retirement plan? Quit smoking? 

It's human nature to make resolutions, and inevitably, it's human nature to break them. However, believe it or not, there's quite a bit of science behind it as well. Studies suggest that 20% of New Year's resolutions are broken within the first week of January (count me in that number), and 80% are broken within the year. What's worse is the effect of breaking the resolution on our psyche. Ultimately it makes us feel worse than if we never made the resolution at all.                             

I've made some epic resolutions in the past, and as you might have guessed, my level of failure has been just as epic! So the question is why? Knowing I'm setting myself up for disappointment, why do I keep making and breaking these yearly pledges? To answer the first question is simple. I want to be a better person. That's easy. We all desire to improve ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally or even monetarily. So then why do we break them? 
Why we break resolutions
One answer to that question is the "all or nothing rule." Simply put, we think in terms of black and white which means we either keep the rule or we break it. We do so well keeping up with the resolution while we're enjoying the successes but completely let go at the first sign of failure. According to Rajesh Bagchi, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing at Virginia Tech, "people tend to take a break-- a well earned breather--after achieving a sub-goal." Unfortunately it's rare that we resume our efforts after the break. 
The second reason we break our resolutions is because as individuals we lack vision. I'm not talking about eye sight. I'm talking about what Webster's defines as "the act or power of anticipating that which will, or may, come to be." Could you imagine a contractor building a home without a blueprint? Better yet, could you imagine a pilot flying without knowing his destination? When you create a vision statement, you're giving your life direction. Your vision statement is who you want to become and it includes your passion. 
Create a vision statement
Having a vision statement takes your focus off of the sub-goals and places it on the end goal. If you made a resolution to earn your CPCU designation, you may or may not get around to actually taking the first test. However, you might be more inspired to carry out this monumental task once you know and understand the root of the motivation or desire to accomplish the goal, such as career confidence, the ability to advance at work, or just the prestige. 
State Auto Senior Sales Consultant Brian Ahearn, one of only 27 Cialdini Method Certified Trainers, states:  "I often tell people one of the most impacting books I've read is Steven Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The reason I say that is because I took Covey's suggestion and wrote a personal mission statement. For more than 20 years now I've reviewed parts of my mission statement daily as a way to remind myself of who I am, who I'm trying to become, and what's most important in my life. As I look back on life it's apparent my mission statement has impacted my thinking, choices and behavior in very positive ways." 
My vision statementRemember, your vision statement is the picture of yourself that you see in the future. It's who you're working to become. This picture is only bound by what constraints you place on it. For example, on a personal note, I've challenged myself to use 2013 to develop my own personal vision statement, here is an excerpt:         

            "I am a salesman. At all times I will know my product, my company and my customer. I will continually learn from those with more experience and share my knowledge with those I can teach. Ethically and humbly I will strive to offer my services at the highest standard of excellence." 

Take my lead, challenge yourself to create your own vision statement. Write it on a note card, sign it in ink, and keep it handy so you can look at it every Monday morning. When you create and buy-in to a vision statement for yourself, you will begin to develop the framework to reach your goals. 
For more information on creating and keeping a vision statement visit http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_90.htm. 

Shut Up and Sell

I’ve been told I was born to sell.  When I was in the sixth grade I made such an impression on my teacher, she sent a note home with my report card to tell my parents that I was quite the little speaker.  Looking back now, I think she might have meant that facetiously. 

But what if you weren’t born with the gift of gab?  What if meeting new people is a challenge and starting conversations never comes easy?  What if the mere idea of cold calling freezes you in your path?  Can you still be a sales person?  Believe me, I promise you can.

Unfortunately selling has a bad reputation.  People don’t want to be sold to.  No one wants to get a phone call at 5:30 pm while their eating supper and have a script read to them about how they can benefit from buying a timeshare in Boca Raton.  Similarly, most people don’t want to call people while their eating supper and read scripts to them about buying time shares.  That’s not selling!  At least it’s not effective selling.

Selling is sitting on the back of an old truck listening to a tobacco chewing farmer talk about his tractor and the good old days.  No fast talking or shrewd promotional techniques.  You don’t even have to know anything about tractors, that’s the beauty of it, your input isn’t required.  Notice I highlighted the word listening.  You can’t listen if you’re talking.  Hence the title of this post “Shut Up and Sell.”

Listening directly leads to likability.  Ultimately if people like you, they will buy from you.  Let that sink in.  If people like you they will buy from you.  You’ve probably heard the saying “All things being equal, people will do business with a friend, and all things not being equal, people will do business with a friend.”

Dale Carnegie in his book How to Win Friends & Influence People said “you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than in two years by trying to make people interested in you.”  If you’re having trouble forming genuine personal and professional relationships try not telling people about your life rather let them tell you about theirs. 

Remember, selling isn't about what YOU need, it's about the desires and needs of the client (read last week's post).  When we turn our mouths off and our ears on, we can take the intimidation factor out of the equation. 

It's funny but after seventeen years of selling, I have found I am most successful when I’m not selling at all.  I am most successful when my clients aren’t able to form that impression of me that my sixth grade teacher did. 

Your DNA Holds the Secrets to More Sales

DeoxyRiboNucleic Acid (DNA) is found in all living things.  It’s the tiny structures in our cells containing the blueprint that tells us how tall to grow or what color our hair will be.  More importantly unlocking the mysteries of our DNA has been used to better understand the cause and function of diseases and helped us create better preventative medicines.  Yet what I find most extraordinary is that 99.9% of our DNA is the same as all other humans, with only .1% separating each man, woman and child.  While it doesn’t sound like a lot, it could mean the difference between looking like Brad Pitt or Lyle Lovett.  

One more fun fact about DNA is that there’s enough information in it to fill a 1000 volume encyclopedia.  Ok, I don’t want to bore you. So what does all of this have to do with Insurance?  Comparatively speaking, it doesn’t take an encyclopedia of information to know your customer.  However it’s important to note your customers are not clones, every single consumer has a different set of needs.  Offering “apples to apples” comparison quotes won’t suffice, you need to complete a Desires and Needs Analysis (DNA) on every single client.

This analysis is not simply asking the prospect what coverage and limits they currently have so you can match them.  The intent is to discover the coverage needs in order to craft a customized proposal.  In addition to gathering underwriting data, the DNA is helpful in obtaining important information about the prospect’s psychological needs and buying motivations.

By creating and using a DNA you are accomplishing several tasks:

1. You will distinguish yourself from agents who only ask the necessary questions for a quote.
2. You are demonstrating you are concerned about their total risk management needs, not just selling them a policy.
3. You are gathering vital information necessary to determine their motivation for buying-which gives you a leg up on the competition.
4. You are setting the stage for cross-selling other products as the opportunity rises.

The first part of your DNA should consist of several questions (both open and closed) necessary to get the basic information about the prospect.  Questions like:

1. Name, address, phone number, social security number
2. How did they hear about your agency (referral, yellow pages, advertising)
3. Who is the current company?  How long have they been there?
4. What are the x-dates for all for their personal lines policies?  Not just the business they’re looking to move.
5. Why are they shopping?
6. What are they looking for in an insurance company?

The next set of questions in the DNA is designed to uncover buying motivations and needs.  Such questions might include:

1. Other than cost, are there any areas of your insurance protection that you’re concerned about?
2. What kind of outside activities or hobbies do you and your family enjoy?  Travel?  Collecting?  Sports?  Hunting?  Other?
3. Is there anything you’d like me to know about you and your family?
4. If we can create a proposal that will meet your insurance needs and stay within your budget, is there any reason we could not do business together?

Keep in mind that these are just a sampling of questions that you can include in your DNA.  It’s important that you develop your own list of comprehensive questions that will enable you to complete a personalized insurance proposal, not just a quote. 

Remember, you only have a small window of opportunity to set yourself out from the crowd of agents in the Yellow Pages.  Next Generation Agents understand that the DNA of their customers holds the blueprint to growth and success.