In our work across the country, sales people are pressured for sales results while simultaneously being pressured to complete non-sales activities. We see this all over, regardless of industry. No surprise here. In your judgment, is what you are working on right now related to sales? If yes, carry on. If not….
In our constant search for the easy way to sell (there is no easy way but we continue to look), one consistent factor is that the most successful sales organizations are aware of their numbers and make course corrections by them. Organizational and individual patterns of success can be duplicated and challenges recognized and overcome.…
As Gershwin wrote in the title of this article, summertime is the season when many people tend to take it a little easier…including your competitors. Sales guru Tom Redmond illustrates how this could be the opportune time to take advantage of someone else’s summer sluggishness.
One of the best sales techniques is to ask for referrals from your happy customers. As much as I want my sales people asking for referrals, I would much rather have my happy clients refer business to me without having to ask. Wouldn’t you just love for that phone to ring with a constant stream…
As we all know, insurance seminars and articles can be a little on the “dry” side. So, every now and then, when you select an article from the Research Library, you may get the unexpected. We want the Virtual University to be more than some stale, stoic repository of insurance technica…hey, let’s have a little…
By now, you’ve probably heard how creating a website or using social media can help increase visibility and generate leads for your agency. But there’s one tool you may not have heard about, even though it’s a fast, easy way to reach thousands of people in your local area who are shopping for insurance right…
Do you hate to make calls on the phone? Would you rather do anything, anything, than dial that stranger? Do you find yourself reading the newspaper, taking an early lunch, cleaning your desk, even filling out paperwork, rather than making those calls? Do you tell yourself you’d make those calls more easily if you only…
There are significant opportunities to improve agency processes for marketing commercial lines accounts to carriers. This article outlines commonly found problems in these processes and then makes several practical recommendations to help agencies take total control of every piece of the renewal process except the time frame for receiving quotes and receiving the actual policy…
Have you heard of the “My Guy” philosophy? It goes like this: Our customers seem to have “their guy” or “their gal”—and as long as their business partners are providing simply average service at a competitive price, they will continue to utilize the services of that vendor. Wrong!
Over the years, we have observed the mistakes of many salespeople in many different types of “selling situations” in trying to acquire and retain business. Although the actual approach or style will always vary, there are many common pitfalls that can trap salespeople. Here are the most prominent:
