KIA&B 2016 Vol. 21, No. 6 | Page 29

Rule 1 : Know your numbers . You have to have annual , monthly , and weekly goals and break those down to the daily activity necessary to make them happen . If you ’ re going to make $ 250,000 , and each sale is worth $ 5000 , you need to make 50 sales or roughly 1 per week . Based upon 50 sales , how many proposals do you need to get out , how many people do you need to talk to , and how many calls do you have to make every day ?
Rule 2 : You have to exceed your numbers . Once you know your numbers , you need to exceed them . We tend to underestimate the amount of time , effort , energy , money , and in this case , number of calls , that it will take to achieve a goal . As a result , increase your daily number by at least 20 %. So if the number you came up with under Rule 1 is 50 calls a day , increase that to 60 .
Rule 3 : You have to hit your numbers every day no matter what . Your most important task every day is to hit your numbers . Period . It is always more important than anything else you do . I ’ ve seen top salespeople make calls from airplanes , hospitals , police stations , and almost anywhere else you can imagine . I ’ ve also seen them make calls at night , on weekends , during holidays , and at all other times imaginable . In one case a salesperson who had just totaled his car , jumped in a cab with torn pants and some bumps and bruises to finish making his sales calls for the day . By the way , he was more effective that day because he had a great story to tell when he showed up . He also displayed extraordinary dedication and commitment to his prospects .
Rule 4 : Be consistent . Consistency keeps you sharp , builds the habit of making the calls , and keeps you in a good frame of mind . If your goal is 300 calls for the week , Monday through Friday , and you try to squeeze those calls into two or three days , you ’ ll become overwhelmed and you ’ ll have difficulty building the selfdiscipline that comes with daily , consistent action . Also , if you aren ’ t making calls every work day , your calls will have some rust on them . In other words , when you are doing anything other than making calls , your brain slowly starts to forget what to say and how to react to situations that arise during calls . So if you only make calls on two , days during the week , there is a lot of time for your brain to start to “ forget ”, making you far less sharp and effective . One of the best ways to be consistent is to time block the same hours every day to prospect .
Rule 5 : Have someone hold you accountable . While you ultimately have to hold yourself accountable , it ’ s a good idea to also have someone else hold you accountable to your daily numbers . Preferably it ’ s your boss or manager , but it can really be anyone who you ’ ll feel enough pressure reporting to .
Rule 6 : Keep getting better . Read , watch , and listen to information and use that information to make your calls more efficient and effective .
Rule 7 : Use the phone and in-person calls to reach out to prospects . If you think e-mail or social media is just as effective as a phone call or in-person visit for reaching out to prospects , you ’ re delusional . When you are attempting to do business with people , you have to call or visit in-person first . You can send an e-mail , physical mail , LinkedIn request , or something else afterwards , but never as an initial contact to determine if they may be a qualified prospect . First , you can ’ t even be sure they got the e-mail or social-media message , and second , it ’ s weak and says you don ’ t have the confidence in yourself or your product to have a live interaction . If you ’ re looking for a way to avoid the hard work of making live calls , STOP IT ! Pick up the phone and / or get in the car and go talk to people . Lots of people . If you make the calls necessary to fill your pipeline with tons of qualified prospects , everything else will take care of itself .
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| November - December 2016 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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