simple auto and homeowner ’ s policies or commercial packages , most clients know they need insurance but don ’ t know why . If you teach your new producer how to identify client needs and address them regardless of who writes their insurance policies , more prospects will convert to clients than any quote machine can create . Asset Protection is the device that puts the customer first and foremost and analyzes coverage instead of quoting price . There is nothing wrong with confirming to a customer that he has the right coverage at a fair price already . There are many more customers who are over insured or uninsured than insured correctly . Those are your opportunities to convert prospects to trusting friends and eventually , to agency clients . But you can ’ t train Asset Protection unless you practice Asset Protection . So first become what you want your producer to become .
Repetition — The Numbers Game In order for your producer to become successful they must be in front of a lot of people that you don ’ t currently insure and be in front of them frequently enough to become friends and create a trust relationship .
This requires you to do the same during your training period after they know the products . Producers will learn much more from mentoring and watching you than they will ever learn by throwing them out on the street and challenging them to sell . Become active with your clients and prospects and take the producer with you at every visit . Utilize the same call reports that you expect of the producer . Rules and guidelines are good ! The purpose of the call reports is to provide discipline and to have a track for every prospect that tells you , the sales manager , what has been done ( and when ) for each prospect and what should be done at the next visit ( and when ) to advance the relationship toward converting the prospect to a client .
As most of us know , it is hard to discipline oneself , especially in sales . That ’ s why , while we enjoy the sales process , most agents get caught up in the administration of their agencies and sales time actually diminishes to near zero while their best interest would be served if the agency were out of the office with clients and prospects much more often . If we have that problem as agency owners , what do you think the new producer feels about the rejection he experiences when visiting prospects . If the producer is to succeed and mature , he must become inured to the standard rejection experience in sales . Every successful producer eventually realizes that he sells by the numbers . If he sees enough people enough times , he sells insurance . Sales management can identify what those ratios are for every producer but the producer , himself , must become constantly active in sales calls to make this profession work .
Providing the Opportunities When I was a pup , the lead generation given to a producer was a phone book and a swift kick out the door . Unfortunately , very few alpha listings in the phone book became either prospects or even suspects . A phenomenally few became clients . If you go to the trouble of finding and hiring good prospective producers you must provide the sufficient leads in the lines of business for which you have good markets and programs to allow them to stay very business visiting those prospects based on a marketing plan that you execute for them and for the agency .
The Sales Management function that you must assume if you have even one producer must be continued long after their training is complete to assure that they remain on track and visit the prospects that you have generated for them frequently enough to create relationships between the agency and the prospects to the end result of creating trust relationships . The prospect will eventually ask your producer to insure them but only when they get to know the producer and gets to trust the producer .
The Care and Feeding of Producers is hard work . But the agents who have spawned one or more successful producers understand that the work effort is certainly worth the time expended because a ) it multiplies your production capacity , and b ) it converts some of these producers into agency owners as their value to you increases .
Reprinted from The PIPELINE , the national newsletter for agency principals . The PIPELINE is published by Agency Consulting Group , Inc ., a leading consulting firm for independent agents in the U . S . for over 35 years . Call 800-779-2430 , E-mail info @ agencyconsulting . com , or visit www . agencyconsulting . com for information about the content of this article or PIPELINE subscription information .
| March - April 2018 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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