Risk & Business Magazine California Risk & Business Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 29

THANK-YOU NOTES
if it happened just a few times a month?
How many extra appointments would you
book? How many extra accounts would
you close?
After booking the appointment, I
proceeded to write him another note to
thank him for taking my call again and for
agreeing to meet with me. It also served
to confirm our appointment by reminding
him of the date and time of our meeting.
Since I was still so green in the business,
I asked David to come along and help
me close the deal. Sitting down in my
prospect’s office, he only had two things
neatly positioned on his desk—my two
thank-you notes. Before we began our
chat, he started the meeting by telling
us how lazy his salespeople were and
how they only send emails. He said that
he wished he could get his salespeople
to take the time to write handwritten
notes like I did with him, and he even
acknowledged how impressed he was with
my first note since it was sent after he had
admittedly hung up on me. He continued
to say that if what we had to offer was
even half as good as what I had told him
over the phone, that I’d have a new client
and could thank my handwritten notes for
it. We closed the deal that morning and he
remains a client to this very day.
Do I have the handwritten thank-you
notes to thank for that new deal? Perhaps,
but I would give more thanks to David for
giving me such sage advice.
Would you like to train your sales team
on this simple and yet very effective
method for securing new business
appointments with prospects? Are
you curious as to what I wrote in my
thank-you note that helped secure my
appointment? Feel free to contact me
directly and I’d be glad to share! +
Eric Silverman, Principal and Owner of the
Silverman Benefits Group, has recruited,
trained, and developed more than 2,000
commission sales agents, interns, and
broker partners, which has led to the
securing of more than 2,500 commercial
payroll accounts and the generation of
more than $65,000,000 in annualized
revenue over his seventeen-year career. He
was selected as a Rising Star in Advising
by Employee Benefit Adviser magazine
where he serves as a contributing monthly
columnist focused on stories and lessons
learned throughout his career in recruiting,
sales, marketing, and leadership. Eric can
be reached at [phone], Esilverman@
silvermanbenefits.com, on LinkedIn, on
Twitter @SilvermanSBG, at his website
SilvermanBenefits.com, or through his
business Facebook page, facebook.com/
SilvermanBenefits.
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