Over the past 30 years as a sales development firm, we have experienced every economic, political, and social uptick and downturn that the insurance industry has gone through. As a result, we’ve heard every reason for success and failure. The one true constant throughout those years and swings in environment is that there are always a small group of producers who succeed regardless of what is going on around them. What is their secret key to success?
The Mindset of Can vs Can’t
You can’t control if someone will answer when you call, if they will return your email, or if someone will give you a business card and tell you to call them. You can control making the calls, how you present yourself, and if your message is captivating and engaging. You control your willingness to keep calling and following up, and if you personally provide value to the marketplace that is needed and wanted by many.
You can’t control if someone tells you to send them something just so they can get you off the phone, but you can control asking them if they are just trying to get you off the phone. You can ask them “Once I send it, then what?” You can set up a specific time to follow-up and ask if there is any reason that they wouldn’t take your call. Also, you can ask them how many times should you attempt to follow up with them. See what you can control?
You can’t control if they have a strong relationship with their current insurance provider, but you do have the ability to ask about that current relationship and what they might want to change, if they could. You can ask about their willingness and ability to end that relationship if you bring something to the table that is better than what they are getting today.
You cannot control prospects mis-representing or embellishing the truth. But you can:
- ask if the problem or opportunity is a have-to-fix, want-to-fix, or consider-fixing issue.
- tell a prospect to let you know when the problem becomes a have-to-fix problem.
- ask about where the money will come from if the new solution costs more
- monetize the problem or opportunity.
- make sure the financial influencer is part of your discussions
You cannot control a prospect’s decision-making criteria or priorities. But you can and should ask them to tell you what those criteria are how to prioritize them.
You cannot control the environment you will be presenting in when you get ready to make your pitch but you can:
- make sure you’ve agreed to a scope of work before presenting
- explain that all the influencers need to weigh in before you present if they are not going to be in the presentation
- send an as-we-agreed-to letter to your prospect after you’ve completed all of your qualifying meetings and the next step in the process is to present a formal proposal
- make a phone call to verify that everything you put into the as-we-agreed-to letter is accurate and the decision time frame still holds
But perhaps the single most important thing you control is your attitude. With regards to selling and closing deals, our experience is that the most highly successful salespeople exhibit great control to move on when they don’t get a deal. They have the uncanny ability to say and think, some will, some won’t, so what, NEXT.
That is the ultimate control of your destiny and the secret to success in selling.
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