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Its interesting to read the sports pages and watch TV reports about how football coaches stress the basics during training.
Its the same message that you have heard for years: You cant win games without a good defense. You cant score without a good passing and running game. And, you must have a great quarterback to lead the team.
The insurance business has the same types of "basics." Here are some basic sales ideas that will help you stay in competition, whether you head an insurance company or an agency. My references are to annuity sales, because thats my specialty, but the concepts are applicable to all.
1) Everyday, ask someone to do business with you. Ask an agent to sell your policies or ask a client to buy a policy from your company everyday and watch your sales grow.
I often speak to agent groups and they all want to know how to increase their sales. When I ask them to raise their hands if they have asked someone to buy something from them today, its very rare to see any hands go up.
Sales are made when people are asked to buy. The more people you ask, the more you will sell.
2) Give people something to buy from you in the future. Mail your clients something to buy from you on a routine basis, with an incentive to buy it now. If they dont buy it now, they may buy in the future. If you dont offer them something for the future, someone else will and your prospects will buy from them.
Keep something in front of them that they can buy. Thats why those huge mail order operations keep sending out catalogs.
Some agents and companies send out newsletters about financial strategies and current trends in investing. But Ive never known of anyone who bought anything as a result of reading such a newsletter.
The mail order firms dont send out newsletters about, say, current fashion trends. They send out catalogs with pretty pictures of merchandise that people can buy today if they feel the urge.
Insurance and investment products can be marketed the same way. Most people dont think about reinvesting a CD until it matures. Then, they look in the paper or call a few banks to find out what rates are available.
Yet, if a person recently has received a letter from me and my annuity rates are higher, many times he or she will put the money in one of the annuities I offer. If I hadnt sent out that annuity application, these clients would have invested their money someplace else.
