From the July 2008 Issue of Senior Market Advisor Magazine
Q. I need to consistently generate more qualified prospects. Can you suggest a system for accomplishing this?
A. Getting valuable leads is one of the hardest parts of selling any kind of product or service, and long term care insurance is certainly no exception. To learn about an efficient system for prospecting, I met with Larry Weigel, an agent with Keating & Associates in Manhattan, Kan., to discuss his prospecting system. Weigel suggests starting by calculating your "PSAT" score, based on how well you do the following tasks:
P: Prospecting — prequalifying
S: Sales — who, where, what and how
A: Achievement — purpose, passion and money
T: Tracking — list, code, how often, follow-up and sorting
To determine the PSAT score, assess yourself on each statement below, with 0 = worst and 10 = best. Then total the score. The maximum is 100 percent.
- I have identified the pre-qualification traits of my ideal client and use these criteria when I meet with a prospect.
- I have determined a minimum compensation amount I'm willing to accept before I agree to work with a prospect or client.
- I block out time each week to schedule sales appointments.
- I keep cumulative statistics on sales results and set specific sales goals each year.
- I know the amount of renewal commission income I receive from each client.
- I am driven more by purpose in my work than money.
- I have an A-Z list of all my clients and prospect accounts.
- I have designation levels for each client to determine the frequency of contacts.
- I have a follow-up tickler system I use each month to identify clients and prospects who have agreed to meet at a future date.
- I can sort each name in my client file — by prospects, clients, product sold, pending business status, claims and the like.
Another technique that Weigel uses to better leverage his time and maximize communication is to assign contacts a specific code and category that designates a certain level of attention. Here are the levels that Weigel uses:
