Do your prospects respect you or your company on first contact? What have you done to position yourself as someone they can respect? What has your company done to position itself as a business prospects can respect?
If you intend to build a significant practice, it needs a bold, sharp and professional image. It needs to look good. Here are some key ingredients:
- A website is essential. It will get very little traffic, but it's like having a car on a date. The girl may not be highly impressed, but the car is a necessity if you're going to have any chance at all. Simple, inexpensive websites are available in our industry. Emerald has one that is compliant, attractive and has continual updates at no cost. They charge a nominal monthly fee which includes hosting.
- You should have an e-mail address that is highly functional with the capability of sending and receiving files and documents. Google's Gmail can accommodate everything you will need.
- A smart phone is an absolute necessity. My choice is the iPhone, but I understand that others are quite adequate.
- My calendar on my desktop and phone are synchronized for flexibility. Effective, efficient communication is important.
- Create a name for your practice and have a logo made with the name of your company. No company, no respect. You can create stationery on your computer.
Editor's Note: The preceding tip was taken from Kim Magdalein's Jan. 2011 "Better Prospecting" column in Life Insurance Selling, titled "Respect!" To read the complete column, click here.
To read last week's Tip of the Week, click here.
