REVIEWING THE ENTIRE SALES MANAGEMENT PROCESS
by Tom Markley
Successful sales management depends on how you answer eight questions.
Selling is the act of negotiating between a consumer and a provider. Applied to insurance, negotiating encompasses understanding the needs of the consumer and the provider to bring the two together for their mutual benefit.
Sales management examines the results of selling by managing processes through comparisons. That means components that aren’t working, as well as the ones that are, must be examined in totality.
To understand sales management, you can focus on the events of selling, the mechanics of the sale, selling technique, or the emotional elements of sales. That’s not enough: It’s more of the same and it won’t work. You need to review the entire gamut.
Measure every faced of selling – and be aware that these results involve more the dollars of the commissions booked.
Measurement starts with comparisons. Start with the annual marketing plan; were new and different prospect types added to lists? Examine the minimum commission threshold. Evaluate the performance of carriers. Measure the quantity of contacts that you, as a producer, made. Was a “prospect standard” established? Was the standard given each producer so that compliance could be measured?
Did management measure and evaluate the selling skills and product knowledge of each producer? Was the potential of each producer measured and evaluated, establishing and measuring the progress toward this potential?
If no such checks exist, create them. If you have checks, scrutinize each item and modify it to obtain the desired results. It’s essential to do a total review of all components, not just some of them.
The next step is to implement needed changes; this task isn’t always feasible without outside help — either consultants or company people.
Another good source for input is an associate in the community who’s active in sales or sales management. Self-education through reading and community involvement can also provide valuable sources of input.
In measuring and comparing achievements, don’t forget the perception of the sales profession by the general public. I recently wrote an article for a local school paper extolling the virtues of selling as a profession. I followed the thematic method, which starts with a definition of the topic. The definitions of selling in the Random House College Dictionary, read:
- To dispose of for a price
- To deal in
- To persuade or induce to buy
- To force or exact a price for profit
These definitions, especially the action words in them, provide a clearly negative view of selling: “Dispose,” “deal,” “induce,” “force,” and “exact” are shocking action verbs.
Definition 18 finally said, “The act or method of selling.” Examples of selling used in the dictionary include selling a bill of goods; selling short; and, selling insurance.
To recognize that this is a prevailing attitude and adjust plans accordingly, the sales management process must ask these eight questions:
1. Does your agency differentiate itself from the competition in the eyes, ears, and minds of the buyer?
The challenge here is to examine the marketing image the agency is sending to prospects and clients. What message do they see? What message do they hear? What message does the agency ask them to think about?
It might come as a surprise, but people generally do what you ask them to do for at least three seconds. They’ll also do what you ask them not to do. For example, telling someone “Don’t think about your very first car!” will probably bring a picture of that car to the person’s eye. If this thought lasts more than a few seconds, the picture will turn into a movie in the mind and keep running, as the person compares this car to the vehicle that you own now. Prospects react the same way: see, hear, and think.
2. Does your agency meet the objectives of individual producers and carriers?
This question is hard to answer only if the agency don’t plan/set goals, or fail to communicate them. How many agencies plan their involvement with each carrier and producer? How did it work out? What has to change? What outside influences entered the picture and forced a deviation from the original plan? Will those deviations occur again this year? How has the agency adjusted for them?
3. Does your agency build its sales specialties (target markets)?
Does the agency link with carrier personnel to discuss possible new targets? Have you examined your marketing area to see what businesses are having problems? Is there a way that the agency can assist them? Have you examined new technology? Is your agency involved in the Chamber of Commerce or otherwise involved in the community? Are you talking to leading commercial lenders? Do you communicate with city council members and planning commissioners? Does the agency subscribe to a commercial trends service?
4. Is your agency easier to do business with than the competition?
Consider sight, sound, and thought. Is the agency visible to prospects/clients? Do they see all employees as willing helpers and problem solvers? How easy is it to access a human by phone?
A Central Pennsylvania producer recently called on a local auto dealer to create a basis for doing business. He asked, “What two things do you absolutely detest when dealing with insurance?” The car dealer answered that answering machines that take messages during normal working hours and voice mail are two deterring factors.
5. Is your agency more convenient than the competition?
What are your hours? Are prospects able to access the agency easily? Considering the type of prospects and client that the agency is seeking, would a change in hours make sense? Are there alternative methods of accessing the agency that will work for prospects and clients? Are you willing to pay the price for offering this convenience?
6. Do producers allow more lead time for relationship building?
Are producers calling on people to discuss problems and solutions, or are they only making calls to obtain copies of policies to “quote” this year’s renewal based on last year’s rate?
7. Is your agency giving value beyond its contractual obligation?
Do producers see their job as getting in, getting the business, and getting out? If so, you’re missing an opportunity for value-added service.
The general public wasn’t concerned with value-added service until advertisers started promoting it. “Value-added,” a concept created to allow a supplier to differentiate,” states, “We do more than what’s simply and correctly expected.”
8. Is your agency re-evaluating its insurance-buying environment?
Are you questioning what people want and why they buy insurance? What about examining the public’s perception? Does the agency ask customers to explain how they think the business works?
The answer to these eight questions can make, or break, your sales management.