SEMINAR SELLING WORKS!
by Dennis Pillsbury
Use seminars to “educate” rather than “sell” your clients and prospects.
Seminar selling has become one of the latest fads. If you’re on a list, you’ll probably be invited to some kind of seminar as stock brokers, financial analysts, insurance agents, and others vie for your dollars. And, after a while, you find yourself agreeing to go just to get the person off the phone and then, of course, you forget about it and don’t go. If this is your the experience, then why is seminar selling even considered? Are we missing something? Well, just like a lot of good ideas, seminar selling has been abused, misused and generally misconstrued — but that doesn’t mean it can’t work for you. The key is to understand just what it is that seminar selling can accomplish.
The first step is to change the name or, at the very least, the focus. Seminar selling does not involve selling. At least, it shouldn’t. That’s where a lot of people get off to a bad start. Successful educational seminars promote you and your agency. They are pure marketing tools that put you one leg up on the competition.
We talked with Emily Huling, CIC, CMC, one of the gurus of using seminars to develop clients, about the benefits agents reap from hosting educational seminars. Huling is president of Selling Strategies, Inc., in Terrell, North Carolina. “This truly is an opportunity to provide value-added service,” she explains. “You have a chance to bring together top prospects and clients in a positive, relationship-enhancing environment where they walk away with greater knowledge and an extremely favorable impression of your agency.”
VALUE ADDED
A properly planned and implemented educational seminar “provides clients and prospects with networking opportunities and cutting edge information that will help make their businesses more profitable thanks to you,” Huling points out. And what could typify the value-added concept better than that?
As one observer of the insurance industry and its continual faux pas says: “It has become more important than ever for agents and brokers to provide value-added services to their clients.” The insurance industry has turned Commercial insurance into a commodity with this soft market after destroying any loyalty with the last hard market. Agents and brokers face an uphill battle in their efforts to be viewed as professionals by a market that has seen insurance companies behave with anything but professionalism.”
So how should you plan and implement an educational seminar?
The first step is to decide who is going to be there. You want to invite a good mixture of prospects and clients so that when the networking happens, there will be people there who already know about your agency and will tell prospects what a professional organization you have. Depending on the topic, you also might want to invite influential members of the community or targeted market who would benefit from the educational offering. This might include a banker, CPA, attorney, president of an association, and so on — all of whom could be involved in recommending your agency to others. The prospects you invite should be those on your “A list,” Huling advises, explaining that those are prospects “with whom you already are in negotiations and anticipate proposing and closing within the next 12 months.” She continues that some B-listed clients also might be invited (those you anticipate closing in 12 to 24 months.
AMBASSADORS OF PROFITABILITY
The next step is to find a hot topic that is of concern to this group of people. “You want the group to leave with greater knowledge on how to manage their businesses,” says Huling. “When this happens, it should lead to greater profitability for their businesses.”
She adds that in order to achieve this objective, you need to find a top-notch speaker or speakers who know the subject better than anyone in the audience. And you don’t want that person to be you, even if you’re an expert on the subject. Her advice: “You want to serve as the host or ambassador, bringing information to your clients and prospects. You don’t want this mixed up with just peddling product, and that’s always a danger if one of the agency people is the speaker. If you’re the expert on a particular topic, then find another topic.”
A lot of speakers will speak for free, but Huling suggests that you “still offer to pay an honorarium. Quite often, the speaker will ask that it be given to charity. If that’s the case, let everyone know. You want this to be a class event all the way through and that adds to the cachet.”
She recommends making certain you invite speakers whom you have heard. A lot of people look good on paper - with all the credentials — but that doesn’t mean they’re good speakers. Insist on materials and review them materials to make certain they’re on track and good quality. “Hand-out materials are very important” says Huling. “They must have your agency’s name and the speaker’s name on them.”
THE PARTNERING OPTION
If this seems like too much to handle on your own, then consider sponsoring a seminar in partnership with other professionals in your circle of influence. Accountants, lawyers, or other professionals might very well be interested in helping you host the event
There are advantages to this approach other than defraying the cost (which can be anticipated to be about $25 to $30 per invitee): You help to cement your relationship with these individuals who probably are excellent sources of referrals — and the audience will view you as a professional, regardless of their opinion of the insurance industry in general.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK
You’ll probably be able to tell how effective a speaker is by watching and listening to the audience. But don’t stop there. Huling considers seminar evaluation forms as one of the keys to continuing success. “You need to find out whether this seminar was successful, in addition to gathering topics for other seminars.” (See the sidebar to the left for a sample evaluation form.)
You also need to follow up with letters to everyone who attended the seminar, as well as those who didn’t. “The day after the seminar, you should send out two different follow-up letters,” suggests Huling. “One letter thanks those who attended and asks them for any suggestions. The other letter is to people who didn’t attend. It tells them that you missed them and hope they’ll be able to attend the next seminar.”
And that brings us to another important point: Make seminars a commitment. If you’re going to run just one seminar, then you probably should save yourself some money and do one less than that. Huling says you need to make a commitment for at least two years and plan to have three or four seminars each year for each group.
INVOLVE EVERYONE
Educational seminars are a commitment that involves the entire agency. Get producers to help determine who should be invited: top prospects, clients, etc...One month after the invitations are mailed, you and your staff should call people to see if they’re planning to attend. Then make a second call two days before the event. “This provides another opportunity for you to stay in front of your clients in a friendly, non-sales way,” Huling points out. And, as mentioned above, be sure to follow up after the event as well.
CONCLUSION
Seminars can provide a tremendous marketing tool if they’re executed with care. Don’t enter into this commitment lightly. . However seminars can be a lot of fun — as will as a great way to get your entire agency working together toward a single goal.
To help the cause, Emily Huling has included: (1) A list of suggested seminar topics; (2) a Seminar Invitation Letter; (3) a Seminar Evaluation Form; and (4) Follow-up Notes to seminar attendees and non-attendees.
For more information, feel free to call Emily at (888) 309-8802 or e-mail [email protected].
Reproduced, with permission, from Rough Notes magazine.
Suggested Seminar Topics
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Employment Practices Liability
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Workers Compensation Topics
Claim/Accident Investigation
Fraud
Return to Work
Second Injury Funds
Experience Modification
Safety and Loss Control
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Long-Term Care
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Retirement Planning
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Business Succession Planning
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OSHA issues - industry specific
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Workplace Stress
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Workplace Violence
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Ergonomics
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Regulatory, law, or tax changes - industry specific
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Pollution
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Bonding
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Disaster planning
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Human Resource Topics
Employee Assistance Plans
Hiring and training
ADA
Retirement Planning Options
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Personal Lines - Youthful operators insurance and law education
Seminar Invitation
Mr. Tom Smith
Smith Manufacturing
123 S. Industrial Road
Charlotte, NC 28225
Dear Tom,
Would you like to lower your Worker’ Compensation costs? You’ll be able to — if you’ll join us for an informative meeting on this very topic.
On DATE AND TIME we’ve invited EXPERT, to speak on ways that employers like you can:
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Hire and train the best workers for the job
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Create a Workplace Safety Program, incorporating OSHA compliance standards
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Control costs after an injury occurs
We at Acme Insurance are committed to helping our clients design a Workers Compensation risk management program to help you avoid losses as well as control costs if injuries do occur. Please join your peers in attending this relevant discussion on DAY, DATE, TIME, and LOCATION. Please call, fax, or e-mail us your reply.
Sincerely,
Producer
Enclosure
NOTE: Write a personalized, handwritten comment here.
Seminar Evaluation Form
We appreciate your feedback so that we can serve you better!
Did you find the seminar informative and helpful? ____________
What is the best, most usable idea you are leaving with? ________
________________________________________________________
How do you plan to implement this idea? _______________________
________________________________________________________
Would you be interested in attending other seminars? _____________
If yes, which of the following topics would be of interest?
[ ] Environmental Pollution [ ] Disaster Planning
[ ] Employment Practices Liability- [ ] Workers Compensation
Discrimination and Harassment Deductible Programs
Any suggestions? _______________________________________________
Would you like to receive our quarterly e-mail newsletter if you are not already? ______ if so, please provide your e-mail address:
Would you like someone from Acme Insurance to contact you? _____
If you know of someone who would be interested in attending this program or other insurance related programs, please provide their names and businesses:
_____________________________________________________________
Your name and business: _________________________________________
NOTE: Ask the audience to complete this at the end of the seminar. Tell them you that you’ll select one or two for a door prize. (Most people complete for a gift.)
Follow-Up Letters after the Program
For those who attended:
It was so good to see you yesterday! We really appreciate you taking time to attend our educational seminar on how to lower your Workers Compensation costs. I hope you gained a few good insights to help you in your operation.
Our next seminar will be DATE on TOPIC with EXPERT as the speaker. He is an authority on this topic and an excellent speaker. Please mark your calendar to join us.
For those who couldn’t attend:
We missed you yesterday! SPEAKER, treated our guests to an information-dense seminar on how to control workers compensation costs through good hiring and training practices, how to create a workplace safety program, and tips on controlling costs after injuries occur.
We hope you’ll be able to join us at our next seminar. Our next seminar will be DATE on TOPIC with EXPERT as the speaker. Please mark your calendar to join us.