Use this proven technique to turn Commercial Lines prospects into clients.
Does this sound familiar? You go into a sales interview telling your prospect that you work for one of the best agencies in town. You tell them you give great service, represent 14 markets, and would like a chance to prove your value. As a result, they give you the chance to bid on their account, and you feel like you’ve got your first victory. Incidentally, when you asked if there were any problems that you should address, they said, no — they just wanted you to do what you could to keep their insurance costs low.
So you go to the office, prepare a submission, send it to your markets, and get a great quote. Subsequently, you present the price to your prospect, who tells you that you’ve done a very good job and that you’re in the running. They compliment you on your knowledge and professionalism, and you leave the presentation feeling pretty good. You celebrate your second victory.
Then Charlie, the incumbent agent, presents his quote. He’s about 10% more expensive this year, and the prospect says, “Charlie, you’re a little high this time.” Charlie gets the message, goes back to his carrier, and gets it to lower the price. Charlie then makes his final proposal and miraculously keeps the account.
Isn’t America great? The underdog gets rolled again, and the “big dog” keeps the deal.
What does “getting rolled” mean? Imagine that you’re the flag guy on a highway construction crew. Being a good guy and trying your best to do a good job, you stand out there guiding traffic. Along comes one of those big road-building, asphalt-smashing machines with a big steel roller on the front — sort of like the ones you see in Roadrunner cartoons. You’re standing there waving your flag and guiding traffic when, with no warning, the machine rolls you out on the pavement as flat as a pancake.
LEARNING THE RULES
This happens all the time. As a matter of fact, it happens so often that many producers have become used to it as a way of life. To keep from getting flattened, follow these rules:
Rule No. 1: No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time. In other words, the incumbent agent occupies the position you want. The incumbent is close to the prospect and will always get the last look if you don’t do something about it. When the incumbent agent gets the last look, the competing agent usually gets rolled.
So the question is: How do you diminish the incumbent’s position in the eyes of the prospect? Chances are that if you take any shots at the incumbent, your prospect will become defensive. After all, the easiest way to put someone on the defensive is to talk negatively about a choice that they made. The problem is that your prospect picked the incumbent. If you say something negative about the incumbent, the prospect will defend their choice, and you’ll be the bad guy. This means that you’ll need to follow:
Rule No. 2: It doesn’t pay to knock the competition. Instead, look to:
Rule No. 3: Nothing, including an incumbent agent, is good or bad except by comparison. The tough part about selling anything is that to be effective, you have to be able to articulate differences. Unless you can create comparisons that demonstrate differences, that show that one option is better or worse than others, you’re only babbling. Commercial insurance is hard to sell for one primary reason: The differences between one agent and another, one agency and another, and one carrier and another are often subtle. To make them more pronounced, observe the following rules:
Rule No. 4: No pain, no change. Although it’s a bit trite, there’s a lot of truth to this rule. Unless someone is feeling dissatisfied, why should they make a change just because someone else’s price is less? If a prospect enjoys a relationship with an incumbent agent and is not dissatisfied, the chances are much better than 50-50 that they’ll just tell the incumbent agent to match any competing price and let the incumbent keep the account.
Rule No. 5: It’s easier to get someone to deny perfection than to admit to having a problem. Perfection is really just a standard of excellence. And it’s easier to get someone to say, “No, the service I’m receiving doesn’t meet that standard of excellence,” than is it to get them to say, “Yes, I have a problem.”
Rule No. 6: No one wants to be mediocre. Once your prospect acknowledges that their current service doesn’t meet the standard of excellence, you simply reply, “You’re satisfied with that?”
The prospect will probably respond, “Not really,” and you will have taken the first step in driving a wedge between them and the incumbent agent.
USE 'THE WEDGE'
The dictionary defines wedge as “an object tapered for insertion in a narrow crevice and used for splitting.” The narrow crevice is that tiny area between your prospect and the incumbent, which you have just begun to open up. The following dialogue, with my comments in italics, shows how this process works. When you enter into such a dialogue with a prospect, assume that the incumbent agent is doing a perfect job. If that’s not the case, let the prospect be the one to realize it and tell you.
Salesperson:
“I’m curious: When your agent brought out their loss-control person at mid-term to meet with you and brainstorm about ideas to help you create a safer work environment and reduce your insurance costs, what kind of ideas did you come up with and how many have been implemented?”
(Rule #3 — Nothing is either good or bad except by comparison— comes into play here. You’ve used this question to create a point of comparison without saying that you’re great, or that the incumbent is bad. You’re simply letting the prospect decide.)
Prospect:
“No, they didn’t do that.”
(At this point don’t get excited and tell the prospect that you do midterm reviews, and that you’re great. The prospect doesn’t care because you haven’t created enough pain yet.)
Salesperson:
“Well, maybe it’s not that big of a deal.”
(Remember, no one wants to be mediocre.)
Prospect: Sure it is. We like to be the best at what we do.
(This is the time to help the prospect create a vision of the desired solution. If you simply tell prospects what they need, it will be your solution and not theirs. If it’s your solution, they’re bound to come up with objections.)
Salesperson:
“If you could have things the way you want, what would they be?”
Prospect: We would...
(At this point, the prospect describes their vision. Respond by playing back what the prospect tells you to make sure that you’re both on the same page.)
Salesperson:
“So what you want is [playback].”
Prospect: That’s right.
(Don’t get excited and start trying to fix the problem. Let the prospect invite you in.
This gives you leverage.)
Salesperson:
“OK, what would you like me to do?”
Prospect:
“Can you help us with this?”
Salesperson:
“You bet. Here’s what our team can do for you...
CONCLUSION
The Wedge is the simplest, most effective selling technique that you can use. It almost always starts with “When your agent ...” followed with an example of service excellence that the incumbent might not be providing. Other possibilities for introducing The Wedge in your first question include:
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“When your agent brought out your policies and explained to you that you were self-insured in certain areas, were you happy with the way they explained it?”
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“When your agent saw you before renewal last year and showed you a spreadsheet listing their carriers, coverages, and pricing so you would know you were getting the best deal, did you find a better value?”
If you’re a good listener and willing to let your prospect do all the hard work, you can use The Wedge as your most profitable sales tool