Nothing happens until somebody sells something. To make sales happen, IMMS.com Key Sales Consultant Randy Schwantz has created a comprehensive series of 43 Producer Success Lessons. Used singly or in combination, these powerful tools can help your producers build their skills and grow their sales.
A producer once told me sales training was a waste. 'This stuff isn’t helpful,' he said. 'I do it all from the seat of my pants.'
I asked him whether he’d ever read a book on sales. He said yes. I asked if he’d ever asked an associate for input. He had. Finally, I asked whether he ever wrote down his mistakes or positive actions for future reference. Again he said yes.
'You don’t actually dislike sales training per se, you just don’t like structured training, right?' I asked.
'Right,' he answered.
I use this story to overcome a common objection in my business. I usually tell it to producers I’ve just met. Rather than waiting for them to raise the objection, I use the story to inoculate against it.
INOCULATION
You might remember your childhood vaccinations. Your parents didn’t wait for you to get sick; they got you inoculated to keep you from experiencing serious illnesses. You can do the same kind of thing to ward off objections.
A prospect usually bring up objections because they don’t want to make a commitment. They’re uncomfortable with or afraid of the change the commitment will bring. By inoculating the prospect against these fears before they ever rear up, you save yourself and your prospect a lot of grief.
The most effective way to inoculate against an objection is with a story. Stories are nonthreatening, can reflect your personal style, and are easily tailored to build rapport with your prospects.
Tell your inoculating story early in the call. Deliver it before you even get to the qualification stage. If the objection you’ve inoculated against comes up later (it rarely does), refer back to the story: 'Remember that producer I told you about who didn’t think he needed training?'
BUILDING A STORY
The first step in developing a good inoculation story is to list the top three or four most common objections you’re likely to encounter. Next, think about a time when you ran up against any of them and had the ideal answer. Can you relate that experience in a story? Great! Develop a well-constructed story, and if you can add some humor, even better. Now memorize the story so you can deliver it easily and gracefully. That’s it! You’ve done it.
A good technique is to develop one story that covers all of your top objections. Get into the habit of telling it early in your interviews, and watch — you’ll get fewer objections!
A PRODUCER STORY
Among the top objections Commercial producers raise are limited time, lack of knowledge of Personal Lines, and the fear that Personal Lines trouble will spill over into their Commercial business. Here’s a story that you can tell Commercial producers when asking them for introductions:
'The last Commercial producer I worked with was very worried about one of her accounts. It was renewal time, and she was afraid another company was going to beat her out of the business. This other company had offered all the senior executives special Personal insurance services, and the Commercial producer didn’t think she had the time or the knowledge to get involved with Personal Lines.
'That’s where I came in. I had the knowledge and the time to do a great job on the Personal Lines, and that allowed the Commercial producer to go after the account with a whole new set of services — and save the account.
'The Commercial producer told me later that she really felt silly about her earlier attitude toward Personal Lines — that they were a great way to lose an account — because she had learned that Personal Lines were a great way to save an account.'
A RISK MANAGER STORY
Risk Managers seem to have three big concerns: their lack of Personal Lines knowledge, limited time, and the fear that you’ll embarrass them if you aren't professional. They may bring these up during an interview. Here’s how to inoculate them first:
'I worked with a Risk Manager last year who was really anxious about Personal Lines, especially when the company executives were involved. He was afraid I’d hound them for an appointment, then do something unprofessional that would embarrass him.
'Things worked out really well, though. As a matter of fact, just the other day we were laughing about how anxious he’d been. He told me that instead of getting bogged down with Personal insurance details and worries about how well the executives were covered, he was now more concerned that his company might decide to switch Commercial carriers and possibly lose me. As it turned out, I was as good as two assistants to him.'
Each of these stories brings up the likely objection and removes it before the prospect ever gets to it, saving prospect and producer time and trouble and letting them get on with their real reason for being there — to transfer value and solve problems.
EXERCISE:
- There’s a widespread theory that there are six common objections to any product or service. Identify the objections to your service that these types of prospects will raise:
- Commercial Producer
- Risk Manager
- Executive
- Develop stories to inoculate each type of prospect against their objections.