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.
Overheard at the country club:
Golf Student: Is it spelled p-u-t, or p-u-t-t?
Golf Pro: P-u-t-t is correct. 'Put' means to place something exactly where you want it. 'Putt' is the vain attempt to do the same thing.
Self-promotion is a lot like this joke. You want to convey a particular message, and you’ve targeted a certain market where you want that message to be effective — so the trick is to place the right message exactly where you want it.
Effective self-promotion makes the insurance business fun; ineffectual or no self-promotion can make it more difficult. So you have to come up with effective methods to promote you that you feel good about doing.
THE TARGET
In his book 'See You at the Top,' Zig Ziglar declares himself to be one of the all-time best teachers of archery. That’s right. He can help you aim an arrow better more often than the best archer in the world. And he can do it in about five minutes. Very impressive.
Zig’s method is simple. He’ll stand you and the champion archer side by side and give each of you a bow and some arrows. He then equips the champion with one extra item — a blindfold. Zig spins the champion archer around in circles a few times, then tells you both to start shooting. Guaranteed: Your shooting will be better.
If that sounds silly, think about this: Do you know exactly where the bull’s eye is in your market? For example, is it with people who own homes valued at 150% greater than the median? Is it the Commercial Producer or the Most Valuable Producer? Don’t forget real estate agents, financial planners, the affluent, and corporate executives. Have you thought about the makeup of your chosen market and what these people want and need? Or are you like a blindfolded archer, shooting arrows in all directions or perhaps even not shooting at all. You see, the best archer in the world can’t hit a target they can’t see.
THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
When you know what your target is, you have to approach it with the right attitude. This attitude has two aspects.
- 'I deserve it.'
Of course you deserve it. Think about all of your training and experience, and your hard work to become competent in this business. Ask yourself, 'If not me, who?' Is someone else better suited to handle this business? If there is, find out why, and work on making yourself the best suited. Keep in mind that the person who helps a client solve their problem right now is the best one for the job.
- 'I’m willing to do it.'
Are you really willing to do what it takes to solve client’s problems? Are you an expert in the areas that apply to your target market? Aren’t you the value added, the component that makes the difference? It’s that simple. Read, study, and listen to other experts. Are you willing to stretch a little, to move out of your comfort zone to pursue more business? That’s what it’s going to take.
POSITIONING
A very successful businessperson with whom we work says, 'It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.' Your ideal target market needs to know you. You gain recognition by developing centers of influence and by becoming a source of expert information.
Ask yourself: What have I done to promote myself? Who knows me? How did they learn about me? What reputation am I creating? How can I, with my circumstances and abilities, promote myself, my skills, and my products better?
List three ways or areas in which you can do a better job of promoting yourself.
NETWORKING
Networking can be very effective in these situations:
- You’re networking with groups that are in your target market or can introduce you to your target market.
- You’re networking with a group in which you feel comfortable enough to get actively involved.
- You believe you bring value to people in your network.
Making network groups valuable is a self-promotion job. You can also use articles and speeches to promote yourself.
ARTICLES AND SPEECHES
Masters of self-promotion are always finding ways to get their face and picture in front of people. Remember, it’s not just who you know, but who knows you! You can incorporate the following strategy when you want to expand your circle of influence.
There are five steps to self-promote with articles and speeches. Employ each of these suggestions, and watch your notoriety, credibility, and 'who knows you' take off.
- List the unique problems that people in your target market don’t know about or might not often consider. Perhaps it’s Liability coverage on lake houses or higher limits on Auto coverage. Whatever it is, make sure it’s unique and that it’s something that will cause pain.
- Write your article or outline your speech.
- List publications that would publish your article, such as association newsletters, business journals, local newspapers, and industry magazines. Submit your article, and follow up. A follow-up call is just like a sales call. Ask them if they’re interested in publishing your article. Ordinarily, you’ll get a quick yes or no. For your speech, develop a brief biography to develop credibility. Submit the bio and speech outline to the types of organizations that you’d like to address. Record your speech — you can use a small, hand-held tape recorder.
- After your article has been published, take it to a quick-printing service and have it reprinted. Take the recording of your speech to a sound studio and have it edited — put some music at the front with an introduction. You’ll have a master you can get duplicated. Have 50-100 copies made by a duplicating company.
- Send out the professionally-made copies of your article or tape to your best prospects and use them to help you obtain invitations to speak.
This idea is the least expensive, most effective way to promote yourself. Another alternative is to buy advertising. If you were rich, that might not be so bad. Chances are that you aren’t rich, though, so look for opportunities to utilize these ideas. You’ll probably want your management to review your correspondence to make sure it meets certain criteria. Remember, you’re promoting yourself and your agency.
Self-promotion is an excellent way to build business. It’s an inexpensive way to let people know who you are.
EXERCISE
Create a plan of action for writing an article and having it published.
- Subject:________________________
- Title:___________________________
- Date to begin writing: ______________
- Date to complete writing: ___________
- Date sent to management for compliance:_______
- Develop list of publishers with address and contact (date ): ______________
- Mail article and follow up.
Follow the steps in the Articles and Speeches section. Do it once — you’ll find that it works great. You’ve found a key to effective self-promotion!