Shark-Proof Your Accounts!

Use this strategy to insulate newly written accounts against the comeback attack of the incumbent agent.

You’ve sold your way into a new client. The check has cleared the bank, the battle is won, victory is yours! Now you can settle in to the routine of delivering proactive service. Not so fast. Don’t count your chickens even after the eggs have hatched! The first 30 days following a new sale is a highly vulnerable stage in the sales cycle. Many lost clients have been exhumed from the grave by seasoned pros who never give up and are willing to say or do anything to keep a client. In my neck of the woods, we call this “shark time.” The gloves come off and most of the gentlemanly rules of engagement are out the window. After all, the incumbent agent literally has nothing to lose!

It’s important to understand the power of the incumbent’s position. To your new client, the incumbent is a known quantity who might well be a friend, colleague, or business associate. You’re a virtual stranger to this client, and have yet to deliver any services that truly distinguish you from the incumbent. You’re not yet in a position of strength — at best you’re neutral. Once a client has fired their agent, their guard drops, and a mental shift takes place. Your new client, who is only human, is likely to experience some remorse or fear of the unknown that might make them vulnerable to an incumbent comeback.

• Buyer’s remorse. We all experience it within two to three days after a large or time-consuming purchase. We feel self doubt, asking ourselves if we really made the right choice. We review the sales process in our mind, looking for confirmation that our decision was wise. Often we become suspicious of the person or organization we bought from and start a process of investigation, looking for clues that might discredit our choice. This emotion is so prevalent that most states have passed laws allowing buyers to cancel major purchases up to 30 days after the sale. The insurance industry allows a 30-day window for clients to change their mind without penalty, which gives the incumbent an opportunity to come back in — especially if the first 30 days don’t go well.
• Fear of the unknown. You got the sale by creating so much dissatisfaction that your new client reached gestalt and pulled the trigger. If you hadn’t created dissatisfaction, where would the client be? Exactly! In blissful ignorance, right where you found them. The fact is that people will do most anything to avoid pain, including pain associated with guilt. Trust me when I say that a sharp agent will use guilt, fear, doubt, and anything else in their arsenal to create enough pain for your new client to change their mind. Remember, you’re cutting into the agent’s pocketbook. So when they say “One more time, for old time’s sake,” it can become all too easy for your new client to cave.

Shark proofing your new client to protect them from the incumbent, and themselves, is a three-step process: Insulation, investment, and influence.

INSULATION

Immediately after your new client tells you that you have their business, prepare them for the immediate onslaught of accusations coming from the fired agent by doing four things:

1. Compliment them on their choice and reinforce that they have made the right decision. 
   Tell them that: “Good service costs good money. We earn a full commission on your account because we need every penny to deliver everything we promised.” This prevents the incumbent from accusing you of cutting your commission to get the account, and predicting terrible service because you can’t afford to service the account.
   Let the client know that your agency has been around for a long time, is financially stable, fiscally conservative, and will be there now and in the future. Discuss the carrier’s financial rating, history, and stability, together with the tenure of any company personnel who you might know.
   If you have placed the client in a “special program” or niche-marketing plan, make sure they understand that it’s a successful program that’s been around for several years.

INVESTMENT

The more a person has invested in something, the more difficult it is for them to leave. Here are three ways to get your client fully invested in the new relationship immediately after the sale:

1. As soon as the deal is done, ask the client to show you around and introduce you to all staff members with whom you’ll be working as “their new agent.” Once the client verbalizes this statement, it becomes real. Also, after they’ve announced the relationship to fellow employees, it becomes embarrassing to change their mind. 
   Make sure that all financial transactions take place at this time. Money must change hands, contracts and EFT forms signed, voided checks collected, and so forth. Each of these acts creates an additional mental and emotional commitment. 
   Service timeliness and contracts must be reviewed in detail, agreed to, and signed. This reassures the client that you’re serious about proactive service and that you will address his pain.

INFLUENCE:

The same day that the deal is done, immediately after you leave the office, and before the client fires their old agent, they should receive a series of phone calls.

1. The agency president, principal, partner, or office manager should call to welcome the new company into the fold, reassure them that they’ll receive excellent service, give the new client their direct dial number, and ask if there’s anything that they need immediately. 
   The customer service representative should call to introduce themselves and ask how the new client would prefer services to be delivered: Voice mail, e-mail, fax, and so forth. The CSR should also ask for an introduction to the primary day-to day-contact, and be transferred to this person to get acquainted and take care of any immediate needs of the new client. 
   The person who introduced (referred) you to the new client, or a center of influence or mutual contact, should call to congratulate the client on their decision and reinforce that they made the right decision.

CONCLUSION

Any one of these activities will help insulate your new client from the attack of the incumbent — but using all of them in a professionally orchestrated process will shark-proof your new business clients.