You know, this would be a great business if it weren’t for having to deal with people all the time… OK, so maybe I’ve exaggerated things a bit, but we’ve all certainly heard that saying before. Why does that sentiment ring true for so many folks? Obviously it’s because of all the people challenges we’re [...]
Leadership Finesse: The Art of Asking Questions
February 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Whenever I ask people what they feel the biggest leadership problem is, I always get the same answer. It’s not lack of integrity, poor decision making, or lack of vision (although that’s #2). Poor Communication is cited as the number one shortcoming of leaders. Poor communication is often the cause for unnecessary conflict, improperly done [...]
Close More Sales Without Selling!
July 7, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Let’s face it… No one likes to be “sold” something. To me, being “sold” is when somebody convinces me to buy something – whether or not I really needed or wanted it. Have you ever been convinced by someone to buy something, maybe even against your better judgment, and then regretted having made the purchase? [...]
Marketing Strategies in a Tough Economy
June 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Wow! Talk about a marketing challenge… A weak economy. People in a wait-and-see mode. Bad news on the financial scene every day. The consequence? Prospects are reluctant to make a decision. They’re hesitant to spend much money or make any kind of long-term (or short-term, for that matter) commitment. So as sales professionals, we become [...]
How to Have Success with Direct Mail
April 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Direct Mail, when done correctly, produces great results. The problem is that most people don’t really understand what direct mail is, and confuse it with plain old mail. Let me briefly explain the difference. Now bear with me; this may seem a bit simplistic but most people actually misunderstand what makes direct mail different from [...]
Effective Phone Techniques
March 5, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Anyone who conducts marketing and sales has to deal with using the phone as an important communication tool. The problem is that most people don’t maximize its effectiveness. Using the phone poorly can inadvertently act as a detriment to our success. Understand that the phone conveys our personality, our sincerity, our belief, our energy, our [...]
The 3 Keys to Referral Success
February 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Don’t you get tired of hearing about how great referrals are? Especially if you’re not getting enough of them? I am always speaking to managers, agents and advisors who say they’re so tired of chasing “suspects” and would love real prospects – specifically prospects that come from referrals. I have one acquaintance (a P&C agent) [...]
Poor Retention is Not a Problem
August 22, 2007 By Leave a Comment
OK. No one likes their retention to be poor. But the truth is that poor retention is a symptom, not a problem. It’s tempting to point the finger at large rate increases as the culprit, but that’s not usually the case. If new agents are writing new business, you can be pretty certain that rates [...]
Internet Recruiting is Dead!
June 9, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Internet recruiting is dead. Or at least it should be put to sleep. Recruiting independent agents and financial advisors on the internet is basically good for one thing – appeasing corporate offices. It produces lots of activity – which corporate loves to see. But let’s face it, while it does produce lots of activity, it’s [...]
Insurance Agents Are Like Toasters
May 16, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Insurance agents are like toasters. Let me explain… Everyone owns and uses at least one small appliance at home. It might be a toaster, a garage door opener or a microwave oven. No doubt it’s something we use every day. And yet, we can’t recall the brand name of the appliance. We all know what [...]
