Whether you’re having sales conversations, coaching conversations, or working to develop others, learning how to ask good questions can be the difference between success and failure. What does asking the right questions at the right time mean? It means asking questions in such a way as to better understand the other person, their needs, and their motivations.

Since the questions asked and the flow of an effective conversation vary from person to person and from situation to situation, the best way to illustrate the Art of Asking Questions is by way of example.

Here is a sample sales conversation, conducted by someone not skilled at the Art of Asking Questions:
***************
Hi Bob, I’m calling about the great widgets my company sells. Do you have a few minutes to speak?

“Sure.”

Great! Are you familiar with our brand?

“No, not really.”

We offer widgets that solve a number of problems and have some great features. The new V210 – our mid-grade model – consumes 20% less energy than our competition and is 10% smaller. It comes in three different colors – red, black and white. Can I schedule a time with you to come by and show it to you?

“What’s the price?”

It normally sells for $199, but I can offer it to you at a 25% discount – only $149.

“Do you have something you can send me?”

Sure… what address should I send it to?

“123 Main St.”

Great! I’ll give you a follow-up call in about a week. OK?

“Yes, that would be fine.”

***************

If you’ve been in sales, you already know the outcome of that conversation. The likelihood of closing a sale is slim and the salesperson will no doubt continue to try to reach the prospect again until they get discouraged and give up.

The next example is the same conversation conducted by someone who is better skilled at the Art of Asking Questions, but is not quite there yet:
***************
Hi Bob, my company helps companies like yours solve their widget problems. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

“Sure.”

Do you currently use widgets in your business?

“Yes, we do.”

Have you been pleased with the ones you have?

“Well, for the most part we are, but nothing’s perfect.”

The newer design of widgets have a number of improvements over older models. Would you like to hear more about some of the improvements?

“Sure.”

Well, feature 1… , feature 2…, feature 3… We have a number of different models available. Do you have a budget in mind?

“Well, we haven’t been actively looking up until now. Can you send me some information?”

I’d rather come by and show you first-hand so you can really see what I’m talking about. Which would be better for you, Tuesday morning or Wednesday afternoon?

“How about Tuesday morning.”

Great! I’ll see you Tuesday morning then!
***************

While it is possible that this salesperson may make a sale, it’s far from a sure thing. Even though the prospect set the appointment, the salesperson really doesn’t know anything about the prospect or the prospect’s motivations.

The conversation would unfold very differently if the salesperson was skilled in the Art of Asking Questions:
***************
Hi Bob, my name is Paul and I help companies like yours solve any widget problems they have. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

“Sure.”

Do you currently use widgets in your business?

“Yes, we do.”

How often do you use your widgets?

“Pretty much every day.”

To what extent? How much?

“About 3-4 hours every day.”

It sounds like you rely on them pretty heavily.

“Yes, absolutely.”

What aspects of your widgets work best for you?

“Well, for one thing they’ve been really reliable. We’ve had them for over 4 years. Also, we need the automated feed feature and that’s been a life-saver. And the supplies are easy to find and affordable.”

Sounds like they’ve served you well. Have you had any problems with them?

“Well, the only problem we’ve had is that they sometimes misfeed.”

When you say they sometimes misfeed, specifically how often does that happen?

“Only once or twice a day.”

Are there any features or functions you wish they had?

“It would be nice if they had a bigger bin so we didn’t have to re-stock them so often.”

Anything else? Would it help if they could automatically stack the finished product?

“Can they do that?”

Ours can. I think it would make sense for us to get together. I can show you a widget I have that has a 99% reliability record, high-speed automatic feeding without jamming, a large bin, and automated stacking. Do you have about 25 minutes on Tuesday morning or would something like Wednesday afternoon work better for you?

“Let’s do next Tuesday morning.”

***************

As you can see, the last sales conversation unfolded very differently than the prior two. In the last conversation, the salesperson asked good questions – questions which uncovered what mattered to the other person, along with some motivations for making a change. (We didn’t have time in this article to uncover all the motivations.)

Having a conversation like this helps the prospect to clarify what features he needed and highlighted problems and desires. Both parties knew exactly why they were getting together and the likelihood of closing a sale was extremely high.

When you master the Art of Asking Questions, you learn to ask questions which uncover motivations and you’ll do a better job of selling, coaching, and developing others.

If you’d like help mastering the Art of Asking Questions, please contact me through my website: www.michaeljbeck.com

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 presented with in our business.  Virtually every one of my clients over the years has brought up the subject of dealing with difficult people.  There’s no escaping the fact that they come into everyone’s lives at one time or another.  Sometimes they come in the form of an unhappy or hard-to-get-along-with client, customer, or co-worker.  Sometimes they’re a person we report to or someone who reports to us.  And sometimes they’re just someone we happen to come in contact with like a store clerk.  Whoever they are, they can cause anxiety, frustration, concern, or anger in us and can even cause us to become like them – someone difficult to deal with.

Sometimes the best way to deal with a difficult person is to avoid them altogether – give them wide berth.  But often we don’t have that option.  The difficult person is someone we simply have to deal with.  Most people would say that in those situations, we have three options.  These options are: 1) Try to change ourselves, 2) Try to change the other person, and 3) Resolve to tolerate the situation – basically decide to put up with them.  I’d like to suggest that there’s a fourth, very effective option as well – perhaps the most effective of the four options.  Let’s spend some time discussing these four options.

1) Try to Change Ourselves
Your first instinct might be, “Why should I be the one to change?”  In fact quite often you’ll find that to be an appropriate response!  Often we are not the catalyst for their behavior, but sometimes we are.  If you’ve had people in your life who cause you to become difficult or obstinate, then doesn’t it stand to reason that you may be causing that same reaction in someone?  It’s in situations like this that we have to examine our own behaviors and reflect on whether we’re the cause.  Frequently however, we’re blind to our shortcomings.  We don’t see what we don’t see.  How do you find out whether you’re the cause of the other person’s difficult behavior?  Option 4 holds the answer.

2) Try to Change the Other Person
In Option 1 our initial response was to ask, “Why should I be the one to change?”  Our first reaction was one of justification.  Basically saying, “I’m not the one with the problem…”  Guess what happens when we try to change the other person?  You got it.  They have the same reaction we would have had.  Everyone feels justified in their behavior.  No one intends to behave arbitrarily or irrationally.  We always have a reason for acting the way we do.  Attempting to force the other person to change just doesn’t work.  Just ask any spouse!  No one will change anything about themselves until and unless they choose to do so.  Option 4 holds the answer.
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3) Decide to Put Up with Them
“Tolerate it.”  “Just deal with it.”  The only thing that accepting things the way they are accomplishes is to postpone a confrontation.  Although this course of action (or inaction) appears to avoid a confrontation, in fact what it does is eliminate any chance of dialogue and replaces it with a certain confrontation down the road.  Even though this path is frequently taken, it has some far-reaching unhappy consequences.  Let’s talk about how it affects you, the other person, and your team.

You
You end up spending valuable energy by deciding to tolerate this person.  It takes energy to tolerate a poor situation – energy which you need for other, more positive and productive efforts.  In addition, by tolerating this person, your attitude suffers.  Although we decide to tolerate it, we don’t ignore it.  Tolerating something that reduces our level of energy and our attitude is unacceptable.

The Other Person
If you reflect back to a time when you became complacent, lost interest, and experienced a drop in attitude (as we all have experienced at one time or another), you’ll find one of two reasons for this shift.  One reason is that the work you were doing really didn’t interest you – work was unfulfilling.  One of the great revelations in life is that just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you enjoy it.  The other reason we might have become complacent, lost interest, and experienced a drop in attitude is that we became disillusioned with someone or something.  In situations where the reality of the situation is different from the one we first imagined, is there a way to make things better?  Maybe.  Option 4 holds the answer.

Your Team
A manager tolerates a difficult person for an extended time, hoping they’ll “come around” and thereby avoid a confrontation, until something happens – some event or challenge – and they feel they have no choice but to confront and often terminate them.  Subsequently, the manager is surprised at the number of team members who come forth and comment on what a drag on the team that person had been.  They’ll speak up about their poor attitude or poor work ethic, and often add, “I don’t know why you kept them so long!”  When you don’t address a difficult person – when you decide to tolerate them – your whole team is affected.  In addition, ask yourself this:  When you keep a difficult person on, what does it say about you as a leader and what does it say about your values and your integrity?  Tolerating a difficult person doesn’t work in the long run.

4) Work to Understand Their Motivation
Option 4 is the key to success.  This option is about being a leader and being an effective communicator.  It’s about being compassionate and strong at the same time.  It’s about being good for someone rather than being good to them.  It’s about understanding rather than telling.

This solution is about taking the time to understand the other person’s motivation for acting the way they do.  If you’re effective at this, you’ll be able to either help them change their perspective on things or, in the alternative, help them to move on to something that better suits them.  This solution is about helping people grow and maximize their talents.

How do you come to understand the motivation for their actions and attitude?  Just ask.  Ask why they act the way they do.  Usually they’ll be more than happy to tell you.  If their answer seems odd or incorrect you need to keep asking questions to get at the heart of the issue so you can either shift their perspective or help them move on.  Once you’re at the core issue you have the ability to make a difference in their life.  It’s amazing what can come out of a sincere desire to help.  How would you have felt if, at those times when you felt complacent with a poor attitude, someone took the time to listen to you and offer some other perspectives?  How would your life be different today if someone had helped you see yourself and/or your life differently?  As a leader, you have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life.

One of the causes of poor communication is poor questioning skills.  Questions are excellent tools for clarifying concerns and degrees of comprehension as well as for developing the skills and perspectives of others.  As a leader refines his or her leadership competencies, the art of asking questions must be honed.  Let’s look at how the proper use of questions can be used to clarify, develop and persuade.

Clarify Concerns and Comprehension
Asking questions is the key to ensuring clarity and avoiding misunderstandings.  That’s pretty obvious.  And yet,… I find that many people haven’t taken the time to develop their question-asking skills.  Recently, a client brought up the details of his review in our coaching call.  It wasn’t so much a review as a summary of problems he was having with others.  After talking through these issues through with him, it became evident that there was a recurring theme of ineffective communications – both on his part and on the part of others.  In a couple of instances, he assumed one thing, not thinking that the other person could (and in fact did) assume something different.  In other cases, his words were misconstrued which led to inaccurate conclusions about him and his intentions.

Both situations could have easily been cleared up and altogether avoided by asking a few important questions.  Clarifying someone’s intention can often avoid a confrontation or a missed deadline.  But let’s be honest, the hard part isn’t knowing which question to ask; It’s in knowing when to ask a question.  A key factor in the art of asking questions is to be aware of one’s own feelings.  Mastering the art of asking questions requires an awareness of when you’re assuming something.  When you catch yourself assuming, you need to stop and ask for clarification.  Assuming leads to misunderstandings, miscommunication, and stirs unnecessary emotions.  It takes practice to be mindful of when you are making an assumption, but once you are aware, you’ll ask much better questions and you’ll have the ability to be a much better communicator and a much better leader.

Developing Others and Changing Perspectives
Asking questions also allows you to develop people.  When someone comes to you with a problem or concern, asking the right questions will cause them to “think” and will help them gain new insights into themselves and others.  Asking questions will allow you gain a better understanding of the other person – how they think, how they make decisions, and how they see the world.  It creates the opportunity for you to change their perspectives.  Rather than simply answering their question or pointing them in the right direction, why not ask them what they think should be done?  They may surprise themselves (and you) with their thought-process and you will create the opportunity for you to help them grow.  Additionally, some people see the world in a certain way and find it difficult to see other points of view.  By asking why they go about things in a certain way or see things a certain way, you then have the ability to offer other perspectives and viewpoints.  Since one of the roles of a leader is to develop others, this is an important skill to master.

By asking questions, you not only avoid misunderstandings, but help others to understand themselves and the world more fully.

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?  I’m willing to bet we’ve all experienced a situation like that.  Maybe we were shopping for something, maybe we were just passing the time, or maybe we weren’t “doing” anything – we just happened to be waiting somewhere and somebody struck up a conversation with us.  And as they talked to us they may have even started to become assertive or pushy.  Or maybe they began using “techniques” on us – moving us (read that as manipulating us) ever closer to saying “Yes”.  They kept us on the spot until we either said “Yes” or ran in the other direction as fast as we could.  Either way, whether we said “Yes” or said “No”, the whole experience left a bad taste in our mouths.

No one likes to be “sold” something.

‘Yeah, but nothing happens until someone sells something, right?’

Well, that’s the way the saying goes, but we know that what it really means is that nothing happens until a purchase is made.

‘Blah, blah, blah…  Isn’t this just a matter of semantics?  Aren’t you just playing word games?’

No.  This isn’t a matter of word games.  The distinction between selling and buying is important to understand.  People do not want to be “sold” things.  They do not want to be “maneuvered” into a sale.  Instead, they want to make a free choice to buy products and services.

‘OK, let’s say I believe there is a difference.  How exactly does this apply to me?  How could I change what I’m doing to close more sales (and get people to LIKE ME more)?’

Here’s the key to success:  Since people want to feel that they’re freely choosing to buy, and you want them to choose to buy from you, then you need to be someone who people choose to do business with.  This concept is at the core of business success.  Let’s identify what causes people to want to do business with someone.  First off, let’s acknowledge an important point.  While it is important to be as knowledgeable as possible about your products and services, that knowledge is rarely the reason someone will choose to do business with you.

In truth, it’s WHO YOU ARE, rather than what you do or what you know, that persuades someone to buy from you.  People will choose to do business with you because they like you, relate to you, and trust you.
What traits define “who you are” in the minds of others?  Obviously there are many things which define who we are, but the following list is a good place to start.

Have Integrity
•    Do what you say you’re going to do.
•    Show up on time
•    Return phone calls in a timely manner

Care About Others
•    Do what’s in the best interest of others, even if it doesn’t result in a sale
•    Add value beyond the value of your products and services
•    Take an interest in your prospects and your clients as people, not just as business relationships

Have a Professional Appearance
•    Dress and act professionally, which usually means slightly better than your prospects
•    Be relatable
•    Be respectful of people and their time

Have a Positive Attitude
•    People like to do business with people they like and like being around
•    Be a positive and optimistic person
•    Focus on the possibilities and not the obstacles

If a person continually improves in these areas, not only will it cause more people to choose to buy from them, but they will ATTRACT more of the kinds of clients they want.  Opportunities will seem to “materialize” because of who we are.  Plus, you’ll enjoy your business more than ever before.

Most of us could benefit from improving in one or more of the areas mentioned above, but it can be a challenge to achieve that improvement.   Often it’s difficult to improve in these areas simply because we’re blind to where and how we could improve.  We’re creatures of habit and mostly operate on “autopilot”.  Additionally, it’s really not about how we see ourselves, but rather how others perceive us.  Therefore, trying to make many of the changes necessary is almost impossible.  The most effective way to identify areas for improvement is to ask those around us.  (Obviously, we need to choose people who want us to succeed and who we trust.)  Once we become aware of those areas we want to change, the next challenge is in actually making those changes.  The problem here is that because what we’re trying to change are habits – habits that no longer serve us – we generally aren’t even aware when we behave the way we do.  After all, they’re HABITS.  So once again, the best way to make the changes that we want is to enlist the help of people around us.  Ask those people you trust to point out to you when you fall into those old habits that you want to break.  In this way, your attention will be drawn to your actions so you can act with intention rather than by habit or reaction.  By getting an objective perspective and then making the changes you want, you’ll be able to accelerate your success, make more money, and stop selling!

So as sales professionals, we become persistent.  After all, persistence pays off, right?  Except after a while, our persistence feels like pestering (both to us and to them).  Then we work on our powers of persuasion.  But it seems that no matter how persuasive we are, people still balk; they hesitate to take action.  Finally, as our frustrations rise, we resort to “closing techniques”.  We become assertive (contrary to our nature).  But all to no avail.  We only succeed at annoying or even alienating our prospective clients.

OK.  So if none of these approaches work, then what will?  How can you get people to take action?  Before I answer that, we need to understand why those things don’t work.

Although each of us is different, most of us have similarities in the way we react to things and situations.  Because of that, I often suggest people use their own experience as their best example.  Doing that allows us to put ourselves in our prospect’s shoes.  It’s not that hard to do.  It’s not that hard because you are already someone’s prospect!  Just as you want to reach out to, market to, and sell to people, others want to reach out to, market to, and sell to you.

My suggestion for this exercise is to step out of the role of a “salesperson”, plop yourself down (figuratively) on your couch, and answer a phone call from someone wanting to sell you something.  Not from a telemarketer, but from a professional just like you.  And let’s say that they want you to spend or invest $2,000 in their solution.  Or maybe $200/month so it’s less painful.  Here are my questions to you:  If you really liked and wanted their solution, but were uncertain about your financial future, would you make the purchase or would you hold off making a decision?  Unless it was truly an urgent matter, my guess is you’d probably wait.  Would persistence by the salesperson change your mind?  Not likely.  Would better powers of persuasion cause you to change your mind?  Maybe, if the reasons were compelling enough.  Could closing techniques and/or assertiveness make the difference?  Well, they may cause us to put up a wall to the salesperson, but in all likelihood would not cause us to take action.

No.  The marketing strategies we’ve discussed just won’t work in a tough economy.  However, there is an approach that will work in a tough economy (and a strong economy as well).  The most effective marketing strategy is relationship building.
Building relationships is the key that will throw open the doors to marketing success as quickly and as widely as possible in a tough economy.  When marketing is a challenge it’s tempting to throw money at the problem (if you have the money to spend).  I mean, haven’t we all heard that the last thing to cut back on is marketing when times get tough?  But persistent, persuasive, and/or assertive marketing just won’t prompt enough people into action during times of financial uncertainty.  Spending lots of money isn’t the key to marketing success.

It might even be tempting to “ride it out” – to do nothing until things turn around.  This passive approach yields passive results.  Nothing will happen while you’re waiting and when things do turn around, the business will go to the people who’ve been doing something all along.  The people who will get the lion’s share of the business – both now and in the future – are the ones who work to build relationship.

So exactly how does someone “build relationships”?  Building relationships does not mean becoming “best friends” with everyone.  It doesn’t require taking people out to lunch or coffee.  It isn’t about sending gifts to people.  For the most part, building relationship is about being attractive and adding value.  By “being attractive”, I mean being likeable, having integrity, being a good communicator, and being passionate.  (These are all important topics, but we’ll cover them in another article.)  Let’s instead, spend some time talking about “adding value”.

Specifically, let’s discuss how to add value to and create connection with prospective and existing clients.  A real key to accomplishing this is to give without expecting something in return.  The act of helping or giving without getting creates a very powerful dynamic.  It establishes you as someone who cares about others.  It shows you’re not just focused on yourself.  It demonstrates an abundance mentality.  It makes you even more likeable and respected.  And last, but not least, it creates a feeling of obligation on the part of your prospects and existing clients.

Here’s a starter list of things you can do to add value to and to create connection with prospective and existing clients.  Use it as a starting point for your relationship building efforts.  Be creative with relationship building approaches which reflect your personality.

•    Create and send out a useful, timely report.  (make sure it’s not self-serving, though)
•    Offer ideas and information that are fun, useful, and/or interesting (most of them will not be related to your business, although some could be)
•    Have conversations with prospects and clients to get to know them (people love to be heard)
•    Send specific things of interest to specific prospects and clients (it shows you were listening to them and that you care)
•    Offer free workshops of interest (but remember, no selling or pitching!)
•    Send out personal letters (handwritten is best, but definitely hand signed)
•    Personally call to say Hi! or Thank You! (dropping by in person is even better)

Especially when things are tough, it’s more important than ever to build relationships as the cornerstone of your marketing strategy.  It will cause people to act sooner and will cause more success to flow to you as things turn around.  And besides that, it’s just plain fun.

Have you ever reflected on why direct mail is called direct mail? Direct mail is called that because it is mail that asks for a direct response. A direct mail piece can be a letter, postcard, door hanger, brochure, or even some kind of unusual attention-getting item. Crafting an effective direct mail piece is an art rather than a science.

Let’s discuss the factors that affect the response rate to a direct mail campaign. One of these factors is the quality of the list. Another is the timing of the mailing. (In other words, the time of week, month, or year that you mail out a piece may affect the response rate.) In addition, response rates will vary with the quality of the creative copy that you send out. What I mean by that, is that all the different components of the copy in your direct mail piece will affect the response rate you get. These components include the headline, the benefits you create, the credibility you create, and even the paper you use. And finally, the offer that’s presented will affect the response rate.

For success, it is absolutely critical to track each campaign you run as to list service, timing, list specifics, copy particulars, rate of response and sales generated. Improving each aspect of your campaign can have dramatic effects on your sales growth. Keep in mind that having 100 responses and 2 sales is not nearly as good as having 5 responses and 4 sales. So while the rate of response is good to measure, and it is good to get up as high as possible, the ultimate measures of success are the number of sales and the dollars of sales that are generated by your marketing investment.

Next, let’s talk about the components of a well-crafted direct mail piece. It’s important that you craft a direct mail piece that addresses the concerns and needs of your recipients. If you want it to be effective, then don’t send out a vanilla, yellow page-type ad. (If you open up the yellow pages, you’ll see ad after ad of the same message with different company names. Unfortunately, the same thing holds true for many mail pieces.) We often get very vanilla mail pieces. They don’t spark any interest or emotion.
An effective direct mail piece should:

1) Be personalized if possible
2) Be crafted as an ad in letter form
3) Address the concerns of the recipient
4) Be stated in terms of benefits rather than features or advantages
5) Highlight the things that set you and your service/product apart
6) Ask for a direct response from the recipient; and
7) Include an incentive to take action now.

Now many of those list items are things that you would normally say are kind of a “no-brainer”. They’re things that you would obviously address in your marketing piece. Yet piece after piece that I know I receive – and I’m willing to bet you receive – don’t have those components in them. Many of the marketing pieces sent out are focused on the products and services someone is trying to sell, rather than on the recipient, their needs, and the benefits that you and your product and service could provide. In addition, most mail pieces that I’ve seen focus on saving money (which, of course, attracts price-shoppers). So in the rest of this article, we’re going to discuss the components in an effective direct mail piece.

The first component we’re going to discuss, and one which many people believe to be the most important component of effective sales copy, is the headline. Basically, if the headline doesn’t immediately capture the reader’s attention, the rest of your copy won’t be read. The job of a headline is to capture the reader’s attention.

The next step in crafting an effective direct mail piece is to clarify the benefits of what you are offering. It’s important to recognize that a person will be most motivated to act when they clearly see what’s in it for them. People generally are not motivated by the features of a product/service, or even by the advantages. They’re mostly motivated by the benefits that a product or service provides.

There’s one more very important step in creating an effective direct mail piece. You need to get them to respond to you. You need a response mechanism, preferably with an incentive for taking immediate action.

The response mechanism would typically be one of four approaches:

1. You want them to call you
2. You want them to come by your office
3. You want them to email you, or
4. You want them to mail back a reply card

You need to be very clear as to what you would like them to do, and you need to have at least one or two mechanisms for them to respond with. Now in conjunction with that call to action, you should incorporate an incentive to prompt them to act sooner than later. That prompting can be related to a certain date or within a certain timeframe. A couple of ways to add an incentive are, for instance, to offer a free gift or a free analysis. You could offer a free report you’ve developed. What you want to do is give people an incentive to respond to you if they have any interest at all.

So to wrap up, direct mail can be an excellent means of finding new prospects when done correctly. You need to be mindful of your marketing investment. You need to track your expenses, your response rate, your conversion rate, and the sales generated. If you craft a direct mail piece correctly and run consistent campaigns, you can generate a consistent stream of quality prospects.

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 attitude, our professionalism, and our message.  If you aren’t aware of how you sound, you may very well be sending the exact opposite message that you want!  One of the best examples of the misuse of the phone is a typical telemarketing call.  Let’s analyze why that call is usually so ineffective.  What is it about that call that marks it as a telemarketing call?  There are several factors that make us cringe at these calls.  First off, telemarketers are either overly friendly to start with or they sound completely disinterested.  Either extreme makes the caller sound insincere.  Secondly, telemarketers talk and rarely ask.  The call is all about their product and service, and not about you, the person who received the call.  Thirdly, they usually launch right into their script and plow through it, not allowing us to get a word in edgewise.  And fourth, it’s always evident that they’re reading a script to you rather than having a conversation with you.  Those four factors generally mark the call as a telemarketing call.

It’s good to be enthusiastic with an appropriate level of energy and a positive attitude, but when a person is too enthusiastic they come across as phony and insincere.  If they go to the other extreme and are very low-keyed (perhaps as an attempt to sound “professional”), they run the risk of sounding bored or apathetic.  Secondly, when a person is focused on making a sale instead of looking for ways to help solve a problem, the gist of their conversation revolves around their products and services, rather than their prospect’s needs.  You’ve probably heard the expression, “Telling is not selling.”  It’s true.  If your phone work consists of calling people and telling them what you sell, you are going to have a hard time succeeding.  People don’t want to be sold.  Instead, they want to make a buying decision – and you can’t achieve that if you’re telling and not asking.  The next issue with telemarketers is that once they start their “pitch” or script, they plow right through, barely pausing to take a breath.  How does this make you feel?  To most of us, it demonstrates that they are insincere and are focused on their products – not on us.  In addition, it comes off as being very unprofessional.  The final issue regarding telemarketing calls is that they always sound like they’re being read.  Know why?  Because they are!  In fact, many telemarketers are REQUIRED to read their script word for word.  Of course when they do that, it quickly becomes evident that there is no conversation taking place, but rather that a scripted presentation is being made.  And we all know that if a script is being read to us, then it’s the same one that everyone else hears.  There’s nothing personal about it and it pretty much precludes rapport building.

I’ve observed another phenomenon that occurs when people create a script and develop a style for the phone.  Even though they dislike telemarketing calls, they can’t seem to help themselves from behaving and sounding like a telemarketer when they get on the phone!  I guess when we’re not sure what else to do, we tend to emulate what we’re most familiar with.

Now that we’re better aware of some of the pitfalls to avoid, let’s discuss how to be an effective professional on the phone.  People like to be around people who are appropriately positive, appropriately enthusiastic, and who reflect a belief and confidence in what they’re doing.

There are several ways to sound positive and enthusiastic:
•    Be positive and engaged in your phone work, but not artificially so.
•    Make your calls during the time of day when you have the most energy and the best attitude.  This will play to your natural cycle of energy.
•    Smile!  You’ve probably heard this before and it’s true.  When you smile as you talk, your smile can be “heard”.
•    Get proper nutrition to feed your body, your mind and your attitude.  Ever notice how you become impatient when you’re hungry?  Ever notice how you have trouble staying focused when you’re hungry?  Ever notice how your attitude dips when you’re hungry?  Don’t neglect this important aspect of phone success.
•    If you’ve been on the phone for a while (an hour or more), take a break to refresh yourself and rejuvenate.  Your attitude and energy level will rise and your voice will reflect it.

As far as being and sounding professional goes, there are a number of very important techniques to employ:
•    It’s good to develop a script so you remember the important points you want to make, but most of us don’t write the way we speak.  Get out of the habit of writing properly, and instead, write how you speak.  It will make you sound more natural and will keep you from having to read your script.
•    Practice saying your script so it sounds like a completely natural conversation for you and your style.
•    Work to have a conversation instead of a presentation.  As you get into your conversation, ask questions.  Be consultative.  Remember, this is about your prospect, not about you.
•    An excellent way to establish yourself as a professional is to introduce yourself as someone who helps people or businesses solve problems, rather than as someone selling insurance.
•    Another GREAT technique for setting yourself up as a professional is to be respectful of your prospect’s time.  After introducing yourself, simply ask, “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”  If you’ve been clear with your introduction, they’ll know who you are and what you want to talk to them about.  Their answer to your question will be very revealing.

Here are a couple of additional pointers:
•    If you feel like you sound like a telemarketer, you probably do.  Change your approach/style.
•    If you feel that you’re “over the top” with enthusiasm, you probably are.  Tone things down to a more professional level.
•    If what you are saying makes you feel uncomfortable, your prospect will undoubtedly feel uncomfortable as well.  Change how you say what you want to say so it comes out professionally and naturally.  This way, you and your prospect won’t become uncomfortable.
•    If you feel like you’re coming across as being pushy, you probably are.  Change your approach to reflect your own style of expressing yourself.
•    If you feel like you’re not doing enough phone work, you probably aren’t.  Find a way to say what you need to say in a professional manner and in a way that protects your attitude and energy, and get to work!

In conclusion, by listening to yourself as you use the phone and being sensitive to how you sound to others, you can develop an excellent style of telephone marketing that will set you apart from other marketers, will establish you as a professional, and will boost your rate of success tremendously.

We all know people, or at least know of people, whose business is sustained and grows by referrals.  But most professionals can’t seem to get there.  It’s worth taking the time to understand why most referral efforts don’t work and to understand what keys need to be in place in order to get the results you want.  It’s worth taking the time because prospects who are referred to us are easier to close, make their buying decision faster, are more profitable (because there’s no cost in acquiring them and they spend/invest more with us), and they’re more loyal – they tend to stay with us longer and stay through most of the ups and downs.

Let’s start by looking at why most referral efforts fail.  I’ll assume that you are likable, have integrity, and know your stuff.  Over my years of working as a professional and working with professionals, I’ve identified three CRITICAL keys to referral success.  Most professionals fall short in one or more of these areas.

The vast majority of referral-hungry professionals work with too few referrals sources or “centers of influence”.  Whenever I do a workshop and ask attendees about how many centers of influence they have, the typical answers range from 3 to 6.  That’s just not enough to produce a meaningful, steady stream of referrals.  Sometimes, by the way, I’ll have an attendee claim they work with 50 or more centers of influence, but after further questioning, it becomes clear that they don’t know how to define someone as their center of influence.  Many people will describe a center of influence as someone who knows or sees a lot of people.  Alternatively, some people will say that a center of influence needs to know or see a lot of people who may be good prospects.

The truth is that, although those things are necessary, they don’t define them as one of your centers of influence.  You see, the mayor of your city and the governor of your state both see and know a lot of people, but for most of us, would not be considered as one of our centers of influence.  There are two more important components we need to add to our definition of a center of influence.  They must like us and they must be willing to help us succeed.  To be considered a center of influence for you, a person must see or know a lot of people, must like you, and must be willing to help you succeed.  So, as I said earlier, most professionals have only 3 -6 true centers of influence.

Another shortfall is that most professionals lack a systematic way of nurturing relationships with and asking for referrals from their centers of influence.  They go about it in a very haphazard manner.  That just won’t do.  (I DO have an effective way of automating and systematizing this process, but you’ll have to contact me to learn about it.)

The final shortfall is a lack of differentiation – having a “vanilla” message.  Most people are focused on getting through their day, so without having a point of differentiation, a center of influence just won’t think of us.

How can we turn these shortfalls around?
How can we put ALL the pieces together to generate an ongoing stream of referral?
Here are the 3 keys to referral success…

Key #1: WORK WITH ENOUGH REFERRAL SOURCES
You need to have around 12 “core” centers of influence and about 100 potential centers of influence.  The core COI’s are the ones you’ll take to lunch regularly.  The others are people you are working to develop a relationship with.  Two good ways to increase your core centers of influence are to attend networking events and to ask your current core COI’s for suggestions.

Key #2: HAVE A REFERRAL “SYSTEM”
This key to referral success focuses on the need to have REGULAR contact with your COI’s.  This may be in the form of lunches, cards, emails, voicemails, or letters.  It is ONLY by regular contact that you will create a stream of referrals.  (Feel free to contact me about automated solutions.)

KEY #3: DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF
Stop using a “vanilla” message.  Work on developing a message that sets you apart from everyone else out there and gives people a reason to remember you.  By the way, an excellent way to set yourself apart is to develop a niche.

In summary, the three keys to referral success are to work with 12 or more centers of influence, implement a systematic way to stay in touch, and differentiate yourself from everyone else.  If you take the time to get each step right, you will become one of the few professionals who grow their business strictly by referrals.

More often than not, the underlying problem causing poor retention is either a lack of relationship between the agent/advisor and the client, or the type of “client” the agent has in his or her book of business.  I put the term “client” in quotes because often the type of policyholder who causes retention issues is more like a customer – someone who just conducts transactions.  A customer is not usually thought of as someone with whom you have a relationship.  In this article we’ll address the client/customer issue and save the relationship issue for another time.

If having customers causes retention challenges and having clients improves retention, then it begs the question, “How does one fill their practice with clients rather than “clients” (customers)?  To answer that, we first need to understand how we ended up with customers instead of clients in the first place.  We generally end up with customers when we acquire prospects through passive methods rather than active ones.  One of the popular passive methods is to find prospects through the internet – buying internet leads.  Let’s start by examining the nature of those leads.  The first question to ask is, “Are people who request a quote over the internet looking to purchase insurance? “  The answer to that is “maybe”.  One would think that if someone completed a request for a quote form they were serious about buying a new policy.  The truth is that often people are just checking to see whether their current premium is competitive.  Essentially they’re just using your knowledge and your time to do a little research and/or to “negotiate” with their current agent/advisor.  But let’s say that they are, in fact, serious about making a change in their coverage.  There is only one reason someone like that would chose to do business with you.  Price.  The only dynamic in their decision is price.  You could argue that the reputation of the underwriting company plays a role, but most people aren’t savvy enough to understand the differences between companies – especially if it’s a company they’ve heard of or “think” they’ve heard of.  The decision all comes down to price.  And if you’re “lucky” enough to get them as a “client”, guess what happens when renewal time rolls around?  You got it.  They go through the same process all over again.

Now, let’s say that instead of relying on internet leads, we use a different passive method.  We choose, instead, to rely on an ad in the yellow pages or the newspaper.  The good news is that someone who calls you from a yellow page ad is more likely to be serious about changing their coverage.  That’s a good thing.  And placing an ad allows you to provide some information to entice prospects to call.  The only problem is that most agents/advisors don’t know how to create an effective ad.  If you don’t believe me, just open up the yellow pages and look through the ads under “Insurance” (or whatever heading you’d be listed under).  THEY’RE ALL THE SAME!  Almost all ads are “vanilla” and ineffective.  When faced with page after page of the same ad with different company names, how does a prospect decide who to do business with?  Generally, they call up several of them, get some quotes, and go with the lowest one.  Guess what happens when renewal time rolls around?  You got it.  Chances are they’ll go through the same process all over again.  Once again, the only dynamic at play is price.

Allow me to offer an example to further make my case.  Let me relate the experience of an agent who came to me for help a year or two ago.  This agent is a P&C agent.  He explained that he was writing 900 new policies a year!  (Which is an extraordinarily high number.)  However, he was realizing a net growth of only 100 policies a year in his business!  (Another extraordinary result, given the amount of business he was writing.)  Naturally I asked him how he was getting his policyholders – but his answer didn’t surprise me.  Yellow Pages.  He was living the experience I described above.  The bottom line is:  If you’re attracting policyholders through passive methods like the ones we just discussed, then you’re very likely to have your book of business filled with customers rather than true clients.

Let’s turn our attention now to how to attract real clients – clients who will stay with you, place more than one or maybe two policies with you, and even refer others to you.  There are many ways to accomplish this.  The key is to take the focus off of price and place it onto you!  We don’t have the ability to fully develop this principle in this article, but I can share the methods that work with you.  Here is a list of the eight methods that, if executed properly, will take the focus off of price, place the emphasis on you, and attract the kind of prospects who become true clients.  The best ways to attract the best prospects are:

* Cold Calling  (believe it or not, this works great when done right)
* Curiosity Conversations (talking to people actually works when you don’t sound like a telemarketer!)
* Effective Networking (as long as you don’t use a “30-second Elevator Speech”)
* Direct Mail (but don’t use your company’s literature)
* Client Referrals (yes, it IS possible to get them)
* Public Speaking (the secret is that you shouldn’t talk about insurance!)
* Niche Development (even if you can work with anyone and everyone)
* Centers of Influence (I know,… most agents don’t get enough referrals, but there are 3 reasons why)

If you can master just a couple of these prospect-generating methods, you can sustain continued growth in your business and attain a rate of retention in excess of 90%.

It’s true that internet recruiting occasionally turns up a great producer – even a super producer.  But the vast majority of the time the results are mediocre at best.  The proof is all around.  If recruiting via the internet worked well, then the majority of managers or agency builders would easily meet their recruiting goals or quotas.  The truth is that as many as two-thirds of the managers in a company fail to even meet the minimum quotas set by their company.  These folks are otherwise sharp, hard-working professionals.  They possess good people skills, demonstrate good judgment, and have a good sense of business success.  Nevertheless, for the most part they fall short of their growth requirements.  I say “growth” goals because relying on internet recruiting not only limits one’s ability to bring in quality candidates, but also causes production growth to ultimately diminish.  It’s good to have a strong pace of recruiting, but at the end of the day, the thing that matters most is increased production.  If the agents on a team don’t produce, not only will the business suffer, but the agents and their families suffer.  It’s a lose-lose situation.

Trying to recruit on the internet is damaging on so many different levels.  I’m going to explain how this effort is so damaging, but first let me clarify some things.  I am not a traditionalist.  I love to embrace new ways of doing things.  I virtually live on the internet.  I am one of the more computer-savvy people I know.  However, I also understand that sometimes the best solution to a problem is a piece of paper and a pen.  There are many ways to leverage technology, but recruiting via the internet is not one of them.

To understand why internet recruiting should be put to sleep, let’s start by examining some of the logistics and demographics of the process.  Typically, insurance and financial recruiters start by visiting the websites we’ve all come to know – Monster®, HotJobs®, CareerBuilder.com™, etc.  The first question to ask is this:  What kind of websites are these?  The answer is that these are EMPLOYMENT SITES.  And what kind of people search these sites or post their resume on these sites?  PEOPLE LOOKING FOR JOBS!  We are in an industry of independent business people.  There is a fundamental problem with looking for independent business people on employment sites!  By that I mean that we are looking for business owners in a pool of potential employees.  The industry needs to identify people who are entrepreneurial and are self-starters.  We need to find people who have a business owner’s mindset rather than an employee’s mindset.  We are looking for people who want an opportunity rather than a steady paycheck or full benefit program.  When we look for candidates on the internet, we are choosing from an adverse pool of candidates.  What’s the consequence of this process?  We have to turn over an extraordinary number of stones to find a candidate who’s even acceptable and who has an interest in our business opportunity.  In an informal study that I’ve been conducting over the last five years, the consensus is that it takes an average of 20 internet-generated interviews to find one good candidate!  When you compare that with the 2 or 3 interviews it takes to find a good candidate from, for example, agent referrals, it’s no wonder that managers/recruiters feel overworked and have only weak results to show for their efforts.

Adding insult to injury, not only does it cost a fair amount of money to “play” in the internet recruiting world, but because of the sheer volume of activity generated, a manager can’t possibly handle the task without help.  So they hire a “recruiter” to assist them.  This person generally has the responsibility of identifying potential internet candidates, contacting them, and handling the first screening.  Some managers even take it a step further in an effort to become more efficient.  They have their “recruiter” do the first and even second interviews.  (Wasn’t this internet recruiting approach supposed to be efficient to begin with?)  What happens when this “recruiter” conducts the screening interviews with a candidate?  The “recruiter” makes the decision as to which candidates would become good agents and which ones wouldn’t.  The “recruiter” makes the decision!  You probably have noticed that I keep putting the term “recruiter” in quotes.  That’s because, except for a few rare exceptions, the person being called a “recruiter” is nothing more than an administrative person.  No only that, but this administrative person all too often makes the call as to who moves on and who doesn’t.  Without exception, every manager I’ve talked to about this has regretted relying on a “recruiter” to find good candidates.  They admit that their recruiting has been a disaster when they relied on this “recruiter”.  The really sad part is that when a manager is relying on the internet to recruit, there’s really no way to avoid needing a “recruiter” to sift through the sheer volume of activity.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Oh,… and the other irony of this is that besides having to pay to play on the internet, the manager has to pay this “recruiter” to help sift through the scores of employees looking for jobs.
Another interesting statistic from my informal study on recruiting is the cost of bringing on a full-time agent/advisor.  Because of the high cost of playing on the internet and the cost of this admin/“recruiter”, the investment required to bring on a full-time agent via the internet – a “passive” method – is about 4-5 times greater than the cost to bring on an agent from “Active” methods!  No wonder it’s been so difficult to build a profitable business.

The nature of the dynamics of internet recruiting ultimately causes agent production to be poor.  If we take a step back and examine the differences between an agent brought on via the internet and one brought on by one of the “Active” methods, it becomes easy to see why  internet recruited agents are generally weaker producers, are less responsive, and are less loyal.  When a candidate is recruited through an active method, the dynamics are such that the leadership, character and reputation of the manager as leader play a large role in attracting him or her.  In contrast, when a candidate is pursued via the internet (understanding the nature of the pool you’re fishing in), pretty much the only thing they’re looking for is income.  They’re often either “tire-kickers” or job-seekers enticed by the idea of flexible hours and unlimited income potential.  Neither relationship nor connection/rapport plays a part in the recruiting process.  The consequence is that the manager ends up with a candidate who is on board predominantly due to financial reasons – and not very motivated.  To make matters even worse, besides ending up with poor producers you end up with lots of team members who require excessive amounts of hand-holding, and who are whiners and complainers.  Talk about a waste of an executive’s time, and a blow to personal attitude and energy!

If internet recruiting is so ineffective and expensive with regard to time and money, then why do so many managers still insist on relying on it?  Generally there are three main reasons.  One reason is that their corporate office encourages it. The second reason is that they don’t know what else to do.  And the third reason is that everyone around them is doing it.  The solution?  Get out from behind your desk and recruit “actively”.  If you want to achieve great recruiting results and generate increased production, then stop recruiting passively and start recruiting actively.  Here’s the best part.  The managers that are recruiting actively are not only getting better recruiting and production results, but they’re working less hard and enjoying their work more.  How much better could it get?!

In summary, although internet recruiting is a great corporate office pleaser and appeaser, for the most part it’s an expensive, inefficient process that produces mediocre results at best.  The dynamics are all wrong, the pool of candidates is made up of people who are NOT ideal agents/advisors, and the process is conducive to inappropriate delegation of recruiting responsibilities.  Do yourself and the success of your business a favor – unplug your reliance on internet recruiting and take it off life support.  Internet recruiting is dead.