WORKING IT: Old leads, new rewards

WORKING IT

You don’t always have to do things new school or be very technical to be successful in closing more business.

I’d like to ask you what you – or your sales team – do with your proposals, your quotes, your leads that don’t pan out? I’m not speaking of the definite no’s. Never! 

Rather, the ones that have timing problems, money not available or other extenuating circumstances that initially frustrated that sale/new client.

I’d like to relate a story about how the use of a simple expanding folder has made thousands of dollars for an insurance broker.

I normally ask my clients before speaking at their conferences if they could point me in the direction of one of their attendees who has good marketing stories.

Darren Gannon, CEO of Newpark Financial Services said, ‘if you want a good story, Debbie, call Andrew." So I did.

Newpark had given Andrew a lead, whom he visited in November 2010. At that time, doing business together wasn’t right.

The products and pricing Andrew had on offer were similar to what the lead already had, plus an insurance the prospect wanted was not available.

The lead went into Andrews’s expandable folder – which has 12 monthly dividers. 

As new no’s occur (second visit, but stopped there), they are filed in the month before the prospects insurances are due for renewal, the month they’ve asked to be called back, and so on.

Every month, Andrew and his team delve into that expandable file, pull out the batch for that month and then spend about one and a half hours reworking the original quotes. Andrew then calls the prospects.

For example, 11 months later, Andrew had the insurance that the prospect wanted (from back in November). He telephoned and Andrew's timing was impeccable.

The prospect had just received a substantial renewal increase by post from his existing broker. 

This time, 11 months later Andrew was able to offer the prospect a large savings as well as offer the policy that wasn’t previously available. Caching.

He is now Andrew's client (his own insurance broker hadn’t even bothered to call).

Persistency pays heaps. You don’t need have to do it via the computer.

Best-selling author and productivity authority Debbie Mayo-Smith works with businesses that want more effective management and staff.

For more free tips or to purchase Conquer Your Email Overload come to http://www.debbiespeaks.co.nz