You're Going To Be Great At This!

Although there are many ways to prospect, I think there are two main concepts to consider. First, you're going to have to get out there and look for prospects. That means networking events, asking for referrals and even trying to figure out how to make LinkedIn work for you. That can all be effective if done correctly. And if you're new to an industry this is the arena you'll be spending most of your time working in. The other part is more passive and takes a long view of marketing yourself. It involves getting your message out to as many people as you can, and as cheaply if possible. The goal here, as mentioned in the previous post, is to get people to call you , instead of you having to find them. How do you get them to find you first? A strategy is needed. You'll need to find as many outlets as possible, and as my friends as Chastain Media  say, "have a big funnel" that leads back to your website or landing page. There's a parable in the Bible w...

My friend and former co-worker, Johnny Fryar, once said that 90% of the job in sales was finding someone to talk to. That pretty much sums it up. When I'm speaking I tell groups that selling is the actual face-to-face meeting when we discuss features, pricing, etc, but "sales" is the foreplay that precedes it. An old manager of mine used to say, "Between 10am and 4pm you need to be seeing clients or fighting to see clients." Forceful words for a man who was counting the days til his retirement, but nonetheless, absolutely true. What are you doing to find someone to talk to? Are you fighting to find clients? Are you looking under every rock, attending networking events, making phone calls and telling everyone you meet your story? Prospecting needs a holistic approach. Think of it as business buckshot. Sure it's great when you go to a chamber of commerce after hours event and you get some business cards, but your cards need to have your website printed o...

Anyone who has read my book knows we're all in sales in some form or fashion. And the first rule of sales is that before we sell our product or service we have to sell ourselves. When you see someone on "Shark Tank" pitching the investors, the successful entrepreneurs are the ones who sell themselves first. Before the sharks make a offer they usually say something like, "I like you guys!" or "You girls have a great work ethic!" The lesson is that you can have a great idea or a million dollar product, but it doesn't matter if people don't think they can work with you. The one exception is Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary. This shark claims to only look at the bottom line and is a "disciplined investor". His brutally honest remarks, like telling someone with a business idea that it's "poo poo on a stick" or that their competitors will "squash you like the cockroach that you are".  O'Leary'...

I decided that instead of giving you sales advice on this post I'd rather hear from you and find out what is going on with your sales during this Covid-19 crisis. Knowing that we are all in a wide variety of industries, from insurance to real estate to autos and pharmaceuticals, not everyone is affected the same way. For example, life insurance sales, as an industry, have risen, according to many carriers. But if you ask individual agents, many will tell you that they can't sell because of social distancing. In one of my Facebook groups someone boasted that they were having a stellar month. The ensuing comments called the guy a jerk for bragging while others were suffering. Emotions ran high, even for social media. I've read how realtors are in a bind because they can't show homes to buyers, but some are giving virtual tours. Personally, I don't know if I'd buy a property based on a virtual tour, but to each his own. As someone who is trying to currently s...

Are you in sales and having a hard time working due to the lockdown? Have you stumbled through your first Zoom meeting? Are you bored yet? Well, I don't have a panacea but I can make a small suggestion. As a sales professional who is also trying to wrap my head around this whole new way of marketing, I've discovered that it's quite the learning process and the learning curve is a long one. Hell, there are sales people throwing their hands into the air and either giving up or waiting on the sidelines for the virus to pass. But I'm not going out that easy and I'll take advantage of the down time to learn, market and get my pipeline full. One of ways you can make your time useful is to get a copy of my book, "You're Going To Be Great At This!" It's a sarcastic and humorous look at sales with a few valuable sales lessons sprinkled in. Isn't it a coincidence that the book and this blog have the same name? Actually, the book was the inspirat...

In the previous post we went over why you need to be using LinkedIn. With the Coronavirus keeping salespeople from meeting prospects in person, any resource you have at your disposal should be utilized, and LinkedIn is a great one. Especially if you're going to be working from home for a while. There are some great ways to maximize your time and efforts on LinkedIn and I thought it would be great to go over a few things to help you get your message to prospects and influencers in your network. Here is a short list to get you started. Have a professional looking profile picture . As I stated in the last post, this is super important. If you can't afford a professional headshot by a real photographer, no worries. You can get away with a photo in business casual. I've seen some pictures from recent college graduates with a golf shirt and khakis that were very good. On the other hand, the worst thing you can do is leave the default avatar as your picture. I refuse to acc...

I just got off the phone with a fellow insurance agent. She was dejected because she hasn't been able to see her clients and feels that she can only network effectively in person. This is a very good agent who has built a decent book of business from scratch. She works hard and is great at earning the trust of her clients, resulting in good referrals. With the Coronavirus effectively shutting us all down, it can be hard to sell anything, and for some people, the telephone is NOT the best answer. I mentioned that she has a profile up and running on LinkedIn, which I had seen. As a matter of fact, she had some endorsements on there, plus a good number of "connections". With this in mind, I commended her for already having in place something to work from. "Are you a member of any groups on LinkedIn?" I asked. She said no. Big mistake. "Have you reached out to any of your connections?" Again, no was her response. She then said that she hadn't thoug...

Let's consider our career choices when we were younger. As a child in elementary school, most of us wanted to be the things we saw on TV, like a doctor, lawyer, policeman or a nurse. And as we got older, we considered other careers, like electrician or mechanic, or a scientist. But what about the career that we've chosen? If I were to go to a high school or college and ask our young citizens if they had considered a career in sales, most would say that they'd rather not. However, there are many graduating business majors who are willing to settle for an "entry level sales" position, and I was one of them. When I graduated from NC State in 1985 I had few prospects. I knew that I had to start somewhere, hoping that I'd eventually land in a middle to upper management position in a large corporation. Instead I was selling insurance policies in rural areas from dusk to dawn. Looking up the corporate ladder at the company I was working for, I noticed that I didn...

As I mentioned previously, we have, temporarily I hope, ended up in a situation where we can't meet clients and prospects face to face. For some of us, it's not a big deal having to present a product over the web in a virtual setting. For the rest of us, it can be nerve wracking. When we are sitting with a client, we can sense how they are responding which is hard to do when you can't see the client. With this in mind, we also need to make sure we can maximize the impact of our virtual meetings. So here are a few tips that I hope can help you with your meetings: Take a tip from people on the news . As the Coronavirus has kept reporters from being in a studio or at a remote location, they have had to do their work from home offices. The first thing I notice is a lot of books in the background. Are we to assume they have read all of these books? Or are they "props"? We may never know, but put a few behind you. Use a good microphone . You may be able to get ...

I've talked to a few of my fellow insurance agents, as well as other sales people recently and for the most part many are struggling in this pandemic and economic crisis. With people losing jobs and incomes, the worry is that if no one has money, people can't buy stuff, like homes, cars, insurance, etc. As I've mentioned in previous posts, salespeople will need to temporarily learn to working from home or offsite. Luckily for nearly all of us, the internet is helping us tremendously. By using the web, I can still keep in touch with my clients, and still prospect for new ones. How does one do all of this when stuck at home? Here are some ideas. Email is great for reaching out to your clients or customers . Drop a note and just ask how they're doing. At the end of your email, note that "If you need anything, let me know." They'll know you're there in case and appreciate you. LinkedIn is a great place to find new prospects . Since face-to-face netw...

Due to the coronavirus, many Americans are having to work from home because their regular places of employment aren't allowing them to do their work on premises. Some have been working from home for a while. Only about 29% of Americans did their work remotely in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the rest of us, it can be a learning experience. I've worked from home for years, in the sense that I do my phoning, setting appointments, paperwork, etc in my home office. I don't meet clients in my house, as a rule, but will meet them at their homes, workplace or coffee shops. With those options taken off the table, I've had to resort to phone appointments and video meetings, which I really don't care for. One of the more recent pieces of news was the strong uptick in Zoom video conferencing users, and the company's stock went up as other stocks dropped significantly. Then the bad news hit, that Zoom's services weren't secure . Hopefull...

Speaking on behalf of a large contingency of Americans, I'm exhausted of the amount of information, and yes, disinformation, about the Coronavirus and the numbers that go with it. Millions out of work, tens of thousands (at the time of this writing) infected and thousands dying. It's all so depressing. As if those numbers weren't bad enough, businesses are shuttering their doors, supply chains are thinning out and rats are running amok in New Orleans. As I watch the markets each day I realize how truly fragile our economic lives are when a major catastrophe comes down the pike. Some have referred to our economy as a house of cards, which may or may not be true, but we all should take the time to reassess our own business situation. If your home suffered from a minor earthquake, you would reinforce your foundations, right? Maybe we should do that for our professional lives as well. As an insurance agent, I suggest that all salespeople, business owners, independent co...