You're Going To Be Great At This!

This has been a tough year for everyone. Of course, we have all had the Covid pandemic affect us either directly or indirectly. Not only has it been deadly to hundreds of thousands of people, but it has also devastated our economy. Unemployment has been high due to the vast number of businesses that just can't stay open in this environment. And I can't remember another instance in my lifetime where food lines were prevalent.   In my own case, the year started off on a horrible note when my father, who had been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for the last few years, suddenly took a turn for the worse and passed away. And while he was in the hospital during that time, I also ended up in the hospital for almost a week. That all happened in February, and a few weeks later the Coronavirus got bad enough to begin a series of shutdowns.  We all know the rest of the story. Businesses shut down, people were laid off, the economy spiraled downward and, of course, thousands of live...

Marketing has been a struggle this year, to say the least. For myself, almost everything I had been doing came to an abrupt halt back in March, when businesses and some government entities began to take the Coronavirus seriously.  Suddenly there were no more networking groups (in person), taking a client to coffee or meeting for lunch to swap referrals.  As I had mentioned in a previous post, I was already considering moving to more of a virtual insurance agency, but the virus expedited that process. Since March I have spent a considerable amount of time working on the website for my agency. I have also spent a lot of time trying to find a way to boost my social media presence.  My social media gurus and I meet talk strategy about once a month. We discuss strategies that will ultimately get my website more traffic, which in turn should convert to more sales. I wanted to share some of this discussions with you.  Reverse engineering . Work backwards from your goal to f...

In the previous post I discussed why I decided to make a social media push, along with a few landmines I've found along the way. I also included a bit of information on Twitter, which for me is an exercise in futility. So let's jump to another platform. LinkedIn is a networking site that is used by professionals around the world for business purposes. You can find others in your industry, others in your area and people you just want to do business with. There are groups you can join based on location, for those who want to network with those in their town, groups for alumni organizations and many based on professions. Want to meet some sales executives? There's a group for that! Additionally, you can find or post a job opening if you want. A few years ago a friend of mine was looking for a new job and had been using sites like Monster.com and CraigsList, but couldn't find anything he really liked. I suggested he give LinkedIn a try and sure enough he found a job in his ...

As you already know, I am a small business owner and salesperson. Actually, I have a marketing agency. Or is it an insurance agency?  My insurance agency, Surf Financial Brokers , is pretty much a one person business. I have a few agents who I work with from time to time, but for the most part I spend the majority of my time prospecting, marketing and selling life insurance, along with disability, long term care, accident and cancer insurance.  I also have a speaking business , which for now, is on hold until the Covid pandemic is over and we can get back to doing things like gathering together and seeing people without concern of infection. And I use both my insurance business and my speaking business to promote my book on sales, " You're Going To Be Great At This !". You'd think I'm a pretty busy guy. Of course, I don't see many of my insurance clients in person either at this point. Everything is done over the phone, which is fine. I'll take what I can ...

The end of the year is right around the corner. For some businesses, this will be their busiest time, when the holiday sales heat up. For others, like myself, it can be a horrible time to try to sell. Let's face it, no one wants to purchase a life insurance policy during the holidays. I have been working this business for over 20 years, so  I have come to expect the downtime and make good use of it. Whether you will be busy or not, you should still do an inventory of the year. In this inventory (for 2020 it may be an autopsy) you should probably break your work into a few categories. For instance: 1. Sales calls . How many did you make? Did you even keep track? Were you working the phones, making drops, cold calls or all of these? Keeping a track of your activity and the results can give you a much better path to figuring out what works for next year.  A few years back I was taking clients out to lunch because my sales manager claimed that it would increase my closing percenta...

No matter what field you are in, networking is still an essential part of your success, even during this pandemic. Business owners, sales people and otherwise self-employed people already know how valuable networking is. I have always done well at networking events, finding contacts and fishing for referrals. And I've even been known to talk to strangers in stores and restaurants.  These conversations have led to great sales opportunities and even friendships.  A great example is meeting people when my trivia team competes at a local eatery. Getting to know the other teams through friendly competition has resulted in a few clients that I wouldn't have otherwise. But with the Covid pandemic, almost all of my old networking opportunities have slowed down tremendously. So what are your options?  You could try calling all of your current clients and ask for referrals, but that will get old real quick. Or you can try an advertising campaign, but that can be an expensive way to...

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of all of the motivational material out there. It probably comes from my past experiences of seeing a speaker on stage giving what my father would call a "rah rah" talk and getting salespeople excited and enthused. Within 72 hours that enthusiasm is gone. The sales person went to work expecting success because they were pumped and got smacked in the face with a dose of reality. Enthusiasm was no match for b ad clients, no clients and poor execution. Of course, we all need someone to push us and hold us accountable. A coach or a sales manager will do their best. Or perhaps a speaker will give us a better reason to go out and try to sell a product or service. Thankfully, YouTube has plenty of speakers on tap to get your juices flowing (or you could hire me). Ultimately the motivation has to come from within. Truly successful people don't wait for the next Zig Ziglar presentation to come to town. They are already to go each day. The source of ...

Promoting yourself and your business is an important part of your marketing plan. There are many ways to do this by using through advertising and social media campaigns. Some will cost money, others will cost your time. But not all will work or be effective.  Getting your message to the masses can be a tricky business. Not all marketing methods work for all industries. Should I advertise on the radio? Should I buy Facebook ads? One of the first things to consider is which road to take.  In my book I discuss marketing and making a game plan. The first thing I suggest is looking at what others in your industry are doing. Yellow Pages works for attorneys and it is obvious from the huge number of large display ads in their books. On the other hand, Yellow Pages probably don't work as much for a business consultant, which is apparent by the lack of ads.  Trust me when I say that at least one person in every industry has tried a different form of advertising and messaging at ...