You're Going To Be Great At This!

One of the great things about being an independent contractor is that I, as a "business owner", get to make my own decisions when it comes to marketing. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I can look at what has worked for others in my industry and put my own spin on that. But every once in a while, I like to see if I can find a way to reach prospective clients in a way my competitors haven't. At the end of last summer I was having a meal at a chain restaurant. Our server, a young woman in her early 20's, was lamenting that people stole her pens when paying with a credit card. "I have to go to the store each day and buy pens," she said with a tired look in her eye. "People just assume that the pens are for the taking." I nearly forgot the conversation until a few weeks back when my own daughter, who had just gotten a job as a server at another chain restaurant, made the same complaint. She had called to ask if we had any extra pens at our hous...

In the previous two posts I discussed a couple of company sponsored sales courses that I was required to take as part of my onboarding. One was focused on memorizing a sales pitch word for word with some extra emphasis on keeping a positive mental attitude. The other was nothing more than product training. Both of these companies had a lot of turnover, which meant that they needed to constantly hire new agents as the previous agents would quit just as quickly.  With this in mind, I would be remiss if I did not discuss one of the better sales courses. This sales class was with a very large life insurance company (I'll call them ABC) and was more comprehensive than the others. In my mind, the larger the class, the more turnover the company had. And as we have seen, more turnover means less successful sales people. Our class at ABC only had about a dozen of us, so that seemed promising.  One of the first things they mentioned was that only about 15% of the applicants had made it ...

As mentioned in the previous post I have worked with a lot of different companies over the years, and a few had a sales training course which I was required to attend. The one I discussed earlier focused on memorizing a sales pitch word for word and indoctrinating the class into a "cult" of positive mental attitude (PMA). I think the latter was because their product was so horrible we had to keep a plastered smile on our faces while trying to sell it. About 15 years later I went to work for another insurance company which had a completely different approach to their training. All they taught us for a solid week was their products, which were okay, but made the training meaningless since we weren't given much other pertinent information.  Imagine I gave you a toolbox and said, "This is all you need. Now get out there and build me a house!" If you had no construction experience, you wouldn't know which tools were appropriate, how to plumb pipes, saw wood, when...

When one is hired as a new sales rep for a company, they may be required to attend a sales training course as part of the onboarding process. Recently some coworkers and I were discussing the various companies we have worked for over the years and how these training sessions differed from one employer to the next.  My first job in sales had a required two week sales class. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this company was so shady that we were in the third day of the training when one of our classmates finally realized that we were hired for door-to-door sales. "When were you going to tell us?" the angry young man screamed at the instructor.  It had been previously suggested to us that we would have clients ready to see and that referrals and leads would be served up on a silver platter. None of these things were true, as were most of the other things they told us while hiring us. This was my first experience dealing with a company being less than truthful with me, but ...

As a person who enjoys networking, I do my best when it comes to sites like LinkedIn. So it was a nice surprise when  I recently met Michael Seabolt through a LinkedIn insurance professionals' group. As I am an insurance agent who works directly with clients, I thought it would be interesting to give you some insights from the perspective of someone who works behind the scenes with agents and financial advisors.  Michael Seabolt is currently the managing member of Flower Risk Advisors, LLC, a cannabis industry focused tax and risk mitigation consultancy. In this role, Michael consults with cannabis business owners and executives, and their tax and legal advisors, providing risk and tax management solutions for the legal cannabis and hemp industries. Michael also is a contracted consultant with Bell & Associates Consulting, LLC is Phoenix, AZ which is an independent insurance brokerage firm representing over 70 of the largest life insurance and...

There are those of us in the sales profession who get paid only by commission. If we don't sell, we don't get paid, so there is a bit more pressure to produce. I've worked in various kinds of pay situations, which include commissions and a draw, a salary plus commission, salaries that increase as production numbers go up, and of course, the 100% straight commission scenario. People who work on "full commission" are a bit different than most others. When you speak to these people you notice that there is a totally alternative attitude. It's almost like a financial version of one of the danger acts you see at the circus or carnival. To say they are "all in" in an understatement.  At the same time, they may have a support system in place. Perhaps a spouse who works and can assist with paying the bills when sales are slow. Or they may have some sort of passive income, like rental properties. Those kinds of safety nets provide some stability, as well as t...

Years ago I realized that I needed to work on my public speaking skills because I was winding up in situations where I would have to stand up in front of a crowd and talk about myself or my business. A prospective client told me about his great experience at Toastmasters, so I looked into it and joined my local chapter.  One of the added benefits of joining an organization like Toastmasters is the opportunity to meet some awesome people from all walks of life. And even though it's not a networking group per se, I have managed to get some clients and great friendships through the club. One of those people is my friend, Rachel Pitts.  Rachel is a Master Sales Coach who brings her experience as a realtor, mortgage loan officer, entrepreneur and fitness coach to Sales Gravy. She understands the challenges that realtors face, which helps her relate to her realtor partners as she assists their buyers get a mortgage. After 10+ years as a realtor, she made the switch to the mortgage s...

As I have mentioned in my book, we all are selling something. Whether you are selling cars, books, workshops, financial services, real estate, or even yourself (see: applying for a job), we are at some point trying to sell something. My definition of sales is trying to get someone to do something, right now, that they could do later or don't want to do at all.  That all sounds pretty opaque, so let me give an example. Let's say that Mary needs a new car, but she's been putting off the purchase for various reasons. She shows up at your lot "just to see what prices are like these days". Mary honestly has no intention of purchasing a vehicle, but thinks she is doing research.  First off, Mary could be doing this on the internet, but Mary is old school. By showing up on the lot, we can assume that she is interested in a car, even though she says that "now isn't a good time." Sorry Mary, but you should know that you have walked into a den full of closers....

One of the things I appreciate about LinkedIn is the opportunity to meet and network with people who are in the same industry as myself. I recently was afforded one of these opportunities when I had a chance to talk with Pat Ardern.  Pat Ardern is the Branch Office Supervisor of the Transamerica Financial Advisors branch in Stillwater, Oklahoma and she supervises securities licensed reps throughout the state. She enjoys travelling and spending time with her two children and grandson, and she is active in the community and her church.   Below is my conversation with Pat. First off, I'm curious as to how you got into the financial services industry.   I was laid off in 2007 after the company I had worked with for 9 years was purchased by another company.  As I watched the furniture being carried out of our office, I felt like someone had died.   The next morning I woke up with the question, “What do I do now?” This was a transformative event for me which brou...