Twelve Commandments of Selling
Twelve Commandments of Selling
As professional independent agents, we each have our own unique selling style. What works for me may not work for the agent down the street, and neither approach may work for the next person. In fact, a singular sales approach often is what sets us apart from our competition. But, over the years I have found certain tried-andtrue sales techniques, which are common to all successful salespeople.
As for me, I started out selling life and health. Disability coverage was a new concept at the time, and people couldn’t visualize the loss of their paycheck. One of my most successful promotions was a letter accompanied by a pay envelope. The letter simply asked, “What would happen if this pay envelope stopped coming in?” It worked pretty well because we sell an intangible product. The pay envelope was tangible and important to my customers: It got their attention, and it helped to make the benefit they needed more real and understandable.
As my business grew, I found more ways to ensure I gave my clients and prospects something tangible. I’ll never forget the first time I got a call from someone in my hometown who read one of my agency newsletters at one of my client’s offices. I used PIA’s newsletter service to print and mail my quarterly newsletter. This third-party reader liked it enough that they asked me to write their office building policy! Never underestimate the power of a leave-behind newsletter. They keep you in front of your clients whether you can get to them in person or not. Contacting clients more than once a year during an annual policy review, is another sales approach that can work for all of us. (Always try to communicate with your client on a regular basis—even if its via newsletter. )
Now, I’m not as old as Moses, but I’ve been around for a while, and I know some things to be true. Here are 12 additional tenants I’ve learned over more than four decades in the sales business:
1. Always speak to the client, not above them. Show your knowledge, but don’t make them feel less than you.
2. Stay upbeat. Whenever I was asked, “How’s business?” I always said, “Great!” even if I hadn’t sold anything in a month. You can’t make every sale you go for, but you still always have to have an upbeat attitude.
3. Talk about your successes. Remember, you are your best PR person.
4. Respect the confidentiality of your clients. For example, partnerships dissolve. Even when my client was experiencing a partnership split, I often kept both partners and never again mentioned one to the other. Once privacy has been violated, you lose your relationship.
5. Don’t try to “finesse” your way through an answer you don’t know. It’s best to get back to the client with a correct answer and demonstrate you are going to work on their behalf to get it right.
6. Don’t be too technical. Avoid jargon. The KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid) is the best method in the world.
7. Know when to stop. Once you’ve made the sale; don’t keep selling, just take out your pen and get the signature, or you’ll jeopardize the sale you’ve made. As a young salesperson, a rich and respected client once told me: “Steve, don’t say anymore. Give me an application and the pen.”
8. Don’t disparage the competition. Stay focused on the benefits you provide. Even if he’s been negative about you, don’t prove him right by lowering yourself to his level.
9. Learn from your competitors. Borrowing an idea from one person is one thing; borrowing from many is research. If you have the opportunity to see a competitor’s proposal, use it: If you lose business to them, make it a learning opportunity.
10. Know your products. And, more importantly, know how your customers need them. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
11. Most importantly, treat each client as if they were the most important client you have. I find today, many agents don’t treat their smaller accounts with the respect they deserve. Everyone is watching the minimum premium, and I understand the economics of it. However, you should still treat that person as if they are important to you. Your smallest policy could become a very large account as they grow.
12. Always be out sowing seeds. You never know which will take hold. My father always said: “From small seeds, tall apple trees grow.
I have said again and again in this column that while things always continue to change in our industry, certain things will always stay the same. This is particularly true about the most fundamental part of our job—Selling.
