How does this grab you?

Good morning Mr. Mybestshot. My name is Michael and I work with Toms Insurance Agency. The reason I'm calling, I wanted to ask for an appointment in order to get your opinion whether or not your company is managing risks appropriately.


Is there a time sometime this morning we could get together for a few minutes so that we can present to you what we do and how it will have a positive impact on your company?


I promise to not take up any more time than if we had a cup of coffee. If we have a fit, we move forward, if not, I'll help you throw me out the door... fair enough?



Option: What Risks?


"Well you could be paying too much for your insurance, or worse, you could be paying too little! The best way to evaluate this is to have a credible Second Opinion. You'd do this for a medical condition wouldn't you? Your current insurance program is essentially a prescription for a diagnosis of your business. That makes sense doesn't it?


Option: Nah... my agent takes good care of us we don't need any review..


Mr. Mybestshot, what approach does your insurance program take to pay your rent, your utilities, the interest expense on your notes, your workers compensation premiums, your health insurance premiums, your general liability insurance premiums, if you were ever disabled for over 30 days with a critical illness or severe accident? Does your insurance program take care of this for you or does your business continue to pay these expenses out of current income?

Is this effective? How would you change it?


Aloha.... Tom :cool: -rattus58

No.

Number one, you're supposed to be selling the appointment, not entering the sales interview.

"Get your opinion.." is not the real reason--so why say it?

Drop the "throw me out the door." NEVER demean yourself.

I don't like the medical analogy. It will provoke more resistance.

The last paragraph is challenging the prospect, i.e. "What approach does...". You will get more resistance.

Sell the appointment on the basis of a BRIEF overview of risk management that just might be very enlightening for him and his company. -Ace Coldiron

We ARE selling the appointment. We say so right up front. "Good morning Mr. Mybestshot. My name is Michael and I work with Toms Insurance Agency. The reason I'm calling, I wanted to ask for an appointment in order to get your opinion whether or not your company is managing risks appropriately."

I've used the term, asking for you opinion for years to seek appointment. Most of my clients DO want to know what I'm wanting to talk to them about and I DO want their opinion on what I'm presenting, so I don't quite understand your point.

Drop the "throw me out the door." NEVER demean yourself.

Well I can go along with that, but I try to be less than stiff when talking to my clients. I make banter, jokes and comment when it presents itself. I'm also trying to be non-threatening, and for the record, I make fun of myself ALL DAY LONG. If I took myself too seriously I'd be in a padded cell.... :) How would YOU change that statement?

I don't like the medical analogy. It will provoke more resistance.

Ok... I don't know about provoke more resistance, it is complicated when I revisited it. We actually took that part out and just said...

"Well you could be paying too much for your insurance, or worse, you could be paying too little! The best way to evaluate this is to have a credible Second Opinion to determine "what's my risk and how well have I handled it with my current program?"

The last paragraph is challenging the prospect, i.e. "What approach does...". You will get more resistance.

Ok.... how would you change it. What I've discovered over the last week of trying this out with my son, is in my case, I LED with this...

"Ace, good morning, my name is TomL and the reason for my call is to seek an appointment with you to evaluate your insurance program. One area that we've found concern among business owners today is being able to pay the bills if they've been disabled for more than 30 days in order they don't have to close their doors.

Will your current plan pay your workers comp insurance, you general liability insurance, pay for someone to take your place, pay your rent and utilities all so you can recover without draining necessary resources from your business in what will surely be tougher times?

Would you have a few minutes later this morning that we could get together so I could present to you what we do and how we will have a positive impact on your company?

This approach has been effective for ME this last week or so, and we incorporated this as a comment to resistance for my son on his efforts, which has a slightly different focus.

So, I'm anxiously awaiting your comment and advise... :)

Much Aloha.... :cool: -rattus58

So if it's not broke, don't fix it.

In any event, I'll stand by my previous comments. -Ace Coldiron

I'd be inclined to change this to something like the following:

"My customers had insurance before they met me, too. But after looking into the details of their plan, they realized their rent, utilities, interest expense on notes, their worker compensation premiums, their health insurance premiums, their general liability insurance premiums were not covered if they became disabled for over 30 days with a surprise illness or accident.

It makes sense for those people to have protection for those items in the event they can't work for one month, doesn't it, let alone if they can't work for a year or more? Do you agree?"

[prospect says yes, then go on to schedule the appointment]

You're alternative choice question is a momentum killer. What you want is them NOT to answer that question, but to agree that what you have offered other prospects is valuable. If it's valuable to others, then it's a pretty easy for the prospect to see the value for him.

Best,

Skip -Skip Anderson

Hi Skip.... Good suggestion. I passed this on to my son who is practicing with it as we speak... write... etc.... :)

I appreciate your input... thank you.

Aloha.... Tom :cool:; -rattus58

As a business owner, tbh I hate calls where the salesman addresses me by my first name like he knows me. I usually come back with an attitude asking if he knows me and why he's coming across like he does. I've noticed a lot more of this lately.
I am more likely to talk to them when they tell me who they are (as you did in your pitch)

Another pet peeve of mine over the phone are the calls where they automatically asume I want to meet with them before I've shown any interest. So asking them for an appointment and a time to meet wouldn't be my approach solely based on how it makes me feel.

I like this though "I promise to not take up any more time than if we had a cup of coffee. If we have a fit, we move forward, if not, I'll help you throw me out the door... fair enough?" I like using humor to loosen them up. I also like giving them the opportunity to say no and end the conversation before I've taken too much of their time. I guess again, I'm looking at it from the other side. When they call me and keep me on the phone for several minutes without giving me a chance to say no it doesn't set well with me.

Man, thinking about this there are several thiings that bother me. Another would be after I say no, they keep going like they're going to say something that I'll change my mind. When selling/marketing I try and stay away from using the things that bother me being on the other side. -Justin Time

I look at that and I don't think it's congruent with what you said in your first paragraph.

You're either businesslike--or you're not. A matter of choice of course, but consistency is key. Taking the overly humble approach represented in "....I'll help you throw me out the door.." might be positioning yourself as a nonthreatening guy, but it takes the exact liberties you wanted to avoid, and it hardly levels the playing field which is paramount in sales relationships.

I would never recommend this approach, but to each his own. -Gary A Boye

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. Or maybe I'm not coming across very clear. Either way what I was saying in my first paragraph is the caller addressing me by my full name like it's an old friend of mine. When you answer the phone and they say "Hi is this "your first name" to me it's usually someone I know.

Throwing me out the door probably wouldn't be my exact words. But I like the nonthreatening get them to let their guard down approach. -Justin Time

I think it's helpful to look at sales from the point-of-view of the prospect or customer.

But, I have to say, it's much more beneficial to look at what works. As a trainer, I recommend people do what works, not to focus on what the prospect likes or doesn't like. Sometimes those two points-of-view are congruent, but sometimes they aren't.

If we only wanted to do what a prospect liked, we wouldn't bother cold calling them at all, because I don't know anybody that enjoys or looks forward to receiving cold calls.. But that isn't going to make a successful sales career in a position that requires successful cold calling.

Skip Anderson -Skip Anderson

Throwing you out the door is what you said, and what I replied to. I'm glad you retracted your endorsement. -Gary A Boye

I agree you should do what works. Cold calling has to be close to the end of my list of things that have worked for me. Face to face is an easy first.

Different things work for different people. I see I may have commented on a touchy subject. If it works for you there's nothing wrong with that, just not for me. -Justin Time

Justin, a lot of things are "touchy" here at SalesPractice, but don't let that stop you from commenting or putting yourself out there. I think one of the great things about SP is that we can all share our opinions and points-of-view, even if we disagree. Ultimately, it helps everyone in the profession to learn and develop.

Skip -Skip Anderson

There are no touchy subjects. Some of what can be viewed as such can morph into enlightenment. Your posts are just fine and most welcome. -Gary A Boye

Is this your way of saying welcome to the forum msnwnk;

Thank you, looking forward to learning some stuff.

:) -Justin Time

Perhaps I'm saying this out of ignorance of the Insurance Industry but nowhere in that pitch did you demonstrate Credibility. Who else in my industry have you helped and how? -DaveB