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Anthony “Tiger” Longley
W
ait a minute, where am I? Anaheim,
California? Million Dollar Round Table
Meeting? Wow! This seems just like a dream
I had last night. Ladies and Gentlemen, dreams do come
true; if in your mind, you conceive it and in your heart,
you believe it, you can and will achieve it! Thank you,
MDRT, for making my dream come true!
I will share with you a few ideas to make your sales
career sizzle with success. By the end of this session, you
would have learned:
1. Definition of Selling
2. How to use effective communication in the kitchen
3. Twelve ingredients for a good western omelet
(Proven success principles).
4. What to do when they refuse the omelet (Objections).
5. How to get them to buy your omelet. (Buying
Emotions)
6. What to do after they have eaten the omelet.
(Follow-up)
7. How to keep them coming back for more.
(Relationship building)
There is a big difference between a “fast order cook”
and a highly trained qualified Chef. Similarly, there is a
vast difference between an “order taker” and a trained and
qualified professional sales person. To appreciate this
however, one must understand and appreciate the role of
the sales person and the meaning of what it is to “Sell”.
What is selling? If asked this question, could you
answer it? Do you know what your profession is really all
about? The definition I like best is one that I read somewhere many years ago. It defined “Selling” as: “A logical
presentation of ideas designed to bring action NOW!” In
other words, Selling is an act of persuasion. It’s the process
of persuading another person to accept your product,
service, idea or viewpoint, as that of his or her very own.
Anthony J. Longley is a 14-year Round Table
member who has served on four MDRT committees, including serving on the MDRT International
Membership Communications Committee as the
Area Chair for the Bahamas and two terms as the
Zone Chair for the Caribbean region. Longley is a
senior life underwriter at Imperial Life Financial,
the oldest life insurance company in the Bahamas.
He is a consistent qualifier for the President’s Club
and has qualified for many company sales conferences across the globe. He has won many company
and industry awards, including LIMRA’s IQA and
the Caribbean Sales Achievement Award. A wellknown industry speaker throughout the Caribbean
region, he is a former area governor for the Bahamas
Division of Toastmasters International, where he
has won the Toastmaster of the Year award on
several occasions.
Imperial Life Financial
P.O. Box N-3734, Nassau, Bahamas
Phone: 242/356-8368
E-mail: tigerlongley@hotmail.com
I/R CODE: 4400.99
AUDIO CASSETTE: A0465
CD: C0465
Examples of “Selling” in every day living:
• Have you served on a jury? Let’s turn this into a courtroom scenario where you and I are the members of the
jury. In other words, we could be considered the
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prospects. We are being approached by two welltrained sales professionals, “The prosecuting attorney”
and “The defense attorney.” Which one will most
likely close a sale on us? It’s the one who is most effective at convincing us to accept his or her viewpoints
as that of our very own.
• Have you ever observed politicians during an election
campaign? Again there are usually two and often times
more candidates attempting to close a sale on us. They
try to persuade us that their plan is the best plan for the
constituencies in which we live. Which candidate will
win our vote? Which one will close the sale?
• Many of us attend some form of religious services.
With-in the context of the afore-mentioned definition,
we can conclude that a well-delivered message from the
pulpit is a sale because the objective is to persuade the
congregation to choose a more righteous and holistic
lifestyle. If the preacher succeeds, then in essence a
sale has been made.
• Many of us here today are married. For that to happen
it means that someone sold the idea and someone
bought the idea. At the very instant that you said, “I
Do!” a sale was made. Now that a few years have
passed, I can only hope that neither one of you owes
the other a refund.
The days are long gone when “Selling” referred solely
to a “Seller/Buyer” encounter. Whether in business or
interpersonal relationships, the world is becoming increasingly aware that, “Nothing happens in life until someone
sells something!”
(continued)
• No doubt, most of us have heard the saying, “The
tongue is mightier than the sword.” The tongue can be
a tool or a weapon depending on how it’s being used.
Most of us would be familiar with the story of Samson
and the Philistines. The story reads that Samson killed
ten thousand Philistines using only the jawbone of an
ass. Ironically, every day somewhere in the world, some
“Samson-like” sales person kills a sale using the very
same weapon.
• Learn the art of questioning. All great sales professionals are masters of the art of questioning. The use of
questions is like seasoning on a sale. That’s why, for a
mouth- watering western omelet, a good cook uses a
little salt and then for some extra spiciness, adds a bit
of pepper. In selling, the same technique applies. The
salt represents open-ended questions. These are questions beginning with “What”, “Who”, “Why”,
“When”, “Where” and “How”. These kinds of questions are for extracting information from the prospect.
For example:
➢ “Who among your employees would be most
difficult to replace?”
➢ “Why do you feel that way?”
➢ “What do you value most at this time?
➢ “When was the last time you’ve had your
insurance reviewed?”
➢ “How do you feel about your career?”
Open-ended questions get the prospects to relax
causing them to open up and provide us with the essential
oils required for cooking our omelet just right.
• The pepper represents closed-ended questions. These
are questions that usually generate a short response. In
most instances, they draw a simple “yes” or “no” reply.
These questions are generally used to turn down the
heat and draw the prospect to a soft conclusion or decision. For example:
➢ “Can I have the name of your beneficiary?”
➢ “Would you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
➢ “Did I answer your question fully Ms. Prospect?”
➢ “Can we move ahead now with setting up your
medical exam Mr. Prospect?”
How to communicate effectively in the kitchen:
• We can possess all the product knowledge there is to
acquire. We can perfect all the closing techniques in
the book, but if we don’t know how to effectively
communicate our thoughts and ideas across the table,
watch out folks, the omelet will burn. In sales there are
always two cooks in the kitchen. It’s like in a debate,
one selling for the motion and one selling against the
motion. The irony is that only one omelet will be
properly cooked, the other will be over cooked.
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For best results, the top professionals in the industry
recommend, two parts salt and one part pepper. If we
develop the art of questioning, we can significantly
improve our closing ratios.
Over 5000 years ago, a renowned philosopher underscored the importance of effective communication with
these words, “That you may be strong, be a craftsman in
speech, for the strength of one is the tongue, and the
speech of one is mightier than all fighting.” - Ptahhotep
• When you want to talk – Listen. In order to master
the art of questioning, one must appreciate the importance of listening. We all want to make a good impression the first time we meet someone, so what do we
usually do? We do what is normal; the human thing to
do. We want to talk, of course! We want to tell about
all the great things we have done. We want to talk
about all the smart things we have said and all the
exotic places we have visited. We try to impress the
other person with how important we are. But does this
create a good impression? No, it does not! Consider
how you feel when you meet someone who starts right
off buzzing into your ears, talking your head off…
• “Let me tell you about my vacation.” “Do you know that
we just moved into a new home?” On and on they go.
Are you impressed? No, you are not!
• Now what happens when you meet someone who does
just the opposite? “Tell me about your trip,” she asks, or,
“How does it feel to be in your new home?” he enquires.
Now you are really interested aren’t you? You let loose
with a long breath then start off on what interests you
most, Y-O-U! Now are you impressed? Yes, you are!
If your friend is really a good conversationalist, every
time you stop to catch your breath, he will say tactfully, “…and then what did you do?” Suddenly, off you
go again! Are you impressed? Yes, you are! My
friends, if we want to develop reputations as good
conversationalists then we must remember those six
little words, “…and then what did you do?” Or,
“…and then what did you say?” They’ll do more to
win us popularity than all the personal exploits we
could tell others about ourselves.
(continued)
A Spanish Proverb says, “Un pez muere por un sin
tapa”, (“A fish dies by an open mouth!”) So remember,
sometimes when you want to talk – Listen!
Now that we have prepared our kitchen table with the
condiments of effective communication, let’s review the
twelve ingredients for a great western omelet:
1) Appearance
A dash of appearance: Presentation is everything.
Companies spend millions to ensure that their physical
premises are neat, attractive and commanding of attention. Shouldn’t we do the same by the way we dress and
groom ourselves? Unfortunately, people will form snap
judgments of us based on how we look. What is the first
thing we notice about the books when surfing the
shelves at a bookstore? That’s right, the cover. That is
the reason why smart publishers dress up the practical
cover with an outside “jacket.” The person who studies
his or her own “jacket” will have a better chance of
immediate success at “first glance”, than the person who
fails to catch the eyes of others at first introduction.
Caution! Don’t overdo it; our aim is to be an attraction
not detraction. Overbearing colors and too many accessories could cause people to remember us by our clothes
instead of our personality. The answer may lie in these
comments by Lord Chesterfield, “Dress fine where others
are fine, and plain, where others are plain.” I believe
most of us can identify with the experience of going to
restaurant and ordering something from the menu just
because it looked scrumptious in the photograph. Ever
noticed how a meal that does not look appealing, usually
is not? Study your selling look and dress up the outer
cover!
2) Pride (Three cups of pride.)
Take pride in your career. Taking pride in our career
means, doing every thing possible to safe guard our
industry. How about you, are you keeping abreast of the
many rapid changes taking place in our industry? Mergers
and acquisitions are the order of the day. Clients are often
confused by all of this but it is up to us to help them make
some sense of it all. We should be proud to know that our
industry is not like a stagnant lake but rather like a
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running stream that adapts to all the twists and turns of
everyday business in the 21st century. One way that we
could demonstrate pride in our industry is by supporting
our local professional associations. Let us take pride in
our career!
Take pride in yourself. This means that we portray
ourselves in a professional and respectable manner always.
Remember, people are always watching us and every one is
a perspective client. Pride in ourselves also means to
uphold the highest ethical standards in our own business
dealings. The MDRT Code of Ethics is a good measuring
stick to use for this purpose. It’s available on the MDRT
website. Let us take pride in ourselves!
Take pride in your company. We should protect the
good names of the companies we represent. We are extensions of our companies and the companies are only as good
as the people who work for them. We have a responsibility
to help our companies remain reputable and profitable.
We should defend our companies. Don’t discuss internal
problems on the streets. Don’t chew the heads of our
managers or assassinate the characters of our associates.
As we say in the Bahamas, “Don’t hang your dirty linens in
public”. Take pride in our companies! This omelet needs
some pride.
3) Confidence
Five ounces of confidence: Champions radiate confidence. As you develop faith in your worth, you’ll radiate
confidence. Confidence comes with knowledge and
practice. We’ll talk more about knowledge a bit later but
let’s talk about practice. A basketball legend is Kareem
Abdul Jabbar. The last time I checked, he still held the
NBA’s career scoring record. Did it just happen? No
way! Did you know that Kareem Abdul Jabbar also holds
the NBA’s record for drawing the most fouls? Did it just
happen? No way! Yes, Jabbar was bumped, banged and
slammed more times than anyone else in the history of
the game. Yet, every time he approached the basket with
that famous “sky hook”, he did so with confidence and as
a result, he also scored more points than anyone else in
the history of the game. Venus and Serena Williams are
surfing the biggest waves in professional tennis. Did it
(continued)
just happen? No way! They practice relentlessly. They
practice their forehand and backhand shots. They practice their serves and their returns. They are the most
dreaded opponents on the clay because they practice.
What about my namesake, “Tiger”? He is hailed as “The
greatest golfer of all time”. Is it luck? No way! Tiger
spends hours on the course practicing. He practices his
drives; he practices his puts and chips; he practices his
bunker shots. Is there any wonder that he has won every
major event in golf, some of them more than once? As
the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect!” Practice gives
confidence! A good omelet requires confidence.
4) Warmth
Forty degrees of warmth: It’s okay to turn down the
heat sometimes. You want to cook them, but don’t burn
them. Ask yourself the question, “If you were meeting a
clone of yourself for the first time, would you like the
person you’ve met?” Imagine going down to I-HOP and
ordering one of those juicy omelets. It’s nice and warm
on the outside but when you bite into it, you find that
it’s cold on the inside. A warm personality is an ingredient that no recipe can do without. People want to buy
from persons who radiate a warm and friendly persona
inwardly and outwardly. They have come to expect it
and rightly so; after all, they deserve it. “Keep the
omelet warm!”
5) Assurance
Five tablespoons of assurance: We should be selfassured and not rely upon others for our state-of-being.
Give them the assurance that when they do business with
us, they are doing business with the industry’s best. When
self-assurance exudes from us, our customers can tell
because they feel it. I heard Past-President Marvin
Feldman say, “Qualifying puts you in MDRT, but attending
the annual meetings puts MDRT in you.” Becoming more
intimately involved with MDRT could even further
enhance our self-assurance. I encourage each one of you
this afternoon, especially you “first-timers”, to always
attend the meetings and not only that, but also find a
committee that suits you and get involved. This recipe
calls for some assurance.
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6) Getting Rich
One bottle of “getting rich spirit”: It’s okay to want to
be rich. A desire to improve your financial status is okay
and acceptable. You will find that your clients like
knowing that their insurance advisor lives in a beautiful
home in a nice neighborhood, drives a good car and dresses
with taste. Don’t apologize for it, but don’t let it convert
to greed. In other words, “Be hungry but not greedy.”
People like doing business with successful people. If they
perceive us to be successful, they’ll want to do business
with us. After all, it gives the impression that we are practicing what we preach. As financial advisors we should
invest our money wisely. Real estate, mutual funds, stocks
and bonds and pension plans (put more than the required
minimum) are good investments for starters. When you go
home, take an inventory of your own Life Insurance portfolio. If it’s not at least eight times the average of your last
three years’ income, then your name should be the first
name in your appointment book. Time to add some
“getting rich spirit”...
7) Desire
You’ll need at-least four pints of desire. “No pain, No
gain”. Some people are quite content with being second
best. I don’t see any of those persons in here today. I see
winners in here today. Turn to your neighbors and say, “I
am a winner and you’re a winner too.” What makes a
paraplegic attempt to climb Mt. Everest in a wheel chair?
It must be desire! What makes Mr. Lance Armstrong
decide to re-enter (and win) the Tour de France after a
lengthy battle with cancer and he recently did it again. It
must be desire! Ladies and gentlemen, there can be no
success without desire! Pour in the desire.
8) Bravery
You’ll need a large can of bravery. Like David did with
Goliath, we must identify our fears and face them head on.
Fear is simply unsubstantiated information appearing real.
We shouldn’t be afraid to fail. Failure is life’s way of
teaching us how not to do something the next time
around. What are your fears? Are you afraid to shift your
market? Are you afraid to approach certain types of
prospects? Are you afraid to stop being ordinary? Do you
(continued)
know what are man’s two greatest fears according to
psychologists? The first is dying. The second is what I’m
doing right now, speaking before an audience. There was a
time when I was too afraid to do this, but I had to conquer
that fear. So what did I do? I found a way of conquering
my Goliath; I joined Toastmasters. If I had to choose what
I think is man’s third greatest fear, I would have to say fear
of success. Who, you may ask yourself, would ever fear
success? Yet this fear is one of the greatest phobias we
experience in our lifetime. A fear of success prevents us
from attaining our maximum potential. It limits our foresight and keeps us from attaining our production possibilities. Whatever your fear, face it head on and conquer it!
Add in some bravery.
9) Enthusiasm
Five cups of Enthusiasm (more as needed): We must be
enthusiastic about life. When things are not going right,
we must keep pressing on. Don’t stop; remember the
saying, “Rolling stones gather no moss”. Let’s just keep
pressing on and keep smiling no matter how we feel on the
inside. When we smile, we spread joy and love around. It
becomes like an airborne virus. We should add enthusiasm
into every thing we do. Enthusiasm is contagious; Let’s
spread it on the omelet!
10) Caring
(Three quarts of caring) Care for our clients. We
should show them that we care by sharing in their joys and
feeling their pains. Keep an open ear for those special
occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, graduations,
promotions and births. We should be there in difficult
times like sickness and deaths. Send a card or where
possible, a small gift or just pay a brief visit. This is how
we make policyholders into clients and build long-term
sustainable relationships. If we remember our clients, they
will remember us.
Care for our colleagues. We should take time to help
our fellow agents who may be having difficulty in some
areas of the business. We must be willing to share our experiences and knowledge with the rookies. I’ve come to
realize that whenever I help someone win, I win! It’s then
a Win, Win combination. Let us care for our colleagues!
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Care for our community: Find a worthwhile cause to
which you could contribute your time, talents and treasures. Besides being a good means of PR, you’ll find that
you derive tremendous self-fulfillment, not to mention the
respect you will gain in the process. Zig Ziglar made a
statement, which I thought was so profound that I’ve made
it my personal motto; “The best way to get what you want
out of life, is to help enough other people get what they want out
of life.” This recipe calls for caring… Let us care for our
clients, our colleagues and our communities!
11) Mental Toughness
Four Pounds of Mental Toughness: Rejections are a
part of the business. We shouldn’t take it personally.
Champions don’t take it personally. When they object,
they are doing us a favor. They are telling us they want to
know more so they can make an informed decision. There
are four pragmatic reasons why we receive objections.
First, we haven’t thoroughly probed our prospect’s needs.
Secondly, the risk to reward ratio is too close. Thirdly, the
prospect fears making quick decisions. Fourthly, the
prospect is not convinced that our solution will work.
Whether it occurs in business, or in personal relationships,
rejections are difficult for us to deal with and it calls for
mental toughness. Let’s add some mental toughness!
12) Four to Five Cook Books
Continuing education is vital to our survival in an
industry where evolution is taking place daily. We must
keep current. Doing this requires constant reading and
attendance at seminars and conferences like MDRT. We
also learn a lot by sharing what you know with others.
Don’t hoard your knowledge like a sole proprietorship.
Instead, treat it like a franchise; allow others to buy in.
There are two areas in which we must always be knowledgeable. One is product knowledge and the other is
people knowledge. The irony is that according to one
research, most companies spend 90 percent of training
time educating their sales force in technical product
knowledge and only 10 percent of the time, if any, in technical people knowledge. Yet, 90 percent of the same sales
force’s time is spent using their people knowledge and only
10 percent utilizing their product knowledge. Are you a
(continued)
victim of your company’s training practices? When our
people skill level is at least equal to our technical skill
level, only then can we be more productive and profitable.
It’s time to hit the books and cook up some knowledge!
Now that we have the main ingredients, ladies and
gentlemen, here is what we must do. Combine these
twelve ingredients carefully in a career bowl and add one
dozen eggs of effort. Treat them with equal importance and
blend them for a few years while carefully mixing in a little
bit of imagination and a pinch of creativity. The result will
be the thickest, tastiest, richest omelet we could ever
imagine. Prospects will come from all over just to visit our
kitchens to taste our wonderful products. I promise you,
your sales will flourish and your pockets will get fat.
What to do when they object to the omelet:
People don’t like to be sold; they want to feel like they
have bought. Become an assistant buyer. Learn to like
objections. It’s their way of telling us that we have not yet
convinced them of why they should do business with us.
Be cautious, all objections are not genuine. Most of them
are just “smoke screens”. Here is how we can determine
the difference: The first time it comes up, just ignore it.
Very often, it won’t come up again. If it comes up a second
time, acknowledge it and defer it. Most often, it won’t
come up again. If it comes up a third time, it’s a real and
genuine concern; acknowledge it, restate it and answer it.
We get many variations of objections but all objections
can be placed in one of five categories. If we learn one or
two responses to each category, any one of us can master
the skill of handling objections. These five categories are:
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1. No Need
(“My spouse can work if I die”)
2. No Money
(“I can’t afford it right now”)
3. No Hurry
(“Let me sleep on it, then I’ll call
you in a few days”)
4. No Confidence
(“That return is not too attractive, I
think I can do better at the bank”)
5. No Love
(“I think I have enough insurance
besides, my wife is likely to remarry
and I won’t want to make her
second husband rich.”)
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Some proven responses:
(continued)
where am I most likely to have the most money?”
(Prospect – “The tin can I suppose”). “Precisely, because
you see, Ms Prospect, a successful savings effort has never
been predicated on how much interest is earned but rather
on the consistency and the persistency of putting the
money in.” (John Savage)
(No Love) “My spouse might remarry. Her new husband
will take care of her.” – (Repeat) “Mr. Prospect I can understand how you feel about the possibility of your spouse remarrying, others have felt the same way. But, they have found
that a widow who is left financially secure takes much longer
to remarry than her counterparts who are left in financial
distress and are pressured to rush into marriage due to financial dependency. Considering that her new husband will
become your children’s new father, is this really what you
would want for them, Mr. Prospect? Why not give her the
luxury of time, time to make the right choices for her and the
children. Money buys time, Mr. Prospect. Show your true
love for them; Let’s get this plan started today!
I encourage you to think of other responses, try them
and if they prove effective, record them and practice them.
You would soon find that you can handle objections with
confidence like the pros and your closing ratio will
improve significantly.
(No Need) “I have enough insurance!”- (Restate). I
can appreciate that you feel you have enough insurance,
Mr. Prospect, it tells me that your family is very important
to you. Would you please tell me which formula you used
to arrive at that conclusion?
(No Money) “I can’t afford it right now!”- (Restate). “I
can appreciate that you feel you’re unable to afford more
insurance right now Ms. Prospect. Many other persons have
felt the same way, but they have found that when they buy
Life Insurance, they are not spending money; instead, in
reality, they are saving money. Please allow me to demonstrate my point. If I take this dollar note from my pants
pocket and give it you, what have I lost?” (Prospect – “You’ve
lost $1.00.”) “You’re right. Now if I take this dollar from my
pants pocket and place it in my jacket pocket, what have I
lost?” (Prospect – “You’ve lost nothing!”). “That’s right, Ms
Prospect, I’ve simply moved my money from one safe haven
to another for better security. Ms Prospect, that is exactly
what you’re doing when you buy this policy. You’re saving,
but through a different method; and I believe you would
agree with me that saving is never spending! Right? Which
deposit method would you prefer?
(No Hurry) “Just let me sleep on it for tonight”
(Restate). I can appreciate that you want to sleep on it,
Mr. Prospect; after all it is a major decision. That’s why my
company has agreed to cover you immediately, so your
family can be secured even while you’re sleeping on it. You
see, Mr. Prospect, sleeping with no life insurance is like
sleeping on a grass bed. But, sleeping with life insurance is
like sleeping on a waterbed. I want to assure you of a
comfortable night’s sleep. Mr. Prospect, let’s put this plan
in place today.
(No Confidence) “Your return is not very high, I think
I can do better elsewhere.”- (Restate). “I can appreciate
how you feel about the rate of return Ms Prospect; others
have felt the same way, but what they have found was that
in the long run, the rate wasn’t such a big issue after all.
Please allow me to illustrate my point. If I put $20 in my
bank account each week at 5% interest and another $20
each week in a tin can, tell me Ms Prospect, after 20 years,
How to get them to buy your omelet:
What makes people buy? Their emotions! Sell to their
emotions because seldom do people buy based on logic. As
sales professionals, there is no singular skill that would
prove more valuable to us, than learning how to arouse
these emotions in our prospects in ways that are positive to
the sale we’re seeking. Positive emotions trigger sales;
negative emotions destroy sales. Sell to their emotions
and they’ll “eat out of the palms of your hands”.
When any one of their buying emotions is illuminated, the sale is made. You know definitely the sale is
made when:
You’ve matched the (right product)
To the (right person/market)
To cover the (right need)
At the (right price)
In the (right way).
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An effective fact-finding is the key to uncovering one
of their buying emotions. Let’s go back now to the four
reasons why they object:
Firstly, we haven’t thoroughly probed. The four
stages of a perfect sale are: The approach, the factFinding (or probe), the presentation and the close. The
fact-finding is the primary stage. If you find out what
your prospects need and also what they want, they will
buy from you. Rarely will you receive insurmountable
objections from a prospect when you have listened effectively. Most sales people do not listen to the prospect.
They think that since they have heard the problem
before, they already know the answer. When the
prospect feels that you have listened to their concerns
and they begin to feel that you understand their needs
and wants, their emotions are stimulated, their stomachs
begin to growl with hunger and then and only then, they
will buy and eat your omelet. Remember, we are not
peddlers who merely want to push products. We are
problem solvers; we try to match our services to the
prospect’s needs. This can only be done through an
effective fact-finding.
Secondly, the risk reward ratio is too close: Our
prospects will give us objections if they feel that the risk
of loss is close to or greater than the rewarding benefits
of our product. Often that risk is an investment of
money or time. The reward should be based on our
prospects own ideas of reward and not ours. This comes
from knowing what our prospects want and making sure
they are satisfied.
Thirdly, the prospect fears making quick decisions:
This usually translates into, “I want to think it over.”
What the prospect really means is, “Hey wait a minute,
this is moving along too fast here. I don’t want to make a
hasty decision. I need more time.” Think about a big
purchase you’ve made in the past year such as a car, a house
or maybe just a television. With-in a few days, you were
suffering from buyer’s remorse and then to make matters
worse, your spouse says to you, “I told you, you should wait
a few days.” Buyer’s remorse is a significant factor in the
purchase of any product.
(continued)
Fourthly, your prospect is not convinced about your
solution: I’m sure you’ve heard this one before; “Sure,
that’s what you say, but will it work?” The prospect is
saying, “I’m not totally convinced but if you can back up
your claims with facts, I’ll buy.”
Sometimes it’s just not enough to show them the egg.
They want to see the chick!
Once we have effectively simmered down these four
reasons why they object, the amount of objections is drastically reduced and the omelet is ready to be served.
What to do after they have eaten your omelet:
Imagine how you’d feel if you dine at a restaurant for
the first time and you receive a call the following day or
perhaps a card in the mail a week later from the manager
expressing gratitude to you for visiting their restaurant.
Would you not feel special? You should make your clients
feel special too. Don’t let your encounter be like a hit and
run accident instead, you want it to be like a long and
fruitful love affair.
Here are a few things that have worked for me:
1. I call my new clients weekly to update them on the
status of their pending application. Even if I have
nothing new to report.
2. When I contact any referrals, I call my center of influence to say thanks and let them know the outcome
(not too much detail).
3. After getting an approval notice, I always call to
congratulate my new client.
4. When I get the contract, I always check it out thoroughly for completeness then I call to set an appointment for policy delivery. Always set an appointment.
5. Deliver policy in timely manner and thank again for
previous referrals. (This may be impossible for some of
you depending on where you live,) but I deliver all of
my policies in person.
6. During the policy delivery, I ask for more referrals. I
replenish my inventory by asking for more names.
7. We must thank them for giving us their business and
congratulate them on making such a sound decision.
We should pledge that you will be there for them as
their circumstances change in the future. In turn, I
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PROCEEDINGS
How to Cook a Western Omelet —
Ingredients for Sensational Selling Success
(continued)
Conclusion:
ask my clients to call me if any one else approaches
them with an insurance idea that peaks their interest.
This keeps the competition from eating off my plate.
My clients will often say to the competition, “Thank
you for the information but I won’t do any thing until
I’ve talked this over with my current insurance
advisor, Mr. Longley.”
Just remember, if you want them to uphold their end of
the bargain, you must first uphold yours.
Superior customer service is the order of the day. It is
what your clients expect and they will accept nothing less.
Service used to be industry driven but not any longer.
Today, Service is consumer driven. Superior customer
service is what ever the customer perceives it to be, within legal, moral and ethical boundaries. It is the new order
of doing business in this global economy. They know it
when they see it. Your clients would also be pleased to
know that you are giving service to your community. So
once you have experienced the increased success which
will be yours following this dynamic meeting, be sure to
give something back, not only to your community but also
to MDRT.
Mohammed Ali said it best by these words: “Service is
the rent you pay for the space you occupy on this earth.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I implore each one of you to go
back home and immediately put this recipe to the test. I
guarantee you that if you follow the instructions carefully
and use all of the recommended ingredients, the next time
you go in the kitchen to cook up your next sale you will
end up with a tasty omelet on your production plate
instead of raw eggs of rejections on your face. As I depart
my friends, I leave you with some motivating words of my
first grade teacher, Mrs. Jones. A little poem that has stuck
with me for decades:
“Good, Better, Best,
Never, Ever Rest,
Until your Good is Better
And your Better Best!”
How to keep them coming back for more:
1. People like to know that they are thought of. We
should show our clients just how much we think about
them. As our business grows it becomes increasingly
difficult to call clients on a regular basis just to say
hello. Why not put a system in place so you can check
birthdays and anniversaries on a monthly basis. A 50cent greeting card can go a long way in building a relationship. If your company does not provide such software, there are some common ones available such as,
Microsoft Outlook that will help get the job done. Your
clients will appreciate knowing that although they’re
out of sight, they’re not out of mind.
2. Send a clipping of the newspaper when a client is
featured, with a note saying, “Just thought you’d like to
have an extra copy. Congratulations on your achievement.” They’ll never forget this gesture.
3. Never miss an opportunity to reciprocate by referring
business to a client or center of influence. I call this
planting fresh seeds. Nurture them and they will grow
to bear fresh fruit in abundance.
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