I know that most sales professionals cringe when they think about picking up the phone and cold calling or "dialing-for-dollars" (me included). For some people, the thought of picking up the phone and calling an angry client, an missed sale or even a referral can make their hands clam up and their heart skip a beat.
I get it. When I was first starting out, I used to cold-call for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week and I hated every minute of it. I forced myself to do it because at the time it was my only source of new business, but I hated it the whole time. While I don’t have to cold-call for business any more, there are still 4 phone calls I try to make EVERY DAY in order to grow my business.
The “save-a-deal or client” call. Unfortunately, not every deal goes smoothly and not every client sticks around forever. Clients leave for what they think are greener pastures, buyers try to bail out of buying because some other company is $5 less, etc. Pick one deal or one client that seems like a goner and make a call to see if you can save the deal or the relationship. You’ll be surprised at how many deals are salvageable and how much extra money that one call can add to your bottom line each year. If you make an average of $400 per auto/home insurance client and you can save one client a month or close an extra one deal that would have otherwise gone away, that’s about an extra $10,000 in your pocket every year! If you're making a call to an investment or life insurance client, the numbers could be far bigger. I don't know about you, but one call per day, five days a week for an extra $10,000 seems like a pretty good return on my investment.
The “random check-in or thank you” call. Even your best clients forget about you if they haven’t heard from you in awhile. An easy, personal, and effective way to make sure that people remember you when it really counts (like when someone mentions they need the services you offer and you want them to refer you), is by calling a few clients each day in order to check in on them and let them know you are thinking about them. No selling, just call and see how they are and let them know you appreciate them being your clients. You’ll be amazed at the conversations that come up from a simple phone call. You'll come across clients that are in the process of leaving their jobs and needing to move their 401(k) to an IRA. You'll discover new babies in the house that brings up conversations of more life insurance. Don't bring any of these sales conversations up yourself, but if the client has something to discuss, by all means answer their questions. If something does come up that warrants a follow up conversation and the client doesn't get the conversation started, make a note of it and follow up with them the following week to discuss.
The “happy birthday” call. Your clients deserve to feel special on their birthday. With all of the Facebook, text and email “happy birthdays” these days, a personal call really goes a long way. It will let your folks know they’re important to you and remind them of what a great person you are! Even if you don't reach your client and you just leave them a message, birthday calls are a quick, easy, non-sales type call that will allow your best clients to hear your voice and be reminded of who you are and all you do for them.
The "Let's Do Lunch" call. When was the last time you had lunch with one of your best clients? Most agents like to have lunch with their friends, their colleagues or (a lot of the time) alone. I get the appeal of eating with friends and co-workers but ask yourself this one, very important question - how many opportunities do you have to sell your services and your products to your colleagues? What chance do you have of making a sale while you are sitting alone enjoying lunch? If you're in the business of selling (you are) and you get paid for making more sales (you do), then creating opportunities to have sales conversations with people that can and will actually buy something from you is a REALLY good idea!
Try calling up a client (or prospect) around 11:00-11:30 each day and let them know you'll be in their area around noon. Tell them you don't like eating alone and you'd like to get to know them better and offer to buy them lunch - no sales, no hidden motives - you just want to get to know them better. One of two things will usually happen when you make this kind of call:
1. Most of the time the person you call will not be available and will not meet you for lunch. That's okay! Even if they don't have lunch with you, they're probably thinking about you. They may even tell someone that they work with that their insurance adviser is a great person who tries to have lunch with them. Your client or prospect will probably even feel like they owe you or should be more loyal to you just because you offered (and even though you didn't actually buy them lunch). If they get this call from you twice per year, they'll think more highly of you and feel like you are taking better care of them even if you never get together!
2. You meet for lunch, get to know them better and have a nice conversation about them - what they've got going on, goals and dreams, family activities, hobbies, etc. Half of the time, something will come up that needs to be discussed further in a business setting but, even if it doesn't, you've created a more loyal client and a longer-lasting relationship. You've increased your retention and given a client another reason to stick around and tell others how great you are. Not a bad deal!
If you took the time to make all 4 calls each day, it would probably take you about 10 minutes per day. But the amount that you can accomplish in those 10 minutes is staggering if you stop and think about it. You'll be increasing your retention, coming across sales opportunities, generating good will, strengthening client relationships, giving people another reason to refer you...the list goes on and on. Ultimately you'll be putting more money in your pocket and making yourself more successful. Not bad for picking up the phone a few times each day!
