Lead Closing Strategies Blog

You’ve probably heard about the four P’s of marketing, but have you heard about the four B’s of client retention?

It’s common knowledge that it’s a lot cheaper to keep a current client than it is to get a new one. In fact, business leaders estimate that it costs six times more to acquire new clients than it does to keep existing ones.

Client retention is important for business success, but it’s also an often overlooked principle among health insurance agents and brokers.

Here’s part 2 of this 2-part article…

2. Be Indispensable

Each new client is another opportunity to establish your thought leadership in your market. It’s another chance to build your reputation as the agent that consumers can turn to for the vital health insurance information they need.

To capitalize on this opportunity, top producers now maintain an email newsletter or blog, or both, that keeps clients informed about their health insurance options:

• Answers to common program questions
• Advice on how to expedite claim requests
• Tips for lowering premiums and costs
• New plans now available from your carriers
• Life insurance, annuities and other plans your clients should consider

Email newsletters and blogs are inexpensive to create and maintain. However, it does require a commitment to creating and delivering helpful information. So make sure you have at least a three-month calendar of topics before you launch.

3. Be Brave

Customer complaints and angry clients are part of the business. When a client receives unsatisfactory service from a carrier representative or from a network provider, they may take it out on you.
Sometimes the problem is close to home, such as an unreturned phone call or a file misplaced by your assistant.

Whatever the cause, avoiding an angry client is the worst thing you can do. True professionalism requires having the courage and self-confidence to handle customer complaints and dissatisfaction head on.

You may not resolve every issue, but it does show that you’re someone that prospects and clients can rely on for professional and sincere service.

4. Be Ready

One of the best ways to increase client retention is to anticipate when they’re most likely to start shopping for a new plan.

Many individual health plan consumers typically get that itch to switch plans shortly before their current plan expires. That’s usually when they get a notice from the carrier announcing an increase in their premiums or a change in their coverage.

As they say in the old Westerns, you need to head them off at the pass.

That’s why top producers routinely turn to their BrokerOffice lead management system to keep them on top of current clients, as well as prospect and leads. They can use BrokerOffice’s calendar feature to schedule reminders a couple of months before each client’s anniversary date.

You can then use BrokerOffice’s convenient email program to start sending those clients an invitation to call you for a “health insurance check-up.” Let them know that you can help them review their policies to see if you can find better options for them.

And if your BrokerOffice lead management system is integrated with the Norvax Insurance Quote Engine, your email can even include a link to a personalized health insurance quote. Your prospects can then follow that link to your website and online quote engine to start comparing plans and policy options — that you offer.

By becoming your clients’ shopping advocate, you can continue to help them find the right insurance plan. You’ll also continue to be the person they turn to year after year for their health insurance answers.

You’ve probably heard about the four P’s of marketing, but have you heard about the four B’s of client retention?

It’s common knowledge that it’s a lot cheaper to keep a current client than it is to get a new one. In fact, business leaders estimate that it costs six times more to acquire new clients than it does to keep existing ones.

Client retention is important for business success, but it’s also an often overlooked principle among health insurance agents and brokers.

The Problem

Many producers seem to accept that many, if not most, of their new individual health plan clients will depart for other producers after a year or two.

Brokers and agents have seen it time and again: Cost-focused customers jump ship as soon as they receive the notice of premium increase just as their plan anniversary looms.

Premiums are going to go up. The rising cost of health care has made cost increases inevitable. From a sales standpoint, however, the real problem is that many agents and brokers often put little or no effort toward retaining their current clients.

That’s somewhat understandable when you’re under pressure to work the new leads and tend to those hot prospects who are ready to complete their application.

The fact remains, however, that investing a little more time in retaining your current clients will yield much greater return on investment than putting all your focus on new leads. With the right tools and strategy, you can do both.

Technology and the Internet give you the resources you need to efficiently nurture current clients so that they return to you when they want to start shopping for a new policy. And understanding the four B’s of client retention will help you create a strategy for success.

1. Be Thankful

You may be providing your clients an important service, but they’re doing you a favor.

The truth is that it’s a competitive market out there, and they can probably find someone who can match the service and expertise you provide. That’s why many agents and brokers rightly send “thank you” letters after the application is first approved.

Being thankful helps build trust and nurture your relationship with each client — which in the end will increase the odds that they will stay with you for their insurance coverage.

It also pays to get in the habit of showing your gratitude during the holidays and especially after they’ve signed on for another year. And with email marketing programs like iContact.com and ConstantContact.com, it’s easy and cheap to send customized and professional thank-you emails.

But don’t use your “thank you” message as a cover to cross-sell another product!

A sincere thank-you letter is simple and focused on expressing your gratitude. Trying to sneak in a sales pitch will make you look insincere.

See Part 2…

Early last year, we received a surprise call from a health insurance agent about a test they were running on ProspectZone’s Exclusive leads.

In addition to having decades of experience in insurance sales, her company also trained agents for other companies and regularly tested and tracked their lead sources. They found that for every 10 exclusive leads they bought from ProspectZone, they closed over 30% of them.

There’s no guarantee that every agent will close 30% of their exclusive leads. However, exclusive leads are supposed to have higher close ratios and generate more sales than standard shared leads.

That’s why every agent prefers exclusive leads. But there are pros and cons to consider before you jump into exclusive leads.

The #1 Issue With Exclusive Leads

Regardless of where you buy them, exclusive leads have one big issue that makes most agents think twice: the cost.

Exclusivity always comes with a price, regardless of the product. But there are obvious reasons why exclusive leads cost more than standard shared leads. If your lead provider sells that lead as a shared lead, they can charge less but sell it more often for greater overall revenue.

With exclusive leads, your lead provider cannot sell that lead data to anyone else — so their total revenue is limited to what they charge you.

Is that higher price worth it? If exclusive leads can also increase your close ratios, the answer is yes.

The down side is that exclusive leads can sometimes come with side effects that agents and brokers still need to avoid:

Poor sales skills

As we discuss later, exclusive leads can get you connected to genuine prospects. But you still need to close the sale. Even if you’re new to sales, exclusive leads will help your closing ratio. But you still need to invest in learning how to sell, especially over the phone.

Procrastination

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can make an exclusive lead wait for you. Just because your lead provider sells the lead only to you doesn’t mean that the prospect will wait for you. There’s nothing stopping them from contacting other agents.

Lastly, keep in mind that “exclusive” does NOT mean “quality.”  Lead quality depends on how your lead provider generates and delivers leads.

Before you buy exclusive leads, make sure that your lead provider never incentivizes consumers to become prospects and that they deliver leads to your inbox without delay. Otherwise, you’re wasting even more of your budget on overpriced low-quality leads.

How Exclusive Leads Help Your Sales

Exclusivity is a selling strategy.

Many successful agents and producers use this strategy because it gives them real advantages that can help them triumph in a competitive marketplace:

Less competition

You’ll still have competition, because there’s nothing to stop prospects from shopping around. With exclusive leads, however, you won’t have to compete with dozens of agents to be the first to connect with your lead. You can also minimize the “annoyed prospect syndrome” you sometimes encounter with leads who have already heard from 20 other agents before your call.

Higher Contact Ratios

Did you know that leads are more likely to convert into clients if you’re the first to contact them? With less competition, exclusive leads give you much better odds of actually contacting and connecting with your prospects. Exclusive leads give a better chance of getting your foot in the door…and that is where the sale really starts.

Higher Close Ratios

It’s a numbers game. For many top producers, their close ratio is directly related to their contact ratio. The more prospects they can speak to, the more leads they’ll close.

For example, if you close 20% of every prospect you actually get on the phone, and you’re able to actually contact 100 prospects a month, then you’ll submit 20 apps each month. Now what if you’re able to contact 150 prospects a month — without buying more leads? You would then be submitting 30 apps a month…a 50% increase. That’s the advantage exclusive leads offer.

Less Wasted Time

Your budget may be able to buy more cheap shared leads. But then you have to dive into the scrum and fight with dozens of competing agents on each of those prospects. The same budget will get you fewer exclusive leads, but you’ll be able to spend more of your time on genuine prospects. Exclusive leads will also give you more free time — that you can use to close even more sales.

Higher ROIs

Many agents have discovered that less wasted time and higher close ratios result in higher ROIs. You’re getting more out of every dollar you invest in your leads.

Will Exclusive Leads Work For You?

There’s no question that exclusive leads will help. When you compare exclusive leads versus shared leads of the same quality, basic statistics tell you that you will have a higher success rate with exclusive leads.

The question is whether they’ll help you enough to offset the higher cost.

That’s why you have to run some of your own tests and then measure the results. As you do, I recommend that you focus on the “Revenue per Lead” calculation.

Ask any agent who uses leads how much they pay, and most can give you their “cost per lead” (CPL) in under a second. Now ask them how much revenue each lead generates?

The revenue per lead calculation turns the CPL on its head and looks at the lead’s production — instead of price.

Although price is important, it doesn’t give the full picture of how effective your leads truly are. The revenue per lead measurement, on the other hand, focuses on results and your bottom line.

Consider the two scenarios below, which assumes average commissions of about $400 per submitted application.

Shared Leads

Cost per lead: $8
Total leads bought: 100
Total cost: $800
Close ratio: 5%
Applications submitted: 5
Commission generated: $2,000
Net revenue (commissions – total cost): $1,200
Net revenue per lead: $12
ROI (net revenue / total cost): 150.00%

Exclusive Leads

Cost per lead: $18
Total leads bought: 100
Total cost: $1,800
Close ratio: 15%
Applications submitted: 15
Commission generated: $6,000
Net revenue (commissions – total cost): $4,200
Net revenue per lead: $42
ROI (net revenue / total cost): 233.33%

In this scenario, you work the same number of leads for both types. But with the exclusive leads, you generate:

• More applications. With the higher close ratios, you should see a dramatic increase in applications submitted.
• More revenue. In this scenario, each exclusive lead generated an average of $42 per lead — that’s 3.5X more revenue than the average standard shared lead.
• Higher ROI. The ROI for exclusive leads is more than 1.5X greater than standard shared leads.

In the end, the issue isn’t whether exclusive leads will boost your sales. They probably will. The question is “by how much”?

The best way to answer this question is by running tests and comparing results. Split a portion of your current lead budget between exclusive and search leads. Then compare the ROIs and revenue per lead they produce.

Chances are you’ll see a clear winner — which will make it easy to make the right business decision for your future lead purchases.

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Here are four more of the 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

7. Give them a deadline

Another tactic for reinforcing the urgent need to call you back is setting a deadline. But don’t go overboard with this scare tactic. If anything, blame it on forces beyond your control.

For example, if you’re expecting a rate change from your preferred carrier, you may want to note that in your message.

8. Contact options

Your message should reiterate your preferred contact method, i.e. your phone number.

But if you have a self-service website with a multi-carrier quote engine, you may want to give your prospects a second option for starting their purchase with you.

Online consumers often feel more comfortable if they can shop and compare plans on their own — without the worry of being manipulated by a “salesperson.” With a fully functional website powered by a multi-carrier quote engine, shoppers can compare dozens of plans to find the right one for them.

There’s also a potential time-saving benefit when you offer a second contact option. Many agents today now receive commission checks on web-submitted applications where they never spoke to the client.

9. Get up!

Standing up when you make a call is an old sales trick … and it still works. Before you leave your answering machine message, get up!

But in addition to standing, you should also make sure that your energy is up. An exciting message will be useless if it comes off like a read script.

Go back to the radio commercial models I mentioned at the top. Have you noticed how all those announcers seem upbeat? Well, they actually have to work at reaching that level.

A rule of thumb is: if you think you’re voice is TOO upbeat, then you’re probably just right.

Just as television can add 15 pounds to your look, radio takes down your excitement level a few notches … because there are no facial cues or body language to emphasize your words. So, get up!

10. Practice your scripts

Finally, it should go without saying that you need to practice your scripts.

Yes, that’s “scripts” plural. You should have at least 5 scripts ready to use, based on the most common types of leads you find yourself facing.

And by practice, I don’t mean just one or two quick run-throughs. You need to know these scripts so well that you don’t even need to look at a script or pull a brain muscle trying to remember.

Your message must sound natural and conversational. To put it another way, when a prospect checks his answering machine and hears your message, it should sound as if he’s hearing from a friend or colleague.

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Here are four more of the 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

3. Personalize your message

One of the strongest “hot button” words is actually the customer’s name. And this is where your phone messages have a clear advantage over traditional ads and commercials.

So make sure you practice pronouncing each prospect’s name before you call. Keep in mind that you also personalize your message when you include your own personal information. And because every word counts, I recommend that you skip greetings like “Hi” or “Hello”:

“Mr. Smith. Janet here with XYZ Insurance, following up on your online insurance quote request…”

4. Acknowledge their annoyance

If you’re working a standard (shared) lead, chances are there’ll be other agents calling this same prospect. Even if you have an exclusive lead, there’s no guarantee your prospect hasn’t shopped around.

First, this means that you can’t wait even a minute when calling new leads. Secondly, your prospect may have already fielded calls from other agents. There’s a chance you may run into an annoyed prospect.

But you can still use this to your advantage.  By acknowledging their annoyance, you can lower their frustration level and give them a reason to make you one of the few messages they’ll return.

“You’re probably frustrated with all the calls you’ve been getting. But…”

5. Connect with their problem

Want to really personalize your message?

Make sure to review your lead sheet and come up with potential solutions — before you call them. Then when you have to leave a message, try to connect with their specific problems.

For example, if the lead sheet shows a pre-existing condition, consider adding a reference to it in your message such as…

“…I recently got a client with ____________ (pre-existing condition) into an affordable plan. I know I can help you find similar coverage…”

6. Dangle the benefits

Always leave them wanting more. To this end, your message should tell prospects what you can do for them … with just enough specifics to whet their appetites for more.

Here’s an example:

“I just put a client in a major carrier plan only knowledgeable agents know about and slashed her premiums by 30%. I can do the same for you…”

Notice that this example has some of the hot button words we mentioned earlier, like “slashed premiums” and “30%.” But it doesn’t try to give the whole picture. Curious prospects will need to call to get all the details.

You can also tell them that they can claim a free gift when they call, such as a free guide for lowering their health insurance costs.

See Part 3…

Getting an answering machine when you first call a new lead can be frustrating.

Some agents don’t even bother leaving a message, with many reporting that only 5% of their answering machine messages ever get returned — if that!

Top producers, however, understand that answering machines are a fact of a salesperson’s life. They also see it as an opportunity to get an edge over other agents and brokers who never really prepare for answering machines.

Ready to learn the secrets for creating and leaving messages that get returned? Here are 10 tips from phone sales experts that you can put to immediate use today.

1. Think radio commercials

Remember that commercial from the local auto dealer or jewelry store you heard on your drive today? Because you’re currently not in the market for a car or diamond ring, they may not have gotten you to act.

But many of the elements that work for local radio commercials apply with answering machine messages. So think about what works on these local ads the next time you compose your answering machine script:

Keep it short.

Your messages should last no more than 30 seconds. If you’re given more time, use it to repeat your contact information. Some machines may even limit you to only 15 or 20 seconds. So the most important part of your message – such as your contact information – needs to be at the front … just in case you get cut off early.

Speak clearly.

Record your messages before you use them and have others listen to them. You need to make sure your delivery is crisp, clear and understandable. Unlike a radio commercial, you’ll only have one “take” with each phone call to deliver a clear message.

Not just once.

Radio ads don’t just run once and disappear. Similarly, you should plan on making a strategic follow-up call within a day. If your first call is in the morning, you may want to follow up with another call later that day.

2. Use hot button phrases

Top advertising writers know that every word counts with radio commercials. They also know that certain words carry a lot more weight than others … which is why the most effective ads use these “hot button” phrases and words.

“Free” and “affordable” are common in many ads, because they do grab people’s attention. But most hot button phrases are specific to each audience.

For example, here are a few phrases that may do a better job getting a health insurance shopper’s attention:

• “Affordable premiums”
• “Pre-existing conditions”
• “Low deductibles (or co-pays)”
• “Quick approvals”
• Significant numbers – like 1/3 or 20% off
• “Guaranteed coverage”

And don’t forget to mention the brand names of the most popular carriers in your area. These carriers have spent millions of dollars making sure they’re brand is recognized by their target audience.

You may not be able to use their brand names in your radio commercials, but you can use them in your phone conversations.

See Part 2…

Most producers know by now they need to get online. A recent study by a leading national carrier found that nearly 85% of its individual health insurance sales involved the web.

But who are those online shoppers? And how should you market to them?

A 2008 study by ProspectZone of 446,597 individual leads it generated last summer now provides some answers to your online marketing questions. It also provides a glimpse of what you need to know to capture your share of this market.

Here are some of the secrets it uncovered.

The South Rises Again

If you already sell nationally, you may have already noticed that many of your leads seem to have a southern accent. That’s no coincidence.

According to ProspectZone’s analysis, almost half of all Internet-generated leads are coming from southern states. The other 3 regions (East, Midwest and West) each accounted for only 16% to 19% of the leads collected.

Florida and Texas, in fact, generated more online health insurance leads than any other state — with California coming in a distant 3rd.

Why is there such a huge regional disparity? Population trends are part of the answer, as the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 1 out of every 3 Americans do live in one of the southern states.

But the biggest factor may be the rate of uninsured. The South led all regions for the number and rate of uninsured. At the other end of the spectrum, the Midwest had the lowest rate of uninsured shoppers!

Now what if you’re not licensed in one of these southern states?

First, there are other individual states that are generating a large flow of health insurance prospects.

The top 10 states in the study produced half of all the leads. And 6 of these top 10 states aren’t in the South: California, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Massachusetts.

Secondly — and just as important — the Internet has made it very easy for an agent to get licensed and sell policies in almost every state in the country. So if you want to improve your lead flow, consider getting licensed in one of the top 10 states right away.

Women In The Lead

According to the Pew Center on the Internet and American Life, women make up slightly more than half of all Internet users.

But ProspectZone’s analysis of online health insurance shoppers revealed that almost two-thirds (2/3) of all prospects had a female primary shopper.

This gender difference cut across all regions and even across all age ranges. Women are also more likely to be uninsured than men.

Unfortunately, the two areas that women did achieve parity with men were in obesity levels and rate of uninsurability.

These gender trends come as no surprise for many top producers. Many of them have already seen anecdotal evidence of women taking the lead in shopping for health insurance.

On a practical level, though, you need to start considering this trend when considering the plans you want to highlight. Make sure your selected programs have features that address women’s issues, such as pre-natal services, maternity coverage, expanded gynecology networks and related prescription drugs.

Young and Old

The study revealed two opposing age trends.

On the one hand, almost half of all online health insurance shoppers were under 40. This isn’t as surprising, when you consider that this age group is more likely to shop on the web.

This age group is more likely to be single and less likely to be uninsurable. But they’re also more likely to be uninsured. Those three factors make them easier-to-place prospects.

But the study also found that the 50-64 “pre-Medicare-eligible” age range accounted for almost 1 out of every 4 online health insurance shoppers.

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If you want to be people’s go-to agent, you need to stay visible. When people think “insurance,” you want their next thought to be “you.”

There are many ways to get your name into your prospects’ minds. But one of the most taken-for-granted strategies is also one of the most effective: promotional products.

An Effective Way To Make Your Mark

You’ve probably got them all over your office: pens, mugs, hats, maybe a calendar or two. They’ve got business names, phone numbers, and web addresses printed on them. Every time you use one of these branded products, you get a little more familiar with the name on it.

Promotional products are useful marketing tools because people hold on to them. Your typical ad gets seen once or twice. But a product can get used again and again. The more someone uses the product, the better the chances of them becoming a customer.

How effective are promotional products? A recent MarketingSherpa report found that:

* 73% of the people given a promotional product used it once a week
* 45% used it once a day
* 52% did business with the advertiser after getting the product

It’s hard to argue with numbers like those. Promotional products don’t just increase awareness of your business; they get more customers in the door.

What’s The Best Thing To Give People? Something Useful

You can get your information printed on almost any product you can think of, from rubber ducks to yo-yos. But that doesn’t mean you should.

Cute, funny, or quirky products might make a strong initial impression with your prospect. But then what? More than likely, it ends up gathering dust on a shelf or in the trash.

On one hand, you want the product to be memorable and make a strong impression. On the other hand, you want the product to be useful and make repeat impressions. Striking the balance is key to a successful promotion.

Promotional products are effective, but they’re also expensive. To get the most mileage out of your promotion, follow these rules:

* Give people something useful. Things like pens, pads of paper, and coffee mugs are almost guaranteed to be used repeatedly.
* Choose products that give a good impression of your business. Items that are obviously cheap, poor quality, or in bad taste will work against you. When the choice is between a shoddy promotional product or none, your money is almost always better invested somewhere else.
* Make you sales message clear and concise. Your promo should tell people who you are, how to reach you, and how you can help them. Printing your website is a great invitation for people to learn more about you.

Staying in your prospects’ minds keeps your business growing. Using promotional products is a great way to keep people thinking of you.

Resources:

http://www.branders.com/
Offers printing services for a variety of products. Features an easy-to-use preview system that lets you see products with your logo before ordering.

http://www.epromos.com/
ePromos has a great selection of promotional products.

http://www.garrettspecialties.com/
Another site with a wide selection.

http://www.ppa.org/
The Promotional Products Association International is a great information resource.

If you’re still dependent on field sales to build your book, you’ve probably got a wish list that goes something like this:

I wish I didn’t have to waste so much time driving to appointments.
I wish I wasn’t limited to just my local area.
I wish my agency didn’t grind to a halt when I’m on the road.

The list goes on and on. Good news for insurance agents: You can eliminate appointments entirely; you can increase your market and your sales volume and you can put an end to unproductive time.

How?

By using technology to switch over 100% from field sales to phone and Internet sales.

It’s a move many insurance agents are making to get their time back for selling, marketing and being with their families. And by increasing their market to include multiple states, they are also increasing the number of policies written.

Here’s how they do it:

1. Adopt the necessary technology. You may already have your marketing dollars earmarked for 2006, but if you want to increase your efficiency and save yourself a lot of headache, agency automation tools are worth a look right now.

Most agents start out with tools that automate the repetitive, manual tasks that bog down office work. Their ace in the hole: a quote engine that reduces quoting time to seconds and creates email-ready proposals.

Also important is a lead management system that allows you to automatically import leads and track them. When buying compatible Internet leads, the lead pops up in the management system as soon as the prospect submitted their request for a quote online. Now you don’t have to waste time entering in prospect information into a contact management system and can get your proposal into a prospect’s hands in just a minute.

Adding a website that integrates the quote engine gives you and your prospect 24/7 access to carrier applications, rates and information. Some carriers even have e-applications that a prospect can complete and submit entirely online. Your prospect will be able to get quotes from not just one of your carriers, but all of them, and they only have to submit their information once.

Forget unproductive call backs. When you phone, you can direct your prospect to open your proposal and you can review rates and plans together. Emailing an application is just as easy as passing it over the kitchen table. No appointment necessary.

These tools allow you to communicate directly and quickly with your prospect, and the availability of information eliminates meetings and costly mailings.

2. Choose the carriers and states you want to work. After automating your office operations and increasing your accessibility with a website, you are ready to expand your market. Choose the carriers and states you want to include on your quote engine and get appointed with them. Remember, you can only quote the carriers and states your quoting company is partnered with, so make sure ahead of time they have a selection that works for your agency.

3. Buy Internet leads for your expanded market. Begin buying Internet leads for the extra states you are authorized to quote. It doesn’t matter how far away the leads live; they all have access to rates, applications and information on your website. If they have reservations about working with an agent outside of their state, all you have to do is let them know that you are just a phone call or email away. Prove how accessible you are by purchasing a 1-800 number and display it prominently on your site.

The bottom line: When you’re on the road you can’t work leads as they come in, and you’re not there to answer your customers’ questions.

When you can run quotes, email proposals and send applications all from your desk, you are more available to your prospective and current customers. And you’re free to market to more states and handle them all with equal speed and efficiency.

You may think the mental script you’ve developed through hours of phone time is working just fine. But no matter how good your freestyle pitch is, a script is a powerful tool that can dramatically improve your sales.

A well-crafted script doesn’t just give structure to your pitch and guide your prospect towards the sale; it allows you to continually measure the effectiveness of your delivery. You can test a script down to the last word, adjusting until you strike the perfect combination that wins the most sales.

Here are 5 strategies that will help you write a solid script that sells.

1. Be prospect-centric. When you’re calling a prospect for the first time, you don’t need a script that is heavy on specific products and a laundry list of their benefits. Keep your proposal handy if the conversation takes that direction, but don’t load up your script with too much information about you and all the things your business has to offer. You’ll get much better results at this stage in the game if your script sticks to the subject that interests your prospects the most: themselves. By identifying and being interested in what their goals are, it’s clear that you’re motivated to help them, not push a product on them. Let your prospects do the talking and focus on asking discovery questions that keep the conversation moving.

Example:
“ What made you decide to request an insurance quote today?”
“ What is most important to you in an insurance plan?”

2. Make your intent clear. The first 30 seconds of your script is the most crucial, because this is where you engage your prospect or get dropped. Don’t waste this time beating around the bush. State who you are and the reason why you’re calling in a simple, direct manner.

Example:
“ Hi, Mary. This is Rob Robertson calling, from ABC Insurance. Is this a good time to talk? I’m calling about the health insurance quotes you requested online today. I’d like to talk with you to determine
how I can help you find the insurance you need, answer your questions and review plans if you’d like.”

If you get the go ahead at this point then you can launch into your discovery questions. Remember, this is a discussion. Give your prospects the opportunity to guide the conversation.

3. Have a simple answer for multiple scenarios. The key to a good script is to keep it simple and manageable to memorize. But your script must also be flexible enough for you to move easily through the different scenarios that can occur. You should map out responses to a few of the most common directions your conversation can take. With a good script you will be able to slip into a fresh set of dialog to address the different paths of discussion while maintaining control of the end result.

Example:
If your prospect says, I’m not interested right now; guide the conversation towards a future connection: “That’s fine. I’d like to be available to you if you do decide you to learn more about the
affordable health care options I have found for you. Would you like me to check in with you in the future? When would be a good time to contact you about your insurance needs, and how?”

4. Set the stage for the next contact. Now that you’ve identified your prospect’s needs, perhaps even walked them through your online proposal, you need to clearly identify what the next step is going to be. While you don’t want to pressure your prospect, you still want to get them on board with your sales timeline. Before you hang up, you need to know when you’ll be able to follow up again, and how.

Example: “I agree you should take time to go over your options. When is a good time for me to follow up with you? Is next Wednesday afternoon fine? Do you prefer me to give you a call, or send an email?” It’s important to take the responsibility of following up out of the prospect’s hands and into your own. By establishing an agreed upon time to follow up, the intent of your next phone call will be clear: “Hi,
Mary. It’s Rob Robertson here. Is this a good time to talk? I’m calling because we discussed several health insurance plans on Monday and I promised I would touch base with you on Friday. We agreed you needed time to review your plans, so I’m calling to see if you would like to discuss them further.”

5. Practice. No script is going to feel natural right off the bat. Practice again and again until you are comfortable delivering it, and don’t worry that you’ll sound phony. Remember, prospects won’t know you’re reading a script. Instead, your quick answers will make you seem knowledgeable about your subject and their needs, and inspire confidence that you will handle their business with equal skill.

Remember: Your script is a living thing. You should be continually testing its effectiveness as you identify what works best on your prospects to deliver the most sales.