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How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline & Keep It Full
Presented by:
October 2013
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Growth Imperative
• Growth = survival• No growth = declining• Retention isn’t enough
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Sales Pipeline
• Critical to growth• Far reaching impact• Often insufficient• Continuing challenge
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Sales Pipeline
• How consistently are you in front of enough new prospects each month?
• Prospecting “Crap Detector”
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Imagine…
• 20 to 60 additional meetings with prospects/year per producer
• 15 to 20 meetings with prospects/month per new producer
• What could this mean to you?• What if this was true every year?
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Session Highlights – How to:1. Get more prospect meetings in one day than your sales
team did last quarter
2. Avoid 7 common prospecting mistakes
3. Prioritize prospects to make selling easier & improve results
4. Handle 3 of the most common prospecting objections
5. Set your self apart/sound different than your competitors
6. Deal with voicemail & call screeners
7. Promote & sustain a more proactive sales culture
8. Build confidence & competence fast
2013 Copyright © IMPAX Corporation
How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline & Keep It Full
Presented by:
October 2013
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What are the greatest barriers to an effective prospecting/cold calling effort to business or commercial prospects…
• For producers?• For agencies?
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Barriers for Producers
• Voicemail• Call screeners• Too many similar calls from competitors• Sounding different• Low conversion ratio (too few appointments)• Fear of rejection• Lonely• Many other things to do
• Voicemail• Call screeners• Too many similar calls from competitors• Sounding different• Low conversion ratio (too few appointments)• Fear of rejection• Lonely• Many other things to do
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Barriers for Agencies
• Getting producers to make it a priority• Creating accountability• Tracking & measuring• Providing effective tools & methods• Coaching• Making it engaging vs. painful
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Perennial Barriers
• Predictable• Resolvable• Avoidable • Self-induced
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Self-Induced Barriers
Product focus The usual suspects“Me too” messagingInsufficient preparationToo few callsSelf-directed & solitaryBlind spots
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Critical Success Factors
• Differentiating process• Unconventional calling strategy• Preparation & practice• Events vs. intents• Measurement & self-improvement
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Differentiating Process
AskBeforeTelling
Understandthe Customer’s
Business
Be Systematic
Present inThem-Us-Fit-Action
Flow
Match Solutions to Customer
Needs
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
• Research up• Request a different kind of meeting• Expand contacts• Focus on results• Rethink qualification
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Research UpTraditional• Top down
Differentiating Approach
• Research up• Sell down
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Research UpTraditional• Top down
Differentiating Approach
• Research up• Sell down
How many chances do you get to make a good first impression?
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Request a Different Kind of MeetingTraditional • Sales appointment• Time to talk about your agency• Chance to quote your insurance• Easy to say “no”
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Request a Different Kind of Meeting
Differentiating Approach• Opportunity to learn about them– Ask vs. tell– Learn vs. sell– Advance your understanding of their business &
priorities• Confirm• Expand• Broaden• Deepen• Update
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Request a Different Kind of Meeting
Differentiating Approach• Appeals to ego• Lowers perceived effort• Reduces pressure & risk• Expands potential contacts
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Expand ContactsTraditional• Controller• HR• CFO• Owner
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Expand ContactsTraditional• Many evaluators & gatekeepers• Difficult to reach• Get all the calls• Highly resistant• Likely to commoditize you• Often recommended the incumbent
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Expand ContactsDifferentiating Approach• Warmer connections (regardless of role)– Know something about the company– Know other people in the company
• More of them• Easier to reach • Overlooked by competitors• More likely coachesWho are the “users” most impacted by your solutions & services?
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Focus on ResultsTraditional• Emphasizes insurance/what you sell• Sounds like everyone else• Elicits knee jerk reaction• Risks being seen as low priority
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Focus on ResultsDifferentiating Approach• Results-focused– All organizations want them– Everyone has a stake in them– Sidesteps immediate objection– Harder to pigeon-hole– True!!!
• What results does your agency help customers achieve?
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Rethink QualificationTraditional• Focus on– Incumbent relationship– Problems with current program– Willingness to make a change
• Drawbacks– Self-focus– Problem-solver mentality– Limiting– Often misleading– Transactional
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Unconventional Calling Strategy
Rethink Qualification
Differentiating Approach• Quality of Coaching• Quality of Information• Strength of Gatekeepers POWER
FACTORS
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Preparation & Practice
• Data before information– Data = publicly available facts & figures– Information = insider perspective
• Research key industries– Create a 1-page snapshot• Profile• Objectives• Strategies• Issues
• Visit company website
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Preparation & Practice
• Identify a few key data points– What they do– Specifics to ask about or comment on
• List & prioritize potential contacts– People you already know– Others listed in the data
• Always have a fallback person/role to ask for
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Preparation & Practice
• Write out your plan – How you will:– Handle screeners & voicemail?– Ask for the meeting?– Deal with objections & questions?
• Resist the urge to “wing it”• What are the benefits of knowing what
you’re going to say?
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Preparation & Practice
Handling Screeners & VoicemailCall Screeners• Be minimal• Keep it brief• Say no more than you must• Avoid volunteering extra information
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Preparation & Practice
Handling Screeners & VoicemailVoicemail• Listen to the entire message the first time• “0” out to get to a live person• Ask for a fall back position• Try this message:– This is (name) with (firm name)– I have a few questions I’m hoping you can help me
with.– Please call me back at (number).
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Preparation & Practice
Asking for the Meeting
• Purpose– Identify yourself and your association with their
company• Benefit– Create a statement of what’s in it for them
• Request– Make a specific request
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Preparation & Practice
Dealing with Objections• I’m not the right person• What are you selling?• Happy with my current agent/broker
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Preparation & Practice
Dealing with Objections• Explore – Determine what’s behind the objection– Ask an open question
• Assure – Use “feel, felt, found”– I understand how you feel.– Others have felt the same way.– They found that…
• Direct– Restate the action you want them to take– Schedule the meeting
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Preparation & Practice
• I wish I could say it like that.• Practice, practice, practice
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Preparation & Practice
• I wish I could say it like that.• Say it 500 times and you will– Record yourself & play back– Listen for • Clarity• Energy level• Rate of speech• Confident tone
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Events vs. Intents
• Wisdom of Tyson• Critical Mass Practice• Power of Teaming• Sustainability
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Events vs. Intents
• Block the day• Leverage the team• Share successes• Create accountability• Scoreboard results• Repeat regularly
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Events vs. Intents
Prospecting Day Structure
• Full day• Sales meetings• Tracking• Success alerts• Coaching• Awards for top performers
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Events vs. Intents
Actual ResultsDate Producers Reached Meetings Conversion
3/5 12 98 63 64%
5/22 11 104 63 61%
7/25 14 146 72 49%
• More meetings in 1 day vs. prior quarter • 10% of new business goal from 3 days• $1 million in revenue attributable to 4 days• Largest account of 20+ yr. career
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Events vs. Intents
Actual Results
# Producers # Meetings Avg. # Mtgs13 339 2617 420 2512 287 249 222 25
18 530 29
Five-Day Cold Calling Boot Camps
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Measurement & Self Improvement
• Correct inaccurate perceptions• Better understand what you’re dealing with
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Measurement & Self ImprovementCalling Activity & Results
• # Reached• # Research Meetings– Scheduled– Conducted
• # New names (contacts)• # Bad calls
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Measurement & Self ImprovementPeer Coaching & Call Recording
• Listen to others• Have others listen to you• Record yourself
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Fill Your Sales Pipeline & Keep It Full
• You can improve your future• Most of what’s necessary is in your control
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Fill Your Sales Pipeline & Keep It Full
• Differentiating process• Unconventional calling strategy• Preparation & practice• Events vs. intents• Measurement & self-improvement• Decide & get started
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Questions & Further Information
Trade Show
Ira KasdanIMPAX [email protected] Office 941-748-8160Cell 612-310-4438
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