Last week I wrote a blog to all agency staff, including producers. This week we are focused on the main sales arm of the agency – producers. We get to work with a lot of great producers and a lot of weenie producers. Yes, I do call them weenie producers. You may be one or know one. It’s the producer who always has an excuse on why they can’t do something or, better yet, uses all their sales skills on selling me why they didn’t hit their goal. Either way, we can spot a weenie from a mile away.
Agency owners, wake up! If you have a non-producing producer on your team, move on. They may produce a little $15k in premium a month. That’s not a producer…that’s a weenie. They aren’t selling anything; they are taking orders from someone asking for insurance.
Insurance SALES is much different than what most agencies think. It’s not quoting a piece of businesses, emailing if off and hoping you win it. That’s not selling anything. If you are the cheapest, I call that COLLECTING SIGNATURES. Great news agency owners, you can automate that today and not pay commission.
Real agency sales professionals do more than just take inbound calls. They have a pipeline, a system and, most importantly, they avoid selling on price. How much time did you spend in your office last week? Real producers are out in the community networking, dropping by and making appointments. They quote first thing in the am or late in the day. They optimize their time networking by not using up all the best contact time by just quoting. Ask yourself “Are you building your week around appointments or around networking?” If it’s networking, then grab your coat! You shouldn’t be around much!
