Case Study Five

You Control The Time

A Plaid Sports Coat

I come from a long line of salespeople on both sides of my family. My maternal grandfather was a salesman. My father was a salesman. My Uncle was a salesman, and my oldest brother is a salesman. We will see with the next generation but it seems to run in the family.

As such, I view sales as a profession and an art form and take a lot of care and pride in how I interact with people. It also makes good business sense because people only buy things once they are certain they have made the right choice and often they will only do that after speaking with a trusted advisor. That is particularly true with something as sensitive as health insurance.

Many people in my industry eschew using the words “insurance salesman” preferring rather to call themselves consultants or advisors. While that is not bad either, I have always chosen the more direct title. I want people to know what I do. Like most of my counterparts in financial services I am commission based and operate under full disclosure so it is better to just be upfront and non-apologetic.

In spite of the stereotypical image of a garrulous mountebank wearing a loud plaid sports coat my experience is that the best sales people are good listeners. Or, as the saying goes, “God gave me two ears and one mouth and I try to use them in that proportion”.

“You control the time”

Another common belief is that salespeople are pushy. Nothing rubs a client or prospect the wrong way more than being pushed. Unfortunately some are, but the great ones are never pushy. First of all, it does not work. Things only happen when they are meant to and never any sooner. Some qualifying events such as the sale of a business, a divorce, or future layoff cannot be accurately predicted and are simply beyond the client’s control even if they are looming. It is important to know someone’s time horizon including deadlines but the client’s urgency is not the same thing as the seller’s and they should never be confused.

The average time it takes for us to convert a prospect to a client is between 6 months and a year so we have to have the patience of Job. If we didn’t, we would never have survived. Persistence is a virtue but that is very different from chasing someone which we try hard not to do.

A doctor I know who shall remain nameless once told me a story I will never forget. In order to keep their hospital privileges all the medical staff were required to take a class every year taught by their malpractice attorneys on how to avoid lawsuits.  The takeaway is that when a patient is pushed to have a procedure, no matter how serious, the doctor / hospital is far more likely to get sued if there is a bad outcome. It is always better if the patient feels they have made their own choice. I think that is pretty much true with everything and I try to live by that philosophy.

Every rookie salesman has been taught to focus on what they can control which is not the customer but the sales pipeline. A common misperception is that successful salespeople are all gifted speakers or extroverted. While it certainly helps, being good at prospecting is ten times more important. An average salesperson that gets in front of a steady source of prospects will beat a silver tongue devil that doesn’t every time; guaranteed.

Somewhere I picked up a phrase which I occasionally use if a prospect is on the fence about meeting with me and ask me how long it will take. My reply is, “You control the time”. While at risk of sounding glib, it does two things. It flips the control over to the respondent taking all the pressure off them (and me) while allowing them to signal what they really want. Most of the people I meet with are business owners who have their own customers to look after and they want to know they are not wasting their time. I am happy because the feeling is mutual and if they do not want to commit the time then there is a good reason for it.

We avoid narcissistic selling techniques like the plague

The prime trait of a narcissist is that they are emotionally manipulative. Having cluster B personalities in spades, they will use drama and look for weakness to exploit and use any edge they can to get under your skin. This is why they are universally despised but often hard to detect.

What I am referring to here is that we do not use guilt, shame, fear, in or out grouping, or other artificial pressure to sell products. Many people come to us when they are really in need. Even though we are salespeople, our job is to help you not sell you something. The general rule about narcissists is when you see one, run.

In truth, we are all selling something. People who own a business have customers. If we work for someone we are selling our services to our employer. If we are parents we serve our families. If we are part of a community, nation, or religion we do what we can and ask only for our daily bread.

Many of my clients are themselves salespeople. This is interesting because we operate on the same wave length and have our own customs and shibboleths. Ironically, they can be tough but often they become the best customers because they understand and appreciate what we do in a way that other people sometimes won’t. I also buy things too and test other salespeople as well. I expect good service and appreciate it including when it comes from people who don’t automatically think of themselves as a salesperson.

What does this all mean?

The insurance world is a balancing act that requires the mastery of different skills; some technical, some business, and some interpersonal. It’s a Ying and Yang where the agent needs to combine all of these components in order for it to work properly.

While people don’t like to think they are being sold a policy the reality is that private insurance is a market driven; albeit a heavily regulated one. Insurance companies would drop agents in a heartbeat if they could but they understand that we are the best and most efficient way to market their products and services so we remain.

In the end, people want choices and as long as there is a demand there will be salespeople to help them find it. Thank you for reading my letter.

Peace and Love,

John