The BEST "Prospecting" Question Ever

by Tony Vidler.

I thought I'd share the best prospecting tip I ever heard....so simple, but soooo clever.


Many years ago a fantastic adviser that I knew well (since retired) working in rural town in New Zealand managed to be one of the top producing agents for well over a decade using this simple technique. 

He would simply ask the people he knew - but who were not clients - as he wandered around doing his business a question. Well, it was two questions really.


The first queston was "Do you mind if I ask you something?" 

Invariably people respond: "of course not". Think about the psychology of that simple opening; a courteous request, seeking permission (so not in obvious control of the discussion), and virtually impossible to deny if you are the person being asked the question. It would be rude to say no, wouldn't it, and nobody wants to appear rude? So everyone agrees that he could ask them a further question.


The key question that followed was: "Can I ask you why you have never done business with me?" (said very politely, quizzically, and most emphasis upon the "me"). It is an almost apologetic approach that caused no offence or discomfort to people as he was careful to set it up correctly, and ask the question in the right tone.


Responses varied of course, but could be grouped into a simple set of about 4 types of responses:
1. I have a great adviser and am happy
2. You never asked me to do business with you
3. I thought you were too busy/tooexpensive/too....something or other
4. I don't know why I never have/I've never thought about it.

In the case of the first response (I have a great adviser!), the best course of action is to congratulate them, thank them for answering, and move on from that topic. Stay engaged in the conversation of course, but leave that topic. In doing so you have been just as courteous and respectful, and unintrusive.


In all other cases though, the opportunity for a business discussion has just been created....

This is an incredibly simple technique for determining whether you should be having a business discussion with people you know. It causes no offence (if asked correctly), the prospective client has given you permission to ask the question, and then feels compelled (having given you permission) to respond sincerely.


The follow up to engage the prospecive client in the business conversation was also a very politely framed question, that usually started with "I'm sorry I never explained properly how I help people, do you mind if I go through that with you sometime?" 

The overwhelming proportion of people would then agree to meet up later and have a business chat....and that is how a single adviser working in a small rural town became one of the best producers and most popular people in the region.


Try it sometime, and you'll be amazed at how many people you know will be willing to talk business with you - if you just ask the right questions, the right way!

Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.

Underwrite at proposal time, or claim time?

 by Tony Vidler.

When does your client want to have the drama with their insurance company? At underwriting time, or at claim time?

An confusing facet of the life & personal risk insurance business is the perception that some companies are easier to do business with than others due to underwriting processes....and while that is true to a degree, it is not always as simple as it seems. To be sure, different insurers have different retention levels, make some different morbidity and mortality assumptions occasionally, and they definitely target different parts of the consumer-market with their pricing and underwriting terms. These factors undoubtedly make a difference to the underwriting process for any personal risk proposals.

However, regardless of different insurers views of the variables to be given particular weight during the underwriting process, there remains a comprehensive underwriting process that will be employed. The question is simply whether the risk will be fully underwritten at proposal or at claim time.

We have seen in recent years some insurers remove the barrier to business for advisers by streamlining the underwriting process - some even going so far as to do extremely simplistic underwriting of perhaps 5-10 questions. That type of underwriting effectively identifies only immediately impending claims, which of course are risks that are not taken on by the insurer. The insurer simply avoids taking on those immediately impending claims and declines the proposal outright. What about all the other policies it does accept with minimal underwriting though?

The reality is that the majority of the easily underwritten cases will be medically underwritten in the event of a claim. That of course is just the time that a client or an adviser doesn't want problems.

Contrast that with the philosophy of fully underwriting and assessing the risk in full at the time of proposal. In the event of a claim most of those types of cases do not require full medical underwriting to settle the claim - it has been done at the outset, the risks appropriately weighed up and priced, and a high degree of certainty provided to the client. Sure there will often be some medical evidence required to validate the claim, but the claims managers are not going through the entire medical history looking for problems to include in the decision on how to process the claim.

The difference between the two philosophies is a fairly stark one: higher claims certainty versus higher immediate convenience.

It may be that a client, or an adviser, will knowingly decide that immediate convenience is preferable to higher claims certainty, and therefore work with minimal underwriting to put some cover in place. They take their chances at claim time of course, but it makes doing the business easy.

For most clients, and for their advisers, there is greater merit in working with a full underwriting process at the outset despite the time it takes and the hassle it causes, and the difficulty in obtaining the required information or even reasonable terms for the client. Because in doing so right at the outset, before a contract has been entered into, the client can create greater certainty that the product will perform at claim time as expected. It makes doing the business harder, but will usually make handling the claim easy.

For the adviser, there is far greater certainty that their advice and process will stand scrutiny well with a full underwriting process at the outset.

In the underwriting battle between claims certainty or immediate convenience, The better bet is on taking the inconvenient path at the initial underwriting stage for better long term business relationships and product performance at claim time.


Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.

3 ways to get the low-hanging fruit

 by Tony Vidler.

Everyone wants business to be as easy as possible, yet we so often make it harder than it has to be. What's wrong with living on some low hanging fruit if there is more of it than you can eat?

Nothing is wrong with it - it's smart business.  It's not always simple to recognise where the easy business is, but some very interesting and provocative numbers have caught my attention recently, and provided the answers to where the "easiest" business is to be had.

• 81% of New Zealand consumers get their primary financial information from somewhere other than an adviser
• 60% of advisers describe themselves differently to what they actually do.
• 79% of marketing generated leads never convert to sales/customers

If you think about it, you know instinctively that the more time you spend with people giving them good practical help without pressure, then the more likely they are to turn into good long term customers that trust you and follow your advice. The statistics above merely provide evidence that this is so.

There is strong international evidence showing "nurtured" leads make 47% larger purchases than newly qualified people who are being "sold to" immediately. Those nurtured leads also have higher conversion rates - 50% more result in sales. From a cost per client perspective the research says nurtured leads actually cost about 33% less to acquire in marketing costs, than quick one-off sales.

Several conclusions stand out:

1. There HAS to be a massive opportunity for advisers to engage better with their existing clients. The stats say most of your own clients don't see you as their primary information source. Adviser check: Do you have a content strategy within your marketing to ensure that you are delivering the right sort of information consistently to be THE trusted source? If not, why not? It HAS to be where the easiest wins are - or the "low-hanging fruit" (and lots of it too it seems).

2. There HAS to be a trust-barrier between the consumer and the adviser if what the adviser says they do, is not what the consumer sees in action. That HAS to affect the advisers ability to do the business. Adviser check: is your marketing, information, branding and labeling actually consistent with what you really do? If you have a clever and grand-sounding title is it consistent with what the consumer sees and hears you talking about? If not, change the title. Or do what you say you are.

3. Given the choice between spending limited marketing budget on generating new leads - most of whom you will never get across the line - or spending it on existing customers, which is logically the best allocation of your limited resource? Adviser check: if you dare, work out how much you spent on marketing for new clients, and how many new clients you actually got for it. Compare it to how much you spent on "marketing" to your existing clients - and how much you got from that.
 

The conclusion is a simple one, and so simple it is almost unbelievable for most advisers. But the evidence in the form of pure sales results and client engagement that are being generated by advisers who have tried it are compelling.

Here is their formula:

• Talk to your own clients and networks. 
• Tell them what you do. 
• Try to help them and give them useful information - be there for them. 
• Be the person they trust for reliable and practical financial information. 
• Do your job well, and place their interests first. 
• Do it all constantly.

Simple and consistent content marketing of useful information to build trust and credibility, within your own network and clientele to begin with, is the most effective marketing spend. It is also the most effective way to get the low hanging fruit - and there is a lot more of it ready to be picked than most advisers realise.


Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.