In September's article, I challenged you to create 60 or soquestions to use as basic preparation tools for beginning the salesprocess. We often see producers with full pipelines of uselessprospects with a 75 percent failure rate. Why are these prospectsin your pipeline? The answer: “Because my sales manager or agencyowner is from the old school of activity-based selling, rather thanthe consultative selling approach. They scream and pound the deskand demand we keep our pipelines full.”

I previously worked as a producer at a large agency. The cultureamong the sales team was, “Just look busy and walk with purpose andurgency and the brass will leave you alone.” For all of themarginal producers that shouldn't have been hired, it worked.Everyone was busy going nowhere. Old-time agencies operating underthese dynamics have above-average marketing costs, strainedrelationships with their carriers, a below-average profit marginand their revenue per producer is below a long-term survival ratefor the producer and the agency.

So how do we change the outcomes?

1.Obtain the tools to do the job. InSeptember's article we prepared a series of questions, profiled ourcompetition, gleaned in-depth knowledge about the industry ourprospect is involved with and conducted specific research on therisk. Preparation is king when it comes to success. Many producersspend far too few hours with preparation. Name another professionalwho spends little time in preparation and we'll show you someonestruggling to achieve his or her desired results.

2.Find or create a database of no less than 500“suspects” to work with each year. This creates an endlessprocess of pre-qualifying based on the relationship between buyersand their current brokers and any issues they have with the servicefrom their brokers. We don't quote everyone every year.

Our job is to ask the pre-qualifying questions to determine ifany relationship, service, coverage or cost pains exist that wouldmotivate the buyer to change agencies. Anything less and we're backto “quoting for dollars.” Of the 500 suspects we'll probably wantto have an initial discussion (diagnostic appointment) with 250 ofthem in any given year based on their current situations,willingness to consider change and our opportunities to improvetheir relative conditions.

3. Create your sales activity pipeline. Of the250 suspects that we converse with over the next year, there willbe on average 125 who actually have issues we can alleviate. These125, now called “prospects,” are ready to move into your salesactivity pipeline. This pre-qualifying process differs from the oldway of selling because we have the same high level of activity, butthis time with people that we actually have the opportunity ofselling. The question now becomes: Of these 125, how many can wework toward presenting an overwhelming reason for leaving theircurrent brokers and hiring us? Because we are working feweraccounts, we have the time to build quality and lastingrelationships with pre-qualified prospects. We never present untilwe have accomplished this goal. To do otherwise has provenoverwhelmingly a failure.

4. Re-qualify the prospects based now on coverages,carrier service and cost issues. Think of it as the secondhalf of the qualifying effort. One rule to live by: we never go tothis step unless we have reason to be here. It may take 1, 3, 5years or a decade to come to this step.

5. Create a complete and comprehensive list of issues towork on once we have reviewed the carrier's service, costs andcoverage issues. There can be situations where we have agreat carrier and a wrong broker relationship. The more pain andemotion involved, the better we can predict our outcome. Typicallythe relationship with the broker drives the sales decision. Now wehave prepared to put our marketing folks and our carriers towork.

Unless you can look these parties in the eye and presentspecific lists of what the issues are and how we need to createspecific solutions to address those, you probably are wasting atleast 75 percent of your efforts on “quoting business” rather thancreating specific solutions that fit situations and providingoverwhelming reasons to join your agency or brokerage. About 80percent of the producer sales force drops off here; but this iswhere we separate the average from super performers.

6. Proceed to your presentation of solutions.Do this if all of the rules are the same and nothing haschanged.

Please note that of the 125 we started with, we'll see 60 or sothat drop out along the way because they aren't willing to leavetheir current brokers, don't have the relationship with you theyneed or haven't been given an overwhelming reason that yoursolution is better than where they are today. Of the 60 accounts wepresent solutions to in the sales process, we'll actually close 60percent or more of them. We'll also retain more than 90 percent ofthem at renewal.

Most producers fail because they don't have enough prospects andqualified activity. Busy work doesn't count. Ask yourself the toughquestion: Why is this prospect in my sales pipeline?

At every point in the process, evaluate on a scale of 0 to 100what percentage chance you have of winning the deal. My experiencesuggests that once the odds fall below 80 percent, you probablywon't win. It's your career, your life, your reputation and yourfinancial success. Top performers use this type of system to makesure they are on track. Because they have such a high level ofpre-qualified prospects with identifiable reasons for making theoverwhelming presentation for change, they find themselves pickingthe “low hanging fruit” rather than spending time on those “hardsale closes.”

Just imagine a top performer who has a marketing plan, abusiness plan, a budget designated to new business acquisitions andknows:

o 500 prospects in his or her universe =

o 250 DAQs in the next 12 months =

o 65 presentations =

o 45 new accounts this year =

o $3,000 average commission per total account written =

o $135,000 new business commission this year

Now we have a plan we can work on that is specific yet flexible,and accountable and achievable. Good luck and good selling!