'Wedge' Selling Pries Prospects Loose

Basically, the Wedge is a process. Its a series of steps to help an agent or broker figuratively drive a wedge between his prospect and the incumbent agent/broker so that he, the challenger, can get the business.

To some, this sounds harsh. It seems all about getting people fired.

In fact, the opposite is true. The Wedge is actually about matching prospects with agents who can best meet their real needs. Its about creating healthier agent-client relationships based on mutual honesty and truly proactive service, thereby improving the general standing of the insurance industry.

Im tempted to warn some readers, "Hey, dont try this at home." I say this not because only born salespeople can use the Wedge effectively, but because the Wedge seldom works in a vacuum.

For the Wedge to help the agent who employs it, the agent should be prepared before his interview with the prospect. He should know about the prospects business. He should know his own strengths that match up against the incumbents weaknesses. He should already have differentiated his service in a way that he can put in understandable, concrete terms for the prospect. In short, he should do his homework and have a pre-call strategy.

That sets the stage for the Wedge–a brief series of conversational steps that an agent may use to make his prospect feel comfortable and to decide on his own to do business with the agent. You thereby create a wedge between the prospect and the incumbent agent so that the new agent is not shut out or trumped by the incumbent.

What are these conversational steps of the Wedge process?

I boil them down to five, and call them (in the order they occur): Picture Perfect, Take Away, Vision Box, Replay and White Flag. Lets create a hypothetical case to demonstrate.

Too-Prudent is a company whose sound risk management has kept it from having to file any significant claims. In fact, its loss experience has been so good that it hasnt paid much attention to its coverage since it first signed up with a carrier through We-Insure-Everybody, a property-casualty agency founded in 1832.

Joe Incumbent, the agent for We-Insure-Everybody, checks in yearly with Too-Prudent at renewal time, just to say hello and ask if alls well.

Charlie Challenger is a property-casualty agent with Wedge Insurance Group who enjoys making underwriters happy by bringing aboard low-risk insureds. He thinks Too-Prudent would be another nice notch on his belt. He does some digging, calls on a mutual friend, and gets himself introduced to see Paul Prudent, the chief financial officer of Too-Prudent. After they trade pleasantries, Charlie begins using the Wedge, employing "Picture Perfect."

"So, Paul, Im curious. When your agent came out six months after renewal to do the claims review, found that your reserves were set too high, and developed an action plan to reduce them so you wouldnt be overpaying for your insurance, were you comfortable with how he went through the process?"

As Paul imagines this "Picture Perfect" created by Charlie, he realizes Joe has taken him for granted. "Uh, Joes never done that," Paul says to Charlie.

"Well, maybe its not that critical to you because at least your premiums are stable," replies Charlie, using the "Take Away."

"Oh, no. It does matter," says Paul. "We dont want to pay more for our coverage than is necessary."

At this point, Charlie moves the conversation to the "Vision Box"–the step where he gets Paul to put his concern in concrete terms so they can share the vision.

"Well, Paul. In regard to your claims reserves, what would you like to see happen?" asks Charlie.

"Id like for my agent to be proactive like that," Paul says. "Id like for him to come out every six months and look at our reserves in light of our loss experience."

To confirm what Paul wants, Charlie uses the "Replay." He recites back to Paul what Paul has said.

"What I hear you saying," says Charlie, "is that youd like your agent to come out at least twice a year, rain or shine, look at your loss experience, and make sure your reserves are not set too high. Have I got that right?"

"Thats it," Paul says.

At this point, it's time for the "white flag" to be raised. I don't mean it's time to surrender or give up. What I do mean is that rather than charge ahead and force the sale, the producer, having introduced a wedge, needs to step back for a moment and skillfully lead the prospect into suggesting the next logical step–doing business with you instead of the underperforming incumbent agency.

This is perhaps the hardest part of the process. The temptation for most salespeople is to go straight for the jugular, attack the incumbent and hard-sell the buyer into switching agents. However, it is far more effective to lead the prospect to draw their own conclusion and take the next logical step on their own.

Therefore, Charlie looks at Paul and merely asks, "Okay, there it is. What would you like for me to do?"

This leaves the conversation up to Paul to continue. And the odds are pretty much in Charlies favor that Paul will ask him to put something together because Charlie has successfully created a wedge between Paul and Joe Incumbent.

Having used the Wedge, Charlie knows what Joe will do when he gets wind of what has happened. So Charlie adds an extra step that I call the "Rehearsal."

"You know, Paul," Charlie says. "When Joe finds out about this, hell come rushing over here, tell you about the college tuition hes paying for his twin daughters, Pauline and Paulette, and remind you of the time he loaned you his rider mower for the whole month of June. Are you going to be able to give him the bad news?"

"Yes. I can do it. I will do it," says Paul.

By having Paul rehearse the emotions that he will feel when he lets Joe go, Charlie ensures that Paul is willing to switch agents. And why is Paul willing to switch? Because the "pain" he feels from paying more than necessary for his insurance is greater than the momentary pain he will feel when he has to give Joe the bad news.

The concept of "pain" is a key part of the Wedge and why it works. In the context of the Wedge, pain can mean disappointment, frustration, dissatisfaction–anything that the prospect feels can be made better, relieving his or her pain. By identifying a prospects pain, the agent can develop a wedge, or several wedges, to deal with that pain.

As simple as it sounds in our fictitious scenario, the Wedge has proven to be a powerful tool when used in the real world. When used to facilitate business, it gives the seller a road map to success while making the buyer feel comfortable and in control as the seller and buyer pass the milestones together.

Randy Schwantz is president of The Wedge Group in Argyle, Texas. He is the author of "The Wedge: How To Stop Selling and Start Winning" and "Breaking The Sales Barrier: How To Develop Million Dollar Producers," both published by The National Underwriter Company, parent of this magazine. The books can be purchased online at www.NationalUnderwriter.com.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, May 5, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.