Agents: Be Concrete To Cement Deals

The late U.S. Senator S. I. Hayakawa, in his book "Language in Thought and Action," suggested a "ladder of abstraction" as a way of thinking about the importance of using words that create pictures–the lower down the ladder and the less abstract, the clearer and more convincing the communication. His metaphor is especially useful in sales. In other words, make it simple, specific and concrete; not vague, complex or abstract.

At the top of the ladder of abstraction would be such intangible terms as exceptional service, experienced people, quality products and competitive prices. But what does any of this blather actually mean? Are you really trying to differentiate your agency by claiming that your competition offers unexceptional service, inexperienced people, inferior products and uncompetitive prices?

In sales, abstract words leave everyone looking the same. Indeed, in commercial lines today, if you try to convey your differences with abstract words, youll only end up looking like everybody else, because excellence is the minimum standard for staying in the game, and if you try to market and sell parity, youll be lost among the crowd.

So what makes you different that you can express concretely? Probably one or all of three things: something that (1) only you do, (2) you do better, or (3) you do without prompting (proactively).

Take the "exceptional service" claim, for example. Youre saying you provide service better than your competitors provide it. But how do you get your prospect to accept your claim as valid? You boil it down and talk plainly. Compare these two statements:

Agent A: "John, I can tell you we deliver exceptional service. Our folks sweat the details. They work hard to make sure youre well served. They put you first. Thats our pledge to you, and you can count on it."

Agent B: "John, let me give you one example. Every six months we will review your claims experience, spot any reserves that are set too high, and make adjustments so youre not paying more for coverage than you should be."

Which agent would you say was more convincing in defining exceptional service to his prospect?

Moving down the ladder of abstraction and being as concrete as possible also enables you to deal more effectively with the elephant in the room–the agent who already has the business. Lets say your prospect is currently with the Schmirtz Agency. Lets also say youve done your homework and found that Schmirtz doesnt do six-month claims reviews for your prospect.

Without attacking Schmirtz, you can look over at your prospect and say, "John, Im just curious. When your current agent does a claims review every six months and spots reserves that are set too high and makes adjustments to keep your costs down, are you comfortable with that process?"

Now youve put a concrete picture in your prospects mind as opposed to an empty generality. Had you pitched your "exceptional service" and left it at that, your prospect would have zero incentive even to consider the uncomfortable possibility of letting Schmirtz go.

Moreover, by making your sales point through a question, you have effectively created a "wedge" between your prospect and Schmirtz without criticizing either Schmirtz or your prospects good judgment in having hired Schmirtz. The wedge you created gives you an opening that was not there before. It relates to something specific that your prospect is not receiving from his incumbent agent.

Theres a lot more to say about creating wedges, but our point here is that wedges are direct and concrete. Mastering the ladder of abstraction is a crucial step in becoming a master of The Wedge. Indeed, speaking plainly and concretely is an essential tool in sales generally, as well as in any of the persuasion arts.

The ladder of abstraction is about communications itself. Generally, the lower the step on the ladder, the more easily the essential idea can be transmitted from sender to receiver. Even theoretical physicists use the ladder. In his popular writings on relativity, Einstein used trains, clocks and other familiar everyday objects to give lay audiences an understanding of his concepts of space and time.

Many highly knowledgeable and learned people have failed in sales because they were not smart enough to dumb down their offering to the lowest common denominator. Instead, as their prospects eyes glazed over, they were tempted to blurt out, "What do I have to do? Draw you a picture?"

Yes! Draw the picture! That is precisely the point. Climb down the ladder of abstraction. You show much greater respect to your prospect by taking less time to say more than by taking more time to say less–and you increase the likelihood of closing the deal in the process.

Randy Schwantz is 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. Mr. Schwantz is president of The Wedge Group, a Dallas-based sales consulting firm (see www.thewedge.net).

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 19, 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.