AN ISSUE I've long heard discussed by new producers and veterans alike is when and why to walk away from a prospect. I'd like to share with you some key factors to consider when making this often-difficult decision, and also suggest what to say once you decide it's best to move on. Remember that the best time to lose a sale is the first moment you realize it's not your sale. Be honest with yourself–your agency and company underwriters can't afford to practice quote.
There are several reasons to walk away. First, the account may have a poor claims history. Suppose that, like many producers, you go to that first appointment with a prospect. Everything's going well, you're building great rapport and you start firing questions at your prospect to uncover some issues. You get enough positive feedback to proceed, so you ask for loss information. Bam! There it is–the worst claims history you've ever seen. Although you realize this account might be tough to place, it's also large, and you're sure you can do it.
You need to discuss the claims with your prospect and find out the history behind them. Does a pattern suggest unsafe working conditions or practices? Is the equipment, building or other property in poor condition? Or were most of the claims just flukes? After all, a business can experience claims resulting from a string of bad luck.
Being a straight-commissioned producer, I often think I can't possibly pass up a ripe prospect who wants and needs my help, and with whom I've built rapport. But I must be honest with myself and acknowledge that sometimes a review of a prospect's circumstances indicates I should just walk away from it.
Another reason to walk away is that you simply can't find anything to fix. The prospect seems happy, doesn't have any major coverage or service issues and has been with its current agent for several years. The carrier who issued the policies has a good program for this particular type of risk. This account has "walk away" written all over it.
Nowhere is it written in stone that you must offer a proposal to every prospect you meet. If you choose to do so anyway, you may keep other agents honest and hope to write new business, but you won't become a successful producer. You can help prospects–and win their business–only if you can alleviate their pains. Whether their problems involve relationships, products, prices or service, you must be able to identify their problems and offer solutions. Let's face it–some prospects are happy with what they have. They shop around only to ensure that their current agents are, indeed, taking care of them. You've nothing to gain by spending your time and effort obtaining quotes for such prospects and trying to win their business.
Next–and this is an important step –determine whether you are dealing with the insurance-buying decision-maker. If not, find out who the decision-maker is and ask to meet with that person. Typically, when working with larger accounts, I initially meet with the organization's controller or one of its vice presidents. Often, this person is acting on behalf of his or her boss (the real decision-maker), gathering information, shopping their insurance and trying to come up with something better than what they have.
It doesn't do much good to find out what someone thinks is important, what they like and dislike about their current program, what they would change, etc., if someone else will make the insurance-buying decision. You must speak with the decision-maker to learn exactly how the decision will be made and who will make it, and either establish your rules of engagement or find out what their rules are so you can decide whether to proceed or walk away. If you ignore this step, you could end up wasting a lot of time, effort and money.
Have you already built, or can you build, rapport with the prospect? Customers buy from people they like and who are similar to them. They also will buy from you if they like you better than your competition. Establish rapport as quickly as possible and evaluate the rapport your prospect has with the incumbent agent. If you haven't established rapport, and don't feel you can, seriously consider walking away.
Now that I've outlined some reasons why you might choose not to pursue a certain prospect, keep in mind that the key to making the right decision is asking the right questions. At every appointment, 80% of the dialogue should be in question form. To properly evaluate your chance of writing the account this year, find out as much information as you can in the shortest time. If you don't believe you can write the account this year, either walk away from it entirely or shelve it and return to it later.
If you decide to walk away, do so tactfully. After all, you don't want to burn a bridge just because an opportunity isn't right, right now. Instead, compliment the prospect on the decisions they've made regarding their current program, mention that they seem to be well taken care of and state that you see no reason to proceed with them at this time. Your explanation will sound something like this: "I appreciate the time you've spent meeting with me, and it's been a pleasure getting to know both you and your business. You should be proud of the business you've built. After talking with you and reviewing your information, I feel your current program is a good one and don't see anything I can currently do to enhance it enough for us to proceed. Perhaps I can check in with you next year or some other time in the future to see if things might have changed. Would that be alright?" Then gracefully walk away.
Your goal should be to do business with people who want to build quality relationships with you and who appreciate your professional advice. There are plenty of great opportunities and lots of quality business to pursue. Just keep pounding the pavement until you find the right prospects to work with. Good luck and good selling.
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