When you invest time and money into marketing yourself and your products, it’s fair to expect some results. But what do you do when you feel like your marketing efforts aren’t working?
No one has picked up the phone, and you feel like you’re not getting ahead.
You’re not alone. Here are 3 key reasons why you’re not hearing back that will give you some hope and peace and mind.
1. Do the Right Kind of Marketing
In the past, we’ve tried TV commercials.
And we did not see ANY return on that significant investment. No one picked up the phone and said “I saw your commercial.”
Here’s the thing: insurance sales is not like car sales.
In car sales, you can jump on a President’s Day sale and run over to the car dealership.
But we all know that insurance is pretty much the opposite of that.
Make sure your marketing efforts aren’t focused on the “right this second” sale. Your efforts need to be consistent, and they need to be drawn out. Why?
Because when people finally get to the point where they need your services, your face will be the first thing to pop up in their minds, which brings us to the next point.
2. Timing Is Everything
You have to keep your face in front and people.
In general, people don’t just need insurance the next day. Something has to happen to trigger the need.
They lose their job, they transition to Medicare, they start losing sleep at night over the risk they have in the stock market — something has to develop or shift to cause a person to reach out to you.
No matter what kind of marketing you’re doing, it’s highly unlikely that you will see instant gratification.
This is especially true with referrals. Even if your client says they’ve given out 10 of your cards and those people should be in touch with you soon, you can’t expect to get 10 phone calls the next day.
Give it time, and when the need is triggered, rest assured that they’ll be digging around in their drawers and purses for your card.
3. Always Give the Full Presentation
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again…
Cross-selling is the single easiest way to become a rockstar agent.
The reasons for this are obvious. You can multiply your sales with no additional legwork, you build loyalty and trust, and your relationship with your client continues to solidify.
But, we do know that it can be hard to do a full presentation in certain circumstances.
For example, if you’re meeting with a prospect who specifically requested a Med Supp, you might feel awkward mentioning every other type of insurance you can help with.
Another potentially weird situation is giving your whole spiel when you’re working with close family and friends.
However, when you let people know that you aren’t just a Med Supp guy (or whatever you’re seeing your client for), a lightbulb goes off.
Suddenly, you’re THE insurance guy. Not just the Med Supp or final expense or investment guy.
Here’s a perfect example from Michael Sams on why you need to stop worrying and just do your full presentation:
“It can be hard to bring up the full-meal deal when you’re helping people you’ve known for forever. It’s even harder when they’ve known you since you were in diapers.
Well, one couple had their renewal come up, and it was the first time I did a Client Needs Assessment with them.
For the first time, I asked them ‘Are you satisfied with the current rate of return on your investments?’
Before that, they never knew I even touched investments. It was an ‘oh!’ moment.
You just put it out there and let them know that when the times comes, you can be there. It takes the pressure off, because they know they don’t need to do anything today.
They’ll eventually want to move their investments from the stock market into a safer place. And I’ll be there to help with that transition.
Even if it’s not today, that couple will immediately think of me when it comes to their investment needs.”
Advertising yourself and marketing to prospects is time consuming, and it takes a lot of perseverance.
BUT, you can rest assured that even if you aren’t seeing immediate results, your efforts are slowly but surely paying off. Keep your name circulating out there, and before you know it, you’ll be the go-to insurance and investment guy (or gal).
To help you along, we’ve developed a variety of marketing materials. Check out this mail piece you can customize and send to your clients:
