Focus on Sales-By Stuart Ganis
I was recently at an airport and made a stop at the gift shop for a pack of gum. As I was paying for the gum, the cashier asked me if I wanted a newspaper or magazine for my flight. I politely said “no” and she continued to ring me up and I left. I stopped at Starbucks and after ordering my drink the cashier asked me if I wanted a muffin or breakfast sandwich with my coffee. Later that day I was in a restaurant with clients and the waitress kept asking if we wanted add-ons with our meal; salads, dessert and other items they offered.
Later that day I was at an agency sitting next to an agent delivering personal lines quotes. The agent knew a lot about insurance, sounded great over the phone but never asked anyone if they wanted more than they requested. And, when I say “never,” I mean never. One client even mentioned their homeowners insurance and the agent didn’t even acknowledge that the person said it.
As I spoke to this agent about how he should have sold the client a package, he looked at me with a blank stare and replied, “But they asked for an auto insurance quote.” GULP!
Throughout the day, 2 cashiers and a waitress were trying to up-sell; food, beverages, newspapers and magazines. The “White Collar Professional” in a suit and tie sitting behind a desk never tried to sell anything more than what the client requested.
How can employees in a gift shop, coffee shop and restaurant up-sell but the Insurance Professional didn’t? Training! I guarantee you that every McDonalds manager goes through a training program and teaches their employees to ask “would you like fries with that,” “would you like to super-size that,” “would you like an apple pie?”
Agencies spend countless hours learning underwriting guidelines, coverages, software, phone systems and other tools in an agency, but they don’t invest time or money in Sales Training. At the end of the day, you’re a sales organization but there’s hardly any focus placed on teaching salesmanship. Does that make sense?
The next time you have a staff meeting, add sales talk to your agenda. Talk about building rapport, cross-selling, finding common interests with prospects and most importantly, asking for the sale. The leaders of an organization determine the culture of their company and if you make selling the priority, so will your people.
Rather than only giving the client what they asked for, the attitude should be that you’re doing the client a disservice by not selling them everything you offer. By closing sales, you’re helping clients make a decision and obtain coverage at the best agency on the planet—yours.
Stuart Ganis is the National VP, Consulting and Training with Astonish Results. Ganis Consulting recently merged with Astonish Results, a Digital Marketing, Training and Consulting firm that caters to the independent agency system. Contact Stuart @ 310.937.6200 or email: sganis@astonishresults.com
