One Simple Question You Can Ask To Increase Your Closing Ratio


Despite an excellent presentation and a well groomed appearance too many agents are leaving their appointments without the check. Now there can be many reasons for this, but a major factor is that the agents simply don't know what their prospects' PPF, or Primary Purchasing Factor, is. Knowing what the PPF is will allow the agent to tailor their pitch around what each different prospect.

Obviously you can't ask the prospect, "Hey, what's your Primary Purchasing Factor?" But you can take a different approach with a quick question such as, "Mr. Prospect, what more important to you, less premium or less risk?" The prospect will tell you if he's more concerned with money each month or the prospect of a major claim devastating his finances, this will then be his PPF.

Typically they will go into detail about why it is more important - people often have the need to justify their answers. If your prospect doesn't go into it, ask! That is your job, to get all the necessary information to design the appropriate plan for them.

When you understand their needs and the thinking behind these needs you can use that when presenting the product. For example, if you are presenting a health plan with accident benefit to it, instead of saying, "This plan has an accident benefit for up to $___ a year." Use this instead, "If your children get hurt while playing soccer this year or if you hurt your hand again in your workshop the accident benefit included in your policy will take care of the first $_____. After all, accidents are what you will be using this for the most right?

Consider doing what the movie stars do. Hire a publicist. If you think that movie starts are the only people then you are wrong. Lots of people do this and for a good reason. It is good business.

Professional athletes, novelists, physicians, marketing organizations, corporations etc., they all use publicists. To you this may seem way out of the normal methods for doing business, but in fact it is very mainstream. Getting your name out there is just advertising and nothing more. If you run an advertisement in the newspaper or pay (costly) for the yellow pages isn’t that just using a publicist in a different manner?

I know what you are all thinking, am I kidding you? No, this is a very legitimate and bona fide method of advertising. I have done it myself and it produced enormous results. In many ways it really launched me to the next level.

I signed a three month contact to be represented by a publicist; the cost was $5,000.

Her job was to get me speaking jobs for local charities such as the Lions and the Elks etc. She also did press releases for media outlets and other newsworthy things. I also had her book me into the local radio station as a guess speaker and the local expert. It worked, overnight (3 months) I had become the local expert in my area.

I spoke to over 30 groups at what I called the “Chicken Circuit” (because they always served chicken for lunch), spoke on � a dozen radio shows and even wrote a guess editorial for the local paper which I reprinted for handouts. Now that is exposure! I was even quoted in the largest newspaper in our state because of the release sent out by her naming me as a “quoted” expert.

The end result is I became the local annuity specialist with instant credibility and community standing. It became easy for me to attract attendees to seminars because they had seen me in other genres. If you are on the radio or in the newspaper then people associate you with success and knowledge.

Since I have no way of ever tracking specific sales results directly from the use of the publicist I can only guess. I think that for every dollar I paid her I received at least $10 in net sales commissions. The true benefit from using her is now my status is still retained and my business is continuing to grow and thrive but without the cost of paying her.

There are two very important things to remember about the power of advertising and the process of keeping your name and image in the public eye.

• In Colorado there are 88 mountain peaks higher than Pikes Peak!
• The only bad publicity is your funeral!

Think outside the box. It is fun and profitable.

Increasing your clientele in an insurance business is not easy, as so many people are skeptical of insurance. They know that they need and are even required to buy, as per their agreement to get a driver's license or the mandatory requirements from lending institutions, banks and mortgage companies. Still they hesitate and even get nasty as if the insurance agent is someone the evil co-conspirator to the insurance rules?

Customers need to think of your agency as a helpful friend assisting them in getting through the maze of insurance policies, rules, premium costs, coverages and actual needs or requirements. How can you bridge this gap of hostility, anger and sometimes a complete disdain and mistrust? It will not be easy.

It pays of course to become highly involved in your community starting with the basics of joining the Local Chamber of Commerce and a service club such as;

The Rotary
Kiwanis
Optimists
Lions
Elks

Giving back to the community and volunteering will assist in quality referrals and in doing so you will stand above the fast talking, fear inciting, run of the mill insurance agents out there trying to make a fast buck, by selling low-cost crap (opinion) policies to people who have no clue as to what on Earth they are buying. So, you can either do it the right way, the community way or you can do it the less-than-ethical way.

You decide but we are watching; we are the people. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.