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The title of this blog implies that industry change is making growth more challenging. And, for many (maybe most), that is true. However, as we all know, every challenge brings opportunity.
Those who fight change and ignore the new demands of growth will be left behind. However, those who embrace change and celebrate the new opportunities it provides will find new levels of growth they never could have conceived in the past. Of course, this growth opportunity will result from so many in the industry who fight against, or at least ignore, the demands of change.
Here’s three+ things you can do to unleash your growth potential.
Be more intentional
Admittedly, most of us didn’t grow up with the intention of a career in employee benefits; we were accidental arrivals. Unfortunately, this "accidental" nature perpetuates as we grow books of businesses and entire agencies.
To grow moving forward, it is critical to move from an accidental growth path to one that is much more intentional. Here’s a couple of examples.
Not every account is a good one.
Advisors and agencies alike need to be more intentional in selecting the clients they take on. In a typical book of business, the bottom half, by case count, only generates 7% of total revenue, while the top 20% generates almost 70%.
Imagine how the financial health of the book improves when you intentionally pursue accounts like those in your top 20% and avoid accounts like those in your bottom 50%.
Nothing will allow your bottom line to grow faster.
Hiring producers
Because the industry perpetuates the myth that this is a “relationship business,” the primary qualification for new producers is too often the size of their contact list. This leads to a failure rate with untold financial and opportunity costs that slow an agency’s growth.
As our need for consultative selling has grown and continues to increase, curiosity is the number one trait to intentionally pursue in producer candidates. When you find a producer with an insatiable curiosity about learning about the buyer, identifying their needs, and designing a plan of improvement to make that buyer more successful, stand back and watch that producer’s book of business grow.
Take control of the renewal process
Agencies often claim to “sell on price but retain on service.” That’s a bunch of BS. The fact is, you will lose every client the same way you earned them. After all, your sales approach trains the buyer on how to make a buying decision.
If you have sold on price and want to break your dependence on a spreadsheet, use a stewardship report to focus on how you have delivered value (beyond the carrier’s price on a spreadsheet).
This will deliver growth by improving retention and creating client promoters who can fuel additional growth via referrals and introductions.
Follow a sales process
Producers who tell themselves they are better off when they "wing it" are delusional and lazy and will consistently fall short of their growth potential. Here are two reasons why a sales process should be non-optional.
It drives consistent conversations
If you’ve been selling for any period of time, you have had success. You have found that certain approaches, questions, and techniques are effective. However, until you build these elements into a sales process, they get used inconsistently at best.
If nothing else, recognize that a sales process takes the best of what you deliver when you are at your best and ensures you deliver it every single time. And don’t fight this idea because you feel it will be too rigid. The right sales process is consistent without being formulaic.
Buyers need it to break down the complexity of their decision to hire you
Given the increased complexity of insurance solutions and the overall HR/benefits programs, the decision to switch advisors can be overwhelming for employers, leading many to stay with the “devil they know.”
A buyer-focused sales process breaks the big decision (of switching brokers) down into smaller, less threatening, easier-to-make decisions. These smaller steps reposition the switching of advisors as more of an obvious outcome of their collective decisions rather than the primary decision itself.
Goose can help
We have built an online business education and community platform called "Goose: Your Ultimate Wingman" to help you implement these types of growth ideas. If you find the promise of consistent sales success and growth built around a systematic process designed FOR benefits professionals BY benefits professionals more exciting than bouncing from one new strategy to another, you’ll want to learn more about Goose. Check out our website at Q4intel.com/goose. Or connect with me on LinkedIn.
We have built the training program you need for predictable growth and all the resources, conversations, and analysis tools necessary to establish habits that will drive growth throughout your career.
#LetsGrow
Content originally published on Q4intelligence
Photo by rattanakun
