How to prospect effectively, and how can I make sure people keep their scheduled appointments?

Question

My salespeople keep getting "stood up" for appointments in the life insurance business. They also keep running out of people to see. Help! Tim

Answer 1

It's hard to convince people to talk about life insurance because it raises the specter of death. As most insurance salesmen know, networking is the best way to get prospects. You need referrals from your clients. The second best way is the ever popular orphan policyholder. Discussing the policy gets the salesperson in the door which is sometimes all he/she needs. As for forcing people to keep their appointments, no way. You can call the day before to check if the time is still convenient, but if the prospect backs out, you'll just have to move on to the next one and set up a tickler file to call back in a month or so to see if the person has changed his/her mind about it.

Answer 2

The best way to prospect is referrals. Every contact you make has relatives, people they love and care about. When making your presentation, sell yourself first, married family man, church member, local civic or club member, etc. Then sell your company, years in operation assets, state coverages, show local checks paid out to client's family, then sell your product. All the while try not to sound like a used car salesman, be sincere. Make sure you know enough of each to ensure a fruitful presentation. If you make a solid sale, tell them that it is impossible to talk to everyone all in one year and hope to reach their relatives. You want to help them also, but you could use ther help and have them give you some names of relatives, and a solid introduction to assure keeping the appointment. This worked for me in a small town and surrounding small towns for 12 years. this was23 years ago and people who were my clients still remember me and wish I was still with the company. I retired in 1983.