23 May How to Convert Training and Skills into Action and Win More Business
Now that your producers have skills, you have to find a way to convert those skills into ACTION… This is Step Four of the Extraordinary Growth Process. Your producers MUST have a great coach that will drive the process and help them convert their newfound skills and knowledge into actions and behaviors (If not, all you will have is a lot of good, but useless and expensive knowledge with no return on your investment).
This has to happen in your Sales Meetings.. but it won’t if you stick with the status quo…
Liar’s Club “Typical” Sales Meetings
Here is what I mean… Many “typical” sales meetings start by reviewing the numbers, looking at who sold what and how much. Then on to the excel spreadsheet with the upcoming accounts. The leader scans them one by one, asking producers questions like, “How are you doing with this account? Need any help? What are your chances of closing it?” Throughout the process, the producer is giving mostly brief answers. “Good. No help needed. High chance of closing.”
Mostly, these sessions tend to become Liars’ Clubs where no real information is exchanged other than getting help on the “hot market.” Very little strategy on how to use differentiation to take out the incumbent is ever discussed. And other than pleas to get more referrals and boost the pipeline, nothing happens that challenges producers to be their best. By the way, much what producers said would close never happens. Your top producers avoid these meetings if they can because they would rather sell than listen to the “Liars’ Club.”
Instead, if you want an effective sales meeting you need CRISP or Continuous Rapid Improvement Sales Process Meetings: Imagine this…
What if every sales meeting became a Think Tank where each producer’s experience and knowledge was laser-focused on helping a producer BEAT the incumbent, one account at a time?
Imagine a sales meeting where the newest guy on the team has miraculously landed an appointment with one of the biggest prospects in the market. We get out the whiteboard, and write the name of the prospect and his company, along with the name of the incumbent agent. Everybody offers suggestions for effective wedges, advice about the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the incumbent and the key strengths of your own agency. But, it’s not just a brainstorming session, it’s a well-organized and structured process; that not only helps the new guy, but helps the seasoned producer as well. Instead of using a whiteboard, my iWin Agency Growth System clients pull up the prospect in the iWin Database and build a valuable Incumbent Database while going through this process.
The collective wisdom of the team focuses on knocking out the incumbent and closing the big one. Winning becomes a habit. Leveraging your differentiation becomes a habit. Helping the guy sitting next to you becomes a habit. Keep it up for a year or two and you’ve transformed your entire agency sales culture, creating a path to hire new producers and opening the door to explosive growth.
Whether it’s getting Red Hot Introductions, creating effective Wedges or developing Pre-Call Strategies, CRISP Sales Meetings make it happen for both your producers and your agency. If you’re going to take your producers off the street for a sales meeting, make it one that builds their skills and confidence and puts money in their pockets and yours!
If your sales meetings resemble the Liar’s Club, click here to learn more about our CRISP Sales Process.
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