1. 3 months old Reps Training

2. The Art of Effective Prospecting.
Setting the Stage
The Art of Effective
Prospecting.
Answers
The two categories Mike uses are “those who embrace technology” and “those who are reluctant to use technology.”
Mike categorizes his prospects to improve his efficiency. He has found that customers within each category have similar needs. So, he offers a different type of service to each category of customer.

3. What is Prospecting ?
The process of identifying, qualifying, and prioritizing organizations and individuals that have the need for and potential to purchase the salesperson’s market offering of products and services.

4. Prospecting is like breathing – If you stop doing it, you die
Prospecting is like breathing – If you stop doing it, you die. You need people to sell your products to.
If you have a strong inflow of suitable names, you will also be able to look forward to a steady stream of income.
Being without suitable prospects means being unemployed.

5. Prospecting – Summary. Obtain referred leads
Approaches personal friends as prospects
Engage in cold canvassing
Creates and utilizes centres of influence
Qualifies prospects before initial contact
Eliminates unqualified names (suspects)
Obtains personal introduction to prospects
Utilise mass prospecting techniques (mail)
Resells to policyholders
Seeks names of suspects from various sources ( newspapers, directors, membership lists)
Prospects continuously so as to see enough people.

6. Why Buyers Won’t See Salespeople
They may have never heard of the salesperson’s firm.
They may have no need; they just bought the product category.
The buyer may have their own deadlines on other issues.
Buyers are constantly getting calls from salespeople and do not have the time to see them all.
Gatekeepers in any organization screen their bosses’ calls and are often curt and even rude.

7. Qualifying Names
It is important to note that you are not only paid to place insurance on the books, but to keep it on the books. When a policy lapses, you forfeit the commission that you earned.
Once you have done that, you can do business with them, but the quality of your after-care service always plays a vital role in keeping the business on the books.
A qualified name is someone who:
Can afford your product(s)
Has a need for your product(s)
Is approachable.

8. Qualifying Names.
Consequently, the person who achieves success in sales doesn’t ask himself:
“How many people do I know?’’ but:
“Which people do I want to do business with?’’
It is important to prospect in a market where the clients match your personal profile.
It would generally be to your advantage to avoid the following types of clients:
People who do not have a bank account or stop-order facilities.
People who frequently change jobs.
People who can afford only small premiums (students and scholars excluded).
People who have allowed policies to lapse once before.
E.g. Salaried persons who are experiencing financial difficulties.

9. Continuous Prospecting.
A fact is that, you will not do business immediately with each qualified name you have identified.
This is why it is important that you obtain many more qualified names than the number of policies you have to sell.

10. How many qualified names must I obtain?
Statistics Prove That:
Out of every nine qualified prospects that you approach, only three will make an appointment.
Out of the three appointments, you will probably close only one sale.
This means that:
If you must obtain 20 policies a month,
You must get at least 60 appointments, which means that
You must phone at least 180 people and ask them for an appointment.

11. Time Management
Because obtaining suitable names is the most important task in your sales action, it is vitally important that, as you schedule time for appointments with clients, you allocate specific time per day/week to prospect.

12. What Information do I Need?
Just a name means nothing.
Before you approach any person for an appointment you need to know enough to decide whether you want to do business with him or not.
The three criteria again:
Can afford your product(s)
Is approachable.
Has a need for your product(s)

13. Can He Afford Your Product?
This seems like a difficult one. To get a person’s income without asking him is difficult. You don’t really need his income.
Look at things such as:
Where does he work?
What car does he drives?
What does he do?
His decision-making powers/abilities?
Where does he stay?

14. Is he approachable? This is easy to find out.
Get/ask for things such as:
A contact number
Information about his occupation
His availability/willingness to see you?

15. Does He Have A Need For Your Product?
Look for some event in his life that will create a financial need, such as:
Completing his school career
Changing jobs
Completing his studies
Not having a pension fund
Starting work
Getting promoted
Getting married
Inheriting money
Buying a house
Being close to retirement
Having a child

16. SEGMENT MARKET Identify a market that suits you.
If you are able to speak the language of your market and understand their needs and wants you will increase your sale successes.
It is easier to sell in a market that you know and understand.
E.g. Enterprise Life segments the market as follows:
You must further segment the market to identify people with homogeneous financial profiles and needs.
Market
Entry Level
Middle
Affluent
Household Income
,000
5, ,000
35,000 +

17. Where Do I Prospect? Prospecting can be done through:
Referrals from existing clients and networks
Presenting seminars in a workplace
Data prospecting and
Cultivating a scout

18. The Workplace
One of the ways to segment your market is to identify a workplace that fits your profile.
A workplace is a place where many people work and where you may obtain a list of employees through the mediation of the manager or the personnel manager.
A workplace such as this could include:
The ministries, the courts, the local municipalities and hospitals, local medical practitioners, large private companies, schools etc.

19. Group of people who have certain characteristics in common.
Certain characteristics in common, such as:
Professional people (attorneys, engineers, doctors, nurses etc.)
Members of the chamber of businesses – Chamber of Mines etc
Members of a society – Red Cross Society
Residents in a certain area – Neibourhood or Community Based.
Clients of a leading clothing business – MKOG, Nalem, ATL etc.
People who have changed jobs
People who have just been promoted
Members of a sports clubs

20. Group of people who have certain characteristics in common – Cont’d.
Certain characteristics in common, such as:
The owners of certain items (e.g. aircraft)
Parents of new born babies
Next of kin of deceased persons
NB: It is important that you obtain sufficient information about the names so that you are able to decide whether you want to do business with them or not.

21. Referrals.
The easiest, efficient and cheapest way to get more names is to ask satisfied clients for referrals.

22. a. Referrals from relatives and friends
A referral is a satisfied client referring you to the next to whom you can do business.
This process can start with one of your existing policyholders or with someone with whom you have just closed business or even with someone where you did not successfully conclude business.
When you ask someone for names, he may be unable to think of suitable names without some guidance from you, with prompting questions that will lead your informant to give you suitable names.
For example, you will not ask for names of colleagues. Instead, you will specifically ask for names of colleagues who were recently promoted or who are buying a house or who have had a baby, etc.
This process is advantageous because:
More information can be obtained about someone, which means that the qualifying process is easier. It is an advantage if the informant gives you permission to use his name when you approach prospects. It is much easier to obtain appointments this way.

23. b. Referrals from existing clients
Although satisfied clients are very important source of names, some advisors are afraid of asking their clients for names. For the advisor who renders quality service, this fear is groundless. If you knew a good lawyer or doctor, would you not recommend him to a friend? If you knew of a reliable garage, would you not want to share this knowledge with people that you know? The advisor who renders trusted service would therefore find out his existing clients are quite happy to supply him with names.
It is much easier to market to an existing policyholder than to anyone else.

24. c. Referrals from those with whom you have not effected business
People who do not immediately want to do business with you are not necessarily unimpressed by your service.
If you have done all your steps in your sales process correctly, they will still be providing you with names – more so because they usually feel guilty for not supporting you.

25. d. Referrals from your network
It is quite natural for the beginner to think of his family and friends first and to close his first assurance business with them too. Just keep in mind that these people form part of your social network.
Although they are a valuable source of business, they are more important to introduce you to potential clients or even an important source.
They can become scouts to assist you to look for potential clients.
Typical scouts are:
Accountants
Heads of departments
School principals
Secretaries
Personnel managers
Pay clerks
Estate agents

26. e. Your existing clients.
Here are some broad guidelines when choosing a scout:
He must know what type of prospect you’re interested in to prevent you from wasting valuable time with people who do not meet the necessary criteria.
If the scout has influence with those he recommends you to, it is a bonus as his judgement will carry a lot of weight and his advice will be welcomed.
Select your scouts. The quality of a scout is far more important than a large number of scouts. It is far better to have one or two good ones than to have fifteen or twenty poor ones.
Make sure you regularly give feedback to your scouts. Nobody will be willing to continue unless he knows that he is getting results.

27. f. Own memory
As a newcomer in the industry, you can probably think of a large number of people that you know. By listing relatives, friends and former colleagues, you could probably write down a hundred names.
Use your relatives and friends to get started and to obtain an introduction to important sources or data pools.

28. g. The news media
An event that results in someone’s circumstances and needs changing is a very good lead in prospecting.
Do keep a close eye on newspapers, electronic and social media.

29. h. Utilising suitable names
You already know that you will not secure an appointment with each name that you get.
Many advisers make the mistake of discarding these names to make appointments at a future stage when the clients’ circumstances change.

30. CONCLUSION.
Your success as an adviser depends largely on your consistent ability to find good quality names.
The best way to go about this is to establish yourself in a source that matches your target market.

31. Thanks