Are you a producer who’s struggling to get appointments? Well, it might be your fault. I’m going to give you three things today that you need to be thinking about before you pick up that phone and dial.
Getting on the phones to ask for appointments is a problem for most. We don’t like to do it. And the only thing that makes it worse is when we don’t have success. There are a few things I want you to think about as a producer that will help you as you’re trying to get in front of those ideal prospects in your pipeline.
The first thing I feel you need to do is quit doing so much research. Don’t do so much research that it cripples your ability to pick up the phone and call. You don’t need to know every single thing about every single company before you pick up the phone to call. While I would advocate you do this prior to getting into a first appointment with them, all you’re trying to do on the phone is to get that appointment. Don’t spend a bunch of time doing research, so that you feel more comfortable on the phones, only to know so much that you talk yourself out of the appointment. You also take and constrict the time that you would have on the phones because you’re spending it looking up a bunch of stuff on the internet.
Now the second thing I’m going to tell you contradicts the first. It would help if you did some research, some level. You need to know what the mod is. You need to know what the X date is. You need to know just something, something to start the conversation. But it doesn’t need to be a mini-series documentary on this company’s history and leadership. Get in there, know just something you can hook onto that will drive the conversation and allow you to start that conversation towards an appointment. The third thing producers do that kills them from getting appointments is simply trying to sell the deal over the phone.
The only thing you need to sell is the appointment. An appointment setting phone call is not the time for you to get into all the features of your agency, your value proposition, and all the great stuff that you do that makes you who you are. You’re going to have time for that. In my experience, the best way for you to get appointments is either through a very focused approach with the experience mod because we like to do that with Workers’ Comp here in Florida. Or to simply pick up the phone and say, “I know your renewal date is coming up in X number of days or X number of months. And this is probably the time you’re used to taking meetings with people like me. We’re going to be in your area next Tuesday and Wednesday. Which one’s better for you? Oh, great. Tuesday? Is morning or afternoon better? Afternoon. Is two o’clock good, or is there another time you prefer?”
I don’t ever give them the opportunity for yes or no. They have to pick between two choices that will get them where I need them to be. But if you notice, that conversation takes 15, maybe 20 seconds. If you’re lucky, it might go a little bit longer, but you don’t want it to last longer. You want to get the appointment booked. Then you can start diving into your research so that you can go in and slay the dragon on your meeting. But when it comes to setting appointments over the phone, you need to pick up the phone. It’s the number one revenue-producing tool in literally every agency. And yet, it’s the most underutilized.
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