No two producers are alike, and this is apparent in the way they go about selling. Each producer will develop their selling style based on their personality and the type of client they are pursuing. As important as it is to provide producers flexibility and freedom to add their unique flavor to what they do, not everything they choose will generate the desired results. There may come a time when their methods are not just ineffective but detrimental to their growth.
Convincing a producer to change their selling habits may not be the easiest task, but here are some tips to break things down and get to the root of the problem so the producer can get back to doing what they do best
Assess the Problem –
Once a decline in performance becomes apparent, it’s essential to take a closer look. Rather than looking at just one or two months, look at sales data over a more extended period – perhaps six or twelve months. Looking at that information should help identify whether this is a blip on the radar or a downward trend.
For example, if you review the past year of sales data and see the producer has been on track with their sales goal for ten of the past 12 months, there’s a good chance that this is a temporary issue. And if there’s a bigger problem starting to brew, you have hopefully identified it early enough that you can start working the producer to start turning things around. However, if you look at the last year and see that there has been a steady downward trend, this is more problematic. Declining performance could indicate that the producer is not as invested in their career as they should be, and it may be time to move them on to a new opportunity.
Dissect the Process –
While every producer might put their spin on the sales process, there should be a step by step process to guide them through from prospecting to closing the sale. When working through this review process, it is essential not to assume the issues are impacting only one individual. Chances are, the process may not be working for any of the producers; it just hasn’t become problematic from a sales standpoint, yet.
Whether it is pipeline management, data gathering, submission and quote review, or proposal presentation, each part of the process is vital to making a sale. Overall, looking at the process for the entire group will allow you to review multiple data sets, identify trends, create benchmarks, and detect problems.
Revise & Execute –
Finding the issues in the process is only half the battle.
Once pitfalls to the process have been identified, it is critical to make necessary adjustments. Coming up with solutions may require some creativity and asking producers for input for what could work more effectively will help generate buy-in when it comes time to implement those changes. Recognize that adopting a new or revised process will be a work in progress and should not deter you from executing those changes.
Allow producers an adjustment period to adjust and adapt to the new process and leave the door open for discussion should there be concerns and tweaks needed along the way.
While performance issues can seem like one thing on the surface, there is usually more to the story. Taking the time to dive deeper and truly understand the problem can help producers find more success, which will always lead to more success for the agency!
For more insight on this topic, be sure to check out the full episode of The Independent Agent here.
About the Author
Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
