Troy Clark's Blog, page 3

THANKFULNESS AND SUCCESSFUL SELLING

True thankfulness comes from thinkfulness.

Most Americans choose occupations that require as little mental energy as possible. “Employee drones” shuttle themselves daily to a workstation to perform perfunctory duties for an employer only to collect the same meager paycheck at the close of each unfulfilling work week.

This is not you! You are self employed, a licensed professional in the insurance industry! YOU are both boss and employee. Your business’ ultimate success does not depend on any other factor, but squarely on your ability to convert opportunity into results. ONLY 5-7 sales per week (1 per day, Mon-Fri.) can easily result in a $1,000-$3,500 paycheck by the weekend !!!!

In sales: “If it was meant to be, it is up to me.” THINK ABOUT IT.

In Final Expense sales, we do not have the luxury of turning off our brain when we work. Part of our mental energy is being able to wisely think through unfamiliar challenges in selling. I am thankful for the privilege of being able to employ myself every day, so I positively think through all challenges that are part-n-parcel to the good fortune of writing my own paycheck every week. I am not a drone.

I am a thinker and a doer.

Thinkfulness is parent to thankfulness.

When a “sure sale” is missed or lost by an inexperienced agent, it is in this moment an agent’s future is decided. Will an agent gravel in self pity and wear a grumpy disposition as a “badge of honor”, or instead, gratefully think through how to improve in his/her selling skill on the next customer call? Never turn off your mind.

Experience gained through failure is a success! I became a National Top Producer in Final Expense sales, because I have failed many times in closing sales, re-thought, then re-adjusted my approach through setbacks, probably more times than the average agent is willing to think through for themselves.

Stop whining. Start winning! Failure pivots to success in your thought life. Tis the season to be thankful in both failure and success by solution-oriented thinking. Think smarter. You are blessed with a clear mind. Think for the customer. Resolve their objections and concerns for them. Add value into their situation while presenting your product, by making it personal to their situation. This will make you become more valuable to them. Help enough people today, until you get what you want – a sale!

I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with your families. Count your blessings! Think on these things. Be refreshed and ready for the final push of the year in December!!!

BIGGEST UNSPOKEN SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL SELLING

 In my book “How YOU Can MASTER Final Expense”, I end the book by stating the BIGGEST, unspoken secret to mastering the art of selling final expense insurance is….Self Adjustment.

It is amazing to me how simple it is to make sales one-right-after-the-next by adjusting one’s sales presentation, until it works! Listen in on a conversation I had recently with an agent:

Agent – I don’t get it! Nine “A Lead” customers in a row told me that they are either “not interested”, or “never sent any inquiry”. Something fishy is going on with these leads.

Troy – What are YOU saying initially to your customer?

Agent – I’m going word-for-word exactly by the Sales Script.

Troy – You are?

Agent – Yes!

Troy – Why?

Agent – You always encourage us to not skip any portion of the Sales Script.

Troy – Agreed, but why are you treating all customers alike?

Agent – Huh? What do you mean?

Troy – Are all customers exactly alike?

Agent- No.

Troy – Are all customers in the exact same disposition at the first “hello”?

Agent – No.

Troy – So, why are you reading the Sales Script to everyone exactly same ???

Point is, yes, you should use your Sales Script as a exact guide, but also use instinct. If a customer is unhappy, put a smile on their face first. If a customer is sad, listen to their problem, then ask if their day would go better by speaking with someone who truly cares about grieving families – YOU (the agent)! If the customer is in a hurry, reschedule for a more opportune moment. If a customer is reluctant, generate “polite chatter” first before “talking business”. ADD VALUE to your sales presentation by making it personal.

I personally called an agent’s perceived “bad” A & B leads that he wanted to throw away, because the customer “did not remember any initial inquiry” on their part. Turns out, most of them did remember it after speaking with me, because after instant raport was established upfront, they wanted to learn more about what I had to offer. The customer simply bought into ME first, then the customer felt comfortable moving forward with the information they initially inquired about. Connect with the customer BEFORE “talking business”.

Are YOU ADJUSTING to each customer situation? Are YOU ADJUSTING and constantly upgrading your sales skill to appeal more quickly to customers upfront? Or, are you mechanically doing it same way every time, even when it is NOT WORKING !?! Are YOU ADJUSTING your close to be more inviting, yet creating urgency for a customer to make a buying decision today. Are YOU ADJUSTING during the prequalifying health questions to include “take-aways” that puts the customer on the edge of their seat to feel fortunate to qualify?

YOUR Self Adjustment is critical to your own lucrative growth as a salesperson! If you are a self employed insurance professional, growing your bottom line profits has everything to do with adjusting yourself to find what does work in your own Sales Presentation. Try new things this week! Adjust! Grow! Learn! Work smarter than you ever have before! You can live in the “Big Picture” of your dreams. Adjust!, if what you have been doing, or saying, is NOT RESULTING IN SALES. If 2 presentations per day is not generating at least one daily sale, doesn’t it sound smart to ADJUST your selling schedule to get more presentations in per day? It matters, if you want to MASTER Final Expense Sales.

I believe YOU CAN!

HOW TO OVERCOME A “SALES SLUMP”

1.     Identify Your Weakness. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, right? A chain of sale-after-sales-after-sale each week is possible, as an agent zeros in what steals your selling opportunity. What are you allowing to snatch away your positive outlook, your selling time, your “can-do” spirit? Whatever it is, this has become your weakness – your Kryptonite. Know your weakness! Understanding the problem is half the solution.

2.     Stay On Schedule. A “streaky” work ethic ultimately ends up with inconsistent sales results. Why? Perfect practice makes perfect. “Taking a break” for several hours, or days, when you are in a slump, puts an agent into the habits of  failing. Instead of “taking a break” from selling, practice making a sale without a customer on the phone. Deliver your entire sales presentation to a “practice buyer”, including the application process, so that you get familiar with collecting customer payment info. KEEP YOURSELF BUSY IN HABITS OF SUCCESS. Do something to “make a sale”, even if it is a pretend sale. Afterwards,  ask your “practice buyer” to point out what you could improve on. Keep Practicing, until your sales presentation sounds more “perfected”. Then, put a new and improved Sales Presentation into play with live customers. An improved YOU guarantees improved RESULTS. 

3.     Refocus On The Basics. In sales its kinda’ obvious, isn’t it? Talking to the next customer is the ONLY way to make the next sale. At the beginning of my sales career, as an average salesman, I discovered the more I worked, the luckier I got. The more people I talk to, the more sales presentations I delivered, resulting in more sales. Winners, who earn thousands of income commissions each and every week, are smart enough to know that “the main thing is to keep the main thing, the Main Thing”!! Keep talking daily to as many people as it takes to reach your sales goal.

4.     Stop Telling Yourself You “Can’t”.  Positive or negative self statements often lead to exactly what will happen. Why is this important? Our feelings are caused by what we tell ourselves about our circumstances. Misguided thoughts can creep in through the natural ebb-n-flow of selling’s ups-n-downs. Empower your reality instead! Say loudly, “I am getting better”. “I control my destiny”. “I don’t have to make a low paycheck”. “I can overcome this”. Combat emotions to truth by verbalizing who you really are, and what you really want. Truth is, YOU CAN SUCCEED.  

5.     Change Your Close. Stop “wimping out” when a customer does not want to make a buying decision today. Your sales slump can be fixed immediately, if you stop enabling a customer habit of procrastination. When your hear a customer say, “Can we have more time

to think about it?” “Will you call me back tomorrow?”, in a nice way, use authoritative closing remarks that boosts YOUR confidence….

6.     Change Your Clothes. This means – Your business attire is important! Example: I personally wore a tie every day in my phone sales schedule for the first 6 months, even though my customers never saw what I was wearing! WHY? Because of how it made me feel. I felt important dressing for success. Look like a professional! If you work in your pajamas, you are going to feel like you’re still in bed. On page 49 in my book “How YOU Can MASTER Final Expense”, I articulate the value of looking the part. In today’s culture, perception is reality, even to yourself. Like him or not, Rush Limbaugh is the most listened to broadcaster in America today, pulling in a radio audience of more than all major news networks combined. He sports a tie collection sold at Dillard’s and oftentimes wears a tie while “on air”, esp. in the early years of his radio program, even though the audience mostly cannot see him. Why is Rush one of the best in his business? – he looks and feels the part, while he is working! I never “dressed down” while selling, ever. It makes a HUGE difference to put into practice what successful people do to become a winner in life. I am certainly not suggesting that you become me, or Rush Limbaugh, or wear your Sunday best to work in. I am suggesting, however, that what you wear while you are working, determines how important you feel as a professional.

7.     Reward Yourself. Set a doable goal. When the goal is reached, reward yourself with a small purchase, or savory meal. HOWEVER, agents in a slump are “rewarding themselves” way too early, trying to make themselves feel better by spending money, or taking breaks, because of poor sales results. Reverse your slump by reversing your reward system. No sale, no reward. Decide to reward yourself ONLY AFTER reaching a doable, yet worthy sales goal.

Implementing these practical suggestions are ways to help get you “unstuck”. The key is to improve one thing every day about yourself. Habits of improvement in one area of your life connect to improvements in other important areas. And, vice versa. Habits of failure in one area of your life connect to failure in other important areas.

Go from a “sales slump” to a Sales Bump. Now is your time. It’s your life.

I believe YOU CAN !!!

BETTER MEANS  DIFFERENT

How often does an agent choose a Final Expense career with a glorious vision to create a better, more financially lucrative life for him/herself? My hand is up…I did!

How often, then, is this same FE agent willing to adjust and rearrange differently their own lifestyle choices to accommodate success in sales? (This is the “other side” of the agent’s initial vision.) My other hand is up…I did!

A dearth of successful results may not have anything to do with “better” methods, but a DIFFERENT way to operate your business.

How many agents in a sales profession realize that a much better life means that new success is bred by a changed (different) work schedule, more accurate laser-focused (different) work habits, a better (different) outlook, a new (different) set of challenges to problem-solve, a more appealing (different) approach to potential customers, a stronger (different) way of handling objections and closing sales, as well as a much higher (different) paycheck at the end of the week !!!

Because Final Expense sales may be different than anything you’ve ever done: BETTER MEANS DIFFERENT.

To attain better bottom-line results, any agent must become a vastly improved, different salesperson than you’ve ever been! The financial success that I have experienced on any sales platform, is attributed to doing things differently than anything

I have ever done!   Why?

I changed with it. I improved. I gutted-out my personal life and made lifestyle-altering choices that promoted business success. I stretched my faith. I grew my abilities. I matured. I WAS WILLING TO BECOME A DIFFERENT ME to accommodate SUCCESS as a sales expert!

Most agents are searching for “better leads”, a “better sales script”, a “better system”, “better expenses”, “better management”, a “better product”, “better” blah blah blah….enough already! What about a better YOU?! What choice do you make, as a self employed professional, if 5pm rolls around, and you haven’t made one sale today? Do YOU work on, until the job gets done – consistently, consecutively, every day, every week? Most average agents inconceivably refuse to change their already failing work plan. Please, pardon my bluntness. Point is, are YOU willing to work differently than you ever have in the past?

A daily/weekly written-out schedule lends YOUR best chance to succeed, puting all of life’s obligations in its proper place. Do YOU put in the time it takes to make one sale today? Do YOU exercise and eat healthy, so that you feel good all day long? Do YOU arrange your home-life to get plenty of rest in the evening, so that you feel refreshed the following day? Do YOU train yourself to speak well every time a customer says, “hello”, on the other end of the telephone.

Isn’t it worth it to you to make these adjustments to be your own boss and watch $1,500-$3,500 roll into YOUR BANK ACCOUNT every week?!

BETTER MEANS DIFFERENT

If you leave the Final Expense market the same way you arrived, I may know why you did not succeed. Operating your FE business as you have any other business in the past, will not fulfill the financial growth that you are anticipating.

A better life means only one thing – a better (and different) YOU!