I think most people do not understand what to say when they talk to new agents on the phone, so they end up asking one sentence questions like, “How are you doing?”  Then, they take whatever the agent says at face value.  They don’t pry, they don’t delve, they don’t dive, they don’t go deeper, and they don’t peel the onion layers off.  When you talk to an existing agent, you need to get to know their situation.  You need to find out what’s going on in their life. 

             So, the questions may start with, “How are you doing?”  Then, you might ask, “Well, how many phone calls did you make?” You have to listen to what the agent is saying.  If he says, “Well, I’m doing something with the children,” then you ask, “How many children do you have? How old are they? Do they plan on going to college?  Do you have plenty of money for them if something happens to you and your health?”

             You are looking for the agent’s “why”.  You are looking for the agent’s “reason”.  You are looking for the agent’s motivation.  It is your job to turn that back around and ask, “Well then, don’t you think you need to make some more phone calls right now?”  So, you ask questions until the agent is doing what they need to be doing.

              It’s the same scenario with a client.  You just don’t take the client’s word for it when he says he doesn’t need any insurance. You start talking about his family, or what does his house look like?  What does his dream home look like?  What does his dream vacation look like?  Just like with a client, you ask questions, and then you dive into getting the action that you need from the agent.  You see if you can speak to the spouse, if you can find out his parent’s history, or if you can find out anything interesting about this new agent.  You should make notes in your contact manager, in your notebook, in your thought notebook, or on a scrap sheet of paper.  You need to find out what motivates this agent. 

             Eventually, you will be like some of us, and you will be able to have one conversation with a new agent and that will be enough to understand them.  You will always know what motivates that agent, and you can always bring that subject back to the forefront.  You can put that subject back on the table.  Then, you can say things like, “What happened to the people on the phone when you called them?  Did you book the appointment?  Why not?”  You can refer back to what fires up the agent, and you can encourage him to use that motivation when he is on the phone with other people.  Once you find out a person’s hot button or what motivates a person, you can use that to help that person succeed in life.  That is why you spend more than just one or two or three minutes up on the phone when you chat with a new agent!

AA

The goal is to break down the elements that a person needs to do into baby-steps or tiny bites. 

You have heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? …One bite at a time!” Well, if you can carve up the elephant in tiny, bite sized amounts and lay it out on a buffet to a new person, they can bite and eat, bite and eat, so that at least you are not the crimp in the pipeline. However, if you give a person a baby elephant to eat all at one time, you have created the crimp. If you can chop it into  tiny little pieces and they pick and choose what to eat real fast, you can rock and roll. 

So, for example, if I am getting started with you, and you are not licensed, and you are a friend of mine, I might say “Hey, do you have internet service?” See how quickly and how simply I broke that down? “Do you have Internet access? Go to the computer, sit down, log on, here’s a web address. Get your credit card out, sign up for your licensing for life and health.” 

Do you see how I am breaking it down into tiny bits of bites? Now, do not get me wrong, I am going to keep throwing more out there. I will tell you to make a list of people that you know that we might call, or I might say it like this, “I really need some help in Orlando, Florida, or Houston, Texas. Do you know someone out there that’s pretty sharp? Someone that might want to make some money? Somebody that might be interested that we can call?” 

You see, I do not say things like, “Make me a list of people I might call for you,” and don’t try to make it sound like some glamorous thing. I try to make it so simple and dumb that they will say, no duh. No kidding, no joke. I can do that! Then, they just reach out and grab each of these bites. Maybe they say, “Great!” and they log in on the computer, and they name two people that they know in Houston, Texas. Or, they know two people that you should call, and now you are helping them take the bites of elephant. You are walking them through as fast as you can, and then when they get bogged down, that is your signal to go to talk to somebody else about baby snacks, about baby bites. 

YOU might need to take baby bites or baby steps. Ask yourself, “What will I need to do next to get a new person that I can start feeding?” Maybe you need to brainstorm your list. Maybe you need to get out a sheet of paper and just start writing down sharp people that you have not called yet. Maybe you need to take a different look at it and say, “Okay, who do I give my money to? My banker, my insurance agent, my P&C agent.” Since you are a life guy, you probably give money to a P&C agent. Start listing people you give money to. Your realtor, your landlord, or the guy who does the utilities at your house. See, I am breaking it down in smaller bites rather than telling you go get another agent.  I am trying to back up and even break it down for you. 

The key is breaking it down in baby steps, but not taking forever to feed each bite to the baby. Lay it out on a buffet. 

Hurry, let’s go! 

AA