Your sales process is your map to guide you along the path to close deals. A good sales process should be structured to your needs, repeatable, and help guide you through the difference steps towards closing a deal.
Typical Steps in a Sales Process:
- Identify the right business to pursue
- Define your ideal profile. What is the industry? Where are they located? What size is the client in terms of lives and revenue?
- Build your prospects out. Use referrals, networking, LinkedIn, associations, as well as prospect development sites to round out your list.
- Contact prospect and have a live call
- This is where you create and use your outreach plan.
- What are the steps in your contact plan? Do you have scripts for voicemails, LinkedIn connections, emails? The more basic templates you have that you can adjust to the client the easier and faster the process can be. Don’t keep recreating the wheel!
- Ask questions and take good notes!
- Are they currently happy? Who do they have, what issues are they having, what are their premiums? When is their renewal? Compliance concerns?
- This is where you create and use your outreach plan.
- Gather underwriting and create a plan
- Data is always important and understanding what the client has and what you can improve is important.
- Current plan summaries (SBCs)
- Census data
- Current rates & employer contributions
- Claims experience
- Renewal history
- Self-funded specific information if needed
- Data is always important and understanding what the client has and what you can improve is important.
- Develop a strategy
- What can you offer that’s better than what they have? While you evaluate the data make sure that you’re also aware the building personal relationships with the clients and giving them a secure feeling of being listened to and supported will go a long way.
- Remember – you’re creating a total benefits strategy, not just shopping rates!
- Market to the carriers
- The goal is to get a competitive offering
- Financial & plan modeling
- This is where you can shift from being just “an insurance broker” and become a strategic advisor for the client.
- What can you offer that’s better than what they have? While you evaluate the data make sure that you’re also aware the building personal relationships with the clients and giving them a secure feeling of being listened to and supported will go a long way.
- Present to leadership
- There’s making the client audience felt heard and understood and then there’s making sure that the finances are in alignment.
- Cost vs. coverage tradeoffs
- Employee impact
- Administrative support
- Make sure you’ve covered all the hot buttons and pain points that were brought up in the beginning of the process.
- There’s making the client audience felt heard and understood and then there’s making sure that the finances are in alignment.
- Close the deal and get a signed Broker of Record
- Move onto the service process and make sure the transition is easy for your client and that your service staff feels supported.
