"The person I want to do business with is a young professional or executive who is happily married and has a household income of at least $150,000 a year."

OR

"Basically, I'm looking for people who own and operate successful, financially stable companies or professional practices with fewer than 50 employees. They should have been in business for at least five years."

Your marketing strategy (and your general agent or trainer) will help you develop a profile of your "ideal" prospect. Your best source for prospects is on-profile referrals. It will also help determine: 1) how many prospects you need to feed into your sales cycle each week; 2) how to find them using a variety of sources and methods; 3) how to approach them; and 4) how to interest them in meeting with you.

"Prospects" vs. "Suspects." Even people in your target markets are only "suspects" until you qualify them as "prospects." Traditionally, a qualified prospect is someone who:

1) needs and wants your products and services;
2) Can afford the premiums;
3) Is insurable; and
4) Can be approached by you.

Of course, even people who are uninsurable for life or disability income insurance may still be prospects for annuities and investment products.

Try this! Write out a profile of the type of person you consider an ideal prospect. Be specific. Your description should include age, occupation, and income, as well as any geographic, social, ethnic, or cultural criteria that may apply. When you're done, review your prospect profile with your general agent or trainer.

Successful producers enjoy opening discussions about their prospects' favorite topics: themselves, their families, and their businesses. As noted earlier, the more you know about people, the easier it is to interest them in working with you. You'll soon develop that kind of marketing and prospecting savvy.