- Read daily newspapers and other periodicals. Look for items about, or of interest to, your clients, policyholders, and selected on-profile prospects and their families, or situations to which you should respond. Clip the articles out and send copies along with a handwritten note in a stamped, hand-addressed envelope, like this:
Sid: Saw this item in today's paper. Great picture! Congratulations! All the best, Chris
- Send a birthday, anniversary, or holiday card, with a handwritten note. Enter age change, anniversary, and similar information about clients in your database.
Try this! Check out e-relationship.com for unique, electronic communications.
- Respond quickly to problems, questions, and service requests. Treat phone calls, e-mails, letters, or service requests from clients as priorities, and follow up promptly. According to Boardroom Reports, unresponsiveness (being late for scheduled meetings, and not returning calls or answering letters) is a major problem for sales people in this country. One executive who had returned after several years abroad reported that he was shocked by the low level of responsiveness here. He went on to say that since he's been back, one of his best sales tools has been making certain he delivers on his promises.
Try this! Give your administrative assistant the names of clients for whom you are always available. It's a good idea to check your phone messages frequently, and schedule a specific time for callbacks. Many advisers reserve the last hour of the business day for this purpose.
- Give copies of "survivor kits" or books, such as "Grant Me My Final Wish" by Renata Marie Vestevich, on the personal and financial adjustments families must make after the death or disability of a loved one.
- Be aware of on-profile clients' changing personal and family insurance needs and wants. If you don't bring something up, you may not be asked. Never wait for people to ask the right questions at the right times. (See "Be a Bridge Over Troubled Waters.")
- Become known in your clients' business and social networks. Salaried executives, businessowners, professional advisers, and vendors, in target markets or small towns, usually know each other (or of each other), and often communicate on a business and social basis.
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Ohio National is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse or sponsor, any particular prospecting, marketing or selling system.
