Administrative or billing arrangements are often necessary in business cases, so the client's accountant, bookkeeper or office manager should be included in the delivery meeting. You may also wish to discuss specific details with these people after the meeting. Moreover, in an employee benefits or qualified retirement plan case, a formal plan installation meeting with the participants is an important part of the sale. Not only will this session get the plan off to a good start, but it will position you as a business insurance counselor in the eye's of the employees, which can lead to individual sales.

Remember, your long-term objective is to be considered one of the businessowner's key advisers — a role for which you've been carefully positioning yourself from your first contact with the client. This, however, is a role in which mutuality of interests and shared expectations must be clear to both parties from the start.

Be candid about your expectations. Unlike a businessowner's relationships with attorneys, CPAs or accountants, whose services are billed by-the-hour, you are compensated in different ways — and the placement of commissionable products is just part of the equation. You understand that, and have explained it to the client during the hot-button meeting. But, as one business market specialist put it, "Most businessowners suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder — so, it pays to repeat the message!"