• Experience. Generally, the longer you're in the business, the better your sales ratios.
• Skills. Producers who continually sharpen their selling skills have better sales ratios than those who do not make this effort.
• Markets. Producers who focus on their prospect profile in their most productive markets usually have better sales ratios than those who do not.
• Sources. Prospects may be plentiful, but the warmer the source, the better the results. Half of the sale is getting in the door, so it follows that people who know you — or who are introduced or referred to you by someone they know — are more likely to want to see you. Similarly...
• Reasons. Having good reasons to contact people is better than having a lot of people to contact. To improve your sales ratios, find as many good reasons as you can to contact as many qualified, on-profile prospects as you can get, from as many "warm," high-leverage sources as you can find. Which brings us to...
• Client-Building. Experienced, veteran producers generate anywhere from 50-80 percent of their production each year from existing clients — which makes clients and on-profile policyholders potentially your best source of business.

And, because these people expect you to stay in touch and provide on-going service, you never have to look very hard finding reasons to call. Thus, building and managing healthy client relationships can have a happy effect on your sales ratios.