I contend that all of us are in sales regardless of our chosen vocation or profession.  As a small-business owner—your livelihood depends on your ability to sell and yet many entrepreneurs are not truly effective at it. For twenty years I made a living selling life insurance. The early years were truly a struggle until I had an epiphany.

Odds are high that you’ve heard the word ‘epiphany’ but never looked it up in the dictionary. Until the moment I started writing this piece, neither had I.
 
To save you the trouble, here’s the definition according to Dictionary.com:
 
e•piph•a•ny  : noun, plural -nies:
  A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience
 
I remember the day very clearly that selling life insurance became easier for me:

• The day I quit worrying about how to answer an objection with a canned response
• The day I realized that the clients/prospects had more to gain by seeing me than I did by seeing them
• The day the phone no longer felt like a 500 lb. weight when I picked it up to secure an appointment
• The day I quit acting as if I were a sales professional and actually became one
• The day I had my sales epiphany

The life insurance industry has a pet name for people whose agent has either retired or left the business: Orphan Policyholders. They are a good source of contacts for neophyte producers because it gives them someone to call on.

 I tried to get an appointment several times with one such individual—a farmer near Fort Dodge, Iowa—without success. I’ll refer to him as Roger in this piece.
 
I called him and said that I had important information about his policy. Roger blew me off; indicating that there was nothing to talk about and he didn’t have time. Not wanting to be a bother, I accepted his objection without a fight.
 
So it surprised me one day to receive a call from his wife indicating that they would like me to come out. That should have been a red flag but I was so happy to get the interview that he caught off-guard on the day of the visit.
 
After introducing myself and exchanging pleasantries, I asked Roger what he had in mind. His demeanor instantly changed from cordial to hostile. “This policy is what I have in mind! I’ve been ripped off and want to know what you’re going to do about it?”
 
Momentarily stunned, I became defensive even though I had no involvement in the matter. “What do you mean?” I stammered, “It’s a very good contract.”
 
“No it isn’t. The guy sold me a $10,000 policy and now your company is trying to tell me that it’s a $5,000 policy!”
 
Having prepared his file, I knew the problem. “Roger, this is a $5,000 Whole Life policy as it states right on the front page. However, it also had a $5,000 Decreasing Term Rider. Every year since you purchased it, the term has been slowly decreasing until what you now have left is the base contract.”
 
“That’s not what I was told by the guy who sold it to me.”
 
Asking about the agent, I learned that he bought it from a friend who was part-timer in the business and quit. That meant several possibilities:
 
1). The part-time agent had not a clue what he was selling;
2). He knew but did a poor job of explaining; or
3). He explained it well and Roger either didn’t understand or forgot.
 
Whatever the cause, he was venting his frustrations and I was his captive audience who had to listen. “You agents and companies are all alike, always ripping off the public!”
 
I tried for fifteen minutes to calm him down and discuss the situation rationally.
 
I did not succeed.
 
His wife was embarrassed by Roger’s tirade, understanding that he was killing the messenger (that would be me) who had nothing to do with the initial transaction.
 
That’s when my sales epiphany occurred.
 
Roger was in a mood to neither listen nor admit that he should have accepted my past requests to review his policy. He would have known how the contract worked and may have converted the remaining term.
 
I suddenly did something totally against my nature. Rather than debate the disgruntled client and make him even angrier, I slowly closed my brief case saying, “Roger, I regret that this has happened. I have no idea what the agent said to you. My only option now is to see what you would like to do. I tried several times to talk about this but you chose not to. I believe that it is in everyone’s best interest for me to leave.”
 
Total silence as I stood up, fully prepared to walk out the door.
 
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t take it out on you. Please sit down and tell me what I can do?”
 
It would be a nice story if I could tell you that Roger and I became best friends and he bought a million dollar policy. That didn’t happen.
 
What did happen is that we had a calm and fruitful conversation. He accepted partial responsibility for not keeping on top of the issue and I apologized on behalf of the company for the misunderstanding. We parted with mutual respect after discussing what he might do about his future insurance coverage. No decisions were made that day.
 
What also happened to me was of greater importance. It became perfectly clear that I knew more about the situation from the beginning than did the client. I could have been of great assistance had I been more persistent in getting that appointment. I could have helped him.
 
So what does that all have to do with you on the Sales Desk? My guess is that you’ve figured it out.
 
You can provide answers to agent problems that they might not even know they have.
 
If you pick up your phone with confidence, courage and a purpose for your call–you will be amazed at who will listen and how much they will appreciate you.
 
You are NOT bothering them. You are offering them an incredible opportunity to take advantage of your time, talent and expertise.
 
If I had been more authoritative the first time I called Roger, we both would have won.
 
Because I wasn’t, we both lost.

I venture to say that it’s the same with you. If your product or service is truly beneficial to your prospects—please have the courage to shout it from the rooftops and into the phone. At the very least, give your potential customer the opportunity to turn you down. Ask for the appointment and ask for the sale.

Bill Sheridan—SHERIDAN WRITES, LLC        www.sheridanwrites.com

Popularity: 4% [?]