Here’s the thing: You don’t want everyone for a client. Odd? Sure, in a world where we’re told that we should have something for everyone, it’s counter intuitive to think that we have to reject some people. Even before they reject us.
Some of you will remember the industry icon, Al Granum from Chicago. Al is the original “student of the business”. He said something years ago, that changed the way I thought of this business. He said people have to qualify to work with you.
Qualify? I thought I had to qualify to work with them. This was shocking to me. I thought all they had to do was pass the famous “Pittsburg Glass Test”. If you held a piece of glass to their face and it fogged up, they were in. If it didn’t, you just had to give them a punch in the stomach and that usually did it.
This is so wrong. Financial products (especially life insurance) are character products. If you have character, you buy. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s simple really. Therefore, prospects have to qualify on at least three counts to prove they have the character to work with you. They have to…
- Have a deep sense of responsibility. Unless they love someone or something and are prepared to back that up, they aren’t a prospect.
- Be intelligent. Unless they can follow your story and “do the math” for themselves, you’ll never really get them on side. You’ll always have difficulty with that business.
- Have a sense of their economic potential. If their life revolves around having enough beer for the weekend or making it to their next bout of Employment Insurance entitlements, they aren’t likely about to buy.
But, there’s more. Many people just don’t “get” you or what you do. I fix “mission statements” with expert identities. If your identity and the benefit you provide makes no sense to your prospect, you’re lucky to escape the relationship early. This is a prime reason for having an expert identity. You can eliminate the wrong people.
Advisor/client fit is the key to a long-term relationship, profits and referrals. The reverse is also true. Some people just don’t make sense to you either. You can pretend they do but you are just setting yourself up for trouble in the long run. Who do you suppose checks with their lawyer first when a claim isn’t paid? Who do you suppose gives the word for the lawsuit? It isn’t usually the people you got along with from day one.
(https://www NULL.securewebexchange NULL.com/industry44 NULL.com/insurance-journal/books/secure_order_ruta NULL.asp)
