Strike Gold with Effective Prospecting
Copyright 2006 Exceptional Leadership, Inc.
Whether you're looking for new agents or new clients, the key to
finding them is effective prospecting. There are numerous ways
to go about prospecting. Some of them are active methods, while
others are passive. Active prospecting methods are things like
Personal Observation, Public Speaking, Agent and Client
Referrals, Networking, and Centers of Influence, while passive
methods include using the internet, newspaper advertising and
direct mail campaigns. Both passive and active prospecting will
produce results, however they differ in efficiency and
effectiveness - and understanding those differences will make
all the difference to you and your results.
Passive methods are easy to implement, but are actually pretty
inefficient. They attract 1) "tire kickers", 2) people looking
for a job, 3) price shoppers, and 4) people simply looking for a
way to make money. Please understand, these methods do produce
results and can uncover fantastic people who become great agents
or clients, but generally the quality of results is poor. When
these methods are implemented, plenty of activity is generated,
but few prospects become agents or clients. The passive methods
appear to be very efficient, but they produce so much worthless
activity that they become extremely inefficient.
Active methods, on the other hand, take more time on the front
end, but because they are so much more effective end up being
much more efficient. They are so much more effective because
interviews/meetings are only generated with people who have an
interest in working with you, and share your purpose and
passion. Agents often coming on board because they identify with
you and what you stand for, they see it as a good opportunity to
build a future, and they see the opportunity as one that offers
unlimited financial growth. Clients decide to work with you
because they see who you are, and identify and respect you and
what you believe in. Not only are active methods more effective,
but agents who are recruited through active methods historically
are better producers and clients created this way are more loyal.
Why Active Prospecting Is More Effective
For Recruiting:
* A key to a successful recruiting program is to effectively
identify candidates with an "owner" mindset. Candidates with an
owner mindset are better at taking initiative while candidates
with an employee mindset are better at taking instruction.
Candidates with an owner mindset are self-starters who recognize
the correlation between their success and the amount of effort
they put forth -- in fact, they thrive on this. They take
initiative, they think independently and they tend to succeed
when they're given the freedom to do things their own way. These
are the kind of candidates that make up the foundation of any
winning sales force. Active recruiting allows you to better
identify candidates right from the start who are inclined to be
owners rather than employees.
* People who respond to recruitment advertising are generally
looking for something better than what they have. Either they're
unhappy with their current situation or they have no job at all.
Now... think about whether you'd rather have a prospective agent
who is happy and productive where they are or someone who is
unhappy and maybe even unproductive where they are? Most
territory builders would always prefer a candidate who is
already productive and happy. They want someone who has a
positive attitude and good work habits. By seeking out
candidates who are closer to your ideal with respect to
productivity, attitude and drive, you end up with agents who are
productive, positive and successful
* Ever get frustrated with the production of your agents and
wonder how to motivate them? This is a prevalent challenge
within the industry. The cause for this issue comes from how the
agents were recruited. Not only are many agents recruited
through advertising, but, often what the manager is passionate
about isn't communicated. Without a worthwhile purpose, it's
pretty difficult to attract and keep the right kind of people -
people who are happy, energetic and highly productive. In case
you doubt the validity of this observation about the power of
personal attraction, look over your agents and see who the
highest producers are and/or the ones who are most responsive.
Typically they're the agents you personally recruited rather
than the agents you "inherited". When you actively recruit, you
create the opportunity to let a candidate see what you're about
- what matters to you. You end up attracting like-minded people.
For Prospecting:
* People do business with people they like. The only way for
others to get to know you is by getting out and meeting people.
When you do your prospecting passively, they don't get to know
you at all. They are simply responding to something they read.
* People are attracted to someone who stands for something and
has a purpose. When you spend time clarifying what sets you
apart from everyone else and spend time clarifying your purpose,
and then communicate them effectively, you will attract
like-minded clients who identify with you and become loyal to
you.
* The best way to keep clients is to build a relationship with
them. Without a relationship, they simply become price-shopping
customers. With a relationship, they become clients who will
stay with you and become clients who refer others to you. It
perpetuates success.
Active prospecting allows you to attract the kind of people you
want, allows you to meet with only those people who are likely
to succeed and stay with you, and allows you to build a team of
loyal, professional, hard-working, responsive and successful
agents or a solid book of loyal clients.
Break out of the internet and advertising routine. Start
powering up your prospecting and boosting your success!