The Legacy Referral Card System

Transcription

1 The Legacy Referral Card System This is by far the absolute best way to generate referrals and get warm insurance sales opportunities! If you have not created a system to generate referrals, then here is an idea for you that have been proven to be very successful. If you are serious and really want to improve on getting more leads, do not be glancing over these pages. Read it completely, not once but twice. My Agency used this system for over 25 years to help generate insurance sales leads. We trained many new agents to successfully use this system that I am about to reveal to you. Once you become comfortable with it, you will be working smarter and not harder. But before we go further into detail we need to talk about your mind set. This is critical. Understand, everything we do in the sales business is a selling situation. If you plan on generating insurance leads (prospects) by using a referral conversation, then you must first and foremost realize that your referral conversation is actually a sales presentation. In other words, when you start asking for referrals, it immediately turns into a selling situation. It requires a 100% commitment and a strong desire, and it will probably even feel awkward at first, but once you get it, you will love it. Here is what usually happens with new agents they try to ask for referrals. They say something like, Is there anybody you can refer me to? Well, if you ask that question, which is a closed end question (yes or no answer only), Of course, most people will just say no, so where would you go from there? So for you to increase your income and make your life easier let s go through the process of the Referred Lead Sales Presentation (RLSP). If you take the time to develop this sales presentation for referrals, I assure you, you will enjoy an unlimited supply of prospects to call on! Now follow along, and let s work on your life support system. Referrals are the lifeblood of a successful sales professional, not getting them, is the same as leaving money on the table you did not collect.

2 Let s take a look at the Legacy Referral Card System This concept made our agents a lot of money over the years and the life insurance agents I trained that embraced this referral prospecting system by far wrote the most business and always made the Producer Leader Board in our agency. Are you still with me? Good. The referral card is in two sections. The bottom ½ of card could be separated and mailed to the referral. The top part of the card provides the detailed information which you use as your filing card and phone calling reference card. Example content of generic card (Look at the last page of this file for a sample Legacy Card) Front of the card Referral Name: Address: Phone: Referral information section Referrals Occupation: Wife's name: Number children: Additional information: Back of card Cut along the perforated line to separate the top card for your file. Place bottom ½ in the mail. Use this bottom 1/2 is for mailing To: (Mr. /Mrs. Referral Prospect) print referral name I recently had the opportunity to visit with (your agent name) about some very interesting ideas and concepts related to my financial life. I thought some of these ideas shared with me might be of interest to you. (Your agent name) will be calling you. Joe client s signature: Have client sign here and then mail.

3 Do not put in an envelope. It should be a 3.5' X 5' card. If you mail it in an envelope, it may be considered junk mail and thrown in the garbage without the prospect even opening it. The first thing you must do is Set the Stage for getting referrals. How do you do this? You have to prepare the prospect mentally if you want to get referrals from them. When I started my interview process and opened up my computer or put my sales material out on the table, I slowly slid 3 referred lead cards just to the side of my material in full sight of prospect. By doing this it would allow me to transition to them at end of interview as well as letting him/her see them. By doing this, you are preparing him/her visually and mentally. It also prevents you from forgetting to ask for referrals at end of interview! At end of interview, whether he/she buys or not, you begin your Referred Lead Sales Presentation (RLSP) by saying the following: Mr. Prospect, I know you know a lot of people, people you work with or socialize with etc. As you probably realize, my business is about meeting new people and sharing ideas with them, like I shared with you today. Don t you feel that you gained some insights about the financial burdens you face as a senior and the solutions we have implemented to resolve them? (or whatever market/product you re selling)? (Now gently slide over those 3 referred lead cards to your customer with pen in your hand) Mr./Mrs. Prospect, if you were in my shoes, who would you want to go out to see and share some of the ideas I shared with you today? Who is first person that comes to your mind? Who would you call to go out to dinner, play cards, golf, fish, hunt, or go to a movie? etc. (mention several activities here to help him/her). Then shut up and let him/her think. His/her mind is now working, thinking, searching. When he/she blurbs out that first name, only write down their name on the top of card and slip the second blank card to the top and then say, WHO ELSE? After second name, again say WHO ELSE? And go to third card. (Keep some extra cards available because sometimes the spouse will start providing names or he/she will continue with other names). After they stop giving you names, whether it s one or seven, then come back to the body of each card and say, Can you tell me a little about Mr. Friend, where does he work? etc. (see front or sample card)

4 Handling Objections: Sometimes a few common objections may come up, such as: "Well I really don't know anyone." In that case I would say, Mr./Mrs. Prospect, sometimes we put the names of people in our address book. I would ask them or the spouse to get their address book and see if that might help them think of someone or jog their memory. Another objection is "I don't like to give out names." In that case I would say, Mr./Mrs. Prospect I can appreciate that. Some of my other customers have initially felt that way, too. I have found from past experience that most people I have been referred to were greatly appreciative of seeing the type of work I do (just like you were today, keeping in mind that you were referred by John Q. Prospect). Then go back to the question: Who is first person that comes to your mind? Final Step Now that you have your referral cards filled out, the final step is to ask your client to sign each card and let them know that you will be mailing the card to them. Mail those cards out ASAP. Once you get completed referral lead cards from a client, it is imperative they be sent out within 5 days. They are like a hot potato. After 5 days they cool off fast. During this 5 day period the referral will probably come into contact with your client and may have set the stage for you. I even encouraged it and many times when I called, my new client had already set the stage for me and the referral has been expecting my call. Phone calling those referrals: Now let s make the phone call: Mr. Referral, this is Mr. Agent. I recently sent you a post card from John Prospect, I am giving you a courtesy call to see if we can get together sometime to show you the type of work I do. Our first get together is to simply find out if there is anything we have in common. I am always looking to meet new people. Does the daytime or evening work best for you? Shut up and wait for response. Continue an alternate of choice close for your appointment.

5 Does this take a lot of time? Yes, it takes time, because it is a selling situation using a proven presentation! If I ended up with 3 referrals and did not sell this prospect anything, guess what? I still made $540! I personally valued each card at $180 due to my success (number of referrals divided by the Annual premium sold x 75% commission). You must get into the right mindset; referrals are potential commissions to be earned. Why does the Legacy Referral Card System work? What is the psychology of this process? A better question is why should you better your communication skills in this career path? Quite simply, that is Our Business. We are teachers and educators. Our job is to explain things to people. If we don t do it clearly and Keep It Simple and Sincere, our prospects won t buy. The Referral Card System works because we have made it simple for the prospect. Quite simply we took a rather complex question (Who Do You Know), which encompasses the entire spectrum of people he/she knows and worked it down to only asking for one name, and helped jog his/her memory. Then we say, who else, who else etc. (one name at a time). Most agents ask the generic "who do you know" question and this encompasses the prospects full arena of people and blurs their ability to clearly think of anyone. That old approach will get you very few names, if any. Starting out and asking for one specific name, it keeps it simple! Think about it. Employ this proven referral method and put it to work for you. A proven system works, but only if you work the system!

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