Do the leads stink or do you stink

There's expression is sales; "there's no bad territory, just bad salesman." Well, maybe. If you've received 20 leads and called all 20 seconds after receiving them, shot out an immediate email and did proper follow up yet can't reach any of them then it's the leads that stink.

That being said, know when it's you and not the leads. I've been in sales for a while and we all know that negative rep where nothing's working for them. In home improvement sales they got all the crappy appointments - everyone had bad credit, no one wanted to buy. In car sales they got all the bad ups, all were flipped in trades, couldn't qualify, and were tire kickers.

The amazing that thing about these whiners is while they make nothing everyone around them is doing just fine. Mysteriously everyone else has the great leads and great prospects. Their lament is "I just need prospects who want to buy!" News flash, if everyone just wanted to buy then the insurance industry wouldn't need you. They'll just license people and pay 'em $12/hr to be order takers.

This doesn't mean you're supposed to close people who have no interest but it does mean you're supposed to close people who do. I've heard "I spoke with 16 people today and none of them were interested." That's highly problematic. What exactly are they not interest in - saving money? Getting an affordable plan? Or....are they not interested in you because you didn't give them anything to be interested about.

A fatal mistake is to talk about plans and rates on the 1st call. This is the time where you should be going over what you can do for them and try to relate. I pay for my own family plan and can relate to all of my prospects. What are they all scared of? That's easy - getting scammed. They're scared to trust you and if you don't build trust it's over. If you and your prospect do not get to know each other trying to close deals will be like pulling teeth. You'll make a lot of initial contacts but very few will want to talk to you again.

When you get off the phone do you know the spouse's first name? Kids? Ages of the kids? Do you know what they do for a living? If they run a business, for how long? All of this, by the way, isn't just chatter or "buttering up" - it's useful for recommending the right plan. It makes a difference if their son is 18 or 6 months. It makes a difference if the husband is a roofing contractor or writes computer software. Are they planning on moving? You'd surprised how many times I hear "yes, we're planning on moving next year." I might recommend another company or network.