Exclusivefocus Summer 2012.pdf - National Association of ...

sales and marketingOn Allstate’s DimeBy Lezlee LiljenbergHonestly, I really have no problemwith woople. Now don’t shootthe messenger, but this stuff isgood, and it’s FREE! None of us couldafford this opportunity to train staffwithout Allstate providing access towoople. Okay, be mad that you are forcedto take the classes, be aggravated that as aself-employed person you are being toldwhat to do. Suffice it to say that wooplebothers me too, but please understandthat depending on the day, I might usea whole different set of colorful, but unprintableadjectives to describe it. Thekey here is that we are currently stuckwith woople, so we may as well make thebest of it by taking that negative energyand embrace the chance to train yourpeople in less time and for less money.I have been in sales all of my life; myentire life. Even as a kid, I was selling.Because we moved around a lot, I wasdetermined to make new friends. Mygoal was to make as many new friendsas possible by the end of the week. Whatdid I do? I went out cold calling to meetnew people; up and down the street,knocking on doors, introducing myselfand asking people if there were any kidsin the house. The product I was sellingwas me. This was 1968-1978 and I wasonly 5 when I started this obnoxiousbehavior. Maybe this is why I have noproblem cold calling today, but that is foranother story.Now back to the future. There is nodoubt that repetition is always a goodthing. I have taken all kinds of trainingcourses and many, if not most of themtend to cover some of the same ground asthe course before and the one before that.From Xerox to IBM training, it seemsthat I have taken them all – even somefrom companies that are unknown today.But the fact remains that my ability tosell, handle different situations, objectionsand closings all came from repetition.I still continue to take sales coursesvoluntarily – yes, I said voluntarily! Itwill never hurt you and if you open yourmind, it can only help you, your staff andyour business.You might say, “Well I am not a salesperson.”I say, “Yes, you are!” We’re allsalespeople – every day of our lives. Othersmay say, “I am a customer serviceperson,” or, “I like helping people.” Myresponse would be, “What do you thinka salesperson does?”We help people every day to make theright decisions and yes, we “sell them apolicy.” In customer service situationsyou are always selling too. Advising onproper coverage, reminding customerswhy they need to make a payment, helpingthem understand why they shouldstay with you. If that is not “SELLING”then what is?“Selling” is not a vulgar four-letterword; it is what we all do in our agenciesevery day. To be sure, some people havea negative, preconceived notion of salespeople,particularly insurance salespeople;our job is to dispel that concept by beingpositive, upbeat and highly professional.The hardest part of hiring staff is findinggood salespeople. Yet if we allowourselves to attach negativity to the word– like the outside world does – we won’tget far in the sales world. We must riseabove the din and be proud of who weare and what we do for a living – onlythen can we achieve the confidence toexcel in this noble profession.Selling is a skill, no doubt about it. Itmust be learned, practiced and implementedjust like a football or ballet. Peoplewill argue Natural Sells vs. LearnedSells. My argument is that NO ONE – Irepeat, NO ONE – is born a true salesperson.While it’s true that some peopleare comfortable interacting with otherpeople, it doesn’t mean they are goodsalespeople. Is a good salesperson a personthat talks and talks until you breakdown and buy from them just to get ridof them? I hardly think so.The main reason there has beenpushback with woople is because it was“mandated,” and none of us are fond ofthat kind of treatment. In these difficulttimes when so much is being taken awayfrom us, now might be the time to acceptsomething ON ALLSTATE’S DIMEthat may be beneficial to our agencies. EfLezlee Liljenberg is an active Allstate agentin Arlington, Texas and is a proud memberof NAPAA Board of Directors.34 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2012