Senior Marketing Specialists University

Personally, I have worked with thousands of agents across the United States. Every agency I advise has been vastly different from the one before due to their demographic, state regulations, goals, etc.  However, the most frequently asked question I get could easily double as my favorite one to answer.

“What can I do to get in front of more people?”, or “How do I get better qualified leads?”.

What they are actually asking is, “Where do I find more opportunity?”.

The first question I ALWAYS counter with is asking them what their current book of business looks like. The best qualified lead you can ask for comes from your current book of business. Think about it; you already have a relationship built with them by earning their trust through the first sale, you know they are or are not qualified because you have already done a bulk of the fact finding during the first appointment, and you already have their contact information and they have yours.

See? The perfect lead.

Now, you might be asking, “Well then, how do I convince my clients to come see me again without them thinking I am just trying to sell them more?!”  I now introduce you to, the follow up.

Think of your dentist. If he/she called you up out of the blue and asked you to come to their office for a cleaning, your wall-of-questions would spring into action. But since your dentist makes sure you leave every appointment with your next appointment booked, they don’t have to try to convince you why they need to see youagain.

The key to setting a follow up appointment is to promote it throughout the entire appointment. I propose three strategies to encourage clients to set a follow up appointment.

  1. “Next Time”: Your client/prospect is your captive audience throughout the entire appointment. To be a top agent, you have to use that attention to your advantage. Throughout your entire presentation, sprinkle in some variation of the phrase, “Next time we get together….”. This will condition your client to expect a follow up appoint.
  2. Just Do it for Them: By the end of the appointment, your clients have made a ton of decisions guided by your expertise. Do the work for them and “assume” the close. At the end of the appointment, try a phrase like; “Let’s go ahead and make your next appointment to get you on my schedule. Today we were able to meet at 1:00,  does 1:00 usually work for you? Let’s say in 6 months, we meet Tuesday at 1:00.  We will call you a week ahead of time to remind you.” Take the decision out of their hands.
  3. Set the Expectation: They key to any sales strategy is to set accurate expectations throughout the entire process. The prospect/client needs to know exactly what your next move is. End your appointment explaining to your client what you are going to do with their application, check, paper work, etc., and remind them what their next step is, which will include the follow up appointment.

 

 

Make sure you avoid

  1. Calling up out of the blue to try to set a follow up appointment
  2. Setting the follow up for every three months (stick with meeting with your client 1 to 2 times per year)
  3. Ending the appointment with no follow up plan what-so-ever.

 

Olivia Richardson

Director of Training and Education

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