Is your pipeline getting enough first meetings?
1.Our producers close well once they're in the room. Their real problem is getting into enough rooms.
2.Most of our new business comes from referrals and relationships, not from a prospecting system we run every week.
3.Some of our producers live on a book they inherited and have never built a prospecting habit.
4.Most of our outreach is email. Few producers pick up the phone on a set schedule.
5.We rarely ask our happy clients for introductions, and nobody owns doing it.
“I would say, actually getting to the table to be able to have a conversation.”
A benefits producer, asked what his biggest challenge isDo your producers know who to go after and what to say?
6.Our producers chase whatever comes along, including groups too small or too poor a fit to be worth the time.
7.If I asked each producer why our ideal client should take a meeting, I'd get a different answer from each one, or none.
8.Our producers shy away from the biggest accounts in our market.
9.Our producers say they "don't want to pester" prospects. Call reluctance is real on our team.
10.We lead with savings, and we've lost groups to the incumbent even when our numbers were better.
“having a hard time finding the words to say, for it to make sense, for them to book a meeting with me.”
An insurance producer, in his own written intakeDo first meetings find the real problem and the real decision maker?
11.First meetings turn into a tour of our services before we've found the prospect's real problem.
12.Prospects leave a first meeting without a clear picture of what doing nothing will cost them.
13.Deals stall because we're working with HR and never reached the person who signs.
14.Our producers have great conversations that never turn into a second meeting.
15.We run quotes or ask for census data before the prospect has committed to anything.
“I never established a pain point. It was just me saying I'd love to serve you guys”
A benefits consultant, looking back on a deal he lostDo good opportunities stay alive until the prospect is ready?
16.Our best opportunities go quiet after a strong first meeting, and producers don't know what to say next.
17.Most of our producers give up on a prospect after two or three touches.
18.Meetings end with "let's touch base" instead of a date on the calendar.
19.We show up in October trying to win a decision the prospect makes in November.
20.Our own clients mostly hear from us at renewal.
“It's once they've said, I'm interested, let's meet. This is great. We've had a meeting, and then it's just nothing”
A benefits producerDoes new business depend on a system, or on you?
21.I'm still the pipeline. If I stepped away for 90 days, new business would slow down or stop.
22.When we hire a producer, we hand them a list and a phone and hope. Some hires haven't worked out.
23.Prospecting happens when service work, renewals and Q4 leave time, which is rarely.
24.Our producers know what they should be doing. It just doesn't happen consistently.
25.I can't tell you each producer's weekly activity, or what a winning week looks like for them.
“I don't have a complete turnkey system for sales, development, management, you know, and growth.”
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