Why Not Expect 100 Referrals As a Minimum?

Hello my friends,

This is a continuation of the forum answer I posted about Getting Referrals.

You might want to read that first. I felt guilty leaving you all in the dark without finishing my story.

We finished off with the 2 most important things to getting referrals:
  1. Business Development Day
  2. Don't Assume.
You're at the table and you've just told your client not to assume who they think you should see...

You go through a list of memory joggers writing down EVERY name they can think of. (Don't write down phone numbers and addresses because it stops the flow of their mind.)

Tell them, "We're just writing down names now. When we're done, we'll go through the list together and THEN you can tell me which names you think I should talk to and which ones I shouldn't. Is that fair? (Nod the head and smile.)

Keep going until you have a list of 150-200 names (This does not take long. Honesty, about 15 minutes. You're just writing down names as fast as you can.)

Now you want use their judgment to qualify the leads. I say this:

"Mr Jones, I'm going to go down this list and this is what I want to know. I want you to tell me who fits these characteristics:

  1. They're responsible and care about their family
  2. They earn $______ annual income (whatever your preferred profile is).
  3. They have _______ children (your profile).
  4. They're married (or unmarried depending on your profile).
  5. They're between the ages of ____ and ____ (your profile).
Depending on who you're targeting, there's a lot you can ask. The secret is to become absolutely clear in your mind who you are trying to attract and ASK FOR IT.

Most insurance agents just go through life waiting for business to come to them and that's why most fail. That's why most people fail at life really. (What I mean by fail is not reach your full potential.)

They never decide EXACTLY what they want. :1mad:

"What one thinks is reality is their thoughts projected outward creating a living 3d replica of ones inner most beliefs and expectations made real. To know this creates enormous power as now what can alter reality to there advantage."
~ A poster hanging in my home.


So you just went down the list putting a start next to every person that fits your profile above. Let's say you have about 50 names that you starred. Now ask them to write down the phone number and address (if you want to mail something, which i recommend.) next to all 50 names.

If the husband helps, this might take another 15 minutes. Alternatively, if you live close you can make this homework assignment and come pick up the list later.

The reason you ask for the addresses and phone numbers before the final pre-qualifying questions is because you don't want your client to say "that's enough" after they give write down 10 addresses. You might not ever get the other 40.

If time does not permit, them to write down all 50 addresses and phone numbers, then you should at least get 10 before you leave.

The final pre-qual step is to ask this: "Of these 50 people, who do you think are the top 10 that might benefit from meeting with me the most?"

After you star those 10, you need to understand the profile of those people before you call. Tell me about them. How do you know each other? Where do they work? How long have they been there. What are their passions?

All this information sets up your referral phone call which guarantees you an appointment.... 100% appointment setting ratio is pretty good, wouldn't you say?

This comes from qualifying people before you call them.

And that's my referral process....

Good luck to all,
James Blackburn
 
Right before I go into the witness protection program I will call an NAA agent and give him the names of all the people that pissed me off over the years.
 
Highest I've had was a lady that was all fired up and wrote out about 15 of them for me. She had her address book and the phone book and worked on it for about 90 minutes to get all of them. She was just motivated because I barely ask for referrals.

I can't imagine someone giving 100 referrals in my entire lifetime.
 
Just so everyone knows - this is not something you should ever employ - ever. There's a lot of great advice on this board. Unfortunately this is horrible advice. This is the kind of stuff that spews out of the mouths of "upline managers" like verbal diarrhea.
 
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TO ALL NEWBIES:

Have you noticed that NAA and Prim always come up with these "solutions" and "scripts" that for some reason NEVER work for anyone but the guy in NAA or Prim who posts it here.

Listen, children. There is probably about 50,000 years of collective insurance sales experience on this board... and you never hear any of these "Oh, it's so easy" stories from the guys/gals with long and solid experience in the biz... only from the MLM jocks.

So folks... consider the source.

Al

PS: If you want an MLM model, I've "vetted" the HBW GA. I'm NOT affiliated in any way, but I did check them out and they are not into all this sales hype and "rah-rah" crap. Why didn't I affiliate? Three reasons. First, I don't need the training and hand-holding in return for a lower comp. Second, they are joined at the hip with AIG... and that's a deal-breaker for me. Third, any GA can help you build an agency downline... so long as you know how to recruit and teach.
 
PowerPlayer: Your "advice" is spam and nobody here is biting. Your old school prescriptions for selling don't work anymore and there are reasons "mentors" like you in this business are responsible for the 95% failure rate. Please go and sell with organizations like NWML. Your scripts with them might fit.
 

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