By Helen Thompson
Jay Stubbs knows about loss. His father died when he was young. His mother succumbed to cancer in early 2001. This sales director for First Protective shares his story in a web presentation on his website, www.salesjive.com.
One thing is clear: He is passionate about the life insurance industry because it helped him and his family. “Both my parents passed away, but they were protected,” he says. “That’s a story, one that encourages agents no matter where they are in their career.”
Even though he just turned 30 last week, he talks about this technique with the confidence of a veteran. It helps that he joined NAIFA shortly after his mother passed away. “A couple of people here in Mobile [Ala.] gave me a call and solicited my support,” he says. “For me, the more networking I do among financial professionals, the better, so I immediately said yes.”
He found that trading stories and sales ideas at local meetings was so valuable that he immediately became involved in leadership. He is currently president of Mobile AIFA, and often visits other regional local associations to help facilitate the exchange of ideas.
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By using personal anecdotes as part of your sales process, you’ll find that you’re planting the seeds for healthy client relationships from the outset. |
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What’s your story?
Stubbs loves sharing his personal story to help inspire agents. But, he notes, what he does isn’t half as important as what agents do to reach out to their clients and prospects.
He illustrates this by talking about a fictional company—Joe’s Insurance. “Joe’s been in the business for 10 years, and is just squeaking past the six-figure mark, but working himself to death. His goal is to get up to $150,000 and work less,” says Stubbs, in his classic storytelling style. “What I’d suggest to him is that he start telling his clients stories about people he’s helped, death claims he’s paid or personal stories from his own family.”
By using personal anecdotes as part of your sales process, you’ll find that you’re planting the seeds for healthy client relationships from the outset. “These are natural testimonials,” Stubbs says. “Use anything you can that helps illustrate why your clients need life insurance to protect their family and estate, long-term care insurance to prevent them from spending down their inheritance should they have to go into an assisted-living facility and disability income insurance to protect their family during their income-earning years. The only thing that can help your clients see the light at the end of those long tunnels is sharing the stories you’ve experienced personally.”
New to the biz?
But what if you’re a new advisor and don’t have your own stories to tell yet? That’s where networking with other agents can pay off. Find out their stories, and ask if you can share them with prospects. Avail yourself of the resources that LIFE provides, with realLIFEstories featured in Newsweek each year and additional realLIFEstories available through Advisor Today and www.AdvisorToday.com. “It doesn’t matter where the story comes from, as long as it’s genuine,” says Stubbs. “When you’re searching for ways to communicate what you do to clients and prospects, don’t make the mistake of copying what the Top of the Table producer is doing for his ‘30-second commercial’ or ‘elevator speech.’ You’re trying to make a connection with your clients and prospects, not his. So you need to generate your own elevator speech.”
The more personal you can make it, the better, he continues—and it’s very easy. Start with setting it up by saying, “Thank you for letting me speak with you today. May I take a couple of minutes to tell you about this client I helped last week?” Then, just describe what you did to help the client. Close with “That’s what I did for that client. Now, let’s talk about what you need.”
Stubbs also recommends Storyselling for Advisors, a book by Scott West and Mitch Anthony, which explores the idea of using similes, anecdotes and open-ended questions to open a conversation about a client’s financial needs.
Ask for it
Once you’ve successfully helped a client, you can ask for a testimonial from him the same way you ask for a referral. Some people will be willing to write a letter you can keep on file in a portfolio or information kit you give to prospects. Or, you may want to invest in a couple of video testimonials that you can play in your waiting room or use in seminars.
And even if they don’t give you the testimonial directly, they won’t think twice when it comes to recommending you. Your story will stay with them. “When you tell a story to your customers, they become your advocates,” Stubbs says. “They’ll go out and tell your story to other people—and your story becomes your prospecting tool.”
February 2007
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