For people who have spent any amount of time in insurance sales, they have certainly experienced sales training. This training usually consists of a lot of role playing . . . and we mean a lot. This role playing usually consists of practicing what to say if the potential customer throws up reasons why they don’t want to purchase the insurance that is being sold.

Of course, much of the sales training that is available in the insurance industry also consists of how to get customers in the first place. And the information that is usually presented revolves around cold-calling. How to cold-call, when to cold-call, and how many cold-calls to make everyday in order to get appointments.

The problem with so much of the training on getting appointments is that it is outdated. While at one time in our nation’s history, cold-calling actually worked. Before the days of caller ID, it was pretty easy to get people to answer the phone. Now, you can literally cold-call all day and not get a single person to even answer the phone.

In addition, cold-call today involves running every number you are going to call against the do not call list. If you slip up and forget to check the list—or don’t bother to use it all—you are putting yourself at risk. Even worse, even if a number is not on the list, people are inclined tell you to put them on your do not call list.

With all of these obstacles, cold-calling is really not the way to try to get appointments in the insurance industry. However, for most young agents starting out in the business, they don’t know any other way. They are taught to get on the phones and stay on the phones. The purpose of this article is give new insurance agents ideas and techniques for getting appointments that are actually more effective and a better use of your time.

Seminars

One of the most used methods for financial professionals—including insurance agents—to get their message to the masses is the seminar. Everyday, professionals everywhere are sending invitations to get people to come to an evening of food, fun, and learning.

Now, what usually attracts people to a seminar is the lure of a free dinner at some medium to up-scale restaurant. Once there, the insurance agent has their attention to explain a principle of insurance that can be helpful to protect the futures of the attendees. With that, it is hopeful that they will make appointments to get more information and buy the product.

The key for the insurance agent when using the seminar method is to stick with a message. For instance, don’t try to explain the full world of insurance—it is too big even for more seasoned agents! Instead, take a specific topic, such as annuities, and explain how they work, their advantages over other investment products, and what you do to help your clients with their annuity needs.

Now, putting on seminars can be somewhat expensive. They require sending out an enormous amount of invitations just to get a few responses. The rule of thumb is to assume that you will receive a 1%-2% response rate. This means sending out 5,000 invitations for only 50 responses.

Next, the insurance agent has to choose a place where the seminar can be held. This is an area where some agents get themselves into trouble. You don’t have to hold it at the most expensive restaurant, or the fanciest meeting place in your city. Instead, holding it at a medium-priced restaurant in your area is often just as good. In fact, holding it at a place that is considered “for the rich” can dissuade some people who would otherwise be interested from not coming because it can give the appearance that your message is only for people with lots of money to invest.

Finally, it is important to remember whey you are holding the seminar: to get appointments. It is fine to have a couple of door prizes to encourage people to come to the dinner. However, if your seminar gets bogged-down in drawing and games, people will be less likely to take away the message of your seminar—and less likely to want to make an appointment!

Trade Shows

Another great way for young agents to let other professionals know about their business is trade shows. Attending these types of events actually serves a two-fold purpose: to let others know that your business exists, and to be a good colleague among the social network of business professionals in your area.

In most cities, several trade shows are held every year. Now, it is important to know that the trade show does not have to be specifically focused on the insurance industry. If your area has a show focusing on area businesses, go ahead and attend. If the local chamber of commerce has a show to focus on industry and technology, go ahead and sign up. Don’t be afraid to get your name out there!

Exposure Events

When we say exposure events, we mean doing public relations work that gets your name out there by taking yourself out to the very people that you want to be clients.

For example, you might call a local medical clinic and ask if you can bring donuts and coffee on a Friday morning for their staff. If they agree, you can bring the snakes along with yourself and your pamphlets, pens, and other promotional items. By passing out the donuts, you are creating an image in the minds of potential customers that you are friendly and inviting. Trust me, if you give people free food, they will remember you.

You should try to schedule at least a couple of these every month, if not more. They get your name out there, and let others who might never hear about you know that you have a service they probably need.

The real key to these types of events is to be friendly and focus on meeting people, not selling products. When the employees of the medical clinic come to get the donuts, don’t immediately jump at them asking how much life insurance they have. Instead, greet them with a smile, offer them the coffee and donuts, and put your pens and pamphlets in front of the food for them to pick-up and read.

Door-to-Door

When some people see door to door, they think of an insurance agent actually knocking on every door in a neighborhood trying to sell their products. Well, believe it or not, there are still companies that encourage and even require this of their agents.

What we mean when we say door to door is something different. Everyone has seen the door hangers that businesses put on door knobs during the day for people to read as they come home from work. Well, insurance agents can and should do the same thing.

Find a product that you want to advertise heavily, let’s say life insurance. Have a door hanger made—or just make up a flier on the computer if you don’t have a lot of money to spend—and go to a different neighborhood everyday and put them on the door.

The key to this is not to knock on the doors and interrupt the lives of the people inside the houses. Simply walk up and put the flier or door hanger on the door so that it will be seen, and go to the next house.

If you actually go to a different neighborhood and do this everyday, you will before long actually find people will be calling you to find out more about your services. Instead of you being pushy, you simply let them know that you exist.

Why These Work

The real reason why these work, and cold-calling often does not, is that these techniques simply let people know that you exist. You are not demanding their time; you are simply putting an idea in their mind. When they call you for an appointment, they have determined that they have a need that you might be able to help them with. You become the expert that they need—not the pushy salesperson.

The second reason that these work is that they can be used by any insurance agent. If you are a new agent with little money to spend on advertising, you can easily create fliers on your computer and drive around and pass them out. If you have a little more to spend, you can begin doing seminars to attract potential clients.

Of course, the only way to make any of these work is to use them consistently. You must make time everyday, just as you would set aside a time to cold-call, to drop off fliers or to plan and execute exposure events. These things cannot just be ideas; they must be implemented to help you make money.

Now, get out there and make your job of selling insurance what it should be: fun and exciting—not boring and grueling!