Phone Skills Create Rock Stars Within the Agency

By Tim Sawyer, President and Co-Founder of Astonish Results

Integrating new technologies to accelerate insurance marketing is important, but technology will never replace the traditional skills an agency employee needs in order to turn a lead into a new customer.

Recently on Insurance Journal TV's "eMarketing Minute", I had the opportunity to interview Ken Peterson, the CEO of Encharter Insurance of Massachusetts, on how his agency transitioned into the digital age, but more importantly how they used more conventional skills to compliment the new digital tools of Internet marketing.

"As important as it is to get the leads coming in," says Peterson, "it is just as important to know how to close them over the phone."

Mr. Peterson speaks candidly about how Encharter has trained their staff to possess great telephone skills with the help of Astonish Results. Since most customers are sold over the phone, being able to hold a viable conversation and sell insurance at the same time is a skill that all insurance sales personnel must have and work on perfecting constantly.

At Encharter Insurance, all sales personnel have five calls selected at random for recording each month, which executives then evaluate based on three key sales points:

1) Do they update the client's contact information, most importantly obtaining their email address?

2) Do they up sell/cross-sell insurance? If they are purchasing auto, did you mention home?

3) Did they ask for a referral? Everyone knows someone else who may need insurance.

Scores are given out to encourage improvement and accountability, and the process of training, monitoring, and coaching the staff continues. While it may seem tedious, employees have actually enjoyed the opportunity to master this craft, especially given the financial benefits and the friendly competition it inspires.

The ability to turn from data into a friendly conversation and ultimately a closed deal is one of the most important skill sets Astonish Results is helping agencies to master. While digital marketing can reach the masses, it still takes the personal touch of a 1-on-1 conversation to make the lead-generating tools and system a success.

Please enjoy the video in its entirety below:

Call Astonish Results today at 1.888.899.1936, or visit our website at www.astonishresults.com and take our free 180-second tour of the greatest lead-producing, modern consumer-attracting, strategy-building, digital marketing system in the world!