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Producer Self-Management
Great expectations
Preparing for the final presentation, Part 2
By John Edward Love, CPCU
In Part 1 of this article (March issue, page 92) the key points were to (1) prepare your team members ahead of time; (2) summarize the prospect’s key pain points and your solutions; (3) use more graphics and less text in your PowerPoint; and (4) give the prospect three to five key points to remember about your value. Now, let’s get to the intangibles of the presentation and share tips from successful veterans.
How many formal, public speaking classes have you attended to increase your skills? One? None? Ask producers how many times they have been critiqued and analyzed on their public speaking skills and the answer is surprisingly few. If you are a bit of a natural, you are more likely to “wing it” rather than become a superstar by developing your skills. Suffice it to say that in 20 years I have come across a truly great presenter in the insurance business fewer than 10 times.
What is required to become a compelling public speaker? Everything. Your results depend on all the things you do right and all the things you do wrong. The ratio of those factors and the composition of your audience predetermine the impact of your performance.
Does it really make a difference? How many times have you not had the lowest price but still won? How many times has a prospect picked an “empty suit” broker who you know is not your equal technically but who brought in eight experts from around the country and orchestrated the presentation beautifully? Every time the prospect tells you, “She just did a great overall presentation and we were more comfortable with what they had to offer,” you know you just got out-presented.
Don’t kill yourself trying to become a great broker and then fail to communicate effectively all the reasons you are the superior solution. You need to open yourself to constructive criticism and be open-minded about evolving your style. To help myself prepare for this article, I had lunch with six producers ranging in experience from 6 months to 15 years. Their observations are integrated into the following tips (thanks, guys, and thanks for the lunch):
“Dress” for the role you play. Portray yourself as a professional who leads a team of knowledgeable people ready to serve the client. Smile sincerely and act as if you’ve already had a great day. Without acting too giddy, be sure you are the person who brightens the prospect’s day. Would you pick a service provider who acted detached, depressed and distracted, or a smiling, engaging, genuinely warm person? If you cannot convey a comforting, reassuring image, then you need to think about a new career.
Summarize your presentation up front. What? That’s right: Instead of leading the audience on a magical mystery tour that they are supposed to follow with no idea of where it ends, tell them up front what they are going to learn. “We represent the best choice as your risk management partner because our program will reduce your costs 18%; your claims by 20% or more; and we will get your corporate risk management training implemented as you had outlined.”
Connect with pain points. Continuing the theme of the previous point, your up-front summary must tie in the pain points the prospect already revealed to you (through your effective questioning) so that your summary makes it clear that you are presenting a program that solves their problems. Isn’t that what you would want to know if you were the buyer? There is no value to keeping your audience in the dark about your main points; they won’t be able to follow you.
Rehearse how members of your team will introduce themselves and their role. Each presenter gets three to five sentences. Don’t sit across from the audience if you can help it; instead, sit with them. Your account manager sitting with the prospect and asking you questions aligns the account manager with the buyer and disarms them.
Confirm with the buyer(s) that the criteria they gave you for their decision are still applicable. Repeat what they have told you before you do your up-front summary. This is your safety check
Don’t read the slides. If you want the audience to read them, be quiet and let them. Then add your personal comments, preferably over a dark screen. It’s insanity to expect prospects to read the words on the screen while you talk. That’s why it’s much more powerful to have a graphic and a few words. I’d rather have a picture of a smiling professional on screen while I talk about our satisfied customers than have 300 words from quotes by my clients. Why do you think ads and commercials use the images they do? Tie the emotional reaction of the buyer to the concept you are driving home.
When possible, wait to start the presentation while the members of the audience explain their roles in their company’s risk management program. You may ferret out important concerns which have not previously been discussed.
Stand and command when appropriate. But be aware of the powerful impact of standing over people who are seated. You can elicit a subtle negative reaction if you convey too intimidating a style by looming over someone. Or you might use that to your advantage as I once did when I was made aware of a member of a buying decision panel who planned on skewering me in the biggest presentation of my life. I’m not proud of it, but as soon as I heard from a friendly insider that this person planned on being aggressive, I stood exactly in front of him, sat on his table, and generally overwhelmed him with my proximity. I made him uncomfortable, and it distracted him from his agenda. It was a $1.6 million commission account, and I was not going to lose it because one person planned on sabotaging me. He did not ask a single hard question because he didn’t want to confront someone standing in a phone booth with him. (If you don’t know what a phone booth is, you were born after 1985.)
Try to conclude your presentation in 15 to 20 minutes, tops. Begin guiding a discussion on your key points with open-ended questions as well as affirming questions to make sure the prospect agrees.
Don’t bring a team and then answer every question for them. Beforehand, discuss with your team the questions likely to be asked and assign topics to team members. If during the presentation someone falters and doesn’t pick up the cue, you can facilitate with something like, “Jim, that’s an issue we discussed in the office and I liked your ideas; why don’t you explain them to Nancy.”
Use a conversational tone with the prospect that keeps him or her attentive and expecting you to ask a question any minute. If you can be warm and engaging and convey the value of your proposal while assuming the sale, you are more than halfway home to success. Varying your tone of voice and pace of speech are effective ways to maintain the listener’s attention.
Avoid long stories that don’t tie directly to your points, but do use stories to illustrate the experience the buyer can expect with you. If you don’t practice these beforehand, you will ramble; if you master them, you can be a magical presenter.
If you have an appropriately impressive office, invite the buyer(s) to the presentation there. A legitimate excuse is that you want to introduce them to everyone who will support them. Another is to meet your partners. This is particularly useful if part of your value proposition is the bigger picture of how doing business with your firm could lead to broader relationship opportunities— for example, if you could help the prospects generate more sales by introducing them to your agency’s other clients.
One producer suggested bringing a satisfied client to a lunch presentation with the prospect (and the client left before the producer got into the details with the prospect). The client spoke so glowingly and warmly that the prospect was predisposed to want the same experience.
Assuming the sale and discussing the next steps make for a strong but gentle close that will serve you well. Don’t leave without some kind of discussion about what will happen next. This can be a nerve-wracking process for you, but it’s why you get paid the big bucks. If you cannot lead the process of reaching a decision, you are not really producing the account and you need to reconsider your role. Role play with fellow producers based on the four to five scenarios you typically face at the conclusion of a presentation:
• The buyer has not heard from all your competitors and will wait to decide until she has done so (ask for a drop-by meeting with her on the afternoon of the last presentation).
• A group is making the decision and they need to meet to discuss their thoughts.
• The incumbent has asked for more time.
• The buyer has not obtained permission from the owner/CEO to switch brokers.
Here’s the bottom line: Few, if any, insurance professionals actually practice their verbal presentations, and that’s why their success rates suffer. You should win the ones you are supposed to win and half of those you are not supposed to win. You want a 66% to 80% success rate.
What is in your control with presentations is planning ahead and practicing. During the actual presentation, if you are hoping to pull a rabbit out of a hat and handle everything that comes up on the fly, well, you’d better be the best that ever was. If you commit to practicing and identifying weaknesses that you will turn into strengths, then you can at least be the best you can be.
The author
John Edward Love, CPCU, is the executive director of TechAssure and a 20-year veteran producer and agency executive. Look for his forthcoming book, The Greatest Broker (You Can Be), and sales training series. |
