You sabotage yourself by not having systems. Those systems need to be based on your business, your strengths, and your objectives. You’ll never earn what a top producer earns if you run your business by spur of the moment decisions, and random activities intended to produce results.

You need three clearly defined systems to have a real business rather than a low paying job. First, you need a system to get appointments with the right prospects. Second, you need a system for selling those prospects and converting them into customers. Third, you need a system to generate referrals from those customers that isn’t pushy.

There are a number of marketing systems that you could purchase, but they aren’t your system. Even when/if you purchase a marketing system it’s really only part of your marketing plan. Your marketing plan has to be built around who you are, the reason your business exists, and the one clear message you want to communicate to your market through every marketing communication you make.

When you try to communicate different messages to the same people, or you try to be everything to everyone you confuse your market. There’s a simple truth about a confused market, and that is they don’t buy. And neither does a bored market.

Your systems all have to support and expand on the clear, succinct, and repeatable message that you want your market saying about you. The objective of marketing systems is to have enough systems in place to produce leads to qualified prospects. Traditional you-focused marketing doesn’t work, but educational customer-centered marketing always works and you can make it work more effectively if you don’t go for a one-shot connection.

Once you have a lead your sales system kicks in. A buyer won’t buy until they’re ready to buy no matter how much you try to push them into a sale. But a buyer that you’ve connected with and maintained the connection with will buy from you when they’re ready because they feel like they already know you and trust you.

Your job is to have several options for moving that prospect through your sales funnel until they’re ready to buy. Once you have the appointment you already have a tenuous relationship, and during the appointment you want to solidify that relationship by helping them to buy. Your sales process helps you to have a sales conversation that’s focused on the customer and that leads to a natural conclusion that you need to work together.

Once they’re your customer you need a referral system. Your referral system shouldn’t be pushy, and it shouldn’t sound like you’re begging. Your customers should feel like they’re sharing something great and when they do they connect you with their contacts.

By: Cheryl Clausen

A “pitch book” is a short explanation about what you do as a salesperson and a brief insight into our industry and our products.

My pitch book changes constantly as situations in the financial marketplace change but it is always the same. It tells the prospect about me and our industry. I like to keep it fresh and always in movement as situations evolve. This business is very competitive and keeping a pitch book fresh will have an impact on your ability to build relationship quickly.

Here are some tips to building and managing a successful pitch book.

A historical perspective of the past is important. If you are an annuity salesperson then show how annuities have helped so many people in the past. Connect the past to the present with human evolution such as “Did you know that Benjamin Franklin owned annuities?”

A nice touch is to relate the American economy with the possibilities of the future. This allows for your prospect to relate to their present situation w by viewing a longer period of time such as 1950 to 2000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S/P 500 can be very persuasive in making this point.

A good point is to show how world events can affect the financial markets and by showing the possibility of a downside will strengthen the overall presentation. This allows the prospect to understand that there can be times when investments may become more volatile and that a plan that stays the course is a plan that will work over a long period of time.

Third party information is essential. By referring to another source will show credibility to you. These can be newspapers and magazines that are relevant and allow their use.

Explain the process about how you work and the time frames and the steps to working towards a goal. Try and place the client into understanding how this process can be personalized to his situation.

Fully explain your services and what the prospect may expect from you. I always include a list of references in my pitch book and I always give my book to the client as a first meeting gift. If possible package the book in an upscale manner so that your prospect fully understands you are a professional and you expect to be treated that way. By setting the stage in this manner you will remove many obstacles that will appear during the final sales process.

1. Describe how any unique features of your approach that are aided.

2. Close by showing samples of what your thinking might look like if it were pulled together into a plan or specific portfolio for today.


A good pitch book helps point out what you have to offer, how it’s different and what you hope to accomplish. Your pitch book will set you aside from other salespersons and by taking the extra step in content and packaging will take a huge step in making your prospect your client.

By: Bill Broich

I mean they really stink and anyone who falls for this scam is going to be the loser. As insurance salespeople we all need people to tell our story to. Many of us use direct mail, seminars, referrals and many other sources. Then comes the one we all want, someone to set appointments for us so we only have to show up.

The need for an easy way to get appointments opens up the scam or easy money people. These “marketers” are ready and willing to sell us what we want, appointments. They promise at least two appointments a day with people eager to meet and discuss their financial affairs. They promise that the appointments will hold and they also promise a certain number will be a sale.

I recently was approached by one of these firms with a promise of appointment heaven. At least 2 set appointments a day and he would personally supervise my leads to guarantee my satisfaction. He also said that his leads generated a weekly premium of $10 million to his subscribers.

So I thought I would give it a try and see if I was being conned. But I did one little thing he wasn’t expecting, I insisted on using my form of payment, American Express. At first he refused to accept it but once he believed I wouldn’t do it any other way he agreed. It seemed he just found out they took that card.

Here were the results. I purchased 30 appointments and the first 5 had never heard of anyone and I was not wanted. The next few were so mad at the call because they said they had been conned and thought their finances were being stolen. It went on and on and never once was I able to see anyone on a favorable basis. So I played my ace and filed a complaint against them with American Express and got an instant refund. I had been conned.

Some research conducted later showed the same sort of agenda. The caller who sold me the leads said this:

• I have a list of annuity owners which was provided to me by a data collection agency that no one knew about.

• No one had ever called this list

• These were older annuities that were well beyond surrender periods

• Our agents sell 1 out of 6 appointments

• Out of 30 leads expect 22 very good appointments and 5 sales.


It is a con and please do not fall for it. I did it out of curiosity and research, but I protected myself with American Express.

There is no magical formula for generating marketing leads. The best possible way to market yourself is to find a genuine method such as direct mail or seminars and work them as they are designed.
Selling insurance is the easy part, doing the marketing to find the quality prospect is the hard part and my advise is to never cut corners and do it the correct way.

Stay away from the con artists!

By: Bill Broich