Have you ever watched the movie “Speed” with Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock? Dennis Hopper plays a bitter and unstable bomb squad officer who gets hurt on the job and is forced to retire. He straps a bomb to the chassis of a bus and rigs it to blow up if the speedometer dips below 55 MPH. I feel an analogy coming on.
Lately, when I work with producers, it feels like they are driving that bus, and they’ve got to keep the pedal mashed down or they will blow up.
Most Agents: Don’t slow down to look at the competitive landscape. They don’t research themselves, or the competition. They don’t establish a platform for differentiation, don’t establish strategies, don’t have good hit ratios, and get rolled often.
Successful Agents: Evaluate themselves and the competition. They create differentiation and competitive advantages. Establish strategies and create dissatisfaction through comparison to edge out the incumbent and win.
Do you or your agency truly deliver or offer anything unique? What most agents say that makes them better, actually makes them the same. All agencies provide reactive services. The phone rings, we react. Most agencies are poor at Pro-Active Service, and fail to offer or deliver anything Special. Those who fail to differentiate play the price game, and will win & lose on price. If you find yourself being rolled frequently, perhaps it is time to differentiate.
Differentiation creates dissatisfaction through comparison. Only when prospects can compare what they currently have to what they could have, do they experience buyer’s remorse and dissatisfaction.
Differentiation identifies real opportunities. If you compare yourself to the incumbent and you have no true advantages, no real differences, then don’t bother quoting, You won’t win unless the prospect is very upset with the incumbent, or you get very lucky.
Remember; The incumbent has a relationship, we are virtual strangers. People hate change and we represent change. The incumbent has home field advantage and gets last look.
Why Differentiate?
Match up your strengths to the incumbent’s weaknesses and you have a good chance of creating dissatisfaction and winning.
It nullifies home field advantage: When you & your prospect are focusing on your differences and your advantages, it keeps the other team off the field and directs conversation towards your strengths.
It directs the focus away from price: The client realizes that he’s not comparing the same thing, and “Apples to Apples” doesn’t apply.
The Differentiation Process
Involves self evaluation, research, & brainstorming to create pro-active services and learn how to communicate those advantages and positions you for an unfair comparison. Once you start this process, you’ll never stop and never look back. The result will be improvements in individual productivity, new business growth, client retention, client satisfaction, new business introductions, and agency health.
1. Agency Evaluation: Take a Human Asset Inventory…Your people are talented and have skills & creative energy. Have them fill out a PDS, or Performance, Diagnostic Survey, or skill assessment profile. Ask them to tell you what they are good at, and let them offer to do it. You’ll be surprised at what they know and how much more they can do. We expect so little of our people. Brain storm; ask them to develop products and services around their specific talents. How can we use these talents and skills to offer pro-active services & solutions for our clients? Make a list and keep track.
2. Competitive Analysis: Do a true- in depth study of your competition. Know them as well as you know your own agency. Get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, and those of their individual producers. Get the information by asking questions and doing research. It takes time, but it really creates an unfair advantage when you know them better than they know themselves. Use every available source including: Ex Employees/Customers/People you know/Insurance companies/Field reps/Marketing reps/Other sources-Make a list, keep track
3. Become Special: Compile your Human & technological asset list, and determine what you can provide do that is different or better. Take your competitor’s weaknesses and match your strengths to their weaknesses, establish a competitive advantage log for each. You’re your prospects issues and apply your strengths to their problems, Develop services to solve problems and deliver those services in a way that helps them understand & control the process and over service them.
Differentiation will make all the difference you need to win more business.
Your thoughts & Comments?
David M. Connolly
www.iqsalescoach.com
Topics Agencies
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