Let’s face it: The economic challenges confronting many agencies today have made it necessary for seasoned producers to start actually prospecting and selling again. The problem is, few agents have a well-managed pipeline from which they can generate new business.
In conversation after conversation with producers, I hear statements similar to “I only work on referral” or “I’m working my prospect list.” When I ask how they are generating leads and introductions from referral sources, I rarely get an answer that assures me that the leads and introductions will flow consistently. In fact, when I ask them to define what they mean by a “pipeline,” the answers run the gamut from a few names listed on a piece of paper to a spreadsheet downloaded from a CRM database such as Salesforce.com.
It’s time for producers and agencies to get smart about developing and nurturing their sales pipelines. But first, let’s get clear on what a pipeline really is. Frequently, a pipeline is described as a list of leads in various stages of development. Traditional pipelines divide leads into two categories: suspects and prospects. In our organization, we segment the pipeline into three distinct categories: suspect pool, suspects and finally, prospects.
In addition to having a clearly defined pipeline for managing leads, it is important for producers who work on referral to have a similar process for managing their centers of influence. Indeed, it is equally important for producers to have centers of influence. We’ll discuss center of influence strategies a bit later.
Remember the old saying, “Failure to plan is a plan to fail”? How frequently do producers panic when they realize they haven’t put enough numbers on the board and then go out and do a one-time marketing blitz hoping to close business? When that happens, I hear comments like “Direct mail doesn’t work,” or “No one goes to our website” and “I can’t get my calls returned.” When the business doesn’t come in, they move on to a new set of “prospects” and blitz them, repeating the same ineffective strategy again and again.
Nurturing a lead is like courting — not speed dating. It takes a plan and a long-term approach to nurture leads through a pipeline and develop them into “client-ready” prospects. The type and frequency of the message deployed to your leads is different at each stage of the pipeline.
Let’s start with our suspect pool. The leads in a suspect pool have not yet been fully qualified, yet based on a few key characteristics, the potential for them to become a “right-fit” client is present. The strategy is to provide frequent, low-cost, value delivery messaging; the goal is to have the prospect either “unsubscribe” or to “raise their hand” in interest. A raised hand provides you with the opportunity to determine if the prospect shares similar business objectives. If so, the opportunity for the lead to move from Suspect Pool to Suspect has occurred. In some cases, the lead may move directly to Prospect if enough evidence indicates that he or she shares similar values and business objectives with both the agency and you, the producer.
Let’s say a lead raises their hand and you determine that they share similar business objectives, but aren’t yet ready to develop a business relationship. This would qualify them to move from the Suspect Pool to a Suspect. The leads in the Suspect phase of the pipeline receive a greater number of “touches” than those in the Suspect Pool. These more frequent and targeted touches help both the Producer and the Suspect to learn more about each other, which allows each to continue qualifying the other.
Prospects, on the other hand, may continue to receive frequent and targeted messaging, but in this phase, the communication is flowing in both directions. The Prospect recognizes that the producer has capabilities that they lack and is considering engaging a business relationship. The producer recognizes that the prospect meets the necessary criteria of their “perfect-client” type and needs only to move the client through their sales process.
Now, you may be asking yourself, “When do leads move from lead nurturing to the sales process?” In many cases they don’t. Messaging and lead nurturing should not be confused with selling. Lead nurturing is the process by which we raise awareness of our brand and what differentiates us from the competition. The sales process affords us the opportunity to link our skills and abilities with the risks and threats our prospects face. Our messaging strategies act as a filter and help us to sift through the suspect pool for leads that best qualify for a business relationship.
Lead nurturing and advancing a prospect forward in the sales process makes sense for most producers. But what happens when a prospect isn’t converted to a client? A level of discipline is required to let go and to move a Prospect back to a Suspect or to conclude that they are not your “perfect-client type” and walk away entirely.
It’s not uncommon for producers to continue to work with low-probability prospects, or worse yet, make the often fatal and almost always commoditizing decision to bid and quote in the hope of writing the business. This decision is generally made when there aren’t enough suspects in the pipeline, forcing the producer to fill their time with prospects they have little hope of writing.
One strategy to keep a pipeline filled is to develop centers of influence (COI)s. COIs can be clients, coworkers or other professionals such as accountants, lawyers and bankers. They have a level of influence with the prospect and their introduction and recommendation of your service provides you additional leverage in the sales process.
So how do we create center of influence opportunities?
- Clearly define your perfect-client type.
- Clearly articulate why and how a business relationship with you will benefit their contact and your prospect.
- Create a short presentation about your sales process so your COI is confident in how you will engage with the prospect.
- Identify which prospects you are interested in meeting. It is much more effective to clearly state who you want introductions to than to ask the COI to think of appropriate prospects for your services.
- Express genuine curiosity about what your COI’s perfect client-type is so you can reciprocate.
If producers want to experience organic growth and grow their book of business, the development of a sound pipeline complete with centers of influence is an essential first step.
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