Salespeople are inherently competitive. In fact, I’m not sure I’d want one on my team who wasn’t. The only problem with such a headstrong mindset is when we forget who or what we’re actually competing against, and whether we’ve defined “Victory” in such a way as to recognize it when it’s occurred.
Take for example a broker of ours who found herself locked in a fierce tug-of-war with a “Career” agent (from, let’s call it ABC Mutual) over a prospect she was oh-so-close to landing. In spite of the strategic analysis I produced which bolstered my Broker’s recommendation, and the irresistible LTCA credibility materials I fed to her, she could feel her client slipping away. In the end, this ABC Agent coupled the best offer with the best pitch, and made the sale.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some, right?
But in our zeal to out-compete one another, what if there were a better way? What if our industry– wagons circled defensively like Custer’s Last Stand– could reflect around the campfire the ways that cooperation – raather than competition – might benefit ourselves?
In my mind I often replay the example above over the soundtrack, “50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.” I imagine a scenario where the two parties – rather than risking each earning nothing – make a gentleman’s agreement to “spiff” the other, no matter who ultimately writes the client on which product. It’s a commissionable take on the old Prisoner’s Dilemma. The immediate and obvious downside is outweighed by a newly-forged professional referral relationship built on compromise. That’s no small thing!
If the strategy above is simply too utopian for your tastes, I propose: what would’ve happened if our Broker had simply extended a conciliatory verbal “handshake” to the ABC Agent after she lost the case? Blasphemous, I know! For some reason, the athletic tradition of “good sportsmanship” continues to be modeled and emulated…why exactly? Because if we pull those habits out of context and apply them elsewhere, they seem quaint – or heretic. But in this networking world in which we live, I believe a cultivated, cooperative relationship with one another can pay long-term dividends.
When you build your partner network, commit to this mantra: “Give, in order to get.” This guides us not only that our exchanges must be mutual, but mutually beneficial. In practice, this manifests itself in one of two primary models.
The first is what I’ll call “Composer & Lyricist”. George Gershwin penned beautiful, lush scores, but he couldn’t specialize in everything: his gifted brother Ira was responsible for the verbal acrobatics of such memorable tunes as “Embraceable You” and “‘S Wonderful”. So too are there Insurance producers who’ve amassed extraordinary experience and talent in their chosen field, be it LTC, Life, Annuities, MedSup, or Estate Planning. If it’s true that you can’t specialize in everything – or your time is better spent elsewhere – then perhaps it’s more efficient to partner with high-quality CFP’s, CPA’s, Health Brokers, P&C Agencies, Elderlaw Attorneys, and Financial Advisors who complement your practice?
In a recent issue of InsuranceNewsNet (July, 2011) the issue was raised about what “the client wants”: a securities advisor or an insurance agent? Although cycles point back towards “risk management” products, the underlying conclusion was that consumers prefer a “one-stop shop”. There’s just one problem: those planning for retirement won’t find what they’re looking for in a Financial Advisor’s shop. According to a survey which appeared in Reuters this month (July, 2011), over 91% of CFP’s do not feel confident offering LTCI to their clientele. The upshot of both articles? If you position yourself as an Insurance Specialist– and particularly an LTCI Specialist – your “Composer” skills can easily be paired with “Lyricists” in any number of complementary industries.
The second partnership model is what I’ll term “Starter and Closer”. Unlike “Composer & Lyricist”, where each half is a self-sufficient “expert” in their complementary but non-overlapping fields (George Gershwin wrote the instrumental “Rhapsody in Blue” with no help from Ira); on the mound, both “Starter and Closer” can perform substantially the same tasks, but each has a gaping deficiency in their game which is perfectly matched by the skills of the other (think of Andy Petitte handing off to Mariano Rivera).
So too are there thousands of agents in this country whose “Career”-style distribution contracts require that they exclusively – or preferentially – market their own Carrier’s or Agency’s products. This creates the “Everything but…” situation which lends itself to your partnership. Andy Petitte can do “everything but” close the game. ABC Mutual Career agent can sell “everything but” impaired-risk LTCI…or “everything but” home-care only…or “everything but” XYZ Mutual, which is what they really want, because it’s the best plan for them. For a thousand reasons, Agents who can offer “everything but” that one product you can offer because you’re a Broker lend themselves to a “Starter and Closer” relationship. It’s tempting to want to compete head-to-head, but think of the benefits of cooperation instead.
After you’ve made your new friends, you’re going to have to work out the “commission split”. There’s no hard-and-fast rule on what is considered fair, although some producers rely on the MDRT formula. This system breaks the sales process into 5ths, but our experience has shown that this document– while instructive – only ever serves to spark the conversation. In fact, one of the online forums (AALTCI Producers Group) is hosting a discussion presently to debate this very topic – as a habit, LTCA always encourages our producers to join such peer-to-peer dialogues in order to stay current. At the end of the day, although I’ve been witness to many successful split-arrangements, my advice for inter-disciplinary referrals is to aim for 50/50, since this has the least tendency to result in either party resenting the deal terms over time.
Finally, no conversation on this topic can be complete without making mention of the pro-industry campaign, www.3in4needmore.com. This is a pan-carrier, non-denominational LTCI awareness campaign in which all agents find ourselves aligned on the same side. Like a quasi-trade group, you can emblazon your site and your materials with its logo to help spread the word. Campaigns like this which cut across all lines are great ways for agents to show solidarity and unite for a common cause; perhaps only matched by our galvanized but inconsistent response to CLASS, or our tepid, missed opportunity to capitalize on the “Own Your Future” campaign.
When not facing off head-to-head, one of the best ways for agents to “line up on the same side” is to join and support our industry trades, the two most important being the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, and the Center for Long Term Care Reform. To me, a membership in these groups is part of “good basic agent hygiene”. What’s not so obvious, however, is your responsibility to stand up and defend our industry from yellow journalism when and wherever it rears its head.
Consider: Myth and mis-information abound concerning our products, carriers and reputation, yet most of us are content to take it on the chin. In return, I find the same handful of heroic, stalwart agents defend and counter-attack the columnists who perpetuate these sterotypes – negative stereotypes which make our work Sisyphean. When I spoke earlier about identifying your competition, don’t “think small”. It’s not this other agent, or that other carrier. They are your allies. That which you are fighting is malaise and denial. When you permit distortions to spread and myths to perpetuate in the media, you hinder your own sales. Conversely, by correcting falsehoods about our industry and the excellent products we proudly sell, you not only improve the response rates of the calls-to-action we send, but you also improve the receptivity of the very next lead whose phone you dial. Demonstrating a united front, and acting swiftly to respond to inflammatory coverage is something all of us can do better, which benefits each of us incrementally.
Try to look beyond yourself. When you “think big”, bigger things will start happening for you– Good Selling!
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