Newbies, Buy This Book!!!!

True. Now, I don't mean to confuse anyone because cold-calling does work. I went BtoB and will put BtoB against anyone's marketing strategy.

But there's a reason some people think BtoB is "horrible." They're back in the old sales mentality of "everyone's a prospect." No. Everyone's not a prospect.

When I went BtoB I was looking for owners that had a genuine interest in what I was offering. That's a big difference between standing toe to toe with every business owner and launching into a sale pitch.
 
I'm a new agent and there are hundreds of books out there I could purchase. Why this one?

First, this book has been recommended by many successful experienced agents on more than one forum. I first learned about this book on Topgunproducers.com.

Second, this book deals with a subject that no other sales book I have ever read addresses.

I think this book is a must read.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
.....When I went BtoB I was looking for owners that had a genuine interest in what I was offering. That's a big difference between standing toe to toe with every business owner and launching into a sale pitch.

Big difference. Our prospecting is basically digging through rocks looking for the diamonds. We are not trying to turn every rock into a diamond.
 
Last edited:
This is why you're safe going BtoB and never hearing "someone selling insurance just came by."

They are taught old school methods. You will sell 1% of all businesses you approach. Easy math there - 1 out of 100 businesses is a sale. If you're cruising you'll hit 100 in three hours. Track it. If you're not then you're spending too much time talking to people who aren't buying sh*t or you're not in a densely populated area.

This is where old sales training = failure. You need to get out of businesses where there's no genuine interest quickly. If you don't you'll be spending 3X as long at each business.

That means you'll need to add 3X to hitting 100 businesses. So it won't be in 3 hours, it'll be in 9. I can guarantee you that anyone going BtoB and only landing 1 sale per 9 hours is toast.
 
This is why you're safe going BtoB and never hearing "someone selling insurance just came by."

They are taught old school methods. You will sell 1% of all businesses you approach. Easy math there - 1 out of 100 businesses is a sale. If you're cruising you'll hit 100 in three hours. Track it. If you're not then you're spending too much time talking to people who aren't buying sh*t or you're not in a densely populated area.

This is where old sales training = failure. You need to get out of businesses where there's no genuine interest quickly. If you don't you'll be spending 3X as long at each business.

That means you'll need to add 3X to hitting 100 businesses. So it won't be in 3 hours, it'll be in 9. I can guarantee you that anyone going BtoB and only landing 1 sale per 9 hours is toast.

You have made some good points in your last post but there is no way to call on 100 business in 3 hours when you live in a rural area like I do. I can get about 40-50 a day if I stay at it.
 
That's very true Dwayne and when an agent calls me who lives in a rural area I go over that it's almost impossible due to math.

The best an agent can do is drive to the nearest city.
 
First, this book has been recommended by many successful experienced agents on more than one forum. I first learned about this book on Topgunproducers.com.

Second, this book deals with a subject that no other sales book I have ever read addresses.

I think this book is a must read.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What I took from the book:

1.It clarified why I was getting "rolled" and how to minimize it
2.It taught me a non-confrontive way of speaking to commercial clients and getting the answers I am looking for.
3.It was well written and very easy to understand
4.It is to the point, and not a lot of fluff. Some of the agents say it is too small for the price. I guess size matters:D. Why would I may $30 to read 500 pages when I can get the same information in 116 pages?
5. I have put it to work and have seen how the change in my approach is much better.
6. It will give you a very easy to understand gameplan before you go out.

I am sure there are other books that will be helpful as well and I am planning on reading more but this book was referred to me by agents on this forum, especially P&C, and I am thankful they recommended it to me.
 
The best selling technique is question based. First, asking questions is an instant qualifier since non-interested people tend to give one-word answers.

Second, you cannot solve a problem if you can't find the problem and you can't find the problem when you're talking.

As an example, this single question had resulted in a lot of clients over the years regarding individual health insurance:

"Do you plan on moving?"

If the answer is yes then I go over what's involved when moving from one state to another which addresses a problem they didn't even know existed. Now I've positioned myself as someone who's trying to look out for them as opposed to the other agent who's trying to get their routing number.
 
Last edited:
Ok, just finished this book.

Not bad, actually pretty enlightening to someone who has sold in different markets their life.

I am learning that insurance is a different beast.

I would recommend this book to someone new in the industry, or someone who is constantly getting rolled.
 
Opps! Well I can tell you it's an excellent book for sopping up spilled Orange Juice.

I'll have a full book report on it in a week or so.

Newby, just gave me the book back. Thankfully it is still readable through all of the orange stain but why does it smell like bourbon?
 
It's now been over 3 and 1/2 years since this was written. Are you still of the same opinion that the Wedge is a must read? Are you still using those tactics yourself?
 
Back
Top