Leads and Seeds Have 1 Thing In Common

Prospecting leads is similar to planting seeds on a farm. You have to nurture those seeds with the right nutrients, care for them, and wait patiently for the seeds to sprout and grow before you can harvest the crop. Not all of the plants will survive, but if you have enough plants to nurture, your farm will inevitably yield enough crops to be successful and meet your yield goals. For this reason, it’s important to always be collecting and planting new “seeds” to keep your sales funnel in pristine condition. Seeds and Sales Require nurturing

Seeds and Sales Require Nurturing

​​Annuities are very big buying decisions for clients and require patience from agents, which admittedly is very difficult for the field, because agents don’t get paid on the 15th and 30th like most corporate office jobs. So, it's understandable that agents get anxious and are more than ready for a sale when a prospect shows interest.

​However, as we all know, the reward can be tremendous! That’s the thrill of our business, right? Who doesn’t like closing a $500k+ case?

Also like crops, leads can’t be rushed to grow quicker or forced to yield a bigger harvest. However, you can use Miracle Grow and good fertilizer (i.e. digital marketing) to help your seeds sprout, grow, and yield a successful harvest. The key difference between many $30M producers and the $1M producers is their approach to prospecting. $30M producers have figured out that secret sauce… prospecting automation systems.

How To Prospect Patiently and Confidently

The most successful agents create and execute an effective digital marketing strategy to nurture their leads and prospects on autopilot. This automated workflow helps agents work the leads until they are ready to make a buying decision, which can happen at different times of the year... kind of like Spring, Summer, and Fall harvest. This way, agents don’t feel the need to close a new lead in 30 days, because they are harvesting the crop from 3 months ago, 6 months ago, or even a year ago. There’s a lot less pressure on everyone, and their lifestyles improve, such as being able to spend more time with their families and friends. Plus, agents don’t have to spend as much time chasing the leads as they do closing biz. 

Combining an effective source of leads with digital marketing can truly create a synergy effect that leads to more sales. Not only will your production increase, but your confidence level will soar because you will have a steady stream of new appointments. People like and trust confident people, and are scared off by anyone who seems desperate. Think about it this way… if you went on a first date, and you asked them to move in with you, wouldn’t that scare the other person off? The same holds true for our business. 

​When you don’t have a marketing automation system in place, you feel more pressure to take action and try to close the prospect as quickly as possible. Some people will not respond well if you try to close them on the first appointment or talk about products. They want to get to know you first, learn more about the services you provide, and most importantly… they want to talk to you about themselves!

That’s right, the most important thing you can do during your first appointment is to listen and get to know your client. Most people enjoy talking about themselves, their families, what they’re doing for their communities, their partners/spouses, children, grandchildren, etc. Once you establish a baseline, then start talking about their financial goals, what concerns them about retirement, and what kind of lifestyle they want for themselves.

Improve Your Yield Ratio With Less Effort

We know that many agents are great at closing, but it’s getting that opportunity that’s becoming more elusive. The catch-22 of today’s society, is technically we have more resources and tools to accomplish our goals… so it should be easier… but the reality is it’s actually becoming more difficult because competition can be fierce. So, by developing a strong brand to separate yourself from the pack and implementing marketing automation, you can set yourself up to have a tremendous year. 

If you would like to know what digital marketing services we provide, as well as our in-house annuity lead generation program, please reach schedule a quick call to learn more. We’re here to help you be as successful as possible, and would like the opportunity to earn your business. Start planting the seeds of success today!

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Until next time… good selling!

Jason Garriott,
Director of Digital Marketing
​The Ohlson Group
1-877-844-0900