Why You Must Have Effective Systems to Become Successful in the Insurance Or Financial Profession
When you consistently deliver exceptional service to your clients that meets or exceeds their expectations, they'll become your advocates and buy from you for years to come.
The key word is "consistently.
" This means you must do it every time a client does business with you.
Most agents have a hard time just meeting their clients' expectations, let alone exceeding them.
And for the few who actually do meet their clients' expectations, they don't (or don't know how to) do it consistently.
For example, one time they may meet their clients' expectations.
Another time they may fall short.
The third time they may exceed them.
The fourth time they may meet them.
The fifth time they may fall short again.
And this cycle repeats itself.
Guess what negative effect this inconsistency will have on your clients? Inconsistency will ruin your credibility and drive your clients crazy, forcing them to stop buying from you! In your experience, I'm sure you've dined at restaurants where they served inconsistent food quality or rendered inconsistent service, or both, haven't you? Didn't this inconsistency in quality or service annoy you somewhat (or maybe even a lot) because you didn't know what to expect the next time you go to that particular restaurant? Perhaps, to avoid getting disappointed again, you may have stopped patronizing that restaurant completely, right? Unfortunately, this situation is not unique to the restaurant industry.
I bet you have discontinued doing business completely with some other organizations because of their inconsistency in quality, service, or both, haven't you? Guess what? Your own clients would do the same thing.
That's right, when receiving inconsistent quality or service, or both, from you or your agency, many or all of them will stop doing business with you...
sometimes forever! The question you may be asking right now is...
"How Do I Consistently Meet My Clients' Expectations?" Well, you do this by setting up systems in your business.
In short, a system is a way of doing things by following a set of rules or procedures that produces predictable and consistent results every time.
To put it another way...
A System Allows You To Consistently Deliver A Minimum Standard Or Level Of Performance! After you've set up a system or a series of systems to at least meet your clients' expectations, you'll be able to deliver a great level of service every time they do business with you.
Let me now share with you a business that operates on incredible systems to help you fully understand the importance and appreciate the enormous benefits that systems can provide.
Have you been to McDonald's lately? Here's a multi-billion dollar international business operated, efficiently and profitably, by a bunch of teenagers who are no more intelligent or disciplined than the teenage children you know.
Have you ever wondered how these kids could prepare food that tastes exactly the same and provide the same level of service every single time - regardless of which McDonald's restaurant you go to, whether in California, New York, England, Australia, or Japan? The answer is, you guessed it, they have SYSTEMS to perform the various activities in their business.
And because these systems work so well, any teenager can operate them and the results will be the same every time.
Whenever you go to a McDonald's restaurant, you always know what to expect.
In other words, what the food is going to taste like and what kind of service you'll get.
Here's what's so amazing about McDonald's.
Although the food isn't the absolute best, everyday, in the United States alone, more than twenty-three million people eat at McDonald's.
So, if the food is not that good (and the prices are not much cheaper than the other restaurants in the area, some of which may offer better food), why do so many people eat at McDonald's every day? The main reason is McDonald's offers their customers a very important benefit that most other restaurants don't.
Can you guess what it is? You're right, if you said...
Control! Because their customers get consistent quality of food and service each time they visit McDonald's, they feel like they're in control.
Can the same thing be said about your agency? Whenever clients do business with you, do they feel like they're in control of the situation? For example, when you tell them you'll get back to them within 24 hours, do you actually reply to them within the time promised? Or, when customers ask two of your employees the same question about a claim, will both of your staff members give them the same answer? Or, if one of the things you do to make your clients feel special is to send them a birthday card on their birthday, then does each one of your clients get a birthday card every year? If you answered, "no" to any of these questions, it means you don't have effective systems in place to provide your clients with control.
Why is it so important for your clients (and also for you and me) to have control or to feel like they're in control? Well, in this beautiful world of ours, there are so many things that simply don't work the way we want them to.
Most people are experiencing a lot of discomfort and frustration in their daily lives.
There are so many things that are out of their control.
Let me share with you some examples: How do you feel when you go to a restaurant where you have to wait for over an hour when the hostess told you it would only take about fifteen minutes? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the mechanic told you your car would be ready by noon but it wasn't when you got there? Out Of Control! How do you feel when your medical bill is twice as much as the amount you were quoted? Out Of Control! How do you feel when someone cuts you off? Out Of Control! How do you feel when your daughter tells you she's going to drop out of college? Out Of Control! How do you feel when an employee calls in sick on the day you're leaving for your vacation? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the rental car you reserved at the airport was given to someone else and there was no more available? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the check your customer promised to send two weeks ago, arrived two months later? Out Of Control! How do you feel when you were put on hold for five minutes when you were told, "Just a second?" Out Of Control! And how do you feel when you were transferred to another person after you've just been on hold for five minutes? Out Of Control! As you can see, there are so many situations that can make you feel "out of control.
" The same thing is true with your clients.
So if they're going to give you their hard-earned money, they expect to be in control of the situation.
Because your clients rarely get to experience the feeling of being in control from other agents or businesses, it'll make you stand head and shoulders above everyone else! They'll be so pleased if they always get consistent and predictable results, which meet or better yet, exceed their expectations each time they do business with you.
Also, after you've set up effective systems in your business, you'll be able to produce consistent and predictable results every time.
To maximize your profits and to create a business that will allow you to work the number of hours you want, you need to systematize your daily activities, so they're done the same way every time.
If you want to build your million-dollar agency or practice, you must set up effective systems to perform the following functions: 1.
Answer the phone.
2.
Greet clients.
3.
Process policies.
4.
Provide quotes.
5.
Follow up on quotes.
6.
Resolve customer complaints.
7.
Hire, train, evaluate, and compensate employees.
8.
Submit proposals to your carriers.
9.
Process claims.
10.
Collect premiums.
11.
Manage cash flow.
12.
Build rewarding relationships with your carriers.
13.
Thank clients for their business.
14.
Astonish your clients several times a year.
15.
Renew policies.
16.
Sell multiple policies.
17.
Track marketing campaigns.
18.
Get an abundance of qualified leads.
19.
Turn prospects into customers.
20.
Convert customers into clients.
21.
Transform clients into advocates.
22.
Nurture clients.
23.
Obtain referrals regularly.
Effective systems have made McDonald's the most profitable and successful restaurant chain in the world.
And efficient systems can make your agency or practice one of the most profitable and successful insurance operations in the nation.
The key word is "consistently.
" This means you must do it every time a client does business with you.
Most agents have a hard time just meeting their clients' expectations, let alone exceeding them.
And for the few who actually do meet their clients' expectations, they don't (or don't know how to) do it consistently.
For example, one time they may meet their clients' expectations.
Another time they may fall short.
The third time they may exceed them.
The fourth time they may meet them.
The fifth time they may fall short again.
And this cycle repeats itself.
Guess what negative effect this inconsistency will have on your clients? Inconsistency will ruin your credibility and drive your clients crazy, forcing them to stop buying from you! In your experience, I'm sure you've dined at restaurants where they served inconsistent food quality or rendered inconsistent service, or both, haven't you? Didn't this inconsistency in quality or service annoy you somewhat (or maybe even a lot) because you didn't know what to expect the next time you go to that particular restaurant? Perhaps, to avoid getting disappointed again, you may have stopped patronizing that restaurant completely, right? Unfortunately, this situation is not unique to the restaurant industry.
I bet you have discontinued doing business completely with some other organizations because of their inconsistency in quality, service, or both, haven't you? Guess what? Your own clients would do the same thing.
That's right, when receiving inconsistent quality or service, or both, from you or your agency, many or all of them will stop doing business with you...
sometimes forever! The question you may be asking right now is...
"How Do I Consistently Meet My Clients' Expectations?" Well, you do this by setting up systems in your business.
In short, a system is a way of doing things by following a set of rules or procedures that produces predictable and consistent results every time.
To put it another way...
A System Allows You To Consistently Deliver A Minimum Standard Or Level Of Performance! After you've set up a system or a series of systems to at least meet your clients' expectations, you'll be able to deliver a great level of service every time they do business with you.
Let me now share with you a business that operates on incredible systems to help you fully understand the importance and appreciate the enormous benefits that systems can provide.
Have you been to McDonald's lately? Here's a multi-billion dollar international business operated, efficiently and profitably, by a bunch of teenagers who are no more intelligent or disciplined than the teenage children you know.
Have you ever wondered how these kids could prepare food that tastes exactly the same and provide the same level of service every single time - regardless of which McDonald's restaurant you go to, whether in California, New York, England, Australia, or Japan? The answer is, you guessed it, they have SYSTEMS to perform the various activities in their business.
And because these systems work so well, any teenager can operate them and the results will be the same every time.
Whenever you go to a McDonald's restaurant, you always know what to expect.
In other words, what the food is going to taste like and what kind of service you'll get.
Here's what's so amazing about McDonald's.
Although the food isn't the absolute best, everyday, in the United States alone, more than twenty-three million people eat at McDonald's.
So, if the food is not that good (and the prices are not much cheaper than the other restaurants in the area, some of which may offer better food), why do so many people eat at McDonald's every day? The main reason is McDonald's offers their customers a very important benefit that most other restaurants don't.
Can you guess what it is? You're right, if you said...
Control! Because their customers get consistent quality of food and service each time they visit McDonald's, they feel like they're in control.
Can the same thing be said about your agency? Whenever clients do business with you, do they feel like they're in control of the situation? For example, when you tell them you'll get back to them within 24 hours, do you actually reply to them within the time promised? Or, when customers ask two of your employees the same question about a claim, will both of your staff members give them the same answer? Or, if one of the things you do to make your clients feel special is to send them a birthday card on their birthday, then does each one of your clients get a birthday card every year? If you answered, "no" to any of these questions, it means you don't have effective systems in place to provide your clients with control.
Why is it so important for your clients (and also for you and me) to have control or to feel like they're in control? Well, in this beautiful world of ours, there are so many things that simply don't work the way we want them to.
Most people are experiencing a lot of discomfort and frustration in their daily lives.
There are so many things that are out of their control.
Let me share with you some examples: How do you feel when you go to a restaurant where you have to wait for over an hour when the hostess told you it would only take about fifteen minutes? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the mechanic told you your car would be ready by noon but it wasn't when you got there? Out Of Control! How do you feel when your medical bill is twice as much as the amount you were quoted? Out Of Control! How do you feel when someone cuts you off? Out Of Control! How do you feel when your daughter tells you she's going to drop out of college? Out Of Control! How do you feel when an employee calls in sick on the day you're leaving for your vacation? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the rental car you reserved at the airport was given to someone else and there was no more available? Out Of Control! How do you feel when the check your customer promised to send two weeks ago, arrived two months later? Out Of Control! How do you feel when you were put on hold for five minutes when you were told, "Just a second?" Out Of Control! And how do you feel when you were transferred to another person after you've just been on hold for five minutes? Out Of Control! As you can see, there are so many situations that can make you feel "out of control.
" The same thing is true with your clients.
So if they're going to give you their hard-earned money, they expect to be in control of the situation.
Because your clients rarely get to experience the feeling of being in control from other agents or businesses, it'll make you stand head and shoulders above everyone else! They'll be so pleased if they always get consistent and predictable results, which meet or better yet, exceed their expectations each time they do business with you.
Also, after you've set up effective systems in your business, you'll be able to produce consistent and predictable results every time.
To maximize your profits and to create a business that will allow you to work the number of hours you want, you need to systematize your daily activities, so they're done the same way every time.
If you want to build your million-dollar agency or practice, you must set up effective systems to perform the following functions: 1.
Answer the phone.
2.
Greet clients.
3.
Process policies.
4.
Provide quotes.
5.
Follow up on quotes.
6.
Resolve customer complaints.
7.
Hire, train, evaluate, and compensate employees.
8.
Submit proposals to your carriers.
9.
Process claims.
10.
Collect premiums.
11.
Manage cash flow.
12.
Build rewarding relationships with your carriers.
13.
Thank clients for their business.
14.
Astonish your clients several times a year.
15.
Renew policies.
16.
Sell multiple policies.
17.
Track marketing campaigns.
18.
Get an abundance of qualified leads.
19.
Turn prospects into customers.
20.
Convert customers into clients.
21.
Transform clients into advocates.
22.
Nurture clients.
23.
Obtain referrals regularly.
Effective systems have made McDonald's the most profitable and successful restaurant chain in the world.
And efficient systems can make your agency or practice one of the most profitable and successful insurance operations in the nation.
Source...