But, frankly, very little selling goes on in our industry. This might be a surprise to the insurance sales professionals, many of whom earn a handsome living. These salespeople are closing sales. What I mean to say is, what most of them are doing isn't selling. Let me explain.

From the beginnings of the benefits industry, benefits agencies have been asked to assist employers primarily with shopping and spreadsheeting quotes on the company's health plan and, occasionally, with benefit plan design. For decades, all that the marketplace asked of most benefits brokers was this transactional role, along with providing support with billing and claims issues. Brokers were paid a sizable commission by the medical carriers for selling and servicing their accounts. Any selling that did take place in our industry usually involved selling a business owner on offering employer-sponsored group medical insurance.

Human quote engine

Eventually, though, at some point in time most employers were now offering group health plans, so the client already had the product…group medical. The job of brokers became primarily helping the client get the best price on a product he already had. This isn't selling; this is a transactional activity and what I call being a “human quote engine,” which is, in fact, today a service that a computer could accomplish more quickly and efficiently.

The reality for far too many producers in our industry is that they never have had to sell, the job simply didn't require it. (As indicated by their name, consultants in our industry often have provided a higher level of advice and guidance but when it comes to the medical, they've not been selling, either.) Prospect, approach, build relationships, follow up…yes, of course, they did that. But, for most brokers, until now the art of selling just hasn't been needed in our industry.

Selling isn't persuading

Furthermore, the most common understanding of “selling” is itself misguided, similar to the description found in Wikipedia: Selling is considered by many to be a sort of persuading “art.”

This flows from the mistaken idea that the salesperson's job is to get the prospect to buy. As we'll see in a later chapter, that's a terribly distorted view that makes selling unproductive…and difficult.

In reality, as we've just seen, for most producers what passes for selling in the benefits industry has been transactional, at best. But transactional selling is no longer sufficient when the broker's focus is having to shift from just getting the BOR on the medical to cross-selling other products and services to help replace lost medical commissions.

No cross-selling

I know for a fact that most producers in our industry don't sell…and I'll go so far as to say they really don't know how to sell.

I know this because for the past six years or so I've been conducting our Broker Boot Camp workshops on cross-selling voluntary for thousands of brokers across the country. Sponsored both by carriers and privately by progressive agencies for their own producers, these workshops help brokers overcome their objections to voluntary benefits and shows them how to cross-sell voluntary the right way using a consultative approach. My point here is that the reason carriers and agencies are paying large fees for our Boot Camps is that producers won't—I'll say can't—sell voluntary benefits, which requires actually selling the client on the idea of offering voluntary. (NOTE: Cross-selling voluntary to HR is not a difficult sale…when you make it a consultative sale.)

Most producers are good at relationships and can spreadsheet to beat the band. But that's not selling. And in candid conversations I've had with many producers, they have revealed an appalling lack of sales skills or even knowledge. Again, no shame here. The skill rarely has been called for until now and how would they have learned? The carriers have long ago abolished their sales training programs after they moved away from the agent system to agency distribution. And very few agencies provide meaningful sales training and most offer none at all.

However, with the continuing decline in broker and agency compensation on the medical, this sad state of affairs cannot continue.

The power of consultative selling

So, how does consultative selling work? Years ago, while working for a national benefits communication and enrollment firm, I managed to get a coveted appointment with the SVP for voluntary benefits at a major regional brokerage in Ohio. He started the meeting with an invitation to pitch: “We already work with several enrollment firms. Why should we work with you?”

He was giving me the opportunity to persuade him that he should use our services.

But instead of a lengthy presentation about our capabilities and track record enrolling voluntary benefits, I responded with just a three-sentence value proposition on our services and then boldly stated, “But that's not what I'm here to talk with you about.”

That got his attention.

“What, then?” he asked.

I asked him about his firm's cross-selling efforts. After some hedging, he acknowledged difficulty getting their producers to actually cross-sell voluntary benefits. Several questions later, he confirmed they were missing their voluntary sales targets.

I then said, “What if I work with your producers to overcome their objections and train them to cross-sell voluntary? I'll even go on calls with them to help close the case. Once they're writing voluntary business, I'll enroll the cases for you. Are you interested?”

He immediately responded, “When can you come in and do some lunch-and-learns?”

BOOM!

My point? My prospect didn't need my enrollment services. What he needed was increased top-line revenue and bottom-line profit from more sales of voluntary benefits. Once I stopped trying to sell my enrollment services and started using consultative selling to show agencies how I could help them sell more voluntary benefits—producing more profits—I became top producer at my firm.

This real-world example illustrates the secret to—and the power of—consultative selling.

Critical transformation

Becoming more consultative is, in fact, the most critical area for your agency transformation to both survive the coming shake-out and emerge to dominate your market. Consultative selling is a hallmark of the 21st century agency because so much else flows to the agency from the added value that consultative selling brings the client:

• Differentiation from competitors;

• Justification for a service fee;

• Cross-selling of other products and services;

• Strengthened broker/client relationship;

• Increased client retention; and

• Multiple revenue streams to replace lost medical commissions.

At its core, a benefits agency is a sales organization. The other agency transformation areas—portfolio, marketing, and management—exist solely to support the agency's sales efforts. A 21st century portfolio provides the tools a consultative broker needs to solve client problems, bring massive value, and generate additional revenue streams. 21st century marketing supports the sales function by promoting to prospects the agency's value proposition as a problem solver and by communicating to clients the tremendous added value that the agency brings to the client. 21st century management ensures that the promises made by the sales team are fulfilled fully and promptly. Additionally, 21st century management demands high performance, productivity and return-on-investment from both the agency's producers and its administrative staff to maximize top-line revenue and bottom-line profit. But it all begins with selling…consultative selling.

In my Benefits Selling Expo session, “The Winning Hand: Move to Consultative Selling,” I'll reveal four simple steps to becoming consultative in your selling. Plus, you'll discover how to:

• Refocus yourself to become almost totally client-oriented;

• Ask the right questions to discover the client's pain points, wants and needs;

• Create an emotional demand in the client for your solution;

• Differentiate yourself in a way that most brokers can never compete with;

• Take control of the broker/client relationship, lock in accounts, and cross-sell with ease.

By moving from transactional to consultative selling, you'll be prepared for success in the post-reform benefits world.