I believe that selling is basically a transfer of confidence and passion. 

When you are selling, you are working to give your prospect confidence that you bring a better solution to their situation than does your competition. 

You are working to give them passion about addressing the situation that your solution is intended to address. 

Confidence and passion are just like anything else.  You can’t give away what you don’t possess yourself. Confidence and passion may not be tangible in the way that you can hold something in your hand, but make no mistake, people can clearly see whether you have them or not.

The important thing for every one of us to know is what our sources of confidence are and to be honest about where our passion lies.  While we may not have control over what creates passion for us, we absolutely control those sources of confidence.  Once you’ve identified them, you have to work very purposefully to maintain them at a very high level.

Sadly, some people, when they feel their confidence and passion slipping away don’t choose to address the issue of re-building their confidence or being honest about their passion.  Instead they just talk a bigger game, they make claims about their ability and value that just aren’t true any longer.  And like the loud-mouthed athlete who is a little past his playing prime, but still claims to be “the greatest”, it is easy to spot the pretenders, and it is usually a sad sight to behold.

My advice is to be honest with yourself about your level of confidence and the source of your passion.  If the confidence has slipped, do the hard work to build it back.  If your passion has slipped, you need to search to find where it has moved. 

Maybe it has just shifted to another role in your company.  Maybe selling is no longer your passion, but mentoring other young salespeople gets you all fired up.

Or maybe your confidence and passion have shifted somewhere else entirely, and it’s time to move on.

Photo by stefg74.

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

We talked recently about managing the changes insurance and benefits agencies are making as a result of the changing business model. One of the questions we hear a lot in these discussions is “Whose responsibility is that?”

And it’s a good question.  One that needs to be explored within your own structure.  We can give you some ideas, but we can’t answer it specifically because each agency is as unique as the people within it. You might already be set up to deliver in some of these areas, or you might need to bring in new people, reallocate resources, or hire some outside firms for support.

One thing is for certain – you’re going to have to make some changes.

As buyers and their needs become more complicated, delivering on this new level of sophistication requires more people in the agency to take on an active role in acquiring and supporting new clients.

Let’s start with the producer role

In this new model, we need to take time to think about how the producer’s job has changed, and we need to evaluate what that change looks like for them, for the client, and for the agency. Producers are sales people who are good at working with clients and making promises. They may not be so good at delivering on all those promises, especially when we have a growing repertoire of services, and nor should they be.

Think about it like this. When you’re in a restaurant, does the waiter make the food? No, they are the liaison between the customer and the kitchen.  And they are experts, hopefully, at being that relationship person and the translator between the two. The chef is the expert at making the food and the bartender is the expert at making that drink. The waiter makes sure you have an excellent all around experience.

We need to look at insurance and benefits agencies in the same way. Producers should not be doing it all themselves. We’ve moved beyond that model where you can have a do-it-yourself production staff. It takes a team.

Let’s look at some areas within the agency where you might need to add or restructure

Marketing – Being the first point of contact with the prospect through marketing activities and messaging. Having a point person filling this role is an important part of the new model. This person needs to be a very strong connector between the leadership team (to help create the message) and the sales team (to ensure proper delivery of the message).  This person should also be creative and motivated to create a strong internal and external marketing program.

Prospecting – Bringing in new revenue should be top priority for the agency, and should be given appropriate attention and resources.  Prospecting efforts should be supported by strong sales leadership, which helps drive the efforts of the producers by providing accountability, time management planning, regular sales development meetings, and account strategy help.

Client Service – What the client receives needs to reach beyond reactive policy service issues. Additional services, unrelated to the policies, need to be delivered to clients, and people with expertise should be responsible for that delivery. This may be people with special areas of expertise in an area like wellness, it may be someone to help coordinate the delivery of third party providers, or it may be internal folks who deliver a variety of solutions around HR or risk management.

Traditionally, agencies have relied on carriers for a lot of their business support services like marketing materials and activities, prospecting lists, and they’ll even participate in team selling efforts and offer some client programs like wellness or safety.

Sometimes these are the right resources, but you also need to be open to partnering with other solution providers and creating some of these things internally.

Creating the right structure will take some time to figure out what works best. As you work through it, I highly recommend you first create a vision of what you would ideally like the customer to experience when working with your company.

Start from the ideal, and then create a structure to support it. Don’t limit yourself to thinking about what your structure or team currently looks like. Companies can be reorganized and people can be trained.

Photo by Marina Kuperman Villatoro.

@wendykeneipp

Like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

I’m sure you have all heard the old folk warning of the frog in boiling water. Put a frog into a pot of cold water, turn up the heat, and the frog will sit there until he becomes frog soup, not sensing the severity of his situation until it’s too late to take action. However, throw that same frog into a pot of water that’s already boiling and he will somehow get out before his feet hit the bottom of the pot, the seriousness of the situation being painfully obvious.

Well, in many ways, you are likely in a pot of very warm water yourself—financially speaking anyway. Regardless of how aware you may or may not be, the pot of water that is your revenue stream is starting to boil.

100 Degrees – Health care reform is passed, which includes something called the “MLR.” As a result, in many markets, carriers cut commissions. The heat turns up a bit.

120 Degrees - On the P&C side, you see year after year of soft markets. Your compensation drops just as fast as the premiums. And it gets a little hotter.

150 Degrees - The recession hits your clients. They reduce head counts and payroll. Whether you are on the P&C side or benefits, premiums and (you guessed it) your commissions are reduced as well. And the water becomes even more uncomfortable.

175 Degrees - The same financial hard times are hitting the bottom line of your clients and they have to eliminate certain benefits. No benefits, no commissions, but a lot more heat.

200 Degrees - Your competition is feeling the heat as well and out of desperation tries to steal your accounts by offering to work for less than you. Your response is likely to cut the compensation even further. Now you’re turning the heat up on yourself!

(And, in case you forgot, water boils at 212.)

At this point, for many, the only saving grace is the fact that the financial reward for mediocrity in our industry has been way too high. I’m not suggesting you are mediocre at what you do, but I am suggesting that we have tolerated the higher heat because there was so much excess “insulation” to begin with.

I’m also not suggesting that you haven’t recognized the increased heat. However, because the heat has been turned up gradually, I’m going to guess that your reactions have also been incremental, at best. Cross sell, prospect a little more, sell voluntary, etc.

My suggestion is to assume that the water is at a full boil and get yourself out of the pot now. Getting out means taking control of the heat, which means taking control of how you get paid.

Yes, there are many elements beyond your control, but it has become inexcusable to allow the carriers to control your revenue and tell you how much you are worth. As in any business, you need to be setting your own prices. This means moving from commissions to fees.

I understand that this is easier said than done, but it is extremely doable. The key is to just get started.

Start by having a conversation (today) with each of your clients about how much you are getting paid through commissions and what value you deliver to them in return.

Explain you are moving to a fee structure to ensure they will always know exactly what you are being paid and the value they are receiving in return.

Of course, you need to know how to set those fees once you make this change.

It starts with analyzing how much it takes you to service an account.

• What are your fixed costs that need to be allocated across your entire book?
• How much service time (account managers, account executives, wellness coordinators, HR), and at what billable hour, will this account require?
• How much administrative time, and at what billable hour, will be required?
• What variable costs will be incurred on behalf of this account?
• How much does the producer need to earn on this account?
• How much does the agency need to earn on this account?

No, it isn’t necessarily easy, but then neither is climbing out of the pot once you have become the main course. You just have to ask yourself, “How badly do I want out?”

Photo by Purple Slog.

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

When you change your client value offering and your sales model, you have to change the way the company supports these new efforts. Taking the time to evaluate your current structure and making changes to support the new model is critical to successfully executing on and delivering on your new value proposition.

When you make the commitment to what the new structure is going to be, you’ll have to take on the possibly daunting task of implementing on it. And it might not be fun because many people don’t like change – it’s unknown and that can be scary.

Anticipate the reactions

When you make the commitment to undertake a major change, or any change for that matter, you need to recognize that people will react differently. Be prepared for this and have a plan in advance.

• You’ll have your enthusiastic change agents who can’t wait to get started and are planning the details before you’ve finished explaining the end goal.
• You’ll have your naysayers who sincerely believe that this is doomed before you’ve finished explaining the end goal. They will work to remain as status quo as possible.
• The balance of your folks will be in the middle. They’re the fence-sitters.  They have very little opinion and are susceptible to going either direction.

The choice is yours

Now, you’re faced with a couple of choices:

Spend your time with the naysayers, trying to convince them why this change is a good idea.

Or, spend your time with your excited change agents who are already planning the next 90-day implementation plan.

Whichever you choose will yield results. It just depends what results you want to see.

Getting the swing vote

When you focus your attention on the naysayers it’s giving credence to their lack of support and belief in the new model. You will get frustrated trying to explain and convince someone who doesn’t want to change that change is a good idea. All the while you’re trying to convince them that this “will be okay” is time that you are not moving ahead with your new plans.

If, however, you focus your attention on the supporters, you’ll be helping them help you. They can take an active role in developing and implementing plans. You’ll begin moving ahead immediately with their support and efforts.

You’re eventually going to get the swing vote from your fence-sitters. They’ll sit by and watch, waiting to see how things play out. Whichever group appears to get management attention and resources is going to win.

• If it swings it toward the naysayers, you’ll have a resistance revolt on your hands with nearly your entire staff, and making any changes is going to become near impossible.
• If it swings toward the supporters, you’ll have nearly everyone ready and willing to help drive the company forward toward a new reality. The whole group can then actively participate in initiating and implementing the necessary changes.

It’s not all roses

Chances are pretty high that there will be some employee fallout from the changes, regardless of how well you manage it. There are some people who just don’t like making changes and they’d rather leave than tough out the process. That’s okay. Let them go. You need to make the best decision for your company, and having people onboard who don’t support the company goals and the company vision shouldn’t be allowed to bring down the team and thwart their efforts.

The choice for change is yours. You just have to decide which path better suits your desired end game.

Photo by Hunter Desportes.

@wendykeneipp

Like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

Each year, we have an overriding theme on which we focus throughout the year.  Last year it was “Execution & Implementation.”  This year we will be focusing on the ideas of “Teach, Tailor and Control.”

While these aren’t new ideas for us or our members, we wanted to highlight these ideas as we see them being critical for the continued evolution of the broker model.  Additionally, we see now being the time that producers/agencies need to make sure they are mastering each of these ideas.

We felt particularly validated when these same principles appeared in a series of recent articles published by Harvard Business Review.  These articles were based on the book “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, which shares the results of a recent study on selling performance.

The authors explain the study they conducted on over 6,000 sales reps where they grouped salespeople into five basic categories based on similarities of behavior attributes: Relationship, Hard Worker, Lone Wolf, Problem Solver and Challenger.  With the possible exception of the title category, most are self-explanatory.

Their study went on to show that while there is a fairly even representation of each category amongst salespeople, the distribution skews significantly when you start searching for the “high performers.”

In a so-called “typical sale,” the percentages of high performers are broken out as follows:

• Relationship Builders (7%)
• Hard Workers (17%)
• Lone Wolf (25%)
• Reactive Problem Solver (12%)
• Challenger (39%)

The results get even more interesting when you look for the high performers in a “complex sale” environment (which I would argue applies to you):

• Relationship Builders (4%)
• Hard Workers (10%)
• Lone Wolf (25%)
• Reactive Problem Solver (7%)
• Challenger (54%)

Clearly, regardless of your natural style, it is worth the effort to become as much of a Challenger as you can.  So, what is a Challenger?  Challengers commit to understanding the business of their customer at such a deep level they are able to push the prospect or client’s thinking and take control of the sales conversation.  Challengers makes their audience think in ways they haven’t before.  They’re confident enough in the value they can bring that they are not afraid to share even potentially controversial views and assume an assertive position to move the prospect forward.

As interesting as the findings of the study were to us, what we found even more interesting were the three traits that the authors used to describe what it is that makes a Challenger so effective.  You may have guessed, it’s the same three principles that we have made the centerpiece of the approach we use within Benefits Growth Network and on which we are focusing this year – Teaching, Tailoring and Controlling.

Let’s explore why we see these areas as critical to the future success of brokers.

Teach

If you are going to continually bring value to a client, you have to embrace the responsibility of always bringing them new ideas and educating them on ways you can help them improve their performance.  The most important time to assume the role of teacher is during the sales process.  Rather than trying to demonstrate your value by providing the same spreadsheet as everyone else, prove your value by helping them better understand their own situation.  Most employers can clearly see the challenges they are currently facing.  However, far fewer have the vision to see the challenges that are out there on the horizon.  This is the “lesson” you need to be bringing to the table.  This is your opportunity to bring a conversation they likely aren’t getting from anyone else.

A couple of areas where they need your vision:

Turnover – Between retiring baby boomers and dissatisfied employees, employers are facing unprecedented levels of turnover.  And, because of the “jobless recovery,” very few see it coming.  You need to educate them on why this will be the reality and challenge them to be honest about how prepared they truly are.

Communication – Communication impacts virtually every aspect of an organizations operation, but let’s just look at its impact on benefits spending.  A recent study by The McKinsey Quarterly shows that benefits costs can be reduced by 20 percent through more effective communication.  You need to educate employers as to what effective communication truly looks like, explain to them the challenges that stand between where they are and what their goal should be, and show them how to make effective communication their reality.

Tailor

Rather than trying to impress the prospect with your list of value-added services or manipulate their situation to fit your “solution,” you need to tailor your solution to fit their situation.  Not only that, the way in which you communicate your recommendation needs to be tailored to your audience.

A couple of ways the message needs to be tailored:

Tailoring to their situation – Assume that your competition has the same solutions to offer that you do.  If by chance they don’t today, they will tomorrow.  Rather than try to sell the prospect all of your solutions, focus on learning where they truly have needs and then align your solutions with those identified needs.  After learning of needs they didn’t realize they had, the prospect will find much more value in your solutions and be much more compelled to hire you to fix their newly discovered problems.

Tailoring to the audience – You make presentations to all types of roles—Director of HR, CFO and CEO are the most frequent.  You need to have a clear understanding of the driving objectives that come with each role.  If your presentation doesn’t address these varied objectives, not only do you miss out on an opportunity to pick up a supporter, you run the risk of unintentionally creating an adversary.

Control

Perhaps the only thing worse than an empty prospect pipeline for a producer is one that is filled with stagnant prospects.  I argue that this is worse because you have someone who is actively wasting your time and giving you a false sense of security.  The stagnation is the direct result of a producer who has ceded control of the process to the prospect.  Instead of establishing a peer level engagement with the prospect, the producer has assumed a subservient role.  While we don’t condone that the producer take an aggressive role, we do recognize the need to be assertive in moving the prospect forward.

A couple of things necessary to establish and maintain control:

A full pipeline – If you don’t keep your pipeline full, you will irrationally hold on to every prospect you have.  Without a full pipeline, you will rarely walk away from an “opportunity.”

Belief in the value you can deliver – Until you are passionate about your ability to help a client, you will lack the confidence required to take control.  It is that confidence that will allow you to challenge and push the prospect to look at their situation in new ways, to even push the prospect out of their comfort zone for the purpose of finding their catalyst to change.

So, as the book pointed out, there are five ways to be an average salesperson, but one clear way to be exceptional.  Being exceptional starts with challenging your prospects to think in new ways.  You won’t be able to challenge them until you challenge yourself.

My challenge to you: how badly do you want to be exceptional?

Photo by Jacob Bøtter.

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

This is the third of 10 challenges for you to consider embracing to create a new year that is more productive for yourself as well as for those around you.  I have borrowed ideas from a book I read last year, The First 90 Days: Critical Success Stories for New Leaders by Michael Watkins.

Read previous challenge articles:
First Challenge – Promote yourself
Second Challenge – Accelerate Your Learning

Third Challenge – Match Strategy to Situation

Arriving at your desired destination always has to start with a clear picture of where it is you are currently standing.  If you don’t take the time, and allow yourself to be completely honest in clarifying your current situation, it is impossible to identify the right strategies to improve your circumstances, let alone achieve the ideal situation.

It is only with this honesty that you can clearly see both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of you. This also provides you with the ability to clearly identify which resources and strategies will be required to achieve your new reality.

When we’re aware of what the typical challenges and opportunities are that often accompany a transition, it makes them much easier to recognize, and in turn, much easier to create a plan to either mitigate the impact or embrace the potential. Let’s take a look at what those areas are that we need to carefully evaluate when making a transition.

Typical Challenges

1. Behaviors no longer contribute to high performance - Look for these behaviors and either modify them or eliminate them.
2. Change is not seen as necessary - You and everyone involved have to be convinced that change is necessary. Do not move forward until this has been addressed (some people may get left behind).
3. Commitment to the new reality - You and everyone on the team must refocus all of your efforts on a new desired outcome. You will have to remind and recommit yourself and your team to your new destination on a regular basis.

Typical Opportunities

1. Areas of strength - There are significant areas of strength within yourself and your team members on which to draw. Identify what they are and utilize them to the fullest extent possible.
2. The positive side of change - The right people want to continue to see themselves as successful and will do what’s necessary to get there. The definition of success may change but you (and others, if applicable) will adjust accordingly.

Acceleration Checklist as suggested in The First 90 Days (paraphrased in places)

1. What are the implications for the challenges and opportunities you will likely face?
   • How will you address each as an opportunity/challenge to accelerate/slow your transition?
2. Which of your skills and strengths are likely to be most valuable in your new situation and which have the potential to get you into trouble?
3. What is your prevailing frame of mind?
   • What adjustments need to be made (if any), and how will you bring them about?

Once you are clear about where you are going, and just as clear about where you are now, the strategies required to connect those two points will become much more obvious.  You will get “there” much faster by spending time analyzing “now”.

Photo by Stefan Erschwendner.

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

It’s a new year, which always means a fresh start, new opportunities, and, hopefully for you, a new role.  And while most of you aren’t formally taking on new leadership roles, I would like to suggest that you increase the scope and impact of whatever role you currently fill in your organization to the point of it effectively being a “new role” for you. 

Over the next several weeks, I will touch on 10 challenges you should consider as you embrace a 2012 that will allow you to have a greater impact on your own responsibilities and results, as well as for those around you.  As I do so, I will borrow from a book I read last year, The First 90 Days: Critical Success Stories for New Leaders by Michael Watkins.

First Challenge – Promote yourself.

This doesn’t mean to go on a campaign of self-promotion, rather it means that you need to mentally elevate yourself to the role to which you have actually been promoted or to which you aspire to create as your “new role”.

Define the role - Start by defining your new role in a way that will allow you to contribute to the organization the greatest value of which you are capable.  Be careful to not fall into a trap of thinking that just doing more of what has made you successful to this point will drive success in your new role.  Any new/elevated role will require new behaviors and skills.  Honestly assess where you have a gap and identify how you will fill it in.

Stop and then start - As you identify and commit to doing the new tasks that will make you successful, be realistic of the additional time they will require.  Since there is no way to create additional time, you are going to have to make time on your calendar.  Before you can decide what you will start doing, you have to decide what you will stop doing.  Look for those activities that could be done just as well, or maybe even better, by someone else.  Also, be honest and let go of activities that only keep you busy but aren’t producing results.

Be specific with milestones- Be very clear, painfully honest, and specific about the new skills and behaviors your “new role” will require. You may find it necessary to start setting even more specific milestones than you’ve previously set.  Describe in detail what will you accomplish this week, month, quarter.

Finding success means preparing yourself to fail – I don’t mean big picture failure. What I mean is that you need to prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable setbacks that will occur.  Know that they will happen and don’t panic when they do.  By anticipating setbacks, you will put yourself in a much better position of looking at them as a time to recommit and re-evaluate rather than a time to abandon your plan.

It takes a tribe - Establish as many accountability advisors as possible.  Find the individuals with whom you are going to share your vision of your new role, and ask them to hold you accountable for your progress.  Be sure this group includes people who can and will mentor you into your new role.

The key to all of this is to identify what success looks like and then create a disciplined plan of improvement to make that your reality.

Acceleration Checklist as suggested in The First 90 Days:

1. What has made you successful so far in your career?

Can you succeed in your new role by relying solely on those strengths? If not, what are the critical skills you need to develop?

2. Are there aspects of your new role that are critical to your success but that you prefer not to focus on?

Why is that the case?

How will you compensate for your potential blind spots?

3.    What do you need to do to ensure that you make the mental leap into the new position?

From whom might you seek advice and counsel on this?
What other activities might help you do this?

Photo by iwona_kellie.

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

As you probably saw in a previous post, Kevin recently spoke at the 6th Annual Employee Benefit Adviser Summit in Dallas, TX. His message was about making changes in the broker model due to current and coming industry challenges.

Brian Kalish, with Employee Benefit Adviser, attended Kevin’s session and wrote up a great synopsis of the message. Follow the link below to read the full article.

Advisers must move ‘faster and stronger’

DALLAS – It is time for brokers and consultants to face the much talked-about upcoming challenges head on and move forward “first, faster and stronger” than their competitors. The goal is to make clients understand that the cost of doing nothing might be the “most expensive, more detrimental thing to a business,” a former adviser said Monday.

Click here to read full article at Employee Benefit Adviser.

Photo by ptooey.

@wendykeneipp

Like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

Regular readers have heard me talk about the changes coming to our industry. You know them as well as I do. You also know that they are going to force a fair amount of change on us if we are to overcome the challenges and survive.

I’ve also talked about the great opportunities out there for producers/agencies who successfully make the transition. My hope is that you desire those same opportunities and have made the commitment to make them happen.

Desire is a great start, but you also have to have commitment

When doing something that is new to you, you have to prepare yourself to make that commitment - not just one time, but every single day.

Like a New Year’s resolution, it’s not what happens on January 1 that matters nearly as much as it is what happens the other 364 days. Let’s take a look at what I mean and how you can make it happen consistently.

Start by identifying your goal and be prepared to continually recommit to that goal. Now comes the hard part, and it is here where your previous successes are likely to become an obstacle.

Chances are you are as successful as you are because you have an unbelievable amount of willpower. Unfortunately, there is a natural limit as to how far you can get on pure willpower.

To move beyond that limit requires self-discipline.

When I first thought about these two driving forces, the line was blurry, at best. Upon further thought, here is how I now see the difference.

• Willpower is a rather sudden and momentary burst of focused energy, while self-discipline is structured, well thought out and consistent.
• Willpower, in the moment, is more tangible and seemingly more powerful. The reality is that the power of self-discipline dwarfs that of willpower.

If your goal were to lose 20 pounds, willpower would help you walk past that plate of donuts. Self-discipline would have you walking past them every single time. Willpower would have you getting up at 5:00 a.m. on January 2 to get to the gym. Self-discipline would have you getting up for the gym every day that follows.

If your goal were to grow your book of business, willpower would have you stopping to plan out your week in advance. Self-discipline would have you planning out every week in advance. Willpower would have you getting your pipeline full with great opportunities. Self-discipline would have you maintaining your pipeline at that full level.

Sustained success takes planning & practice

Again, I am certain you have a large amount of willpower, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that it will sustain your next level of success. Willpower can help you get anything accomplished once. Once is relatively easy, but it isn’t enough. Don’t let your ability to do anything once provide you a false sense of security.

Self-discipline isn’t natural for most of us and, left to our own devices, we won’t maintain it over time. Therefore, it is important to recognize that part of creating self-discipline starts with structure and, perhaps most importantly of all, includes making yourself voluntarily accountable to someone else. Without the support that comes with accountability, your likelihood of staying on track is minimal - at best.

Use the following five steps as a model to help you achieve the changes you desire.

1. Desire – Clearly define (in as much detail as possible) what it is you want to change or achieve. Then write an affirmative, present-tense statement about what it is that you will be doing. For example, if you are guilty of sporadic prospecting, your daily reminder statement might look like this: “I set 5 new business appointments each week.” Then go do it.
2. Commitment – Every day you get to choose how to spend your time. Commit yourself on a daily basis to your new action.
3. Declaration of intent – Share your desire and commitment with someone else. Don’t just share your big picture commitment, share the weekly to do’s that are necessary for the big picture to become your reality.
4. Accountability – Not only give permission to someone else to hold you accountable for staying focused, but set the expectation that they will call you out on inconsistent behaviors. Tell them up front that if they can’t do that for you, to let you know now so you can find someone else. Make the accountability as objective as possible. If you have specific “have to’s” for the week, be sure it is the follow through on these items for which you are accountable.
5. Self-reporting – Your accountability partner can’t be watching all the time; you have to admit to your shortcomings. Be willing to go to your partner and confess, “I didn’t set any new appointments,” or “I’m struggling in (this) area. I need your help to get back on track.”

The challenges we’re facing in the benefits industry are not necessarily easy to overcome, but they are infinitely doable with the right plan, focus and self-discipline. You just have to ask yourself, “How badly do I want it?”

Photo by Eric E Castro

@kevintrokey

Do you like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.

Making connections with people is by far the most motivating and rewarding part of what we do – “we” meaning BGN. Making an impact on someone else and the way they think about their business is the key to our job, and I believe it’s why I was put on this lovely Earth. I surround myself with people who want to challenge themselves and want to challenge others.

We’ve recently made some connections through a new member agency, Lanier Upshaw – a group of folks engaging in social media who are not only open to being challenged, but are challenging us as well.

Does social media scare the pants off you?

Bill Dorman is one of our new friends. He is openly and sincerely documenting his social media journey through a blog where every day he is challenging himself and others, and asking others to do the same for him, as well.

I’m a much more keep-to-myself person than Bill, but I have had many of the same thoughts, and challenges as he’s experiencing. One of those ideas is making the connections – knowing how far to take a conversation, how deep and wide to go, and knowing how it fits into your goals (personal, business, combination, fun, entertainment, education, etc).

To continue with the idea that Kevin brought up in his Voyeurism post, I think the idea of interacting with other people – strangers in many cases - scares the pants off many people. It’s so much easier to be a voyeur and just read what other people write, take away an idea or two, and maybe tweak it to fit your own situation.

The problem with that way of not interacting with the people who post the information, and a layer deeper, the people who comment, is that we’re not taking the opportunity to challenge and educate others with our own ideas.

And we’re not stretching ourselves to take advantage of this amazing new way of

• educating ourselves
• building relationships
• developing innovative ideas for our own businesses and for our clients

All of these things lead to an opportunity for increased business success. It may not be someone buying from you directly, but remember - the cornerstone of building a business is through the connections you make and the education you provide.

By not interacting and simply watching, you're not taking the opportunity to make the idea better, and you’re not letting other people know what you think about and how you might be a valuable contributor to their team. And you’ve completely missed the chance to get to know new people who may enrich your life and challenge you to be a better person.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to comment and interact all the time, but by not venturing out and at least trying it, how do you know if it’s going to hurt? Or not work for you?

Everyone has their own reason for not commenting. Here’s just a few I hear regularly:

I don’t have time. Really? If you’ve got time to read articles, I’m sure you can take another 2 or 3 minutes to compose a thought once in a while.

Comments are just left by ranters and spammers. Well, if you read articles on Yahoo, this is true. Just like there are certain coffee shops I avoid, I also avoid those blogs. There are many, many intelligent, insightful people who regularly participate in discussions. Go there instead.

I don’t know what I could add that hasn’t already been said. You know that little voice talking while you’re reading? The one that calls BS or nods vigorously or conjures up an image or asks a question? That’s what you comment about.

There have been many articles written, and a plethora of discussions following these articles (and links to other similar articles) about the value of commenting. If you’d like to check some of them out, you might be amazed at the quality of conversation and debate – while you’re there, think about how this might translate to your business. Would you like to have ongoing discussions with your clients and prospects about topics near and dear to your business? Yeah, me too!

Mark Harai – Not Commenting or Answering Comments on Blogs is Lame

{grow} by Mark Schaefer – The silent majority: Why people don’t comment on your blog

SpinSucks  - Five Ways to Lose Your Commenting Virginity

It starts by digging in deep and getting involved in the discussions and becoming a regular reader and commenter. If you don’t, people don’t know you’re there and can’t help you except by happenstance of a relevant blog post. Bill has proven it can be done and has developed amazing relationships along the way. I’m taking his advice and following his lead – so if you see me around in your neighborhood a lot, feel free to blame Bill for that!

How are you making online interactions work for you and helping you build a better business?

Photo by Joi Ito.

@wendykeneipp

Like this post? Subscribe to BGN Blog.