Sometimes we just start digging. We get dirty. And we're up to our knees or even our head before we stop and ask "What are we doing? And why?!"

And that's when it's time to talk about tactics and strategy.

I see a lot of confusion about the difference between the two. And most of the time it’s not because people don’t understand the difference, it’s because they’re not even aware there are differences.

Strategies are defined plans you put in place to achieve a major company goal. Tactics are the specific actions you take to fulfill that plan.

Example:

Goal - $5 million agency revenue
Strategy – Educate targeted audiences on how to improve their businesses/jobs
Tactic – Write blog posts focused on safety management and HR operations

In order to achieve your desired results, you must have all three of these clearly defined and actively in place. Strategy without tactics is just an idea. Tactics without strategy is just activity. When you do get all three aligned, a couple of very powerful things happen.

1. It becomes very easy to decide if a new idea is worth pursuing. It if doesn’t fit the goal or the strategy, then it gets cut. If it does help the agency achieve the goal, then it’s worth considering as a new tactic for a current strategy or as a new strategy itself.
2. Your entire staff only spends time working on activities that directly tie back to the company goals.

Let’s focus this particular discussion on marketing

As we’ve established in previous posts, getting started with marketing is a common place for agencies to be, and it’s often new territory. Many don’t understand the scope of options, which questions to ask, or how to effectively incorporate it into business processes. It’s more common to see a group of fragmented activities, which may, or may not, be getting the agency closer to its goals.

Let’s look at a couple of examples of tactics vs. strategies.

Example 1. You’ve heard you should be online, so you might say, “let’s set up a Facebook page.”

Is this a tactic or strategy?

Tactic. Facebook is not a strategy. Having a fully defined education campaign incorporating online and offline activities is a strategy. That strategy might include a Facebook presence if you determine through research that your target audience turns to Facebook for educational material.

Example 2. You’ve decided you want to create a brochure. Maybe your agency has always had one, or maybe the owner used one when she/he was on the front lines back in the day.

Tactic or strategy?

Tactic. A brochure is not a strategy. A defined sales or recruiting process that is intended to inform and educate prospects or potential employees about the benefits of doing business with your company is a strategy. A brochure might be a specific step in your process if you’ve determined through research that prospects and/or potential employees like to have a generic, printed brochure they can keep on file.

Example 3. You set up a whole group of online social activities – blog, Twitter, Facebook, newsletter.  You promote each of your service offerings (personal lines, P&C, employee benefits, financial services, etc.) via all of these channels and mostly overlap the content.

Tactic or strategy?

Tactic. This might seem like a tricky one because it’s such a robust set of activities that is taking a lot of time to manage. But social networks and pushing content are not strategies. Back to Example 1 – creating a fully defined education campaign incorporating online and offline activities is a strategy. A key to this one is very clearly defining your multiple audiences and targeting your content to each one vs. just sharing all of your content indiscriminately across all platforms.

Example 4. Last one. In order to achieve your aggressive growth goals, you need to be proactively promoting your services to local businesses. You want them to know about the array of knowledge your team has and how that knowledge, combined with your processes, can help them improve their businesses.  This is imperative for improving sales efforts.

You decide you have three distinct audiences – HR managers, Risk Managers, and CEOs.  You do your collective research and find that your clients in these three groups look for answers, education, and networking opportunities in three separate places:

• Online (e.g. LinkedIn, blogs and specialty sites)
• At local business events/groups (e.g. CEO forum, SHRM, Contractors group)
• From their attorneys and accountants

You also find out the type of information and answers they’re looking for when they’re out searching.

You decide that an online presence is a valuable place to be. You create a team to manage this effort directed to your targeted audiences and create an editorial calendar to deliver on the targeted content.

You decide that an active presence in the local groups is a valuable place to invest time. You determine who will participate in each and how each will participate.

You decide that developing strong connections with local attorneys and accountants is a valuable use of time. You decide who will pursue each niche and how you will go about developing and maintaining each relationship.

You have follow-through, accountability, and an expectation from the top of the agency that this is mission-critical work to focus everyone and achieve agency goals.

Tactic or strategy?

Strategy. You defined what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing efforts and why it’s an important use of agency resources. You defined your audiences, identified their individual needs, learned where they are going for information, and you developed a plan of what you intend to do and accomplish in each of the targeted areas (who will be involved, what the content will be, and what the timing/frequently will be).

Slow down to speed up

It’s really true. Instead of pushing ahead with an ad-hoc group of activities because you feel you’ve got to have a presence somewhere, it’s better to just stop and do some strategic planning. If you don’t have a strategy, which ties to a defined company goal, you are wasting a lot of your staff’s time managing projects that may or may not be moving you closer to your company vision.

With an average payroll efficiency factor of 63%, there is enough wasted time in the day that you don’t need to have your staff pursuing activities that don’t directly tie to the company goals.

Stop.

Define your agency goals.

Determine what the major strategies are that will help you get there.

Work with your staff to create the specific tactics that they’ll be implementing and maintaining in pursuit of your strategic vision.

Photo by Lollie-Pop.

@wendykeneipp

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Marketing has undergone a colossal shift in just a few short years.  If you haven’t actively been paying attention, it’s quite likely that you’ve not even noticed. When you’re working as a reseller of someone else’s products (e.g. insurance carriers) and when you have a direct sales force that makes one-on-one contact with prospects and clients, actively marketing your agency is something that probably doesn’t hit very high on your radar.

Someone said Marketing?

It’s quite common to find insurance and benefits agencies without any formal marketing plan, defined marketing activities, or anyone who knows much about marketing at all.

In fact, it’s pretty common that marketing in an agency is not referred to as the discipline of marketing your company and your value offering to prospective clients. But rather marketing is referred to as the process of promoting client businesses to insurance carriers. It means promoting or showing a client risk in the most attractive light to the carrier to get the best possible rate for the client.

These concepts definitely share similarities and both are technically marketing.

It’s time to get serious

However, the idea of externally marketing an agency’s value offering to prospective clients is something that needs to begin taking on a new level of focus and importance in any agency that is serious about the long-term sustainability of its business.

Marketing days gone-by were focused on telling people what you did and how great you were at it. Communication pieces would promote your great service, low prices, length of time in business, name and/or number of carrier relationships.

Now it’s a different story. A different approach altogether is required to capture the attention of prospective clients.

With the Internet, consumers have access to literally hundreds of options to consider for their insurance needs. Which means that if everything you say online says the same thing that every other insurance agency says, why should the prospective client bother calling you?

You have to find a way to make yourself attractive to the client – not just make your client attractive to the carriers.

But how?

How do you do this? Well, all those online tools you know come into play in a big way. It really doesn’t matter so much which ones you use, it matters how you use them.

• You need to clearly identify who your target client is.

Talking to everyone will actually gain you less business than if you narrow your focus to that very specific type of client who needs and values what you have to offer.

• You need to identify what their needs are.

This includes knowing what they currently need help with, in addition to helping them see what they might not even yet be aware is a need.

• You need to educate them.

Instead of telling clients how great your service is and how knowledgeable you are, show them. Share you knowledge, share your advice, and help them see firsthand that you know what they need and that you can bring them answers. Take a stand, challenge their current thinking, and make them say, “I never thought about that before.”

• You need to share your personality.

The days of the corporate façade are gone. People expect to see the individuals (pictures, profiles) of key people (CEO, managers, producers) in the company. They expect to learn about these people and find out what they do, what they think, and what they can expect when you finally get to meet face-to-face.

• You need to make it an ongoing activity.

Marketing should be a defined role, or a part of a role, within your agency and it should be a daily activity to get your message out there and make connections with clients and prospects.  Your marketing person should be in charge of making sure the agency message is being communicated properly throughout the company and in all the company activities.

Marketing your agency value offering is an incredible opportunity for supporting your sales-driven company. It’s not been a focus for many agencies, and it’s not been done well by many who do participate. If you put a plan together and execute well, you can find yourself light years ahead of your competition in a very short time.

Photo by Jacob Bøtter.

@wendykeneipp

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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

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For regular readers of our blog, this list may be familiar.  Unfortunately, the strategies listed are all too familiar and, given the time of the year, we thought it a good time to share once again.

Here we sit in January with all the promise of a new year ahead of us, convincing ourselves that this is the year that we will make “X” happen.  Don’t get me wrong, I love that kind of optimism, but I also want you to take an honest assessment of whether or not you have built a plan that will make “X” happen.  In terms of your plan, there are a couple of ideas I would like you to keep in mind.

First, while you certainly need to clearly know what your end goal is, your daily focus should only be on the next step towards that destination.  While the distance to that goal may seem paralyzing, find confidence in knowing that you can always take the next step.

Second, don’t give up too soon.  All too often we give up when our efforts don’t produce immediate results.  Instead of making necessary adjustments to our plan, we jump off one horse (often too soon) and on to another, and then another, and then another, and…well, you get the idea.

However, there are times when your horse is dead. As hard as it may be to admit it, it’s time to get off the horse and move on.

The following “dead horse” strategies (original author listed as unknown), no matter how perfectly executed, will not produce desired results.

1. Buying a stronger whip
2. Changing riders
3. Threatening the horse with termination
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses
6. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse
7. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed
8. Donating the dead horse to a recognized charity, and deducting the full original cost
9. Doing a time-management study to see if lighter riders would improve productivity
10. Declaring a dead horse has lower overhead, and therefore performs better

I’m sure as you read this list you chuckled a little at the absurdity.  However, I’m also guessing that the list may have made you a little uncomfortable as you see a bit of yourself in some of these strategies.

My challenge to you is:

• Define your destination
• Identify the fewest and simplest steps to get there
• Commit every week to the next step you will take
• Once a month or once a quarter, review your progress to your final goal
• As GPS Mayhem says, sometimes you need to “recalculate” your plan
• Go back to step 3

By the way, if you’re paying attention, you should never find yourself on a dead horse.

Photo by Micky Aldridge.

@kevintrokey

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As a leader in your organization, I am certain you have a clear picture in your mind of where you are going.  Whether you lead at a team, department, or organizational level, it is almost a certainty that you spend a significant amount of time thinking about the team, department, or organization that you must become. 

But here’s the question – does the rest of your team, department, or organization know what that looks like?  A shared vision is the key to their ability to get you there as quickly and easy as possible.  If they don’t know the vision inside and out, then get started communicating that message to them right away.

However, you need to start with where you are today.

Where are you now?

Because of the recession, this is a conversation that many of us have been avoiding.  However, the fact that times have been tough makes this conversation all the more necessary.  The rest of your team wants to know what’s going on – good, bad, or indifferent.  Besides, if you want them to help you get somewhere more attractive, you have to help them clearly see the comparison from where you’re starting.

Where are you going?

What is the vision you have for your future team/department/organization?  I don’t mean the vision statement that you frame and hang on the wall.  I mean what does it look like?  When you close your eyes and look at your future company, what do you see?  Describe in detail for the rest of your team what you see.  What services will you offer?  What skills will the team need?  What kind of growth and profitability will it require?  Who will you be selling to?

And once you have described what it looks like at some point in the future, take the time to explain WHY it is so important that your Vision becomes your shared reality.

How you will get there?

When you have taken the time to share where you are and where you are going, the steps you lay out to move from the former to the latter will make much more sense.  When you ask your people to change a behavior, acquire a new skill, or hit a new performance level, they will be in a much better position to understand why it is so necessary.  With that understanding, they are much more likely to make it happen.

Frequency

Be prepared to deliver these messages over and over again.  In fact, once you get to the point that you are absolutely tired of talking about it, they are just getting to the point of understanding it. Stick with it and keep going – you want them to know it as well as you do.  When they start repeating it with you or maybe mocking you a bit – you know you’re achieving your goal!

Your team wants to help you be successful.  It’s your responsibility to put them in position to do so.

Photo by Jaysin Trevino.

@kevintrokey

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We’ve talked about the evolution into social business and offered some ideas of what that might look like in your agency. Here I’m going to offer some specific suggestions for getting started with that process.

Remember, social should not be an end goal itself; social media tools should become an integrated tactic within the operations of departments. And for it to be effective in helping you achieve your company vision and goals, there is a hierarchy that needs to be followed:

1. Have a clearly defined purpose and vision for the company along with clear messaging about what makes you a unique and compelling business.
2. Have the vision broken down into clearly defined strategic objectives, including a communication plan.
3. Recognize that social media tools are to be used as tactics, along with other specific programs and process, to help achieve those strategic objectives.

In order to effectively integrate social into the plan, you first need to learn what it can do for you and then you can figure out how to go about accomplishing it. And that starts with education.

Form a team

Since we’re talking about integrating into business operations, we want to have a team of folks across disciplines participating in the learning process and the strategy. If a department thinks it doesn’t relate to them, be sure they’re on this team at least in the beginning - good business decisions are made based on what we know.

Your team should consist of people who:

• understand business
• are good at communicating business strategy
• are able to gather information from people, interpret that information, and share the findings
• are enthusiastic about your company

Why do I need a team? Shouldn’t I just hire someone to be in charge of social media?

It can be tempting to hire someone young who’s comfortable with the technology and pass all of this off to them. But that’s a mistake. Notice that we’re talking about business operations and strategy. Your best friend’s niece who’s in college and has a million friends on Facebook does not know your business operations, your strategy, or your messaging. And she likely doesn’t understand what significant or nuanced ideas she comes across that could be really important to the future of your business.

Working in the agency and industry and having a healthy dose of business acumen is what gives you that level of practical knowledge. That’s what you want to tap into. People can learn to navigate the social platforms with a little education. Learning your business inside and out takes a lot more.

Unless you’re a large company with a major marketing strategy, hiring someone specifically for social media is unnecessary. Most independent benefits and insurance agencies will be just fine within your existing structure.

However, while you don’t need someone specifically in charge of social media, you do need someone to be in charge of company messaging. They need to make sure that everyone participating in social has the knowledge they need to be on target with the company message and are working within your corporate guidelines and strategy. Again, this likely comes from someone already on your team.

Educate yourselves

Now that you’ve got the team together, read a couple of books and get your arms wrapped around what this means for your company and how each department can use this as a part of their business processes.

Discuss each book and talk specifically about what it means for your company. Have great debates on how it relates to you and what you might do with it. Take rigorous notes on these discussions and use this as the basis for forming a plan of action and eventually communication with the rest of the company on what you’re doing and why.

Here are a couple of foundational books that will help you really comprehend social business:

I recommend reading The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuck to understand the evolution of social media and why it's important for business today and into the future.

Then I recommend The Now Revolution by Jay Baer & Amber Naslund to understand how to structure your organization to incorporate social media as an integrated business tool throughout your company – to some degree you will need to restructure your business/processes. This book will provide a great road map for what you need to know and how to get there.

Learn from what you read & hear

As you get going and start the process of becoming a social business, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to do something with the information you learn. Keep this team together to have ongoing meetings about what you’re learning. Have everyone bring their findings to the team and decipher what it means to your business – should you be changing processes or product/services as a result of what you’re hearing?

It’s important to have leadership involved in these meetings because you’re not simply talking social media, you’re talking business strategy.

Photo by nagora.

@wendykeneipp

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When you get right down to it, especially in a solutions/service industry, what you are selling is confidence.  You have to give your prospect the confidence that what you will deliver will improve their situation.

That’s not an easy task.  Not because their current situation is so ideal, but because they can’t hold and experience what you are selling before they commit.  Therefore, you have to very directly address the specific issues that will build that confidence.

Client Experiences – Be able to share success stories of other clients who were in a similar situation.  I’m not talking about the generic, testimonial letters (although these are important to), but rather customers who were struggling in the same manner as the prospect, and whose situation was improved because of your solution. 

If they are struggling with effectively communicating to their employees, share a story of a current client who had a similar communication struggle and become very effective because of working with you.

It Takes A Team – As producers, we often think that telling the prospect, “I’m your guy/gal.  Whenever you need ANYTHING, you call me, and I’ll take care of it,” will be reassuring.  Guess what?  Your prospect is going to be much more confident knowing that there is an entire team to take care of them rather than one individual whose job it is to apparently know everything, plus be out looking for the next new client.  Introduce your team early and often.

Strategic VS. Tactical – When you are introducing your solutions (could be a wellness program, a communication strategy, an employee engagement survey, etc.) don’t stop at describing the tactical impact of the solution, go further and explain the strategic impact.  It is the impact made strategically that will give them the most confidence.

Here’s an example of the difference – Tactical impact is communicated by describing the features of the solution.  If introducing ID Theft Protection as a solution you would describe how it monitors the credit bureaus, has a reimbursement feature, etc..  However, the strategic impact would go on to describe what it will allow to happen.  How by keeping their employees’ identity from being stolen, the company will also be protected from lost productivity due to employees spending work hours trying to regain their identity.

Plan For Success – Despite all of the obvious benefits of your solutions, the prospect will struggle with a belief that they will actually be able to enjoy the benefits.  Their struggle will come from concerns (probably based on past experiences) that the solutions will actually be put into place.  By delivering a detailed plan of implementation and execution explaining what will happen, when it will happen, and who will be responsible for making it happen, your prospect will have a newfound level of confidence.

Communication – Nothing will build and maintain your prospects/clients confidence than having a relationship with you built on effective communication.  By telling them during the sales process how/what/when you will communicate, they will understand that they won’t be left on their own.

So, while you are ultimately selling confidence, it is actually more of a transfer of confidence.  You are working to transfer the confidence in your ability to deliver a better experience to them.  To state the obvious, you can’t give away what you don’t yourself possess.  So, make sure you believe in your ability to deliver in each of these areas.  If you don’t currently have that belief, go fix whatever needs fixing.  Because if you don’t believe, the prospect never will either.

Photo by gerriet.

@kevintrokey

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Let’s be honest, when have you ever tried something on labeled “one size fits all”, stood back, and thought, “Perfect. Fits like it was made just for me”.  Probably never; in fact, it seems as though anything intended to be one-size-fits-all rarely fits anyone. 

Of course, most of the time when you’re shopping, you find a variety of sizes.  And, although you are able to find something that is acceptable, it seldom fits perfectly.

Tailor Made

If you want that perfect fit, you have to have something tailored to your measurements.  It takes some time, effort and additional expense but the attention to detail that a tailor pays when customizing something to you usually results in something very special.  When you put on a shirt, dress, or suit that has been made just for you, you immediately feel different - you know it fits well and you feel more confident.

Think about the solutions you take to your clients. If you are offering a one-size-fits-all solution, I promise that the chances it fits any of them perfectly is almost nonexistent.  Maybe you are offering “Small, Medium, & Large” options.  That’s a step in the right direction and may be acceptable, but it still isn’t just quite right.

A tailor isn’t selling a shirt as much as he is selling the fit.

I suggest that you take the same approach and become a tailor.  Measure up your prospect, determine what they need, and customize the solution to their exact needs.

You aren’t selling a solution as much as you are selling a result. You tailor the experience of the solution through the unique implementation process you have developed.  You tailor it through the strategic way you help communicate it to their employees.  You make it fit just right by periodically making adjustments that may become necessary. 

That’s what you should be selling.  That’s what will differentiate you from your competition.

Will you have to charge more for such attention to detail?  It’s entirely possible, but the additional value your clients receive will go a long way to making the price almost a non-issue.  Of course, you will have to be able to sell the benefits of such a customized approach, but the right buyer will definitely appreciate the value that comes with a perfectly tailored solution.

Put yourself in their shoes - what would you rather have?

• Someone who brings you a solution intended to be used by everyone.
• A solution intended to fit most anyone.
• Or a solution tailored specifically to your measurements.

I know which one would make me feel more valued and likely bring better results.

Photo by cuttlefish.

@kevintrokey

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The 80-20 rule proves itself all the time. Not surprisingly, its presence is evident as we look at the difference between good producers and those who are exceptional. At first, it may be hard to really see the difference in the characteristics of the two. That shouldn’t be surprising. Eighty percent of the characteristics of an exceptional performer are also characteristics of the good performer. However, it’s the additional 20 percent effort of the exceptional producer that will make the good producer an afterthought in the mind of a prospect. 

Where do you fall in the following areas? Are you good or are you a “20 percenter?”

Don’t manipulate the client’s problem to fit your solution, adjust your solutions to fit their need

There was a time when having a list of solutions gave a producer an advantage - those days are gone. Now, every producer has a list of Value-Added Services. The list has become expected. The difference between the good producer and the exceptional producer is that the exceptional producer understands the 80-20 rule of services. On most clients, 80 percent of their needs can be satisfied by a fairly standard, off-the-shelf solution. However, the other 20 percent requires a customized approach, or perhaps even the creation of a new solution.

The good - The good producer will relentlessly work to identify the needs of a prospect that align with their solutions.

The exceptional - However, the exceptional producer works relentlessly to identify all of the needs of a prospect, even in areas where they may not yet have a solution. They understand that sometimes you have to go out and create a new solution.

When a good producer is competing with another good producer, standardized solutions may be just fine. However, when they are competing with the exceptional producer, that 20 percent difference will be the only focus of the prospect (aka the exceptional producer’s new client).

Question your success

The good - Good producers understand the need to learn from their failure. When they lose out on an opportunity they debrief with their team and review the “game film” to learn what went wrong. Sometimes, they even get brave enough to go and ask the former prospect why they didn’t win.

The exceptional - The exceptional producer goes one step further. They aren’t just satisfied with learning why they lost or even satisfied with getting a win. No, the exceptional producer wants to learn why they won. They will go through the same team debriefing, the same reviewing of game film and will always ask their new client why it was that they were chosen. The exceptional producer understands that having complete clarity about what led to the success is the only way that they can ensure a repeat performance.

Make a strong first impression

We all know how important the first impression can be. It’s even been said that we form an opinion of others in just a few seconds.

The good - A good producer clearly understands the importance of that first face-to-face meeting. He researches the prospect, wears his best suit, makes sure his tie is tied just right, looks the prospect right in the eye and gives a good firm handshake.

The exceptional - The exceptional producer understands that the first impression is no longer that first face-to-face meeting. She knows the first thing that prospect does when considering taking a meeting with her; it’s the same thing she does when she wants to learn more about the prospect, she turns to the Internet. Nowadays, before taking a first meeting with anyone, we to go through the ritual of searching their name on Google, seeing what they tweet about, reviewing their LinkedIn profile and reading what they have blogged about.

The exceptional producer knows that whatever a prospect learns through what they find (or don’t find) about her online is now the first impression she makes. So, when she and the competition show up for that “first meeting,” it is no longer an even start; the exceptional producer has already created an advantage by what she has communicated through her online presence.

Never make a statement when you could be asking a question

The good - Good producers are able to make a strong presentation. They are able to articulate well their value proposition and make a compelling case for their ability to perform. This can be effective if the prospect clearly understands what they need and are able to recognize the solution when they see it.

The exceptional - Exceptional producers understand that the recognized problems of prospects are easily addressed. However, they also know that the problem described by the prospect is usually a symptom of a much deeper problem and, additionally, that there are almost always problems from which a prospect is suffering of which they aren’t yet aware.  In other words, they don’t know what they don’t know.

For example, a prospect may hear that you (as a good producer) can help with the administration of COBRA and see that as something they need. They hire you, you take over the administration of COBRA and you both think that this is a successful resolution.

Now, contrast that to your approach as an exceptional producer. You let them know you can help with the COBRA administration, but you start probing as to why it is so urgent. You learn that their turnover has spiked over the last few years and it has exposed the administration issue. When you ask why the spike in turnover, you get the honest answer that they aren’t sure. When you ask what they are learning during exit interviews, you find that they don’t do them consistently, if at all. When you follow up and ask how they are monitoring the level of employee engagement for active employees, you learn that, with their downsizing as a result of the recession, they no longer have the time or resources to do a survey. It’s the same thing with the hiring process. One of their first layoffs was an HR person who had the responsibility of coordinating the hiring process.

The exceptional producer has helped the prospect clearly see that the COBRA administration is really just a symptom of a much deeper problem. Focusing on that alone would be like putting a band-aid over a gunshot wound. Not only that, the exceptional producer now has several other opportunities to deliver solutions: a hiring process, an employee engagement survey, help with exit interviews, an opportunity to lower their rate of turnover, and (maybe by creating a new solution) the opportunity to create a revenue-generating opportunity for the agency’s HR person by being an outsourced resource to help with their HR issues.

Take inventory

The good - Good producers are hard on themselves. They establish their goals and objectives, they take inventory of the new skills they need to build, and what new solutions they need to acquire. Good producers are always focused on what they need to do to improve.

The exceptional - Of course, exceptional producers stay focused on what still needs to be accomplished as well, but they know that if that is their only focus, it will be exhausting. They also understand that it is easier to maintain momentum than it is to regain it once it’s lost.

It’s too easy to get lost in the overwhelming feeling of what is yet to be done. Exceptional producers find motivation by regularly reminding themselves of what they still have to do, but they find the confidence and momentum to get there by regularly taking inventory of what has already been achieved and by slowing down enough to celebrate their progress. It’s amazing how fast you can move when you slow down for the right reasons.

It takes a lot of work to become and remain good. It may be tempting to become complacent and feel that your goal(s) has been accomplished. By committing to work just a little longer and a little harder to become exceptional, you make playing the game in front of the prospect infinitely easier. It’s your choice, accept good as good enough and make every sales opportunity harder than it needs to be. Or, you can do the hard work up front, become exceptional and take the competition out of the game entirely. Exceptional is within your reach. You just have to ask yourself, “How bad do I really want it?”

Photo by ganesha.isis.

@kevintrokey

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In talking to my teen about her history class, she began critiquing the teaching methods and blaming the system for making history so boring. She explained to me that people learn things through stories because they’re interesting and memorable, not through tedious fact-laden history texts.

Exactly!

Sometimes we do need those facts, but the facts will make more sense if we first understand the concept and can really visualize it. 

Which takes me to my point that when trying to communicate your company vision to the team, you must figure out how to make it more than just a bunch of corporate-speak.

Connecting the elusive to the tangible

The better the team understands your intended strategy, the better that everyone on the team is able to

1. talk about the strategy,
2. question one another about being on strategy, and
3. execute on the strategy.

If you’re able to find and tell first-hand stories to explain your intentions, everyone will better understand the intended meaning, and you’ll see results quicker.

As an example, you could give the direction to “address the client’s needs.”  That in itself probably doesn’t mean much to the average person. Your staff might think, “Well, I answer the phone every time they call, so I’m addressing their needs.”

But you really mean something much larger than answering the phone.

To make your point clear in the mind of a newbie, you should also share a specific example about how you’ve helped a client address needs. Make sure it’s a story that includes the details – perhaps you had to peel back multiple layers to really understand the core issue. Go on to tell how you went about solving it, and then finish up the story by sharing the client reaction and appreciation.

Ah ha!

At this point, you’ll see some light bulbs begin to go off. When your team clearly understands what you expect, they can begin actively looking for their own opportunities to help address client needs.

Now, not only do they visualize it, but they also understand the terminology that you introduced in the beginning – the corporate lingo - and you’re all speaking a common language.

Or maybe a new phrase will come out of this story sharing that is immediately recognizable to everyone. As long as the whole team has the same idea, the words are not the important part.

Gather stories that are demonstrations of what you visualize your company doing. If you’re changing directions, you might even have to gather some external stories to get started. But make it a part of your culture to regularly share story-telling examples of how members of your team really made “it” happen.

This will help drive home your intentions, but also, and more importantly, these stories will help build upon the momentum and motivation for everyone to actively pursue the vision you’ve so carefully crafted!

@wendykeneipp

Photo by umjanedoan.