According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2016 there were more than 285,000 insurance sales agents working across the country. Anyone who has worked in sales knows that it is a fickle field—a great week may be followed by an abysmal one with no warning.
The inconsistent nature of the work can be discouraging. But if you own an agency, you need your agents to maintain steady optimism and energy so that your business can succeed and grow. Here are a few things you can do to help your agents stay motivated to do their best work.
Hold Daily Sales Meetings
A daily sales meeting doesn’t have to take much time to be effective. Gather the troops for 15 minutes to maintain a consistent direction as an agency and see how much you can accomplish. A few ideas:
• Choose a specific sales technique to highlight and practice on each other
• Share a success story and ask the agent involved to explain how and why they acted as they did
• Ask someone to share a sales challenge and let the others offer different workable solutions
• Review changes in regulations, systems or policies that will affect the agents or your customers
• Offer an incentive with a clear deadline
• Entertain with a story, video or inspirational passage from a book
• Recognize performance
Set, Reach, Report Your Goals
Establishing daily, weekly and monthly goals is a fantastic way to motivate your sales agents. After all, what is sales without sales quota? Be realistic in the goals that you set for your agents. If the bar is set too high and your agents find your goals to be unrealistic, it could result in the opposite effect.
If you’re not sure where to start, look at your sales from the last six months. What is your average number of sales on a monthly, weekly and daily basis? From there you can determine what the minimum goals and expectations are for your sales team.
Recognize Performance
There are many ways to define superior performance. It may be high dollar sales, a large quantity of sales or someone who went above and beyond to provide excellent customer service. If you’re not currently recognizing agents for their performance, you’re missing an opportunity to boost morale. Be sure to spread the praise around. If the same person keeps getting the kudos, you risk dividing your team.
Be an Example
Make a list of the qualities you’d like to see in your agents. Then do an honest appraisal of your own performance, attitude and behavior. Are you meeting your own expectations? If not, see if you can determine why. If you’re cranky, do you need to go to bed 15 minutes earlier so you don’t feel rushed every morning? Can you simplify your routine in some way? Need more coffee before you come in? Or maybe there is an issue in the office that you’ve been avoiding. Is there a subpar agent or employee in the office or a mountain of paperwork on your desk? Face the challenge, make a plan to deal with it, do so, then move on. Your agents will feel the positive difference, and you will, too.
There are many ways to motivate your team whether it’s money, recognition or open communication. However, managers should acknowledge that people can be motivated in very diverse ways. What inspires one agent, may not motivate your entire team. The key to motivating your sales team is getting their input. Find out what motivates your team and how you can incorporate those aspects into your business.
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