Sales & Marketing
Marketing Yourself In a Tough Economy
by Ken Doyle

“With the release of each week’s data, the message is growing clear: the U.S. economy is suffering from a severe downturn, perhaps the worst.” No news there, right? Indeed we’re in a downturn economy. It seems that we can’t turn on the television or radio or pick up a newspaper without a gloomy economic forecast. But what may surprise you is that the above quote wasn’t taken from any recent newspaper. It was from an article in The Journal Record on November 21, 1989. That’s right, 1989. The point is this is not the first time the U.S. finds itself in bad economy. And with each new bad economy, numbers crunchers always find a way to prove that this is the worst bad economy. The good news is that bad news isn’t anything new. We’ve been through economic downturns before and no doubt there will be more to follow.

And here’s more good news. The insurance industry isn’t being hit nearly as hard as other industries. Msn.com reported that insurance agents rank fifth nationally as one of the most secure jobs to have. So, the next time someone asks, “Why did you go into insurance sales?” tell them you had incredible foresight. Employers, even those who are laying off people, recognize the importance of offering health benefits. They can’t afford to lose their best people. On the flip side, employees value benefits more this year than in the past.

According to the 7th Annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefit Trends, “Employees are attempting to take control of their finances and are increasingly looking to the workplace for help (even if it is fully employee-paid.) Employees who are growing more aware of their personal risk exposures have a greater appreciation for benefits and express greater degrees of employer loyalty.” Forty-one percent of employees consider workplace benefits to be the foundation of their personal safety.

Furthermore (and this is even better news for agents) the study revealed that 73% of employees who are highly satisfied with their health benefits are satisfied with their jobs and conversely only 22% of employees who are not satisfied with their benefits are satisfied with their jobs.
Share that statistic with clients who are wondering whether employees value their health benefits. In fact, you may want to share the whole study. It’s filled with great selling points. You can download it at: http://www.whymetlife.com/trends.

Just because the economy is in a slump, doesn’t mean you have to follow. Don’t allow the negativity of the media, other sales people, friends, and family to affect your performance. In every organization, there are always one or two people who really make things happen. Since they don’t believe the down economy is hurting their business, they act and think quite differently than the masses.

Recently, I was presenting in Michigan and I asked an agent named Vincent how he was handling the recession and what he was doing to keep sales up. Vincent replied, “Recession is not on my calendar.”  How profound. Vincent didn’t fall prey to news reports or the newspaper and he didn’t pay attention to negativity being spread throughout the day. Instead, he reviewed his action plan daily and set off to achieve his goals.

So what can you do? Here are a handful of ideas that you can begin using immediately to help you grow your business in a down economy (or in any kind of economy for that matter).

Begin Your Day By Writing Down Your Goals

Taking the time to hand-write your goals is an exercise in purpose and intent. It is a physical transmission from your conscious mind to a piece of paper. When you read your written goals daily (at the beginning and the end of each day, and as many times as you wish throughout the day), you are imprinting them upon your subconscious mind. Doing so empowers you to achieve them. When you simply “commit your goals to memory,” you are at the mercy of every doubt and distraction and setback you face each day.

Contact Your Current Customers On A Regular Basis, Especially If They’re Not Buying

Be respectful of their time. If you find an article that might be of interest to them, print a copy, attach a hand written note, and drop it in the mail. Find a value-added way to remind them, on a regular basis, that your relationship with them is a -priority. Make a point to have lunch or coffee with them. Let them know they are important.

Network With Everyone, Everywhere

Even in a tough economy, people are still doing business and a referral is always better than cold prospecting. Join a morning networking group, attend chamber of commerce functions, and participate in local AHU chapters. Anything you can do to raise your visibility will help you in a down economy.

Stick With The Winners

Don’t be influenced by people who complain about how bad things are. Limit your exposure to newspapers, cable news, and Internet news. Of course you should keep up-to-date on current events, but don’t drown yourself in negative stories about where the economy might be headed and don’t surrender to the author’s opinion. The economy is in a constant state of flux. In a year, a month, or a week, news stories on the state of the economy are nothing more than projections. At best, they’re educated guesses. Think about it, if the people reporting on the economy were completely sure of themselves, they’d be making millions of dollars and they certainly wouldn’t be telling us about it.

Make Time For Self-Improvement

Successful salespeople have a thirst for knowledge. From books and audio learning, to sales training seminars on video, top sales professionals make time for self-improvement. They understand that selling is a craft and the more practice they put into their craft the better the results. Take the time to sharpen your axe!

Read About Men And Women Who Achieved Great Success In The Worst Of Times

Their stories of triumph will inspire and motivate you. In his book “How To Sell Your Way Through Life,” Napoleon Hill tells how he secured newspaper advertising space for his talks at a time when he had no money. It was during the Great Depression and Hill remained focused on his goals and decided that he was not going to wait for his situation to change. He changed it himself by taking purposeful, confident action.

Spend At Least 30 Minutes Each Day In Quiet Time

Find a place where you can remove yourself from noise and distractions and tap into the power of your mind. Visualize the successful completion of each of your written goals. Refuse to allow any mental picture that does not energize you to keep moving forward.

Commit To Being The Best

Good is the enemy of great. Continually push yourself to look for new and different ways to sell. Stick with the things that work and toss out the things that don’t. If you want different results, you’re going to have to take different action.

Implement Your 90-Day Marketing Action Plan

What programs do you want to launch over the next 90 days? Break the activities into weeks and the tasks down to the day. At the end of 90 days, fine-tune what worked and throw away what didn’t.

By implementing a few or all of these steps on a daily basis, you will distance yourself from the majority of your competitors. You will not refrain from taking action because of external circumstances. You will continue to move toward your goals in spite of the things you see on television and read in the newspapers or on the Web. Throughout history, success-driven men and women have prospered in tough economic times. Make the decision to become one of them.
––––––––––
Ken Doyle is Director of Marketing for Warner Pacific. He is also president of the Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters.