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This section will contain articles, and links to articles, that we believe provide exceptionally valuable knowledge for our clients. The first four articles reprinted below were written by Clyde Cleveland, a co-founder of Seminar Crowds and a professional seminar speaker with 34 years of experience in the financial services industry. All four of these articles were published by Producers WEB. The fifth article was written by Craig Randall, a $30 million dollar producer who conducts boot camps for highly motivated agents.
Producers Web Website is an excellent source of materials and valuable information for annuity seminar producers. The following are links to the annuity article section:
Annuity Articles
What I Have Learned From the Top Seminar Producers
"Card" vs. "Wedding" Style Invitations
Becoming a Super Effective Speaker
Successful Seminars: Converting in the "Red Zone"
By Clyde Cleveland, VP, Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds! Inc.
I have helped over 400 seminar agents with their mailings over the past year and I still get this question. The vast majority of agents are using meals to attract potential customers to their seminars. There are still some agents, however, who do not feed and a few industry experts who do not recommend using meals. In this article I will tell you what our observations are on this issue and our opinion of what you should do based on our experience with thousands of seminar mailings.
Occasionally I have agents call me just after a seminar where they paid a $2,500 food bill and were only able to make 3 appointments. The standard comment is “These people were only there for the food”. Then, as I listen patiently, the agent will launch into a long and emotional explanation about how the industry has reached a saturation point. Their logic is basically that there are so many agents out there mailing to the same people that virtually all the attendees are just coming for the free food and are not at all interested in what the agent has to say.
The conclusion that these agents arrive at is that they should stop feeding people and then only those who are truly interested in listening to the agent will attend the seminar. Then, these people, who only came to hear the agent’s message, will be anxious to make an appointment and hand over their money to the agent.
Here is the problem with that logic. Our statistics show that seminar mailings, where a meal is provided, result in an average 1.0% response rate. Seminars held at the right restaurant can result in response rates over 2%, or even more than 3%. Mailings, where no meal is offered, result in an average 0.25% response rate. When you include the cost of meals you invariably end up with a LOWER cost per person in the room when you offer a meal. It may seem counterintuitive but in most cases the more you pay for the meal the lower your cost per person in the room.
For example; let’s say you mail 7,500 pieces for $2,500.00, you have 75 people in attendance and you pay $20.00 per meal. You have paid $1,500.00 for your meals and a total of $4,000.00 for your meals and mailing. Your cost per person in the room is $4,000.00 divided by 75, or $53.00. The non-feeder sends out the same 7,500 mailing which costs him $2,500.00 and he gets .25 % or 18 people in the room. His cost is $2,500 divided by 18 or $138.00 per person in the room.
This phenomenon will occur almost every time in mature markets where there is a great deal of competition. In many cases the discrepancy will be even more pronounced. In some cases it will not be as extreme. Rural areas and markets that have less competition for seminars will obviously allow non-feeders more of a possibility to operate economically.
Some agents believe that the appointment ratio and ultimate closing ratio will be higher at non-feeding seminars because those people who “just came for the food” will never buy from you. Our observation is that the appointment ratio and closing ratio have no direct correlation to whether you feed or don’t feed. The only factor involved in appointment ratios and closing ratios is the ability of the agent. This is confirmed over and over again by the top agents in the business who consistently get 80% appointment ratios and higher at seminars where they have purchased meals for their attendees, even at very expensive restaurants. Think about it this way, if they like you and trust you they will make an appointment with you, whether you feed them is not relevant. If they never meet you how can they know if they like you? You have to attract them to your seminar so you can have the opportunity to get the appointment.
Our conclusion on this issue is very clear. You will see more people if you feed and you’re marketing dollars will be used more efficiently. You will make more appointments if you see more people, and you will make more money if you have more appointments. Assuming you have the right restaurant and are using an effective mailing system to bring in the attendees the next step is to improve your speaking skills and your closing skills. Call me anytime for tips on which trainers and boot camps are most highly appreciated by the most successful agents.
As far as restaurant strategy goes ask your clients which restaurants they love the most and you will be able to create a list of the restaurants that will draw best for you. We can say unequivocally, after 3 years of experience with our mailing system, that the restaurant is the primary factor determining the response rate you will receive from your mailings. This is the most important decision you will make regarding your marketing strategy.
Clyde Cleveland
Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds Inc.
WHAT
I HAVE LEARNED FROM THE TOP SEMINAR PRODUCERS
By Clyde Cleveland, VP, Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds! Inc.
During the last year I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with several of the most successful seminar agents in the country. Valuable information comes to me every day about essential elements for success in annuity seminar selling. I am happy to share with you what I have found to be the most effective tools available, to help you attain the highest levels of achievement in this extraordinary business.
The Importance of Numbers
Let's say you and a friend are playing a game of coin flipping. You are calling heads and your friend is calling tails. When you flip the coin 50 times, odds are you are going to get heads 25 times. You will most likely win 25 times. Well, what do you have to do to win 50 times? It really is very simple, now get this, all you have to do is flip the coin 100 times! You will now win 50 times! You have just doubled the amount of wins!
I talk with about 80 annuity seminar agents every week. Some of them are extremely successful, making well over $1 million a year in commissions. The distinguishing difference between these top producers and all the others, is their attitude. These very successful agents have set up their businesses so that they see so many people they don't care if someone attends their seminar and eats their food with no intention of making an appointment. They are not concerned when someone doesn't show up for an appointment, and it is no big deal if someone cancels a sale. After experiencing this shift to a confident attitude, their whole perspective, mode of operating, confidence, personality, and life are changed.
How can this change in attitude affect your performance? You stop being a business "chaser". You become a business "magnet". You attract clients to you because they can sense that you don't "need" them. You naturally become more successful and you attract more success to you. You can become a magnet very easily. The first step is to set up your business so you are seeing so many people that you can barely handle the appointments. The best way to accomplish this is to use a very low-cost, simple and effective mailer, so that you can afford to send to as many people as you need, to double, or even triple your number of appointments.
Dramatically Increase Your Appointment Ratio
The top agents are getting 80% or more appointments at their seminars on a consistent basis. I won’t be able to give you all that you will need in this brief article to attain this level, but I can share a few vital points with you. The top agents are setting appointments at the seminar. In fact they set the appointments before they serve any food.
The seminar must not be too detailed and the total focus must be on getting the appointment. Keeping it simple, and having a total system devoted to getting the appointment, is the common denominator of the most successful appointment setters.
The people must like you. That is the most important thing that you must accomplish. They want to be entertained and impressed with your knowledge. The main thing is that they become comfortable with you personally. They will not set an appointment with you if they do not like you.
To set appointments, all you need is a simple form that your attendees fill out as you are going through your seminar. If they are writing down information and checking boxes on the form throughout your presentation, they will be much more likely to fill out the appointment time on the form when you instruct them to do this at the end of your presentation.
Well-trained assistants will confirm appointments at the end of your presentation, while you are talking to those few people who have not scheduled an appointment. By the time you are ready to have the servers bring in the food, you will be reviewing your worksheets that should show about 80% or more appointment slots filled in!
Decreasing Your No-show Rate
The phone call to your RSVP list is your first opportunity to develop a relationship with the client! It is very important that this phone call is made in the appropriate manner.
Once a person has called in their reservation, there are three things you should do:
1. Call them immediately upon receiving notification of their RSVP. Thank them for responding, and let them know that these seminars are extremely popular. Explain that because of the number of people attending, the restaurant needs to have advance notice of their meal choice. Then describe the meal choices and get a confirmation from them of their choice of meal.
2. Now that they have made a commitment for a meal choice, they are much more likely to attend. Follow up with a simple letter or card confirming their meal choice, and providing directions to the seminar location.
3. Make a friendly reminder call the day before the seminar to make sure they know how to get to the restaurant.
If you cannot get past the answering machine after several tries, leave a message. Say that you would appreciate it if they could call and confirm that they are coming, because these seminars are always full and there are people who would like their place if they cannot come.
If you follow this procedure you should significantly lower your no-show rate.
The Closing System
This is the most challenging part of the process for most agents. I know it was for me. Having the right system for you and your personality is absolutely critical. When I first started, I was using a one-call close. I am not suited for a one-call close and, even though I was closing, I was getting too many cancellations.
It is imperative that you find the right system for you and learn it so well that you are absolutely confident when you are with the client. There are several closing systems out there and seminars that teach particular systems. I have talked to hundreds of agents who have purchased every system out there, and it is now clear to me which systems are the most effective for the largest number of agents.
Conclusion
Extraordinary success in this business is attainable by almost anyone who is willing to apply themselves and use the techniques and systems that are working for thousands of agents all over the country. What kind of seminar to use, how to deliver the seminar, appointment setting strategy, and a selling system that works for you, are all essential components for maximum success.
One thing that has become clear to me in 34 years of business and selling is that if you focus on your customer’s needs and achievements your own success will be assured. We have found that the key to our company’s growth has been total focus on helping our clients achieve great results! I will end this article with a great quote from one of my all time favorite philosophers.
"If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper. When people have learned this lesson, everyone will seek his individual welfare in the general welfare. Then jealousies between man and man, city and city, province and province, nation and nation, will no longer trouble the world." Frederick Bastiat
Clyde Cleveland
Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds Inc.
"Card"
vs. "Wedding" Style Invitations
By Clyde Cleveland, VP Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds! Inc.
Two years ago a very successful annuity seminar agent began aggressively recruiting me to the seminar business. I was very impressed by his achievements and I began to show some interest in the business. He knew I had the financial planning and investment experience as well as many years of public speaking behind me. What he did not know was that I also had been the co-founder of two successful direct marketing companies that had been extensively involved in direct mail campaigns.
After observing this man's seminars and operations it became obvious to me that success, in this multi-faceted business, required a mix of different abilities. The ability to speak effectively was important, extensive investment knowledge and expertise was clearly necessary, ability to close was essential, and the final critical component was getting people to the seminars in the most cost effective manner possible. In other words, direct marketing knowledge was also necessary.
When I finally decided to get involved, it was under a contract where the company paid for my mailings and I paid for my meals and all other expenses. In return for my training and mailing costs being covered, I gave up a portion of my street level commissions. I did not see the mailer the company was using until I had already signed the contract. Once I saw their mailer, I wanted to call my attorney and have him cancel my contract!
The mailer they showed me was a simple over-sized post card with very little information. Everything I was accustomed to in direct mail was much more sophisticated, complex, and professional in appearance. I told them that I was extremely skeptical and wanted to rethink our deal now that I had seen their mail piece. We finally worked out a compromise. Basically I would give their mailer a chance for three seminars, and if I was not totally satisfied with the results they would pay for whatever competitive mailing piece I wanted to use without changing our deal in any way.
I have to say that, at this point, I was very surprised this agency had reached the absolute top of the industry with their simple mailer. However, since they had agreed to use any mailer I chose after the first three seminars, I focused on learning my seminar and getting my office set for business. I did, however, start to collect marketing materials from direct mail companies. In my mind, there was no doubt that after the first three seminars I would be switching to one of those "professional direct mail" companies.
Three weeks later I gave my first seminar. Only 2,000 mailers had been sent out and there were 35 people in the room! I made 12 appointments, which was 75% of the buying units in the room. I wrote $410,000 in premium from that seminar. My next seminar had 30, again with 2,000 mailers, and the third seminar was about the same.
I never brought up the issue of changing mailers again!
Over the next few months, I conducted informal surveys among my clients about the mailers they were receiving from my competitors. I wanted to know why they had come to my seminar. I wanted to know what it was that made them respond to our simple mailer and why they did not respond to the more sophisticated and expensive mailing pieces. I also wanted to see if it was less sophisticated (and less wealthy) prospects that were responding to my mailer.
The company I was affiliated with had two years of experience with card style mailers. I did 28 seminars of my own with this mailer and conducted extensive surveys of my clients. Based on this experience I have made the following conclusions about mail pieces for the annuity seminar industry:
1. You can totally forget about the big envelopes with coupons, etc. The wedding style invitations are a waste of money!
2. The less your mailer looks like a professionally produced promotional piece the more effective it will be. In other words avoid glossy card stock and multi-colored printing.
3. Keep the wording to a minimum. The beauty of the postcard mailer is its simplicity. You don't want to cram it with words.
4. Don't make it sound as though your seminar is going to be difficult to understand. Avoid terms like "a mathematical model for investing will be presented".
5. Emphasize the free meal and find good restaurants that attract the type of person you want as your client. The people who are doing the most annuity business in this country are using the higher quality restaurants.
6. Do not use bulk mail; it is too risky for this business. If your card mailer is small enough you can get the first class rate for postcards.
7. Always put your company's address as the return address. Most direct mail companies will not do this for you.
To summarize, my experience over the last two years has proven to me that my initial negative reaction to the simple card mailer was totally unfounded. My more sophisticated (and more wealthy clients) continue to tell me that they are turned off by the obvious promotional direct mail pieces. They are especially turned off by the pieces that try to look like express mail or something other than what they really are.
They tell me that they are much more likely to respond to a simple card mailer that does nothing but communicate the necessary information in a simple and honest manner that they can understand. They seem to appreciate the straightforward manner of the card mailer, which is doing nothing more than providing them information about an event that they may want to attend.
Agents that use the simple card mailers can make a choice: they can take the money that they are saving and spend it on more mailers and earn twice as much money, or they can keep sending out the same amount of mailers and cut their mailing budget in half. They can then take the savings, or the extra earnings, to the bank at the end of the year! Or, I guess they could take it to the Mercedes dealer, or BMW dealer, or their child's college fund, or...
Becoming
a Super Effective Speaker
By Clyde Cleveland, VP Director of Marketing
Seminar Crowds! Inc.
I have been a professional speaker since 1972. I have read books about speaking, listened to tapes, watched great speakers, and most significantly, been forced to improve my speaking abilities or not be able to feed my family. In December of 2002 I gave my first annuity seminar in West Des Moines, Iowa. I had 26 people in the room and 16 buying units. I was able to obtain 12 appointments from that very first seminar. My mentor in the business could not believe that I could achieve those results in my first presentation. He knew that I had never given the presentation before and never sold an annuity in my life.
Is it because I am a born speaker? I don't think so! I almost threw up the first time I had to speak in front of an audience and was so nervous I almost did not leave the bathroom. By the time I was done with that first presentation I couldn't wait to get home. I took off my sport coat and peeled off my sopping wet shirt. I was so scared that I was literally drenched with perspiration. Now at 54 years old I can't wait to get in front of my audience. It becomes an addiction when you learn a few basic principles that I will share with you in this article. I will also give you the most important piece of advice about speaking and improving your performance at your seminars that you will ever hear.
The first thing you have to do is get very comfortable with the material you are presenting. Most agents will not have a problem with this because they are probably in the business and are very familiar with the material.
The next issue is gearing your material to the audience. You are going to have a wide diversity of experience and knowledge in your audience. Keep it simple and keep it interesting. And keep it fun! I find that humor is an absolute key ingredient in these seminars. They want to be entertained and have fun while they hopefully learn something of value. I tweaked and tweaked my seminar until I had the perfect blend of knowledge and humor. We want them to appreciate the knowledge we have given them, but they must feel that we are exceptionally competent and knowledgeable or they will not make an appointment with us. They will never make an appointment with us if they don't like us! Humor and warmth will be more important than the content!
If they do not like you as a person they will probably not make an appointment, and even if they do, they will not buy from you. So keep it simple, have a lot of humor, handle questions with grace and patience, and make them feel that all their questions are valuable and that there is no such thing as a stupid question. For an experienced speaker I recommend taking questions throughout the presentation.
Now for the most important piece of knowledge that I can share with you to make you the most effective speaker you can possibly be. You must videotape your presentations and review the presentation every time you speak for the first 5 or 6 times you give a new presentation. If you are speaking every week you may only have time to view a tape once a month, but the more you do it the better you will get. I don't care how long you have been speaking. Just watch yourself and take notes on what you need to do to improve your performance the next time you speak. You will not believe how quickly you will improve! I don't care how busy you get; you need to do this at least once a month. If you do, you will continue to increase your appointment percentages and increase your closing percentages. As every experienced producer knows, you start the close at the beginning of the seminar!
Successful Seminars: Converting in the "Red Zone"
Craig L. Randall, MBA.
President of Randall & Louis
Wealth Management
The most successful NFL quarterbacks in the history of the game are the ones that consistently convert red zone opportunities into points. The same is true for financial advisors who do seminar selling. Seminars are a great source of new clients – but only if you can convert attendees to appointments.
Converting the seminar attendee to an appointment in a critical step in any seminar system, and if done successfully can deliver unprecedented growth in your financial practice, and help you achieve Johnny Unitas status among your peers.
The challenge of marketing yourself
When utilizing seminars to build a business there are several critical elements that must be mastered to achieve outstanding results. The most basic, but also one of the most challenging, is getting the attendees to ask for an appointment. Here’s a suggestion for the best way to approach this sensitive issue without being overtly aggressive, which can be a major turn-off for attendees. Four key steps to a successful seminar presentation.
Step One
Before the seminar begins, each attendee should receive a worksheet. The worksheet must have three sections. The top section should be an area to write their name address and phone number. The middle section should be a list of items that may be important to them. For example, funding their children’s education, or retiring comfortably in Florida, may be items that you would include on your list. Make sure the list is diverse and comprehensive, and leave a blank spot for them to include something that you may not have thought of.
You should instruct the attendees to check off any topic that is important to them. The third and final section should be an area for them to select a time and day for their appointment. This worksheet is going to be an important tool in setting appointments, as you will soon see.
Step Two
The second key to a successful seminar presentation is to have an entertaining and captivating PowerPoint presentation. Too many advisors are using technical and detailed presentations that simply aren’t effective. A well designed seminar will have three main sections.
The first section must establish your credibility. This is accomplished by having a qualified assistant (by qualified, I mean someone who is comfortable speaking in front of people) do the first few slides, and introduce the main speaker by telling the group about the speaker’s background and credentials. It’s very important that when the assistant has completed the introduction and the speaker is making their way to the front of the room that the assistant start the applause. When you walk into the room full of potential clients and they are all applauding two things are happening. First, the applause will motivate you to put on a good show, and more importantly the group has accepted you and is excited about listening to what you have to say.
Step Three
The third section of the seminar is referred to as the shot-gun section. The purpose here is to cover as many different topics as briefly as possible, as quickly and briefly as possible. A good shot-gun section could include topics such as: annuities, mutual funds, asset allocation, IRA’s, estate planning, life insurance and long term health care.
At this point in your presentation the objective must be to press as many buttons as you can. The attendees all have different interest and needs. When you hit a topic that’s important to them the odds of setting an appointment increases dramatically. Your primary objective is to cover as much ground as possible in order to gain relevance with your attendees.
Step Four
The fourth and final section is to grab their attention and focus on the benefits of doing business with you and motivating them to set an appointment. The benefits could be that you will review their accounts every six months, or you do everything one on one with them, and that everything is individualized for your clients. Once you get through this section you are ready to close the entire group, all at the same time.
There are several ways to set appointments with seminar attendees. The most effective is to close right now while they are still in the warm and fuzzy zone. At this point in the seminar process there should be several closing slides. When completing the closing section it’s advisable to give them an offer that they can’t refuse. A very effective offer is a 1 hour free consultation. The most effective way to accomplish this is to describe the appointment process, and to emphasize that in the first appointment there will be no specific recommendations made and to leave there check book at home. At this point you simply tell them what to do and the first thing you tell them is when you are willing to see them.
A simple way to do this is to tell them you have cleared your schedule for the next 2 weeks and that you generally see your first appointment at 9:00 AM and your last at 4:00 PM. The next step is to tell them to complete the bottom portion of the worksheet and indicate which day and time would be convenient for them to come in for their free consultation. It is also advisable to tell them that your assistant will pick up all the worksheets at this point and when they are all collected dinner will be served. This should give the attendees the impression that the worksheet is their dinner ticket and they have to turn it in.
After the assistant collects all the worksheets they can be organized and specific dates and times for their free consultation can be established. Of course, not all attendees will complete this section, but with a little closing skill the assistant can assign them a date and time. When all the worksheets have been collected and organized the speaker can determine which people did not indicate a time and date for an appointment. At this point it is a good idea for the assistant to set appointments with the attendees that indicated a time and date on the worksheet and the speaker can talk with the attendees that did not indicate a time. The speaker should be looking for areas that might be of interest to the attendees making it easier for the assistant to set an appointment with them.
The national average for setting appointments with seminar attendees is around 40% of the buying units. With a little effort and a Johnny Unitas attitude you can achieve closing rates of around 75% to 80%, twice the national average. Done properly, seminars can set you apart from the pack and produce results you have only dreamed about.
When you master the four keys to having seminar attendees ask you for an appointment, new prospects will be falling over each other to meet with you.
____________________________________
Mr. Randall can be contacted at craig.randall@natplan.com.
Registered Representative offers securities through NATIONAL PLANNING CORPORATION (NPC), Member NASD/SIPC.Randall & Louis Wealth Management Group and NPC are separate and unrelated companies.