It's easy to think that if I present enough options the person listening to me will find some reason - any reason- to write me a check.
The challenge, of course, is that statistically a listener is rarely in the current market for a specific product.
So it's a competitive advantage to assume that everyone I speak with is a potential referral resource - they know people who are looking for me - rather than hoping they're a potential client.
And that changes everything.
“Wendy, I would like to use my 7 minutes to talk about the general purposes of life insurance. Would that be too much information? Also, I created the attached handout to distribute. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Gloria”
Brilliant handout, eh?
Now think about the boundary.
Gloria says she has seven minutes.
She listed 10 general purposes.
10
That's 42 seconds each.
Could you hear 42 seconds of information about using life insurance to create an estate, {shoot, pick any topic on the list} could you, after 42 seconds, recognize a referral for Gloria to a client of yours who wants to equalize inheritances?
I'm thinking not.
Be honest with Gloria and me here, we've each tried to do the same thing; speak faster, use a snazzy handout, or a swishing slide deck, and cover what took us 10 hours to learn in a fragment of that time.
Gloria can profitably - let's stipulate that she wants to get business from this opportunity - profitably cover one of these topics in seven minutes. One.
Spend the seven minutes talking about using life insurance to guarantee a loan, Gloria, and I guarantee the people listening to you will think of a client to refer.
Photo courtesy of GraphicReality