Why You Must Have a USP to Become Massively Successful in Your Insurance Or Financial Profession
To persuade a prospect to do business with you, you must answer his or her most important question...
"What's In It For Me?"
All of your prospects want to know what benefits they'll gain from doing business with you. So, unless you can answer this question to their satisfaction, you have no chance of getting them to buy from you.
The main reason the prospecting and marketing materials currently used by most agents are so ineffective is they don't address the prospects' most important question.
They don't give their prospects a good reason for wanting to do business with that particular agency or agent.
For example, when a prospect asks most agents why he or she should be doing business with them instead of their competitors, here are some of their typical answers:
"Because we've been in business for more than twenty-two years."
"Because we're one of the largest agencies in the city."
"Because the company we represent has $17 billion dollars in assets."
What's wrong with these replies?
If you think about it carefully, you'll notice each answer is for the self-serving interests of the agents or the companies they represent - not for the prospects'.
Here's an important fact you must understand...
Your Prospects Don't Care One Iota About You Or Your Agency... They Only Care About Themselves!
So, telling the prospects how many years you've been in business, how much assets you have, or how successful you are, is a waste of time.
They don't care how great you are.
They only care how your product or service is going to benefit them.
In other words, they want to know how much better their lives will improve if they buy your product or use your service.
Let's face it, your prospects and clients, just like you and me, are self-centered.
This isn't good or bad. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just human nature.
Before they decide to buy from you, they want to know all the benefits they'll gain from doing business with you.
Since your prospects have so many agents to choose from, before considering buying from you, another important question they ask you is...
"Why Should I Choose Your Agency Or Product Or Service Over Any And Every Other Agent Available To Me?"
To put it another way...
"Why Should Someone Drive Past Three Or Four Other Insurance Agencies To Come To Yours And Do Business With You?"
Most agents try to answer this question by citing the old platitude: price, service, quality, and integrity.
If you also respond your prospects' question the same way, I have bad news for you.
Your prospects are sick of hearing this platitude.
Today, this statement isn't even worth the paper it's written on. Every agent claims the same thing.
I bet you're probably also sick of hearing price, service, quality, and integrity, aren't you?
Listen, when I asked some agents why a prospect would choose to do business with them, the most common answer I got was: "Service."
What do you mean by service? I then asked.
They usually replied:
"We answer the phone promptly." Or...
"We process the data accurately." Or...
"We return the customers' messages within 24 hours." Or...
"We update their files immediately."
And so on.
As you can see, these "services" aren't really true customer service activities. They're simply processing activities.
Every agency provides these services, and your prospects and customers certainly expect to get them from your agency. These services are just the minimum expected level of performance.
Your prospects and clients certainly expect to get more - a lot more - from your agency than just having their messages returned promptly or their files updated quickly.
Since most agents (and also financial advisors) provide only the minimum level of expected performance, if you go the extra mile to make your prospects and clients feel special and appreciated, you'll stand head and shoulders above and beyond the competition.
In short, to differentiate yourself from the competition, you must be able to answer your prospect's most important question "What's in it for me?"
To do this, you use your USP, which stands for Unique Selling Proposition.
Your Unique Selling Proposition or USP is that single, compelling ideal or benefit that compels prospects to do business with you, instead of with your competitors! It sets you and your business apart from your competition.
When done properly...
Your USP Will Allow You To Out-Smart, Out-Market, And Out-Position Everyone Else In The Insurance Industry... To Create An Unforgettable Identity In The Market... And To Make It Irresistible For Prospects Not To Do Business With You!
Every successful business, not just insurance agencies, whether small or large, has a USP. In fact, that's how small businesses grow into giant corporations.
For example, both Domino's Pizza and Federal Express became billion-dollar corporations in a very short time because of their powerful USPs.
Federal Express' USP is: "When it absolutely and positively has to be there overnight." This statement tells the potential customers if they want to be absolutely certain their mail or package will get delivered the next day, then they must use Federal Express.
Domino's USP was: "Hot, fresh pizza delivered within 30 minutes - guaranteed - or it's free!" Doesn't this USP motivate you to buy from them whenever you have a craving for pizza?
You bet! That's why millions of people order from them every single day.
Your USP, when formulated compellingly and powerfully, can propel your agency or practice to the top of the industry in a very short time, just like what Federal Express and Domino's USPs did for them.
Please answer these questions...
What advantages do you offer your prospects and clients?
Do you offer them the best policies?
Do you offer them the largest selection?
Do you offer them more service, advice, and follow-up than all your competitors?
Do you offer them the fastest service?
Are you open evenings and weekends, seven days a week, to better serve your clients?
Can clients reach you after business hours?
Do you educate your clients with special reports, newsletters, brochures, information hotlines, or other services to help them improve various aspects of their lives?
Do you offer a guarantee?
How many of these benefits are you currently providing your clients?
What can you do for your prospects and clients better than your competitors?
What identity do you want to create in the minds of your prospects and clients?
As important as these questions are, most agents have never thought about them carefully.
You probably haven't either, have you?
If not, you'll need to start thinking about them if you really want to take your business or career to the next level of success.
How Your USP Builds Customers' Buying Habits...
Every customer comes to you with certain expectations about the quality of your goods, the services, and the total experience of dealing with you.
When you exceed the customers' expectations they'll perceive the overall quality of your agency to be high. That's your Unique Selling Proposition.
But when you fail to meet those expectations, they'll perceive the overall quality of your business to be low.
In the back of every customer's mind, is a scale that compares what they get with what they expect. The more it comes up on the plus side, the greater will be the perceived quality of your customer service.
Your USP is the most important characteristic of your business.
Why?
Because perceived quality is the single most important factor in determining long-term profitability.
Perceived quality is the primary factor that'll compel your customers to spend their hard-earned money with you, rather than with your competitors.
How You Can Shape Your Customers' Perception With Your USP!
It isn't enough to reward your customers with outstanding service. You must make them aware of the high level of service they're getting by doing business with you, which they usually don't get from anybody else.
Your agency or practice's entire marketing efforts and its ultimate success is built on your Unique Selling Proposition.
In developing your USP, you must clearly express it in only one or two short paragraphs. And these words must clearly spell out the benefits - not features - your prospects or customers will receive by doing business with you, which they won't or can't get from your competitors.
Let me ask you this...
If I sat beside you on an airplane and asked you, "What do you do for a living?" how would you answer me?
Would you be able to tell me exactly what you do?
Can you tell me what you do in such a way that would make me say, "Wow! How do you do that?"
Or, perhaps, like most agents, you'd reply to me with one of these common answers...
"I'm in the insurance business."
"I'm an insurance agent."
"I'm an insurance professional.
"I sell insurance."
"I am an insurance consultant."
Well, none of these answers gives your prospects a compelling reason for doing business with you.
Let me ask you this important question...
What do you think insurance professionals and financial advisors really do for people?
They Protect People's Dreams!
So, when someone asks you, "What do you do for a living?" and you reply, "I protect people's dreams!" what do you think they're going to ask you next?
You're absolutely right, "How do you do that?"
That's the kind of response you want.
Since you're stating something so profound and unique from the standard responses, you've piqued your prospect's curiosity and compelled them to find out how you can protect their dreams.
Let me give you some other great responses you can use when someone asks you, "What do you do?"
"I help people protect themselves and their valuable assets so they can sleep better at night."
"I help people eliminate estate taxes so they can have as much as 10 to 15 times more money to pass on to their heirs."
"I help business owners protect their cash flow from unforeseen events."
"I show people how to retire with plenty of money to enjoy the lifestyle of their dreams."
"I teach people how to create extra wealth without any additional out-of-pocket cost to them."
"I show people how to protect their dreams and future from disability."
"I show people how to get a regular income even if they become disabled and can't work!"
And so on.
As you can see, each one of these statements will cause someone (who could be your ideal prospect) to say, "How do you do that?" if he or she asks you, "What do you do?"
Can you see the "unfair" advantage you'll have over the competition after you've developed a powerful USP or USPs for your business?
Federal Express and Domino's USPs took them from nothing to billion-dollar corporations in record time. So your USP, if it's powerful formulated, certainly can help you dominate your particular market, allowing you to make the kind of income you want.
Ken Varga was in the insurance business for 33 years and created an agency that had 459,182 policyholders. He sold his business in 2001 for more than $100 million. He's written a book called, "How To Make A Fortune In The Insurance Profession," which shows insurance agents and financial advisors how to build their million-dollar agency or practice in record time. Best of all, you can get it absolutely free.
Check out what some agents and advisors have said about his strategies and systems...
"One idea alone has helped me make an extra $93,400.00 in new commissions, both from cross-selling additional products and generating new referrals!" ~ Walter Dobrowolski, San Marcos, CA
"I doubled my insurance production last year thanks to your strategies." ~ Barbara Boyce, Dallas, TX
"I've had your program for about two and a half years. And during this period, my income has more than doubled." ~ Mark Brady, Roseburg, OR
"Bring in about 10 new clients a week." ~ Ron Martinez, Aurora, CO
This is the greatest insurance selling program I have seen and used in 10 years of being in the business! Very client centered! My financial agency's retention rate is over 97%."