Selling is truly an art. However, excellent selling is a combination of talent and process. In short, it takes a lot more than a strong sales pitch to be a successful insurance agent. While insurance sales may often seem like a one-person show, there are in fact a variety of roles that play a part in an agent’s and team’s success.
One of the most important things insurance agents can have to support their success is a sales performance management system. Many top insurance agents agree, implementing a sales performance management process can help to improve sales productivity. Learning how to better implement sales performance management can help ensure insurance agents and their teams’ efforts align with the habits and processes needed to scale their wins and drive conversions.
Sales performance management is an integrated approach that guides every step in realizing your sales growth goals through the use of organized, real-time data. Sales performance management describes the combination of processes designed to enhance and improve productivity, effectiveness and overall sales results. It is a powerful data-driven approach to managing, planning, and assessing your insurance sales performance. Some of the processes involved in sales performance management include territory management, incentive compensation management and sales agent training and monitoring. In addition to measuring performance in key areas, insurance agents and team leaders can use a performance management process to determine which tactics and strategies are producing optimal results and generating conversions. Conversely, sales management processes rely on a data-driven approach to proactively identify potential problem areas, such as customer-employee interactions that do not meet your objectives, and methods to address these issues if they occur.
To better understand sales performance management, think of the process as a combination of four unique but related segments. Those segments are: analysis, planning, implementation and management. Within each of these segments are sub-categories that correspond to key areas related to productivity and efficiency. The sub-categories delicately cross over and blend to affect multiple segments. For example within the analysis segment, the relevant sub-categories are performance management and forecasting and accruals. Within the planning segment, insurance agents and team leaders would consider the subcategory of territory management, but also quote management.
These subcategories lead to the planning stage, which also includes the sub-category of incentivized compensation management. By understanding each segment and its related subcategories, insurance agents and team leaders can develop a keener knowledge of the individual elements that contribute to their success. Committing to a sales performance management process ensures that an insurance agent is committed to the ongoing success of the tactics that work and is willing to remedy ill-performing aspects of their business.
Sales performance management often relates back to strategies that can sustain and grow an insurance agent's pipeline. Pipeline management is both easier and more outcome-driven when applied through an insurance sales process. A structured approach can help agents be more efficient, effective and productive. If you are looking to fill your pipeline with high-intent leads and calls, contact us to learn how you can start receiving reliable, high-quality leads. ZipQuote empowers insurance agents to select a series of target regions, demographics, and filters for customized insurance lead campaigns.
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